Him in My Dream

White roses carpeted the soft grass. Guests stood in twos and threes along the wide red carpet, smiling as they awaited today’s two protagonists…

The master of ceremonies, in a simple black tailcoat, stood before a high table at the end of the red carpet, respectfully gazing at the couple about to be wed.

Finally, accompanied by the melodious and ancient Dragon Tribe wedding music, at the starting point of the red carpet, the center of everyone’s attention, the closely standing man and woman walked towards the master of ceremonies.

Yet, meeting everyone’s gazes, she calmly and gracefully accepted all attention.

Her azure beautiful eyes were filled with longing and happiness for the future.

Her heart churned as if sweet water had been poured into it.

The white-haired dragon girl tightly held her elaborate wedding dress. The pair of dragon horns protruding from her head were adorned with the bride’s pure white veil.

Their steps were slow yet solemn. As they crossed the red carpet, neither long nor short, the young master of ceremonies looked at the two.

“Bride, do you take this man to be your husband? And do you promise to be faithful to him forever, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health?”

The master of ceremonies’ solemn question echoed in everyone’s ears at the wedding. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the sight of this scene, which she had imagined countless times in her mind, appearing in reality, made the girl’s heart pound involuntarily.

Finally, finally she had waited for this day…

To be with him forever, she had waited so, so long.

But fortunately, her efforts were not in vain. She had, after all, found that destined other half, uniquely hers.

Aurelia slowly raised her right hand, gently placing it on her chest. She closed her eyes, her voice sincere, as if wanting to merge her heart and life.

“I do.”

The master of ceremonies nodded in satisfaction, offering a blessing. Then, he turned to look at the groom in the white suit.

“Groom, do you take this woman to be your wife? And do you promise to love and cherish her forever, through hardship or ease, gloom or sunshine, failure or victory?”

Accompanying the master of ceremonies’ question, the girl finally had time to turn and look at her beloved beside her.

Even by human age, he was no longer young.

The battles of time had, after all, left their marks on his face.

The empty left sleeve outside his exquisite suit was also a slight surprise.

But when Aurelia saw his eyes, at this moment, the girl felt her heart completely filled.

Calm and secure, no longer feeling any fear.

Just like the day they first met, as it was then…

Everyone awaited the new vows.

Their eager eyes gazed at the couple about to enter matrimony.

Their union seemed destined by heaven, beyond doubt.

But the moment the groom opened his mouth to speak, the gentle white sun in the sky suddenly emitted a dazzling light.

The voice disappeared, the scene disappeared, the person beside her also disappeared.

The intense white light swallowed everything, burying the solemn vows and scene into oblivion.

The girl, lying on the table, stirred her eyelids, trembling as she opened her eyes.

Perhaps a mischievous strand of hair poked her nose, making it tickle.

“Ach—!”

The white-haired girl, upon waking, first let out a cute sneeze, then sat expressionless in her chair.

‘How many times had she dreamed of that scene now?’

Perhaps too many to count, but every time she dreamed the same scene, the wedding would always be interrupted at the crucial moment for various reasons, causing her to suddenly wake up.

This time, dreaming of the vows stage was probably the longest of all her dreams, right?

“W-w-w~”

The girl unconsciously pouted, humming a sound of dissatisfaction from her small nose.

Dreams were always so unfulfilling.

Why did they have to break off at the most crucial moment? Even in a dream, even though the dream would eventually end, she wished it would only end after both had said “I do.”

‘How annoying. Even dreams bully me. When I finally find him, I must tell him all the grievances I’ve suffered in my dreams and make him coax me.’

The white-haired girl blinked, her mind starting to wander, unconsciously letting out a few silly giggles of unknown meaning.

‘Wait…’

The white-haired girl suddenly thought of something and quickly stood up from her chair.

She pulled out a blank drawing paper she had prepared beforehand from a drawer, then skillfully fixed the paper onto an easel.

Four strips of white masking tape carefully secured the edges of the drawing paper.

The palette, with its mixed paints, rested casually on the girl’s fair knees.

She sat on the stool, her gaze firm and serious, and picked up her paintbrush, beginning to paint.

Dragons and humans were different. Humans often quickly forgot most of their dreams within two hours of waking. Even if memories remained afterward, the dream images were often blurred.

But dragons were not like that.

As legendary creatures, besides hoarding treasures and abducting human princesses, they loved to sleep.

Dreams occupied a significant portion of a dragon’s life.

A dragon would never forget its dreams, nor would it forget the most profound images deep within its memory.

And as a female dragon, Saintess Aurelia did not lack treasures and had no interest in the so-called abduction of human princesses.

Two of the three main characteristics of dragons were eliminated, leaving dreaming as her only beloved activity, both before and after becoming a Saintess.

The images from her dreams were incredibly clear in her waking memory, as if looking at high-definition photographs.

The paintbrush, stained with pigments, seemed to contain mysterious power, allowing her to paint with divine inspiration.

Paints merged and blended, creating colors identical to those in her dream.

The brush touched the white paper, outlining the most realistic scenes from her dream.

The luxurious dormitory fell silent until time passed minute by minute, until the dormitory door was slowly pushed open.

The red dragoness in a school uniform hurried in, her dragon tail, poking out from her skirt, wagging happily and excitedly.

“Your Highness, Your Highness, something big has happened!”

“The board has already begun discussing a solution and compensation for what happened last night!”

The red dragoness’s voice was urgent and loud. But the white-haired dragon girl, facing her, seemed not to hear her voice, simply gazing quietly at the almost completed oil painting on the easel.

“Your Highness, you’ve started painting again…”

Clearly, the red dragoness was accustomed to the princess ignoring her when painting or thinking. However, she herself didn’t mind. She earnestly leaned in to examine the painting on the easel.

“So, so beautiful…”

The oil painting immediately drew a gasp of admiration from the red dragoness.

This was a compliment from a red dragon, mind you.

For such a group of “large lizards” who spent all day either sleeping or venting excess energy everywhere, artistic cells were almost nonexistent. And Norin, as the Saintess’s attendant, clearly inherited this trait from her ancestors.

Asking her to attend art class normally was as agonizing as asking her to kill herself.

Yet now, gazing at the painting before her, she genuinely exclaimed in admiration.

This wasn’t about artistic talent, but the simple aesthetic appreciation inherent in every living creature.

Seeming to notice her Highness’s frown, Norin asked very cautiously.

“Your Highness, is something troubling you?”

Norin’s words, unlike her previous ones, were not unheard. She naturally reached out and rubbed her temples, then spoke.

“I’m troubled by how to mix a red that satisfies me. It’s very peculiar, beautiful, but I don’t know how to mix it. Your Highness, is something troubling you?”

Her voice was soft, but Aurelia, unlike the previous sentence, did not miss it.

‘It’s very peculiar, beautiful, but I don’t know how to mix it.’

The girl lowered her head, looking at the palette resting on her knees, her eyes full of helplessness. Every compartment of the palette was stained with paint, and most of them were reds of the same hue but different shades.

“What does Your Highness need red for?”

Norin asked, full of confusion.

“Of course, to adorn the ring. The ruby ring used for a wedding must be the most special and precious one.”

Aurelia pointed with the other end of her paintbrush to the only small, uncolored part of the oil painting: the ring held between the man’s fingers in the painting.

Unlike human noble weddings, where both parties wore diamonds symbolizing eternity, in Dragon Tribe customs, rubies were the true protagonists.

The larger and more precious the ruby, the more it symbolized the grade and prestige of the marriage.

As a Saintess of the Great Dragon Divine Dynasty, her grade and prestige naturally had to be the highest. Unfortunately, although the color of the ruby ring in her memory was very vibrant and clear, when it came to reality, she just couldn’t mix that exact color.

“If I can’t mix it, I can only use a similar color to substitute. But speaking of which, Your Highness, this must be the 999th painting you’ve made on this theme, right? All 999 paintings are scenes of you and that man at a wedding. Your Highness, listen to my advice, painting too much will become tiresome. Why don’t we try other themes? For example…”

Norin’s advice was clearly not taken to heart by Aurelia.

However, with the red dragoness’s voice, the white-haired dragon girl’s gaze did, by some strange impulse, drift to her wagging tail.

The moment her eyes met the tail covered in red scales, the girl’s eyes lit up, and all her worries instantly vanished.

“Norin, I’ve found that red!”

“Really? Where?”

The red dragoness asked foolishly, but even the most obtuse red dragon wasn’t an idiot.

Sensing her Highness’s intense gaze fixed on her tail, the usually carefree red dragoness now felt a chill run up her tailbone.

She protectively covered her tail with her hand, her voice trembling slightly.

“Your Highness, you, you…”

“Norin, I remember I completed your art class assignments for the past two semesters, didn’t I? You don’t want to fail this semester’s art class, do you? So, you understand…”

In an instant, the quiet dormitory was filled with the red dragoness’s piercing scream.