Cold lingered in the air long after the panic settled.
Hunters moved again — cautiously, quietly — like prey pretending not to notice the apex predator resting among them.
Ethan was starting to realize something uncomfortable:
Everywhere Lyssara stood…
became her territory.
The guildmaster recovered enough to begin barking orders, forcing the perimeter back into motion.
"Stabilize the gate remains!"
"Get the wounded to med-units!"
"No one provoke the sovereign!"
That last command was delivered with very deliberate eye contact toward several younger hunters gripping their weapons too tightly.
Ethan shifted awkwardly.
"So… what happens now?"
Lyssara answered without hesitation.
"We leave."
The guildmaster stepped forward quickly.
"That will not be necessary."
Both Ethan and Lyssara looked at him.
He swallowed — visibly — but held his ground.
"Until the Hunter Council assesses the situation, we ask that you remain within the city under supervision."
Lyssara's gaze cooled several degrees.
"You ask a queen for supervision?"
Mana thickened again.
Hunters stiffened.
The guildmaster raised his hands slightly.
"A diplomatic precaution," he said carefully. "Your sudden appearance will cause… instability."
"He means panic," Ethan translated.
"Correct."
Lyssara studied the man for a moment that stretched uncomfortably long.
Then she spoke.
"I will remain," she said at last, "because my husband currently lacks territory."
Ethan blinked.
"…I do?"
"A king without land invites challengers," she replied calmly.
The guildmaster looked faintly ill at the word king but wisely chose not to comment.
Instead, he gestured toward the transport vehicles waiting beyond the perimeter.
"We have secured a high-grade residence normally reserved for visiting S-ranks."
Lyssara nodded once.
"Acceptable."
Then her arm slipped around Ethan's again.
He was starting to suspect she simply enjoyed ignoring personal space.
They had barely taken two steps when a wave of dizziness struck him.
The world tilted.
His knees nearly buckled.
Lyssara caught him instantly.
Her grip tightened.
"Ethan."
"I'm fine," he said automatically.
He was not fine.
Heat pulsed under his skin — sharp, restless — as if his blood were trying to relearn how to flow.
Lyssara's eyes narrowed.
"The bloodline is awakening."
"Feels less like awakening and more like attempted murder," he muttered.
Without warning, she pressed her palm flat against his chest.
Cold flooded through him.
Not painful.
Stabilizing.
Hunters nearby pretended very hard not to stare.
"Your body is restructuring," she said quietly. "Bones densifying. Mana channels forming."
"Forming?"
"You had none before."
That explained the sensation of being rebuilt from the inside.
He let out a slow breath.
"Is this going to keep happening?"
"For several days."
"…Fantastic."
They reached the vehicle — reinforced, rune-layered, built to transport beings far more dangerous than Ethan had ever dreamed of becoming.
Before he could climb inside, a voice called out:
"WAIT!"
The researcher sprinted toward them, hair half-fallen from its tie, instruments bobbing wildly behind her.
She stopped just short of Lyssara's frost radius.
"Please," she said, trying and failing to hide her excitement. "May I ask one question?"
Lyssara did not respond.
The silence stretched until Ethan cleared his throat.
"One question sounds harmless."
Lyssara glanced at him.
Then back at the researcher.
"Speak."
The woman pushed her glasses up again.
"When the contract formed… did you feel compulsion? Loss of autonomy? Binding pressure?"
Lyssara's lips curved faintly.
"No."
Her hand slid from Ethan's chest down to his wrist — fingers loosely circling it.
"I chose him."
The researcher shivered.
"Then the system doesn't enslave sovereigns…"
"No," Lyssara said.
"If anything—"
Her thumb brushed slowly across the inside of Ethan's wrist.
The contact sent a strange current up his arm.
"It recognizes compatibility."
Ethan pretended he did not notice several hunters suddenly looking away.
The researcher scribbled frantically into a floating panel.
"Incredible… equal-bond theory confirmed…"
Then she looked at Ethan.
"And you? Do you feel loyalty pressure?"
He considered it.
Did he feel forced?
Controlled?
No.
But…
When Lyssara touched him, something deep inside him quieted.
Aligned.
Like instinct recognizing instinct.
"…No pressure," he admitted. "But ignoring her feels like a very bad idea."
Lyssara looked pleased.
The researcher clutched her notes tighter.
"One more — purely academic — question."
Ethan sighed.
"Of course."
"Has physical proximity increased synchronization yet?"
"…Synchronization?"
Lyssara answered smoothly.
"Our bond strengthens with closeness."
The researcher nearly vibrated.
"Fascinating…"
Ethan, meanwhile, was stuck on one word.
Closeness.
As if sensing his thoughts, Lyssara turned toward him.
"Ride with me."
"We're both riding in the same vehicle," he said.
"That is not what I meant."
Before he could react, she stepped inside and sat — then pulled him down beside her.
Close.
Very close.
Their thighs touched.
Her arm draped easily behind him.
Possessive without effort.
The door sealed.
The engine hummed.
Outside, the city began to roll past.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Ethan focused on breathing normally.
Which became increasingly difficult when he realized Lyssara was watching him.
Not casually.
Intently.
"…Is there something on my face?" he asked.
"You are warm."
"Most humans are."
"Warmer than before."
Her fingers lifted — slow, deliberate — and brushed his neck.
He froze.
The contact lasted barely a second.
Yet the system flared instantly.
Physical Contact Detected.Bond Level Increased → 2
Passive Effect Strengthening.
Ethan inhaled sharply.
"You felt that?" she asked.
"Hard not to."
"Good."
She tilted her head slightly, studying him like a puzzle she intended to solve.
"Dragons learn their mates through touch," she said.
The word mates did something unpredictable to his pulse.
"…Is that so."
"You will grow accustomed to it."
"I feel like that wasn't a suggestion."
"It was not."
Silence fell again — heavier now.
Charged.
After a moment, Lyssara spoke once more.
"You showed restraint earlier."
"With your former companions."
He shrugged faintly.
"Killing them wouldn't undo anything."
"Many rulers kill to establish dominance."
"And many rulers get stabbed in their sleep," he replied.
Something like approval flickered in her eyes.
"Pragmatic," she said.
Her gaze lowered slightly — tracing the line of his throat, the shape of his shoulders, as though committing them to memory.
"You are still fragile," she added.
"I'm sitting right here."
"But you did not break," she continued. "Even when my mana flooded the chamber."
"…Was breaking a possibility?"
"Very."
That was deeply unsettling.
The vehicle slowed.
Through the window, Ethan saw towering buildings — the inner district.
Hunter territory.
Money territory.
Definitely not porter territory.
The vehicle stopped before a massive residential complex layered with defensive runes.
The doors opened.
Lyssara stood first.
Then she reached back.
Not offering help.
Expecting his hand.
After the briefest hesitation…
He took it.
The moment their skin met, frost curled lazily around their joined fingers.
Hunters stationed nearby went rigid.
Whispers spread again.
"They're holding hands…"
"Is that normal for a sovereign bond?"
"Why does it look so… natural?"
Lyssara ignored them completely.
Inside, the residence was absurdly luxurious — high ceilings, reinforced walls, mana-filtered lighting.
Safe enough for disasters.
Or newly married dragon queens, apparently.
Ethan stepped into the main living space.
Then stopped.
There was one bed.
Large.
Opulent.
Unmistakably singular.
He turned slowly.
"…Guild hospitality seems optimistic."
Lyssara glanced at it once.
Then back at him.
"Dragons sleep beside their mates."
His brain stalled.
"Immediately?"
"Yes."
"No adjustment period?"
She stepped closer.
Close enough that cool air brushed his lips when she spoke.
"You are overthinking."
Her hand rose again — this time resting lightly against his chest, right over his racing heart.
It thundered beneath her palm.
Lyssara's eyes softened.
"…It calls to me."
Before he could process that sentence, the system flared once more.
Bond Reaction Detected.Dragon Mate Instinct — Emerging
Warning: Increased attraction between bonded partners.
Ethan swallowed.
"This system gives very alarming notifications."
"You will survive them," Lyssara said calmly.
Then she walked past him toward the bed — utterly unconcerned — and sat upon its edge like a queen claiming her throne.
She looked back at him.
Waiting.
Expecting.
The message was painfully clear.
Ethan glanced once at the door.
At the windows.
At the enormous, very singular bed.
Then back at the Frost Dragon Queen who now watched him with faint, unmistakable interest.
His old life had ended barely an hour ago.
And already…
Nothing about his new one was going to be simple.