Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

“The pleasure is mine,” Chloe responded in a manner that she deemed the most apt and suitable. She had just been a girl who happened to have superpowers and went around the town during the night, committing vigilantism.

But now, she was face to face with leaders of their respective races and these leaders were not of her kind. They weren’t even races that she knew existed, but it was only a matter of course since she was now in another world, in the most literal sense.

The pressure from speaking to a person of supreme authority was great enough. The blatant suspicions from the two individuals standing behind Iluna did not help in easing her brimming anxiety. The two were glaring at Chloe as if they were expecting Chloe to suddenly hit their precious priestess.

The two were Rex and Iora. They were Iluna’s personal guards. It was only natural that they would be wary of strangers or newcomers, especially if the fresh face had a very strained expression. In short, the two sides were at a misunderstanding of the other’s intentions.

While Iora’s glare was only at the level of basic caution, Rex was staring at Chloe as if he were absolutely sure Chloe would attack Iluna. Judging from the grin that he was keeping suppressed, it looked as if he wanted Chloe to strike just so he could strike back in retaliation.

“Iora, Rex, stand down,” Iluna commanded when she noticed the heavy air permeating between them.

Iora relented immediately but Rex still had his hostile expectant gaze.

“Rex, I said stand down.”

“But Milady, this girl here is—”

“You will address her as Lady Chloe, Rex. She is the co-host of this feast and the bride of Lord Henry. Do not let me repeat myself again, Rex. Stand down.”

Rex relented and took a step back. Before he knew it, he was drawing eyes to him. People were still talking to one another but they were casting glances his way furtively.

Iluna turned her apologetic gaze to Henry. “Forgive me, Lord Henry. My guards were just… cautious given what happened—” Iluna held her tongue before she spoke any further.

“What happened?” Henry questioned.

Iluna smiled wryly. “No, it’s nothing, Lord Henry. It’s a subject that is not suited for such an occasion. Let us not dwell on the problems for now. A great array of dishes await your tasting, Lord Henry.”

Iluna’s smile became merry as she gestured at the delectable and vast amount of food that was served on a long table that spanned more than ten metres.

Henry did not overlook how Iluna shrewdly changed the topic but that was a problem for another time. As Iluna had said, now was the time to enjoy the feast, not to dwell on problems.

And so, Henry turned his focus to the dishes entirely. That was enough conflict and politics in the meantime. Now, he just wanted to enjoy his leisure time.

Henry assumed his human form to avoid inconveniencing the others. Henry’s eyes gleamed brightly when he got close enough to the table. The dishes smelled even better from up close.

“W-welcome back… Henry…” came a timid and hesitant voice from behind.

Henry turned around and saw the teetering figure of Alayne, who had come out of the cave. Yula was walking by her side. Clearly, she was the one who convinced Alayne to join in on the feast. Still, Alayne was still glancing everywhere nervously.

“I’m back, Alayne.”

Going by her flushed cheeks and her shivering gaze, Henry surmised she had yet to come to a decision for his confession.

“Who is she?” Chloe asked in a whisper.

“A lost adventurer, you could say.”

“No offence but she looked like a prisoner who had just been freed from captivity.”

Henry tittered. “That’s a close description of her circumstances. Well, she was not locked in a prison cell or a cage.”

“You know what? Scratch that. She reminds me of a friend I had. She looked just like this when she was confessed to by a notorious playboy in school. Did you—”

“I did not kidnap her to use her as a sex slave if that’s where your wonderful imagination is leaning towards.”

Chloe stared dubiously in response to Henry’s denial. “Uh huh… Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you after we have filled our bellies.” Henry said and turned back to the table. He couldn’t exactly blame Chloe for her doubts. He did make out with Yula in public, after all.

Strangely enough, no one had started eating yet. They had started drinking but the food was untouched.

“The first bite of this feast is yours, Lord Henry,” said the queen of the Kivu Tribe.

“Then don’t mind if I do,” Henry said and took a piece of a pie that seemed to be stuffed with juicy meat and some herbs. He also gave a piece to each of his women, Rayne included.

“Bon appetit,” Henry muttered and took the first bite.

His eyes widened in amazement. The fragrance, aroma, and taste were unlike anything he had ever tried. It was so delectable to his tongue that he took another bite before he finished chewing the first.

Seeing Henry’s enthusiasm in devouring the piece of the pie, everyone took that as a sign of Henry’s favour. They erupted into a cheer.

The abrupt and loud cheer spooked Alayne and Chloe. The former dropped her pie before she could taste it but fortunately, Yula saved Alayne’s pie with a shadow tendril.

“T-thanks…” Alayne muttered as she took the pie from the shadow tendril.

“You’re welcome,” Yula said with a smile and retracted the tendril back into her shadow.

Once the feast officially began, with Henry’s first bite as the overture, liquor was being served to everyone, though some had already started drinking beforehand.

For Henry, his women, and the two leaders of their respective people, each had their own servants pouring liquor for them. While Henry didn’t recognise the ones serving his women, he did recognise the Kivu serving him

“Ruir, was it?” Henry asked.

The orange-haired Kivu nodded with a beaming smile. “You remember me, my lord!”

She was the Kivu Henry had saved from a Manticore.

“I am so honoured that you are able to remember a lowly Kivu such as I…” Ruri continued to mutter her delight in awe.

“You are not lowly, Ruri. You were brave enough to confront a manticore just so I could run to safety.”

“That was presumptuous of me, my lord. At that time, I didn’t know you were—”

“That’s beside the point, Ruri. We were strangers then, but you didn’t hesitate to help me at the cost of your own life.”

“Y-your praise is excessive… my lord!”

“Unbelievable…” Chloe scoffed. She was sitting just a seat away from Henry, with Yula in between to her left, and she could hear and see how Henry so naturally flirted with the Kivu.

She noticed there were a few others who were also eyeing Henry’s sweet exchange with the Kivu named Ruri, namely the Kivu Queen herself.

“Is he always like this?” Chloe asked Yula in a low voice.

Yula tittered in response. “Only to those he fancies.”

“And how many girls does he fancy?”

Yula shrugged. Her merry and nonchalant expression remained unchanged. “More than I can count, I’m sure.”

Chloe frowned. “And you’re not worried?”

“I have no reason to. If you open your heart to him, you’ll understand.”

“You best get yourself out of here before you fall too deep,” came an offhand remark from Chloe’s right.

Chloe turned her gaze and found Rayne quietly eating and drinking her fill.

“The master’s greed is as boundless as a human’s. Who knows how many women he’ll end up having in a year? As you can see—” Rayne’s eyes subtly gestured at the few women around the table who were giving Henry furtive glances. “—there’s already a lot of volunteers. Knowing his lust well, he’ll have no problem satisfying them all.”

“You’re Rayne, right?”

Rayne nodded.

“I heard about you.”

“I certainly hope you have.”

“You tried to turn Henry into your servant but you became the servant instead.”

“Fate does love its irony.”

“I don’t believe it’s irony. This is karma.”

“Karma?”

“Divine retribution. Fate’s punishment, you could say.”

“It is what it is. Regardless, I am now nothing more than a mere servant.”

“...Are you now, truly?”

Rayne cast a sidelong glance at Chloe. “What are you suggesting?”

“Those furtive glances were thrown at Henry… Your eyes are one of them.”

Though it was faint, Chloe saw the slight twitch in Rayne’s supposed impassive expression.

“The mead must be getting to your head, Lady Chloe,” Rayne said, turning her face away.

“How else would you have noticed those furtive glances if you weren’t throwing one at Henry yourself?”

“I-I’m his servant. I’m just doing my duty.”

“And what duty is that?”

Rayne kept her silence and simply resumed nibbling on her food and sipping on her drink.

Henry, with his heightened senses, heard the exchange between Chloe and Rayne.

Huh… so Rayne’s already in love with me… That’s… odd.

Henry mused in his heart. As far as he was aware, he had done nothing intimate with Rayne. If he had to make a guess, he would say that it was either due to her having to listen to his nightly sessions with Sarynn and Yula or his lenient treatment towards her despite being his prison slave, or both.

While Henry was deep in thought, he felt something weighing against him from his left. It was Sarynn.

Henry was surprised to see how flushed Sarynn’s face was and her gaze was wobbly. She was even giggling to herself while rubbing her head against his shoulder.

“Are you alright, Sarynn?” Henry asked.

Sarynn giggled some more and threw her arms around him. “I love you, darling~!” she purred.

Needless to say, Sarynn’s sloppy display of affection drew much attention but all of them were prudent enough to turn the other way.

Sarynn tightened her embrace and began kissing Henry’s face all over, all the while giggling without stopping.

Oh, dear… She’s absolutely wasted. Just how much did she drink?

As if his thoughts were heard, an answer came.

“She drank only two mugs,” said Alayne, who was sitting to Sarynn’s left.

“Only two?”

Alayne nodded.

Henry looked at the pile of empty plates in front of Sarynn. There were mountains of them. In just a short amount of time, she had eaten so much but two mugs of mead was all it took to take her down for the count.

Before Henry realised, Sarynn had fallen asleep in her lap.

“Allow me, master.”

Rayne had walked up to him as he was just thinking about carrying Sarynn back to the cave.

Henry nodded and smiled knowingly.

Rayne frowned and quickly averted his gaze. Without letting her gaze wander to Henry, she scooped the unconscious Sarynn into her arms. She then carried the Azure Serpent to the cave as if the latter weighed nothing.

“Mom, please? I want to sit beside Henry,” Rinea pleaded.

Henry’s attention was reeled to the mother-daughter duo across from him. From the start of the feast until now, Rinea had been begging to sit in Henry’s lap. When her wish was repeatedly denied, she came to a compromise of just sitting near Henry.

Tiana looked towards Henry with a wry smile. “I’m so sorry about this, Lord Henry, but can you perhaps entertain my daughter’s selfish wish?”

Now that Sarynn had retired from the feast, the seat to his left was empty and Rinea saw her chance.

“I suppose that will be quite alright,” Henry gave his reluctant consent.

Immediately, Rinea hopped across the table with a magnificent and graceful flip and landed perfectly on her rear.

The Lavans were dumbfounded by this acrobatic feat of the Kivu Princess. Alayne and Chloe had similar reactions. Yula wasn’t that surprised and neither was Henry. The two had known about the princess’ agility and speed the last time the Kivus came to visit.

Rinea snickered bashfully at Henry with a gleeful smile.

Henry could only give a gleeful smile in return, as gleeful as he could make it out to be.

The feast continued in such a fashion. Henry was hounded with all sorts of questions from the Kivu Princess as he struggled to enjoy his food and drinks. Since the food and drinks were delicious and savoury, he was able to endure Rinea’s questioning until the end of the feast drew near.