Chapter 0: Prologue- From Revered Dragon King to Shackled Prisoner

“Your Highness Fiora, I quit.”

The silver-haired girl froze, a crispy fried potato chip halfway to her mouth.

Blinking in surprise, she looked up.

Fiora jumped down from the Ice Dragon Throne, ran over to the old butler, and grabbed his lapel.

“Butler Mellen, why?!”

Mellen was one of the last two dragons left on the Eternal Snow Mountains. He had served the Ice Dragon King—Fiora—faithfully until now.

Despite looking like a clueless airheaded loli, Fiora… well, she really was exactly that.

“I’m sorry, Princess Fiora. I can’t keep wasting my life serving someone who’s lazy and doesn’t care about anything.”

“Wait! Mellen, if you leave, who’s going to cook for me? Do my laundry? Clean the palace? Buy my snacks and novels—”

A vein popped on Mellen’s forehead. Honestly, he really wanted to smack her snack-covered face right now.

This was the Eternal Snow Mountains, located in the Eastern Radiance Kingdom—the territory of the Ice Dragon Clan, once the most powerful dragon family on the continent of Norlan.

But over time, their power faded. And in this generation, their so-called Dragon King had become nothing but a shut-in loli.

All Fiora ever did was snack, slack off, and talk about how she was waiting to die—no ambition at all. Disappointed, the other members of the clan had slowly left. In the end, only Mellen and Fiora remained.

“Let’s end this peacefully, Your Highness. I don’t want to turn things ugly.”

With one flick, Mellen slapped her small hands away without hesitation.

“Uuuu…”

Fiora shrank under his cold glare, her head pulling back into her shoulders like a turtle.

She had severe social anxiety—even just making eye contact could knock her out. A Dragon King like that had become a legend for all the wrong reasons.

Mellen turned, leapt into the air, transformed into his dragon form, and flew off. He left behind the once-glorious Frozen Palace and disappeared into the clouds.

Silence fell over the palace.

Fiora flopped back onto her throne, her posture lazy and slumped—completely un-kingly. Like a true NEET.

Grabbing a big handful of fried potato chips, she angrily munched away.

“Seriously, what the hell? I’ve always said I wasn’t fit to be a Dragon King.”

Fiora wasn’t a full-blooded dragon. In her past life, she’d been a shut-in web novelist from Earth—famous for constantly dropping her stories halfway.

“I quit writing. What are you gonna do, huh? Fight me?”

And well, her readers did come fight her. They tracked her down, found her in real life, and beat her to death. Her death became a trending topic for days online.

Then she reincarnated in another world, this time as a member of the Ice Dragon Clan. Because of her strong magical potential, she got chosen as the next Dragon King.

But she was never leadership material—just a socially anxious shut-in. Naturally, under her rule, the Ice Dragon Clan fell even faster.

“Why’d I have to reincarnate as a girl dragon of all things…?”

In the icy mirror-like wall beside her, she saw her reflection—silver eyes, long silver hair tied in a low ponytail, and a completely flat chest.

With a baby face and zero curves, she looked like a loli, but she was a stunning beauty in the making.

Still, Fiora had no interest in being a flat-chested dragon loli. Her looks weren’t even useful for spellcasting rituals!

“Ugh, like being a loli isn’t bad enough—why does everyone have to call me dumb too?!”

Fiora slammed her fist into the throne’s armrest in frustration. The sudden movement made her choke on a potato chip, coughing violently.

Could she get any dumber?

As she clutched her chest and gasped for breath, a warning rang in her mind.

The magical defenses outside the palace had been triggered—an intruder was here.

On top of the Eternal Snow Mountains, no regular beast would dare set foot. Which meant…

“Someone from the Eastern Radiance Kingdom.”

Four years ago, the kingdom had sent a dragon-slaying party to take her down. She’d beaten them all up and flung them off the mountain.

If the wards were going off again, they were probably here for round two.

“Stupid humans. Perfect. I need to let off some steam.”

She transformed into her dragon form—a giant, silver-scaled dragon. Storm clouds rushed in, swirling around her, whispering in awe of the ruler of these mountains.

Through the snow and wind, the palace doors creaked open.

To her surprise, there was only one person.

A black-haired young man stood alone in the snow.

He carried two swords in his hands and had three more strapped to his back. His red eyes were sharp and cold, blending in perfectly with the blizzard.

Fiora recognized him immediately.

The strongest member of the dragon-slaying team from four years ago. The only human who had ever seen her human form—Leon.

“Human! How dare you stand before me and not kneel!”

Fiora unleashed her Dragon King aura. The pressure cracked the floor beneath her feet.

When she was transformed like this, her social anxiety wasn’t a problem—no one dared look her in the eye anyway. It was way more reliable than her human form. Four years ago, the intruders had been frozen in fear just from this aura.

“Fiora the Ice Dragon King, I am Leon, Sword Saint of the Eastern Radiance Kingdom. I’ve returned to challenge you.”

Leon didn’t look away. He stepped forward through the snowstorm.

Fiora noticed it right away—his aura had changed. He had grown stronger. This wasn’t some dumb act of revenge.

Still, she wouldn’t back down. Instead, she pulled a line from “100 Domineering Lines for Dragon Kings! Best Seller!”—a book her butler had forced her to memorize.

“What foolish obsession drives you to seek your own death, human?”

Her voice twisted the laws of the world itself. The storm turned into blades, slashing at Leon’s skin.

“You remember that day, don’t you? Four years ago, I lost to you. I saw your true form.”

“Of course. You should be honored! You were just a pitiful insect basking in my divine glory!”

“From that day on, I couldn’t sleep. Your image haunted me.”

“So you came for revenge? Hah! What a joke!”

“Your voice, your face, every part of you—I burned them into my heart.”

“You’ll never get over the humiliation I gave you!”

“Exactly. That shame drove me to get stronger. I walked the edge of death again and again.”

Leon raised his blades, slicing through the wind and snow.

“And now, I’ve come… to claim you.“

Fiora flinched.

The storm didn’t even touch him anymore.

What the hell—has this guy been holding a grudge for four years?!

All I did was beat them up and toss them off a mountain! Why’s he so obsessed?!

He was just like those readers who hunted her down in her past life. Creepy and scary. She just wanted to go back to her chips.

“Begin.”

Leon charged forward.

“W-Wait—!”

He threw both his swords at once, shattering her magical shield. Then he rushed in like a bullet.

“Dragon King’s Blessing! Ice Domain, activate!”

Panicking, Fiora summoned a massive ice wall.

Leon dashed across the ground, drew another sword from his back, and kicked up a blinding snowstorm to hide his movements.

Fiora used the moisture in the air to form hundreds of icicles, flapping her wings to fire them like missiles.

Clang! Clang!

Metal met magic. Leon was cutting through her attacks and getting closer.

Fiora took to the sky, but Leon launched himself after her. He tossed aside his damaged weapons and drew his final sword.

She summoned wind to pull him even closer—into her strike range.

“Dragon’s Roar!”

“Sky-Splitting Dragon-Slaying Slash!”

The two attacks collided. The entire palace shook. Both were blasted away, crashing into different pillars.

Leon flipped in midair, kicked off a support column, and launched himself like a cannonball.

He smashed into Fiora with a powerful kick, sending them both crashing through the palace walls.

Fiora, beaten and dizzy, reverted to her human form and crashed into a snowbank head-first like a radish.

“Hey, Fiora.”

A hand grabbed her ankle and dragged her out of the snow.

She realized her panties were showing and panicked, trying to cover herself.

Leon’s red eyes stared at her like he wanted to eat her alive.

Shaking, Fiora couldn’t say a word.

Leon let go, and she collapsed onto the snow, sitting in a helpless duck-like posture.

He stood over her, his shadow stretching across the snow, face flushed with rage.

Fiora looked up, her heart pounding.

Please, someone save me. Not again. Not another psycho out for revenge. Can I just fall in love once before I die again?!

Leon leaned down, rummaging through his belongings.

Oh god, he’s gonna kill me—he’s actually gonna kill me—

Fiora hugged her head and started crying.

CLACK!

She heard a strange noise—and opened her eyes.

There was a collar around her neck.

Attached to a chain.

And Leon was holding it.

He stared at her with a weird, almost pervy expression.

“….”

Fiora touched the collar, stunned.

“….”

Leon opened his mouth to say something—but stayed silent.

“…!”

“…?”

It finally hit her.

Fiora’s face went pale.

This lunatic Sword Saint wasn’t just here to kill her…

He was going to humiliate her first!