The Dragon and the "Princess"

Chapter 1 Origins and first encounter

The dragon is just an ordinary one, like in many other fairy tales, this one is draped in black scales with golden pupils, powerful wings and sharp claws. And as expected, it also experiences problems like all other dragons, in which it likes all things shiny. In its cave, piles of ancient gold coins, leather and furs are messily laid out, as well as some assorted antiques. When this dragon was still a cub, his parents taught him that shiny golden things will one day help it win the heart of his mate, and that a female dragon would choose her beloved partner based on the decor of the male dragon’s lair. This dragon firmly took this advice to heart and worked hard every day to venture out and collect beautiful, shiny objects to fill his place of residence.

The dragon’s lair lies on a cliff close to the sea, and whenever the tide rises, the waves will carry with it some broken ships.These ships all originated from the other side of the world, where humans lived. This particular continent where they lived was called Issikai and there were various kingdoms, both large and small, that made up the land. The dragon only ever went there with his parents as a child, remembering the lonely magicians and wandering misfits. Of course, there was the memory of the gentle emperor and his empress along with their beautiful little princess. The little princess and her pink cheeks with slightly curly locks had still been in her cradle.

At the time, this dragon vaguely remembered that a problem had occurred when the little princess was in the Empress’ womb, and that she had a weird aura. The Emperor couldn’t stand to see his wife upset and decided to ask the Oprah Clan from across the sea, who were this dragon’s parents, for some help. After a long night of discussion between the Emperor and the dragon couple, the Emperor and Empress dismissed the Oprah Clan. Before they left, the young dragon had felt that the color of the little princess’ hair and his own scales bore a striking resemblance in color to one another. He polished a piece of his scale to be made into jewelry for her when she was a little older. It complimented her hair very well, and was therefore regarded as a birthday gift for her. This memory replayed multiple times throughout his life and he oftentimes felt that it was the best decision of his life.

After leaving the mainland of Issekai, the dragon separated from his parents. He had to journey alone to Dragon Valley for his coming-of-age ceremony. Every dragon needed to go through with this process, and only after coming out of this experience will he gain his real name, which symbolized that he was an independent and fully-fledged dragon. In the valley, he had to survive the shedding in order to gain a stronger body and inherit the ancient power of the dragon clan. The other thing he had to do was fully master the ability to transform into his human form.

The dragon instantaneously cut through the air, and then lowered his body, skillfully descending on the beach near the cliff. This dragon also goes by Uther and he has lived here for more than ten years ever since he left Dragon Valley. He spends every day searching for treasure to fill his lair, hoping that his future mate will approve of his home.They can roll around in the gold coins together, soar up in the skies and even make a cute dragon egg. Uther gradually became lost in his thoughts until a huge wave brought him back to reality. This time however, the wave did not bring with it the wreckage of broken ships, but instead a sleeping beauty.

The alluring woman had long black hair that reached her waist and wore a simple but delicate long dress. Her waist was very thin, and from Uther’s perspective, a small part of her white neck could be seen peeking out from her long hair. Subconsciously, Uther’s tail began to waggle as he felt an itchy feeling rise in his throat. After thinking it through, Uther transformed into his human form and walked up to the beauty, picking her up and walking towards the cliff. The beauty’s face was as good-looking as the ones he’s been imagining for a long time now, save for the paleness that resulted from her extended soak in the waters. Suddenly, Uther was struck with an interest to see the beauty after she had opened her eyes. He thought that she would be very beautiful. Dragons had always been weak to beautiful things and the beauty seemed to look very similar to the princess from one of the countries on the opposite continent. With this in mind, the little princess Uther saw as a child popped up in his mind as the color of their hair looked alike.

Due to the lair being situated on a cliff, Uther had to transform back into his original form before flying into his home with the beauty. He picked up a few animal pelts and constructed a simple bed for the beauty. After a second thought, he found an oil lamp and lit it up with magic, placing it next to her bed. After thinking again, he decided to stay in his human form and waited for the beauty to awaken so he could ask about her situation. He was, after all, a gentlemanly dragon.

Uther hadn’t used his human form for a long time now and started to feel a little uncomfortable in it. In order to overcome this strange feeling, Uther simply picked up a book from one of the gold piles to pass the time. After flipping through one third of the book, the beauty laying on the bed finally opened her eyes. It was a pair of the most exquisite irises that resembled the night sky of midsummers, which had the effect of making others unable to look away. The beauty was unresponsive for a while, before she asked in a hoarse voice: “Where is this? Who are you? Did you save me..?” She coughed out loud. This time, it was Uther who froze up. The beauty seemed to be… a man… Eudora looked at the dazed man strangely and began to curiously walk around. He seemed to be in a cave? However, it was really hard to describe the place. With gold spreading out in all directions, he felt like he was going to be blinded if he were to take a second glance. This person before him was indeed strange.

Seeing that the other party was still in a daze, Eudora repeated his question again, to which Uther finally reacted and replied in the common language of the mainland, “This is the far shore opposite the mainland. I am Uther, the black dragon who resides here. I found you on the beach under the cliff. Have you encountered any difficulties… and are you perhaps… male?” After speaking, Uther’s face seemed to burn a bright red. Would it be too presumptuous to ask such a question? Eudora was not shocked after hearing that the other was a black dragon. After all, this was the age of magic and he often met various bards in the palace. In the verses they spun, dragons were not terrible beings. Besides, as a child,a dragon couple had come to his aid so he could grow up healthy and strong. As Eudora processed the information he just received, Uther called out to him after finding more lanterns and luminous crystals to light up his cave.

When Eudora lifted his head again, he could finally see Uther’s face clearly, with short flax hair and dark golden glasses, he was very tall, almost ten inches taller than himself. He had wheat-colored skin with a robust figure which was considered very popular and attractive in his country. Eudora then told the other that he was the prince of a small country on the continent of Issikai and had pretended to be a princess for special reasons so he could travel around. Due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, he had encountered some strong gales and rough waves at sea, causing him to fall into a whirlpool, later waking up here. Eudora asked Uther if he would help bring him home, which the dragon readily agreed. He was a kind dragon after all, plus it was difficult to refuse such a pretty person.