The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 11 Part 9 - Memory

Morning arrived after he had stayed up all night overseeing the aftermath.

Francis, having likely received the report that the dragon hunt had been successfully completed, handed over the Empress’s protection to another knight and came to the main palace to check on his father.

“You’re unharmed.”

“I didn’t even get the chance to cut a single scale off the dragon.”

His voice was blunt, but there was a hint of satisfaction in it. Francis could tell his father was in an unusually good mood.

The attendant who had guided him there, on the other hand, quietly averted his gaze.

‘As expected of a man of pure martial spirit… he must be disappointed he didn’t get to fight the dragon.’

That wasn’t what Alexander had meant at all—but that was how it sounded.

After receiving permission from Francis to leave, the attendant withdrew.

“You had your own duties. Why did you come all the way here?”

“When I heard the dragon had been captured, I grew concerned. And once Her Majesty hears the news, she’ll surely ask after you, Father—so I needed to see for myself.”

In any case, his assignment would end today.

Francis had noticed that while Anais was glad to have him as her guard, she also felt somewhat uncomfortable.

‘It’s probably because His Majesty keeps clinging to her at every opportunity.’

She had never even had a proper relationship growing up. Given the standing of the Ruol family, she couldn’t just be matched with any household, and it must have been difficult for her to date freely.

And when she had finally become engaged through their father’s arrangements, the man she had thought was innocent had turned out to be trash.

‘At least she managed to avoid the Crown Prince’s attention… but it still ended up like this.’

The Ruol family had long avoided marriage ties with the imperial family, so Francis had expected his father to be furious.

But when Anais asked for it, he hadn’t been able to say anything.

After all, Anais had never asked anything of him before.

There had only been one time, when she was young, that she had written a letter asking him to come home—but that had been a wish he couldn’t grant.

‘Still… the Emperor seems to care for Anais a great deal. It should be fine.’

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Seeing that his father was safe was enough.

Alexander gave a curt nod. Even if it was the final day, Francis was still assigned to guard the Empress—it was only right that he return as soon as possible.

With expressionless faces, father and son turned their backs on each other and returned to their respective places.

***

The fact that a dragon had appeared in the imperial palace—and that it had been successfully hunted—was being kept secret, but the mages were busy.

First, they had to drain the dragon’s blood. Then came the work of skinning it, carving out the flesh, and extracting the dragon heart.

Because of its massive size, draining the blood took a considerable amount of time, and the stench of blood was overwhelming. The imperial mages and the mages of the Mage Tower struggled greatly just to eliminate the smell.

The Emperor entrusted the division of the dragon’s corpse entirely to Sion. After discussing it with Emilio’s disciple, Sion decided on an 80–20 split.

It was true that Emilio had contributed greatly to the hunt, but the one who had ultimately cut off the dragon’s life was Rodrigo, and it had been the imperial mages who suppressed the dragon’s magic.

Even so, what the Mage Tower took was most of the dragon’s meat, its organs, and some of its blood and bones. The imperial family received the dragon’s bones, hide, a large portion of its blood, and the dragon heart.

“Now all that remains is to investigate the dragon’s palace.”

Sion spoke with a satisfied expression, clearly pleased with the outcome of the discussion. It was only natural—they had secured bones, claws, horns, teeth, and hide that could easily be crafted into weapons, as well as blood and the dragon heart, which could be used for alchemy.

But Emilio’s disciple didn’t seem dissatisfied either. Although the Mage Tower had been involved in this operation, in reality, only the Tower Master and a handful of disciples had exerted any real effort.

Dragon meat and organs were generally considered useless, but they could still serve as materials for magical research. And the Mage Tower only needed a portion of the bones anyway.

The Mage Tower rarely manufactured weapons themselves, and even when they did, the initial shaping was done elsewhere before being brought in. When they made magical tools from dragon bones, it was usually small items, so they didn’t need large quantities.

The only regret was the dragon heart, but since it had been the imperial mages who held the dragon down with counter-magic, there was no helping it.

“Then we’ll meet again after the festival, at the next meeting.”

With that, the Emperor’s side and the Mage Tower’s side, each having gathered their agreements, shook hands and parted ways. Even though the leaders of both factions were absent, it had been a smooth negotiation.

***

It was late morning.

By the time Anais, now fully awake, had finished getting ready and sat across from Rahil, he began explaining what had happened the night before. Even then, Anais still felt embarrassed remembering how she had suddenly woken at dawn and burst into tears.

When she heard from Rahil that the dragon had been hunted right here in the imperial palace, she was shocked. Even if the Emperor’s palace and the main palace were separate, they were still close enough to travel between by carriage.

‘I didn’t notice anything at all.’

They said the dragon had been killed, yet she hadn’t even heard its roar. More than that, the fact that it had been killed inside the palace rather than lured outside felt unbelievable.

“The people who fought…?”

“They’re safe. Some of the mages overexerted themselves and collapsed, but no one died.”

In truth, they hadn’t just collapsed—they had coughed up blood and fallen—but Rahil didn’t say that. Anais would only worry.

He pulled the still-shaken Anais into his arms and whispered softly.

“I told you everything would be fine. That nothing would happen. You can trust me.”

For the first time since their marriage, Rahil seemed dependable to her.