Chapter 356: Rhaenyra Catches Her Husband Flirting With Her Sister!

As Luke and Emberlyn continued through the palace grounds, every servant they passed immediately lowered their head toward the Dragon Princess, although more than a few secretly shifted their gaze toward Luke once she had walked past.

Their curiosity was understandable, because the man casually walking beside Her Highness possessed none of the obvious draconic features commonly seen throughout Kharenthyr.

There were no horns above his head, no scales along his skin, and no wings resting behind his back, yet despite clearly being an outsider, he was walking beside Emberlyn as though doing so were completely natural.

Luke noticed those curious glances almost immediately, and after watching another pair of servants bow deeply as Emberlyn passed, a playful smile appeared on his face.

"So, do I need to bow to you as well, My Princess?" Luke asked while walking beside her, then deliberately changed the address. "Or should I call you Your Highness?"

Emberlyn paused for a moment before turning toward him with a strange look.

This human genuinely confused her.

Almost everyone Emberlyn encountered either showed her proper respect because of her status or remained cautious around her because of her strength, and among the younger dragons especially, very few people behaved casually enough to openly tease her like this.

Yet Luke seemed completely comfortable.

’Maybe he simply doesn’t know anything about me.’

That seemed like the most reasonable explanation, because if Luke had only recently arrived on the Dragon Continent, then he probably had no idea about her reputation or strength.

With that thought, Emberlyn resumed walking.

"It’s up to you."

"Tch, you’re no fun."

Luke clicked his tongue before increasing his pace slightly and catching up beside her again, while Emberlyn ignored his complaint and continued toward the deeper sections of the palace.

Soon, the two disappeared beyond another golden passageway, leaving the servants who had been bowing behind them finally free to raise their heads.

"Who was that man?"

"I don’t know, but he was really handsome."

Another servant looked toward the corridor where Luke and Emberlyn had disappeared.

"Maybe he’s another suitor trying to marry Lady Emberlyn?"

That possibility immediately made sense to several of them, because this certainly wouldn’t have been the first time someone had come hoping to obtain Emberlyn’s hand.

She wasn’t merely regarded as one of the strongest dragons among her generation, but also as one of the most beautiful, which naturally meant powerful young dragons and heirs from influential bloodlines had attempted to approach her before.

None of them, however, knew that the strange human walking beside her was considerably more complicated than another ordinary suitor.

***

After walking farther into the palace, Emberlyn eventually brought Luke before a gigantic bathhouse whose appearance alone displayed the excessive wealth dragons seemed to consider normal.

Rubies and diamonds had been embedded throughout the walls and pillars in such quantities that Luke briefly wondered whether dragons simply treated gemstones as ordinary decorations, while faint reflections from the surrounding crystals spread across the polished golden floor.

However, what drew Luke’s attention most was the pool occupying nearly the entire central section.

Calling it a pool barely seemed accurate.

It stretched for several kilometers through the bathhouse, its clear water disappearing far enough into the distance that it looked closer to a private lake than something built merely for bathing.

’No wonder this palace is so ridiculously big.’

Luke nodded to himself as he finally understood part of the reason behind the unusual scale of everything around him, because while dragons could adjust their size to a certain degree, some clearly preferred remaining in their natural forms whenever possible.

"Hmm, not bad."

Luke walked closer to the water before looking around the otherwise empty bathhouse.

"Does anyone actually use this place?"

He hadn’t really expected an answer, especially since he had already started removing the remains of his torn clothing, but Emberlyn’s calm voice immediately came from behind him.

"Yes. It’s big sister bathhouse."

"..."

Luke stopped.

He slowly looked over his shoulder.

His silence wasn’t caused only by discovering that he was about to bathe inside Rhaenyra’s personal bathhouse, because there was another considerably more immediate problem.

She hadn’t left.

Emberlyn was still standing several steps behind him, and Luke had already removed the torn pants that had been the last piece of clothing covering him.

Luke turned fully toward her with a speechless expression, only to become even more surprised when he noticed where Emberlyn’s attention had gone.

Her icy-blue gaze had lowered and were now looking at his dangling little brother.

"Miss Emberlyn..." Luke slowly said while looking at her. "Are you planning to keep staring?"

Emberlyn didn’t immediately answer, and rather than showing the embarrassment Luke expected, she continued examining his little brother with the same calm curiosity she had displayed since meeting him.

That reaction only made Luke more amused.

’This younger sister is surprisingly bold.’

He stepped closer until only a small distance remained between them, then reached out with his right hand and placed it around her waist.

Emberlyn’s calm expression finally shifted.

Before she could properly react to the unexpected contact, Luke pulled her closer until her body rested against his.

"Don’t you know that a beautiful woman like you should keep some distance from men?"

Emberlyn remained completely still for several seconds.

The situation was unfamiliar enough that her mind needed a moment to process it, because despite the many dragons who had tried approaching her over the years, none had ever simply placed an arm around her waist and pulled her into an embrace.

Her father and grandfather had shown her affection before, but that had always been limited to ordinary familial gestures such as patting her head.

Being held by an unrelated man was entirely different.

Luke noticed the unusual stillness in her expression and raised an eyebrow.

"Don’t tell me you’ve never been this close to a man before?"

Until now, Emberlyn’s calm reaction to his naked body had made Luke assume she possessed at least some experience with situations like this, yet the way she had completely frozen after being embraced suggested the exact opposite.

Before Emberlyn could answer, however, a familiar blue screen abruptly appeared before Luke.

[Sigh, Luke, you’re playing with fire.]

Luke mentally scoffed.

’What fire? She feels more like hot ice.’

The System remained silent for a moment before responding.

[Luke, I’m not talking about her.]

Luke became confused.

[Just look behind her.]

’Behind her?’

Still keeping one arm around Emberlyn, Luke tilted his head slightly and looked past her shoulder.

Then his body stiffened.

Standing at the entrance of the bathhouse was Rhaenyra.

"After you’re finished flirting with my sister, come outside."

Her golden draconic gaze moved between the two of them.

"Grandma is waiting for you."

Luke remained silent.

This was the same woman who had nearly killed him during their previous encounter, so seeing her standing there while he was completely naked and holding her younger sister against himself should probably have been one of the most dangerous situations he had encountered since arriving in Kharenthyr.

What confused him, however, was Rhaenyra’s reaction.

He had expected anger similar to Aurielle’s or Selene’s whenever another woman became too close to him, yet Rhaenyra merely stood there with obvious irritation without immediately attacking.

’Right...’

Luke’s expression changed slightly.

’She doesn’t love me.’

That thought immediately explained much of her restraint, although the irritation visible in her golden eyes still left him uncertain about what exactly bothered her.

Perhaps she simply disliked seeing the man officially regarded as her husband flirting with her younger sister, especially when Emberlyn had originally been the princess intended to marry him.

’Or maybe she’s actually jealous but doesn’t want to show it because of that personality of hers.’

Luke entertained that possibility for barely a second before dismissing it himself.

’No... probably not.’

If Rhaenyra had genuinely become jealous enough to lose control, Luke suspected he would already have been embedded inside another mountain.

What Luke didn’t know was that Rhaenyra had, in fact, been extremely tempted to hit him again.

Unfortunately for her, nearly killing him during their previous encounter had earned her a long lecture from Zephyrielle and a very clear warning not to repeat the same mistake, leaving Rhaenyra with little choice but to tolerate her so-called husband for now.

After giving Luke one final look, she turned away.

"Don’t make Grandma wait."

Then she left the bathhouse.

"Haa..."

Only after Rhaenyra disappeared beyond the entrance did Luke release the breath he had unconsciously been holding.

’That went surprisingly well.’

He turned his attention back toward Emberlyn and finally realized that his arm was still wrapped around her waist.

She hadn’t moved.

"Ahh, sorry."

Luke released her immediately before stepping back.

"I forgot I was still holding you."

He gave her cheek a light pat, finding the skin unexpectedly soft beneath his fingers, then smiled playfully as he turned toward the waiting water.

"I’ll take my bath now, so you can wait outside."

Without waiting for another response, Luke stepped into the clear water and gradually submerged himself, finally washing away the dirt left from spending an entire week unconscious beneath a tree.

Emberlyn remained standing where he had left her for several moments.

"Huh...?"

Only after Luke was already inside the pool did her mind seem to fully return, and this time, a much more noticeable blush spread across her face as she remembered how casually he had pulled her against himself.

Luke wasn’t looking in her direction anymore.

Emberlyn silently stared at him for another moment before turning around and walking toward the exit, although her usual composed expression had still not completely returned.

The gigantic golden doors slowly closed behind her.

THUUUUM.

Only then was Luke finally left alone inside the bathhouse.