Chapter 390: The Scent of a Dragon Lingers

Somehow, Ryan had already grown completely accustomed to what happened at dawn after a grand party was held inside his castle. The morning silence always contrasted with the uproar of the previous night, leaving him as one of the few awake first thing in the morning.

Although, to be honest, his immunity to alcohol was something that truly bothered him whenever he tried to celebrate with the others.

In his original world, Ryan had no interest whatsoever in going out drinking until he got drunk. The splitting headache and the discomfort of a hangover the next day were things he simply couldn’t deal with, as he always had so much pending work to finish.

But now that he was living in another world and held such a different position, he at least wanted to allow himself the luxury of getting drunk from time to time, relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere alongside the rest of his people.

Of course, he knew that the malaise or headache of a hangover wouldn’t affect him in the slightest thanks to his own healing abilities, but that annoying passive immunity to poisons and toxins he possessed activated automatically with every sip, instantly purifying his body and completely preventing him from getting drunk no matter how much he drank.

Despite that small personal inconvenience that kept him sober all night, he was very glad to see the good result those celebrations caused on the morale of Kowarre’s inhabitants, who coexisted better and better regardless of their races.

When Ryan walked out into the wide exterior courtyard to get some fresh air, he looked up at the clear sky, and in the distance, he could see Chloe flying peacefully on one of the castle’s wyverns. The young human seemed to have gotten up early to practice her handling of the aerial mounts around the mountain.

Inside the compound, however, the panorama was very different. With the exception of Alicia and Eva, who since very early on had been pacing back and forth scolding the maids to wake up already and clean up the whole mess of tables and barrels left in the hall from the night before, all the other women in Ryan’s group were still fast asleep.

Even Ophelia herself was still resting at that hour; taking advantage of the general carelessness at the end of the party, she had ended up sneaking in and falling asleep in Ryan’s very own bed alongside all the other girls.

Knowing her, she had probably stayed there hoping intimate things would happen during the early hours of the morning, to which Ryan gave no priority whatsoever.

Leaving behind the commotion of the maids in the hallways, Ryan walked to the edge and looked out over the entire town stretching out below the castle’s mountain. The new houses built by the elves and the workshops were beginning to fill with movement with the first rays of the sun.

‘This whole place, we have to work on modernizing it more,’ Ryan thought as he evaluated the terrain and remembered the trade agreements he was about to finalize that very same morning.

While he observed the streets from high above, subtle and delicate footsteps, devoid of any trace of hostility or danger, approached across the courtyard straight toward Ryan’s position.

Immediately recognizing the nature of that energy without needing to turn and look, he spoke with total tranquility.

“I didn’t think you were the type of person who likes these parties, Janina,” Ryan commented, keeping his gaze fixed on the landscape in front of him.

Behind his back, the darkness dragon stopped her stride a few meters away and laughed subtly at such a spot-on comment about her reserved character.

“You are right, I don’t enjoy such noisy environments, but if my master likes it, I have no reason to refuse to attend,” Janina replied with that serene voice that always characterized her when accompanying the demon queen.

Hearing her, Ryan turned toward her calmly. As he turned, his gaze moved first from the beautiful pink-haired woman standing in front of him, straight to her left hand, where Roxy lay fast asleep, being carried by the waist as if she were mere luggage without any kind of effort on the dragoness’s part.

Despite being carried through the air in such an uncomfortable position, the large-breasted subordinate didn’t even flinch after everything she had drunk at last night’s celebration.

“And from what I see, you’re already leaving with Roxy, but aren’t you going to wake Ophelia? She’s still in my room.”

“No, I am only interested in this woman fulfilling her guard duty in the Armenes tower. Roxy is very useful, but if we neglect her, she will pick up the habit of slacking off,” Janina explained, lightly adjusting the sleepyhead under her arm before taking her back to their territory.

Ryan observed how calmly the dragoness prepared to leave, leaving her master sleeping peacefully in a foreign kingdom after having signed the pact the night before.

“Ophelia trusts you a lot for Kowarre’s security, so much so that she can waste time here so calmly, isn’t that right?” Ryan questioned, referring to the nonchalance with which the demon queen handled her own affairs.

“My master is hopeless; when she wants to do something, there is no one who can stop her,” Janina answered, letting out a soft sigh, quite accustomed to her leader’s sudden whims.

Even though an alliance between their nations had just been signed, Ryan still found it curious that an escort so devoted to her duty would leave her queen alone in a castle full of powerful warriors.

“But are you okay with that? Aren’t you worried she’s here so vulnerable?” Ryan asked with some doubt.

“Not at all. If you are here, her safety is guaranteed,” the dragoness assured him, looking him straight in the eyes with absolute confidence in the power he possessed.

“I think you overestimate my abilities, Janina,” Ryan replied, downplaying her words with modesty.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she replied, a subtle smile forming on her face before changing the course of the conversation. “Did you know that the scent of dragons lingers much longer on the bodies of their masters?”

Ryan raised an eyebrow slightly, finding no relation between that fact and what they were talking about.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked, trying to understand where such a sudden question was coming from.

Then, without answering his doubt with words, Janina advanced toward Ryan, melting into the ground with her darkness technique. In the blink of an eye, the shadow slid across the snow and she positioned herself right behind him, materializing only the upper half of her body at his back while the other half carrying Roxy remained hidden in the darkness.

Before he could turn around to see what she intended to do at such close range, and without saying absolutely anything, she leaned toward his neck and bit Ryan’s ear softly with her lips and teeth.

“What are you doing?” Ryan asked, bringing his hand to that side of his head; he was completely surprised by the sudden contact and took two involuntary steps back to put some distance between them.

If it had been Lise or one of his other women, it wouldn’t have seemed strange to him. But coming from someone as serious and distant as Janina, it was an attitude he hadn’t expected at all.

“You’ll understand when you go to the demon kings’ meeting. Goodbye,” Janina bid farewell with an amused smile from the ground, disappearing completely into her own darkness to embark on her journey back.

Once the dragoness’s presence vanished completely, leaving the courtyard in silence once again, Ryan stood rooted to the spot, holding his ear right where he had been bitten a few seconds ago.

“I really don’t understand what she intended with that. Though, the Walpurgis is very close now. Alright, it’s time to set my plan in motion,” Ryan murmured to himself, brushing that strange event aside and turning around to head back inside the castle, where Edwin and William should already be waking up to start their business meeting.