"We going out tonight."
Scarlett looked up from her book, surprised. Sylus stood in the doorway of their bedroom—their bedroom now, not just hers—dressed casually in black jeans and a dark button-down shirt. No suit. No formal attire. Just... normal clothes.
Well, as normal as a devastatingly handsome crime lord could look.
"Out?" she repeated. "Like, out-out? Just us?"
"Just us." He smiled at her enthusiasm. "No bodyguards trailing behind. No business. No interruptions. Just you and me and whatever you want to do."
"Really? What about Lin and Tao? They always—"
"They're staying here." Sylus's jaw tightened slightly. "After I overheard them gossiping about how 'smitten' their boss is, they've lost the privilege of accompanying us on dates."
Scarlett giggled. "You are smitten though."
"That's not the point." But he was smiling. "Get dressed, kitten. There's a festival tonight near the old bridge. Food stalls, games, fireworks. I thought you might enjoy it."
Her face lit up like he'd promised her the moon. "A festival? Really? With food stalls? Can we try everything?"
"We can try whatever you want." His expression softened at her joy. "That's the whole point."
Scarlett was out of bed in seconds, running to the closet. "Give me ten minutes!"
Scarlett took fifteen, emerging in a simple white sundress with small red flowers embroidered along the hem—a gift from him that she'd fallen in love with immediately. Her hair was down, loose and natural. Minimal makeup. Comfortable flats for walking.
She looked young and happy and so beautiful it made his ancient heart ache.
"Perfect," Sylus said, offering his hand. "Ready?"
"So ready!" She took his hand, practically bouncing with excitement. "I've never been to a festival before. The traffickers never took me anywhere fun."
The reminder of her past made something dark flash across Sylus's face, but he pushed it aside. Tonight was about making new memories. Better memories.
Happy memories with his mate.
They're arrived just as night was falling, the sky painted in shades of purple and orange. The festival was already in full swing—strings of lanterns hanging between buildings, food stalls lining both sides of the street, the smell of grilled meat and sweet pastries thick in the air.
Couples walked hand-in-hand. Families laughed together. Children ran between stalls with light-up toys. It was chaos and joy and normal life that Sylus rarely experienced.
But Scarlett was glowing.
She dragged him toward the first food stall she saw, her hand tight in his, talking a mile a minute about everything she wanted to try.
"Oh! Look at those! Are those candied strawberries? And that—is that fried dough? Can we get some? And—"
Sylus chuckled at her enthusiasm, letting himself be pulled along. "We can get whatever you want, kitten. All of it if you'd like."
Scarlett stopped suddenly, turning to look up at him.
Sylus raised an eyebrow. "What?"
She just stared for a moment, something shifting in her expression. Since when had this dragon looked so handsome? The casual clothes suited him, made him look less like a crime lord and more like a man. The festival lights caught in his silver hair, made his red eyes seem softer. His smile was genuine, relaxed in a way she'd rarely seen.
Oh wait. He'd always been handsome. Devastatingly so. Since the moment he'd walked into her apartment and changed her life forever.
She just hadn't noticed because she'd been too busy trying to escape.
And now? Now she couldn't look away.
Sylus noticed her staring and leaned down, pecking her lips softly. "What are you thinking about?"
"That you're beautiful," Scarlett said honestly, making him blink in surprise.
Several nearby food vendors had been watching them curiously—a striking couple, clearly together, the man tall and commanding. But at that kiss, recognition dawned.
That was—
That was the dragon lord.
Sylus Qin. The crime lord who ruled the N109 zone. The man everyone feared.
Buying street food at a festival like a normal person.
Several vendors literally fled their stalls, scattering like frightened birds.
Scarlett watched them go, confused. "What just happened?"
"They recognized me," Sylus said calmly, as if causing a minor panic was completely normal. "It happens."
"But... we just wanted food." Scarlett looked genuinely distressed. "We didn't mean to scare anyone."
"I know, kitten." He squeezed her hand. "Come on. Let's find a vendor who's too brave or too greedy to run away."
They walked toward the bridge, where the stalls were more crowded and people were too busy with their own celebrations to pay much attention. Scarlett spotted a bubble tea stand and immediately brightened.
"Can we get bubble tea?" She looked up at him with those eyes that could convince him to do absolutely anything.
"Of course." He guided her toward the stall.vendor—a young man, maybe early twenties—looked up with a friendly smile. "Welcome! What can I—"
He froze mid-sentence when he got a good look at his customers.
The dragon lord. The actual dragon lord. Standing at his humble bubble tea cart with the cute girl everyone had seen in the news—his wife, the one he'd apparently shot in the leg once and then married anyway, depending on which gossip you believed.
The vendor's hands started shaking so badly the cup he was holding nearly fell.
"J-jasmine milk tea?" he stammered. "Or—or maybe taro? We have—we have many flavors—"
"Jasmine milk tea," Scarlett said cheerfully, oblivious to his terror. "Thirty percent sugar, light ice. Oh! And can I try the strawberry one too? I've never had that flavor."
"Y_yes! Of course! Right away!" The vendor moved like his life depended on making the perfect bubble tea.
Which, given his customer, it might.
Scarlett watched him work, then glanced up at Sylus. "Husband? Why is he trembling like that?"
"It's normal, kitten," Sylus said, voice carefully neutral.
"Normal?" She looked genuinely confused. "But we're just buying bubble tea."
The vendor handed over two cups with shaking hands, nearly spilling one in the process. "H-here you go! Please—please enjoy!"
"How much?" Sylus pulled out his wallet.
"No! No charge! Please—it's a gift! An honor! Please just—" The vendor looked like he might actually pass out.
Sylus sighed and left several bills on the counter—far more than the bubble tea was worth. "Thank you."
They walked away, Scarlett happily sipping her jasmine milk tea while the vendor stood frozen behind them, staring at the money like it might explode.
"This is delicious!" Scarlett took another long sip. "Best bubble tea ever."
"Better than the ones at home?"
"Different. Special." She smiled up at him. "Because we're here together."
They continued through the festival, stopping at various food stalls. Every single vendor reacted the same way—initial friendliness that turned to terror once they recognized their customer. Shaking hands. Stammered words. Desperate attempts to serve the dragon lord without offending him.
And at every stall, Scarlett would look confused and concerned, asking why everyone was so scared.
And at every stall, Sylus would sigh like his dragon form was being defeated by a kitten with a heart too kind to understand why people feared him.
After the fifth terrified vendor, Scarlett stopped in the middle of the street and laughed.
Actually laughed. Bright and genuine and full of joy.
"What's so funny?" Sylus asked, though he was smiling too.
"This!" She gestured around them. "You're the most feared crime lord in three provinces, and you're walking around a festival buying takoyaki and playing festival games. And everyone is terrified of you even though you're just trying to enjoy street food with your wife."
"Is that amusing to you?"
"Very." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "My big, scary dragon who just wants to eat fried dough and win me a stuffed animal from that ring toss booth."
"I never said I wanted to win you a stuffed animal."
"But you will, won't you?" She batted her eyelashes at him.
Sylus looked at her for a long moment—this tiny woman who'd challenged death rather than accept captivity, who'd stabbed herself to escape him, who now looked at him with pure adoration and mischief.
His mate. His everything.
"Yes," he sighed in defeat. "I'll win you a stuffed animal."
"Really? you would? " She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the ring toss booth.
The vendor there took one look at Sylus and promptly tried to close his booth.
"Wait!" Scarlett called out. "We want to play!"
"I—I'm closed! For the night! Very sorry!"
"Please?" Scarlett gave him those eyes—the ones that had brought a dragon to his knees. "It's my first time at a festival. I really want to try the ring toss."
The vendor wavered, looking between Scarlett's hopeful face and Sylus's intimidating presence.
"I'll pay triple," Sylus said calmly. "And I promise not to kill you for bad rings."
"That's not reassuring!" Scarlett swatted his arm. "We just want to play. Normally. Like normal people."
The vendor apparently decided that refusing was more dangerous than complying.
"O-okay. Five rings for 500 yen."
Sylus handed over the money and took the rings. Studied the bottles, calculated angles, and proceeded to land all five rings perfectly.
Because of course he did. Dragons didn't miss.
"Pick anything you want," the vendor said weakly, gesturing to the prize wall.
Scarlett chose a white dragon plushie—small and cute with red embroidered eyes. "This one!"
Sylus looked at the plushie, then at Scarlett, then back at the plushie. "You want... a dragon?"
"Its looks like you!" She hugged it to her chest. "See? Silver hair—well, white, but close enough. Red eyes. Grumpy expression. Perfect!"
"I don't have a grumpy expression."
"You absolutely do." She kissed his cheek again. "My grumpy, smitten dragon who just won me a mini version of himself."
Behind them, the vendor was wondering if he should tell people about this. The dragon lord at a festival, winning stuffed animals for his wife who literally chose a dragon plushie.
No one would believe him.
Scarlett clutched her prize and looked around at all the food she still wanted to try, the games she wanted to play, the festival she was experiencing for the first time.
"Thank you," she said softly, looking up at Sylus. "For bringing me here. For letting me be normal, even if people are terrified."
"You're welcome, kitten." He pulled her close, not caring who saw. "Though I'm not sure this qualifies as normal when every vendor thinks I'm going to execute them for imperfect takoyaki."
"Do you like it?" Scarlett asked suddenly. "When I cause a riot just by being cute and making people serve us bubble tea?"
Sylus looked down at her—this woman who'd transformed his world, who made hardened criminals flee their stalls, who made a thousand-year-old dragon feel young again.
"I love it," he said honestly. "I love everything about you. Even when you cause chaos everywhere we go."
She grinned and dragged him toward another food stall. "Because we still have seventeen more things I want to eat, and I'm pretty sure we're going to scare every single vendor."
"Probably," Sylus agreed, following her willingly.
His dragon form might be defeated by this tiny, chaotic kitten.
But it was the best defeat he'd ever experienced.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued.