DMEC | Chapter 3

To show off the emperor’s majesty and power, they put the dragon’s head in an iron cage and continued a long procession.

The procession lasted until the second bell of the Angelus, which is prayed three times a day, rang, so it was quite a long time.

Leaving at dawn and arriving by lunchtime. As soon as the emperor dismounted, he threw off his long red cloak and unbuckled his armor with his own hands. The golden armor fell to the stone floor with a thud.

The emperor, who kicked aside the expensive armor without a care, finally sighed deeply in his now lighter attire and placed his hands on his waist.

Then, he looked around at the knights surrounding him, the chamberlain who came to greet him, and Grand Duke Yestan, who was handling affairs on his behalf, and spoke.

“I’m going to the Emperor’s Forest now.”

“What?”

Though it had been over ten years since he became emperor, he had never once gone to the Emperor’s Forest.

The reason was, “It’s gloomy and unlucky, and I don’t like that there’s a lake.”

Initially, he had even said he wanted to magically overturn the lake, but the lake was important to the trees in the Emperor’s Forest.

Snakes like water. Thinking of snakes swimming in the water hunting prey, he found it unlucky and never set foot in the Emperor’s Forest. But today, with sleepy eyes, he looked at the Emperor’s Forest and added.

“I’ll rest there, so no one will follow me. If anyone does.”

The emperor pointed with his thumb at the dragon’s head being brought in.

“You’ll have to pay with your heads.”

✮⋆˙

How many years has it been? Since I entered the forest with the lake?

The emperor slowly walked along a path wide enough for three or four people to walk comfortably and, for the first time, took a good look at the Emperor’s Forest.

As a child, he often came here to climb trees or play hide and seek with his only younger brother, Ratea, but after becoming emperor, he hadn’t come to this forest for any reason.

Why was that? As he entered the humid forest with the lake, his head throbbed with pain.

‘Joel!’

Who was it?

As the question arose, the child, whose memory was shrouded in mist, began to reveal their identity as he got closer to the lake.

A pretty child who peeked out from behind a tree and called to him. The child with a face that smiled brightly like sunlight had uniquely clear and transparent blue eyes.

With long, lush black hair and sapphire-like blue eyes, his skin was as white and soft as snow—so pale that the protruding parts, like his shoulders, elbows, knuckles, and knees, were tinged with a faint red, resembling a fragrant baby peach.

When he jokingly said he wanted to eat them, the gentle child would quietly offer his cheek.

‘Joel!’

The child, younger than him, always clung to his leg and looked up at him. He had to use honorifics because he was of lower status than the child, and the child naturally called him by name, despite being older.

But he didn’t feel bad. The child’s lips seemed to be made of flowers, and every time they called his name, it felt like a floral scent wafted through the air.

‘Joel!’

The emperor frowned at the cute and youthful voice he couldn’t forget even now.

His head hurt terribly. The child seemed to be running wildly in his mind, making it impossible to find peace, so the emperor impulsively decided to rest.

The Water Palace was here… The emperor recalled the annex called the Water Palace near the lakeside and headed there.

But who was that child? With blue eyes, it was clear which country they were from.

The country of snakes, Synthsis. That meant they were a child of the royal family.

Were they alive? Dead? Since there was no news, they weren’t dead, but why did his heart feel so uneasy and stifled?

‘Because I did wrong…’

As tears fell from the blue eyes, Joel clutched his head in pain so intense he couldn’t breathe.

The memory seemed to come back, then fade. Synthsis, the blue-eyed child, the lovely… my child who sat on his thigh and fed him candy, asking, “Is it tasty?”

My child? His face twisted at the word that popped into his mind. My child!

He clutched his chest as his past flashed by quickly.

A marriage that wasn’t a marriage, the child who cried looking at him, himself denying the child… Even though he thought he should forget, the pieces of memory kept fitting together, making his head feel like it was going to explode with pain.

“Damn…!”

If he could use Holy Magic to relieve the pain, it would be one thing, but for some reason, magic didn’t work. In the end, the emperor chose to go to the Water Palace as soon as possible to rest.

For some reason, his chest felt continuously stifled, as if he would die. He hastened his steps, taking off his neatly worn uniform jacket.

‘Joel!’

I know, so please stop calling my name, please. Please, because I did wrong… With each returning memory, the heavy emotions piled up, making him feel like his feet were sinking into a swamp. He wanted to escape from here quickly.

Without even knowing what this feeling was.

At a certain point, he heard the sound of water. The sound of someone rising from the water with a splash. The emperor frowned and swept aside the foliage blocking the lakeside with his arm.

At that moment, the Emperor’s eyes went blank as he caught sight of a slender, porcelain-white figure sitting naked by the lakeside, wringing out wet hair.

Long black hair draped over one shoulder, and sapphire-blue eyes met his gaze as delicate fingers squeezed the water from silken strands. With each slow blink, droplets clung to long lashes before falling onto pale thighs.

Having been in the water for a long time, his elbows, knees, shoulders, and collarbone were tinged with a deeper red… but above all, the most striking sight was his protruding nipples, flushed like ripe raspberries—perfect for sucking.

The body was one thing, but above all, the blue eyes that seemed surprised to see him were beautiful. The mysterious light flickering in them was like facing the sea directly.

“…Beautiful.”

Joel muttered in a hoarse voice. The one wringing out their hair slowly stood up and covered their body with a cloak that had fallen to the ground. As they looked at him with a peculiar gaze and moved their red lips, Joel let out a long breath and asked.

Unknowingly, he had become aroused, but the emperor didn’t even notice and muttered as he looked at the beautiful being.

“Are you… a fairy? I am Knight Commander Alexander Elrn.”

Why am I lying? That beautiful fairy can immediately tell human lies and truths. Joel, not knowing why he was lying, was captivated by the fairy’s moist blue eyes and muttered in a cracked voice.

“Really, I… promised to protect and love you forever…”

Ah, right. That child also had eyes as blue as that fairy. Though still young, he assured that they would become a great beauty as they grew, kissing the back of the child’s hand he carried in his arms, promising to protect them.

‘Really, Joel?’

The child’s laughter, like a hallucination, echoed. Emperor Joel Ragnus swallowed dryly as he met the flickering blue eyes looking at him.

This lake was a sacred place. It was known that fairies who stayed in the middle world came down every dawn riding unicorns to bathe here.

So, it must be a fairy. So beautiful. It couldn’t be seen as a living person. His head was dizzy, and he was so aroused that he was standing at attention, looking seriously at the beautiful being again, Joel’s eyes widened in shock.

The fairy had tears hanging from the same face as before. The tears, sparkling in the light, looked like diamonds.

Did something get in their eye?

The emperor, unable to approach, covered his growing lower half with foliage and swallowed a moan before speaking.

“Did you lose your wings and can’t go… Oh? Fairy!”

In the midst of Joel’s excited babbling, the fairy suddenly turned and sprinted forward. Barely managing to cover their naked body with a cloak, the fleeing figure looked like a white deer that had taken human form—elegant, beautiful, and heartbreakingly ephemeral.

Even as the dense foliage obscured glimpses of their body, Joel’s eyes never wavered from the sight. The fairy ran without looking back, as if terrified of his approach.

With each step, the cloak fluttered, lifting just enough to reveal pale, firm buttocks. Overwhelmed with excitement, the Emperor hastily undid his pants, exposing only his aroused member, and dropped to his knees.

Scattered on the ground lay what seemed to be the fairy’s discarded garments—a white shirt, black shorts, and presumed undergarments. Joel picked them up, burying his face in the fabric as if trying to inhale the very essence of the being who had just escaped him.

“Haahhhh…!”

It must be a fairy. The scent from the clothes is so good! The emperor, not missing a single whiff of the scent from the fairy’s top, bottom, and undergarments, quickly stroked his member with his right hand.

“Haah, fairy… Haahhh…!”

Just imagining the fairy in his arms, the emperor ejaculated into his palm. Lost in the afterglow of ejaculation, he blinked his dazed eyes and looked down at his palm.

A considerable amount of thick, white fluid soaked the white glove. Shocked by his first self-pleasure since learning about sex, the emperor was once again aroused by the fairy’s crying face that wouldn’t fade.

Come to think of it, why was the fairy crying?