DMHS 4

Leaving the market, Kian brushed the flour that had pilled up on his head.

Even without a mirror, he knew his appearance was a wreck. Wherever he passed, everyone turned their heads to look at him. But Kian wanted to reach the royal palace today.

The naive lord was confident the king would receive him right away with a signed letter, but Kian thought differently.

‘The king would hardly care about a remote land like Paleon.’

That meant it would take a long time to gain an audience with the king.

‘At least three months. If unlucky, it might take over a year.’

Considering this, it was better to deliver the letter to the palace as soon as possible, even if his body reeked of fruit and his lips still carried the sweet taste of tomato.

But Kian only realized much later that this had been the wrong decision.

“Stop right there. For what reason are you visiting the palace?”

A guard at the palace gate looked at Kian warily.

Before Kian could pull the lord’s letter from his ​Read on​inner pocket, another guard pointed at him and tilted his head.

“Isn’t today the last day? Tsk, now even lunatics are showing up. Check his identity plaque.”

“Show your identification plaque.”

Kian put away the lord’s letter he had been about to take out and instead pulled out his own identification plaque.

One of the guards read the name written on it.

“Kian Semes.”

Another guard flipped through a bundle of papers to check.

“Semes, Semes, Se…mes. Here it is. Really, I never thought there would be this many families I’ve never heard of in my life. Alright. Your identity is confirmed. Go inside.”

The palace gate opened easily. Kian stared blankly at the open gate and then asked a question.

“Where should I go inside the palace?”

“You fool. You must have been given directions in advance, and you don’t even know that? If you pass through the pansy garden, there’s a building where people like you are gathered. Go there.”

Given directions?

Kian was puzzled for a moment, then soon came up with an answer.

‘Originally, a man named Ethan was supposed to travel to the capital. Maybe the delegation coming up from the provinces received a notice of guidance.’

Kian came up with the wrong answer and walked along the garden where pansies were blooming.

Before long, a place Kian also knew came into view beyond the garden. It was the Caladium Palace.

‘Why did they tell me to go here?’

Caladium was the place where banquets were held.

‘Maybe because there are many delegates from the provinces, they’re gathering them in one place.’

Once again, Kian came up with the wrong answer and approached the palace.

In front of the palace stood a few attendants. Kian smiled awkwardly and spoke first.

“Uh, I was told to come here, so I came.”

“May I have your name?”

“Kian Semes.”

Again, one of the attendants flipped through a bundle of papers, searching for something.

“You’re a son of the Semes family. But what in the world is that outfit…”

“There were some circumstances.”

“Ah, of course there must have been circumstances.”

The attendant raised his eyebrows with a knowing expression.

Meanwhile, the other attendants standing behind him lowered their voices and whispered.

‘Because he’s a man, his skin isn’t pale and his lips aren’t red, so he showed up like that? They say ruined nobles are worse than commoners. This is really pitiful, pitiful…’

‘Smell that fruity scent all over him. He came here fully prepared.’

‘And what about that cloth tied around his waist? Isn’t he wrapping it around like it’s a skirt?’

‘Even so, would he even glance at him? He’ll be ​visit our site​lucky if he doesn’t insult him to his face!’

Kian couldn’t understand what the attendants were saying. He craned his neck and asked them a question.

“What are you talking about right now?”

The attendants were startled, not expecting their voices to carry that far, and closed their mouths. The attendant standing in front of Kian soothed him in a gentle tone.

“It’s alright. We understand everything. Especially since this time it’s the final of the final, the contest that was declared from the start. To achieve your goal, of course you wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary.”

Contest, and goal, what were they talking about.

“It’s getting late, the palace gate will close. Please go in now. Ibrahim, guide Lord Semes.”

“From now on, I’ll be guiding you. Please come this way!”

Another attendant appeared from somewhere and volunteered to lead him.

‘This situation is turning strange…’

Kian, bewildered, followed behind the attendant. The attendant walked quickly in short steps and continued speaking.

“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Ibrahim. [Read on]I’ll be serving you during this contest. If you need anything, please tell me anytime. First, about your hair and clothes, hmm… hmmmmm…”

After long hesitation, the attendant Ibrahim gave an answer.

“Since you clearly put a lot of thought into it, I’ll leave it as is! O-Of course! Personally, I think it would be better if you took a bath and changed into cleaner clothes! If you go into the banquet hall like this, you’ll definitely be ridiculed by the other candidates! But! I’ve been trained to respect the candidate’s opinion! So I’ll follow your opinion, Sir Kian!”

Kian could no longer put up with Ibrahim’s nonsense.

“What have you been saying since earlier? What kind of fool would dress up like this and walk around?”

“That would be you, Sir Kian….”

At the remark pointing directly at him, Kian felt his head throb.

“There was some trouble at the market, so my hair and clothes got messed up. And I’ve been curious since earlier, what exactly is this contest?”

This time, it was Ibrahim who was flustered.

“Why, of course, it’s the mate selection contest.”

“Mate selection contest?”

“To choose the mate of Lord Lucien, the Gold Dragon who protects the Celestia Kingdom. Only by taking a mate can Lord Read on Lucien hold the coming-of-age ceremony and have an heir. Right now, this is where the people who want to become Lord Lucien’s mate are all gathered.”

“Why would I go to a place like that?”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

“……”

“……”

Their gazes met in the air.

After a short silence, Ibrahim found what he thought was the answer.

“Uh, surely not, but just in case, Sir Kian, do you not want to become Lord Lucien’s mate?”

The dragon’s mate?

Just hearing the words gave him a headache. For Kian, who knew how this ridiculous tradition had begun, it was all the more so.

‘This is all because of that bastard Hellenos.’

The problem had started four hundred years ago. The Hero and four other champions, following the Goddess’s command, founded the Celestia Kingdom.

The Hero was exalted as the kingdom’s first king, and the other champions…

–Thank you for your hard work. Today will be my last, I will retire now.

–Same here, I’ll be going.

–Heheheh, farewell.

–I enjoyed the time we had… please never look for me again from now on…

All of them strongly insisted on retiring. But the Goddess did not allow the champions to retire. Since nothing guaranteed that corruption would not plague the kingdom again, at least one of the four champions had to stay in the palace and take the role of overseer.

In the end, the champions gathered in one place. With solemn faces, they fought a suffocating decisive battle.

–Rock, paper, scissors!

The result was decided in a single round.

–Uwahaha! I won! I won!

The noble Dark Elf jumped on the spot like a child.

–Oh my… it looks like I ended up winning too…

The King of Spirits covered his mouth and smiled.

–I’ll leave it to you, Hellenos.

Kian, with an indifferent face, patted the Gold Dragon on the shoulder.

It was only natural, since the Gold Dragon, who always opened with rock in the first round, had lost again.

–…Damn it.

Hellenos wailed.

–What the hell are you guys? Do you eat and spend your time practicing rock-paper-scissors? Why is it that every time we play rock-paper-scissors I’m the one who loses? Are you the gods of rock-paper-scissors or something?

Before Hellenos could throw a full tantrum, Kian and the other champions hurriedly slipped out of the royal castle.

Up until then, Kian was half in doubt.

‘They say “I alone am supreme.” Even if he’s a dragon who thinks he’s the greatest in the world, as long as the Goddess has given her command, he won’t just leave the palace on his own.’

But something unexpected happened. Hellenos found his fated mate.

Originally, the reason Hellenos left the Dragon Realm and came into this world was to find his mate. According to him, to a dragon, a mate meant half his body, half his soul, and half his life.

Since he had found a being so important that he left his original dimension to cross into another world, Hellenos no longer intended to stay here. In the end, after clinging to the Goddess’s skirts and whining, Hellenos found a compromise.

He and his mate would leave this world, but the first egg born between them would be entrusted to the palace.

When Kian heard the news, he pressed his forehead and lamented.

–What about the child you’re leaving behind?

–It’s only weak humans who need the protection of parents. Dragons don’t need anyone’s care. I was alone from the moment I was born in my cave.

–That was in the Dragon Realm. In this world, the only dragon species is your child.

–If he wants to see other dragons, he can come to the Dragon Realm too. Of course, I’ll leave behind a dragon to protect the kingdom first. Hahaha.

Looking back, Hellenos’s words were little different from a prophecy. Like father, like child, Hellenos’s descendants did the exact same thing for generations.

They lazed about without caring for palace affairs, then found a mate, laid an egg, and left only the egg behind while departing with the mate to the Dragon Realm.

And that wasn’t all. From about two hundred years ago, they even declared themselves the kingdom’s divine beast and pressured the royal family to find and offer up partners for them.

As a result, the “Dragon’s Mate Selection Contest” came into being.

That was why the mate contest was not some ancient tradition of the royal family. It was only an event made up by a self-absorbed Gold Dragon to make his own affairs easier.

‘But wait, if this is the contest hall for choosing a mate…’

At that point, Kian looked down at his outfit.

‘So that’s why. Damn it.’

Throughout the journey to defeat the Demon King, Hellenos had constantly repeated his taste.

‘I like someone with pale skin and straight black hair.’

‘…….’

‘If they have red lips and a skirt with fancy patterns suits them, even better.’

‘…….’

‘If their whole body gives off a fruity scent, they’re breathtakingly attractive. Don’t you think?’

‘…….’