Chapter 17 : On the brink (4)

6:00 AM sharp.

With not a hint of hesitation, Dante sat upright in bed and immediately climbed down, neatly folding the bedding in practiced motions.

Yeonhwa, who had fallen asleep beside him the night before, was curled up in her fox form on one side of the sheet, her eyes gently closed.

Well, it made sense. Ever since she was stripped of her divine status and banished to the mortal realm, she had struggled to survive in the forest, reduced to the form of a mere beast.

Sleeping soundly in a warm, comfortable place must’ve been a rare luxury for her.

Careful not to wake her, Dante tiptoed his way to the bathroom and slowly, silently closed the door behind him.

Click.

The door shut with a soft, soundless latch.

“Phew… Mission complete.”

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Dante approached the shiny, polished sink to wash his face.

Just as he reached for the faucet—

“…Huh?”

Dante stared dumbly at the mirror.

To be more precise, he narrowed his eyes and focused on the faint red mark lingering on his cheek.

“That’s weird… Are there mosquitoes in the castle or something? When the hell did this happen—”

Ah.

As if something clicked, he brought his hand to his lips, a conflicted look spreading across his face.

The image of that beautiful woman vividly surfaced in his mind.

The feel of her lips.

“…Hiiik…”

And right on cue, the image of another woman popped into his head. Dante recoiled, grimacing.

‘──Which son of a b*tch was it?’ Olivia’s voice echoed in his head, sending shivers down his spine. The dragon’s anger, her possessiveness, had been genuine. Very genuine.

The wrath and murderous aura she had unleashed when she claimed to smell another’s scent on him—it wasn’t an exaggeration.

It wasn’t a bluff.

“It really happened…! You dumb*ss…!!”

Truly, human greed knows no bounds. We always repeat the same mistakes.

Slapping his cheeks in frustration, Dante stomped his feet like a panicked child.

She had thrown a fit just from hugging someone—how would she react when he’d not only been cradled in another’s lap but kissed? A dragon as sensitive to scent as her?

────There’s no f*cking chance she won’t find out.

Don’t kid yourself. The Olivia I know isn’t some soft-hearted dragon.

Whoosh!

Creaaak! Creaaak!

Shhhhhh!

Throwing off his pajamas without a care, Dante hurled himself into the bathtub and began furiously scrubbing himself under the shower.

He scrubbed as if his very life depended on it, desperate to erase any trace of Yeonhwa’s scent.

***

After scrubbing himself raw, like a man suffering from OCD, Dante finally emerged from the bathroom. Now dressed in a simple shirt and black shorts, a towel draped over his shoulder, he sprayed deodorant over every inch of his body.

His pale skin was now practically bleached from the excessive washing.

Patting his damp hair dry with a towel, Dante bit his lip.

No. This still wasn’t enough. Olivia didn’t want his body to smell like nothing—she wanted it to smell like her.

If there’s no scent at all, she’s bound to get suspicious again.

Which meant… there was only one thing he had to do.

“Sigh… F*ck my life.”

How the hell did I end up sticking my hand into a dragon’s mouth?

With the look of a man marching to his doom, Dante trudged forward, determination written all over his face.

***

Except on special occasions, Olivia usually slept in her dragon form.

The massive black dragon, coiled up like royalty in the castle’s grand central hall, was a scene straight out of a painting.

She was also notoriously hard to wake up.

“[Z… zz… z]”

Just as expected. As Dante quietly tiptoed down the long hallway, he spotted Olivia fast asleep, eyes shut tight.

Still on his toes, Dante crept toward the very tip of her tail and stood there silently, staring at it for a good minute.

“Alright, alright… okay.”

He took a deep breath, whispering reassurances to himself like a man about to perform a stunt.

“One… two…!”

Thud!

Eyes squeezed shut, he flung himself onto her tail.

“Urgh..! It’s cold—wait, no, it’s… warm?”

Surprised, Dante gently ran his fingers over the black scales.

He had expected them to be rough and freezing cold, given the chill of morning air—but to his shock, they were smooth like silk, with a surprising warmth.

‘Yeonhwa’s fur is nice… but this…’

The sensation was dangerously addictive.

Depending on the angle, the glossy black shimmered beautifully under the light.

Whoever groomed her must’ve done a fantastic job.

Whoever that might be.

“Heh.”

Rubbing his cheek affectionately against the scales, Dante soaked in Olivia’s scent.

It wasn’t out of desire, of course. It was purely a matter of survival. Let’s be clear on that.

“…H-how about I pluck one…?”

It’s not because I want to, okay?

If he could fashion a necklace from one of her scales and wear it around, it might neutralize other scents and lessen her suspicions.

It was a gamble worth taking.

Still nestled against her tail, Dante cautiously grasped one of the smallest black scales between his fingers.

Alright, now slowly pull—

…Wait. Didn’t I hear that dragon scales are as tough as steel? That they don’t come off or break from normal impact?

“Yeah, this is just going to hurt…”

Realizing the obvious, Dante awkwardly scratched his cheek.

Then what now? Should I just ask her when she wakes up? Pretend to be crazy?

But if she asks why, what do I say?

“[Wanna pluck one of my scales?]”
“Uh yes, thank you—huh?”

That familiar voice struck his ear like a thunderclap, and his thoughts evaporated.

…No, no way. I must be hearing things.

No way that overgrown lizard would wake up this early, right?

──She shouldn’t be awake.

With a vacant expression, Dante slowly turned his creaky neck like a rusted robot.

And met a pair of glowing, vertical crimson eyes that filled his entire vision—gleaming like massive rubies.

Leaning on one elbow with an unreadable smile, Olivia narrowed her eyes and spoke in that sensual voice of hers.

“[You want my scale, don’t you?]”
“…Since when… No, how much did you see…?”

Forget the scale, you dumb f*ck!

With a hopeless whimper, Dante’s voice echoed in the central hall.

Olivia, lips curled, lifted her tail with Dante still clinging to it and brought him close to her snout.

“[From the start, dumb*ss.]”

Seemingly in high spirits after witnessing something amusing early in the morning, Olivia gently stroked Dante’s head with a clawed finger.

Meanwhile, Dante’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, a perfect blend of shame and despair.

Olivia grinned and sealed his fate with a mischievous murmur.

“[───You were so into it, weren’t you?]”

The black dragon’s eyes sparkled with devilish delight.

F*ck.

Time to die.

Olivia, the Black Dragon, and Dante, the demon.

Olivia can control her size at will.