Ch.149Honeymoon (2) (Villainess Guard X Romance Fantasy Novel R-rated)

The speed of the airship was beyond what could be described as merely fast. Perhaps it might even be faster than the commercial airliners he knew from his previous life.

During his pianist days, he had used private jets, and this felt similar in speed. Evan recalled those memories while marveling at the airship’s performance.

The claim that it could cross a continent in a day seemed to be no exaggeration. The ocean, something he was likely seeing for the first time in this world, passed by at an incredible speed.

In that fleeting moment, Irene’s eyes sparkled as she spotted a whale shooting water toward the sky—a creature more massive than most ships.

“I think that’s a whale.”

“Is this your first time seeing one? I’ve heard there are much larger whales than that.”

In fairy tales, whales were invariably portrayed as monsters—creatures that sucked in water with their mouths and created waves by swinging fins as large as ships. Weren’t they considered disasters for seafarers? Yet the whale they saw now didn’t look like a disaster at all.

Irene’s gaze was busy following the movement of the creatures as they swam in groups with their small fins exposed, seemingly moving alongside the airship.

“Those are dolphins. Real whales are typically much larger.”

“How much larger could they be? Even at a glance, these look much bigger than humans.”

They were probably about 4-5 meters long. They certainly appeared much larger than the dolphins Evan knew from the modern world.

Wondering how to explain this, Evan spread his arms wide and spoke.

“Probably much, much larger than this. They might fill up the entire Seiren.”

How large would something be if it filled the entire Seiren? Irene rolled her eyes for a moment, then stared at Evan.

Why was he just standing there with his arms spread? Evan chuckled, then waved his outstretched arms in the air.

“I’m asking for a hug.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just say ‘hug me’?”

As Irene nestled into Evan’s embrace, he gently shook his head while holding her light body.

“Sometimes new expressions are necessary.”

“Hmm, I don’t really get tired of ordinary things.”

She hadn’t experienced enough to get tired of anything yet. Since that wasn’t wrong, Evan simply stroked her hair.

In truth, he had just said that on impulse after spreading his arms. All that talk about new expressions was just covering for a spontaneous action.

Woong—

The airship gradually began to slow down. When the scenery outside shifted from blue to increasingly brown hues, Evan and Irene approached the window and could see Duke Rodenov’s domain in the distance.

It looked almost identical to Yuris. The northern regions covered in pristine white snow would look the same on any continent.

But wasn’t that actually nice? There was a certain joy in comparing familiar yet completely different landscapes to the places they had lived.

“We’ll be landing shortly. Let’s get ready.”

As the land drew closer, Irene slightly furrowed her brow at the sight of people gathered below.

She had wanted to arrive and leave quietly, but somehow people had come to greet them.

Though it was uncomfortable, she also felt somewhat proud.

To think that stories about her and Evan had spread even to the neighboring continent. Thinking she would tell Rofena about this later, Irene put on the cloak Evan handed her and turned her gaze to the approaching land.

The fluttering flag bore the emblem of Rodenov, which she had once seen in a book.

The other flag waving in front must be the Ortere emblem. She had heard the two families were connected by marriage, and it seemed their relationship was even closer than expected—unlike their own Fried family, which had disappeared and been integrated into Yuris.

As the airship door opened and Irene stepped onto the descending platform, cold wind touched her cheeks.

It was a familiar temperature—the dry, cold wind unique to the north.

As Evan positioned himself in front of Irene, one of the knights waiting ahead approached and extended his hand.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Hwian Ortere.”

“I am Evan Yuris.”

“Wasn’t it Evan Fried? There must have been some mistake.”

“That name is also correct. There are just some circumstances involved.”

The name Evan Yuris felt strange. This was the first time he had directly stated this name since getting married.

Hwian looked at the handsome young man before him and quietly clicked his tongue.

Surely a human would possess mana, yet he couldn’t sense any energy from him.

This could mean only one thing: either his mana was too faint to detect, or the gap was so large that it couldn’t be perceived at all.

He had supposedly defeated a great dragon alone—a being whose wingbeats could shake the earth.

Perhaps such a gap was only natural. Hwian didn’t take it badly.

Since he already had quite a difference with his own sibling, he didn’t even think to feel inferior.

Irene, who had been observing Hwian, spoke while looking at the knights.

She seemed curious about why someone from Ortere in the east was here in Rodenov territory.

“I didn’t expect to see someone from Ortere here. Isn’t this Rodenov territory?”

“Well, it just happened that way. Our wedding ceremony only finished recently.”

Indeed, they too had just finished their wedding and were on their honeymoon. As Irene nodded, Hwian smiled faintly and continued.

While there was no real need to come greet honeymooners like this, they were heroes from another continent.

How could such people be treated casually when they came to visit?

However, he had no intention of interfering, so Hwian continued as he met Irene’s eyes.

“Though we’ve come out like this, we’re only here to escort you safely to the domain. I’d like to do more for you, but… you don’t seem to want that.”

“Since this is a trip for just the two of us, we’d prefer to travel alone if possible. Thank you for understanding.”

“Not at all. That’s how honeymoons should be. If anything, I’m worried we might have been rude.”

Evan and Hwian smiled at each other. There was nothing to gain from having a strained relationship.

However, Hwian tilted his head as he observed Evan’s appearance, which differed in many ways from the rumors he had heard.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about my brother’s wife, but she has dragon-like features. Things like scales and horns she previously had. I heard you also have dragon blood, but you look like… an ordinary person.”

Evan was about to explain but thought it would be better to show directly.

Since only his eye color would change, he didn’t think it would be a problem. Evan drew up a tiny amount of mana.

Hwian noticed and narrowed his eyes, but could only open his mouth slightly when he saw Evan’s eyes turn golden.

“This is the extent of it. This is how I change with dragon blood.”

Hwian knew well that Evan harbored no hostility. He had only drawn up a minuscule amount of mana that barely spread to the surroundings.

But what was this thrill? The knights around them suddenly regarded Evan with completely different eyes, full of reverence.

“…Impressive. I mean it.”

“You flatter me.”

Irene secretly smiled inside as she saw the reverent gazes directed at Evan.

“That’s my Evan,” she thought, trying hard to cover her upturning lips with her hand.

#

When speaking of the largest city in Duke Rodenov’s northern domain, one could only mention the fortress city of Kaltix.

This place featured on the first page of Adilun and Hwisis’s story, and Irene’s eyes narrowed as she saw the imposing fortress.

More specifically, she was looking at a signpost just outside the city gate.

The sign, depicting a man kneeling in snow, simply read: [The Beginning of Everything].

“…This is.”

“Hwisis Ortere, who was driven out by Adilun Rodenov, waited here until he was forgiven. If she hadn’t saved him, Hwisis would have died here.”

Whatever happened, abandoning someone until they nearly froze to death seemed cruel.

Irene was about to furrow her brow at this, but then recalled her first meeting with Evan and cleared her throat.

Come to think of it… she hadn’t been much different. She had scolded him just for calling her “miss,” so it was fortunate he didn’t hold a grudge.

As Irene’s gaze fell on him, Evan smiled and took her hand.

It was as if he could see right through her thoughts.

“Well, at least I was never driven out to the point of death.”

“…Is that supposed to be comforting?”

Though he had died once, that wasn’t Irene’s fault.

Seeing Irene’s expression worsen as she recalled whatever memory had surfaced, Evan quickly led her into the outer fortress.

The guard stared blankly at Evan’s face for a moment, then noticed the Yuris emblem and snapped to attention with a stiff salute.

The outer fortress had the typical appearance of a city.

It had the rugged character unique to northern regions, but also showed a cleaner cityscape than Yuris thanks to advanced magic.

“The place we’re staying at is called a hotel, right?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if it will be similar to what I’m thinking of…”

What existed in Rodenov but not in Yuris was this thing called a hotel.

Unlike inns or castles that accommodated guests, this building existed solely for lodging.

Irene looked curiously at this hotel building she was seeing for the first time.

The architectural style was completely different from surrounding buildings, almost as if a modern hotel had been transported here. Evan also found it fascinating.

Inside, they were greeted by hotel staff wearing red vests, white shirts, and black ties.

After briefly marveling at how identical they looked to what Evan remembered from the modern world, they received their key and headed to the suite, where they couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder.

It was clean enough to believe that nobility stayed here regularly, and the bath was stocked with various scented bath products.

The meals would apparently be prepared by the north’s finest chef. After setting down their luggage, Evan turned to Irene.

“I’ll go wash up first. Please rest for a while.”

“Alright. I’ll organize our luggage.”

As Evan disappeared into the bathroom with his clothes, Irene quickly looked around after confirming he was gone.

Then, she took her bundle of luggage and headed to an empty room.

In the dark room, after checking the door once more, Irene carefully reached into her bag.

Something she had remembered to bring for their honeymoon.

Something she had purchased in the capital, which had deep connections to this continent and especially to the woman named Adilun Rodenov.

As the sheep-horn-shaped headband emerged from the bag, a strange gleam flashed momentarily in Irene’s eyes.