They said the evil dragon who lived in Dragon Castle, who could change into human form, was ferocious. Every year, not a single woman who was sent to him to be his bride as a sacrifice ever came back alive.

This year, it was me, Evelyn Wills, to be the sacrificial bride.

Everyone was certain I would die.

The gates of Dragon Castle slowly opened. The man on the throne, Adrian Powell, the evil dragon himself, raised his golden dragon eyes and looked at me coldly.

The suffocating pressure crashed down on me; The color drained from my face, and I had to fight the urge to run.

He lowered his eyes and let out a cold sneer. "Nothing special about the sacrifice this year."

But the moment he turned to leave, the look of fear on my face vanished.

I pulled out my dagger and drove it straight toward his heart.

I had willingly taken the place of my adoptive sister, Lydia Wills, to be his bride just for this very moment!

...

Every year, the Ash Town drew lots to choose an unmarried woman to be sent into Dragon Castle as a sacrifice to the dragon. None of the brides who were sent inside ever returned alive.

A year ago, my sister, Sarah Wills, became one of those sacrifices.

Three days later, her body was dumped at the entrance of the town.

And today, it was my turn to be sent as a sacrifice.

Before I left, Kane Hayes, the high priest of the town, called me to the spot behind the altar. He told me that the evil dragon, Adrian Powell, was a master at beguiling people, and that the calmer he appeared on the surface, the more it meant he was waiting for his prey to let their guard down.

"He might not kill you right away." Kane pressed a dagger made of dragon bone into my hand, his voice very low. "He'll deliberately let you wander the castle, give you food, even pretend he means you no harm. Only when you think you might actually survive will he reveal his true nature to you."

Kane also told me that there was an old chapel on the west side of Dragon Castle's main hall, where a sacred relic capable of subduing the dragon was enshrined.

If I wanted to stay alive a little longer, I had to find a way to hide inside it.

Just before he left, Kane gripped my shoulder, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Remember, Evelyn. No matter what he says to you, don't believe a word of it."

I repeated those words in my head over and over, then pushed open the stone door in front of me.

I found that Dragon Castle was not filled with mountains of corpses or bones. All I saw was a long corridor covered in dust.

I crept forward against the wall, turning back every few steps to make sure the dragon hadn't suddenly appeared behind me.

I reached the end of the corridor, where a black throne stood before me. Seated upon it was a man in a black robe, his hair falling over his forehead and obscuring his face, though his shoulders and neck were clearly covered in fine dragon's scales.

I instinctively stepped back, the blade in my hand trembling even more.

My mind kept screaming at me to tell me that this man was Adrian Powell, the evil dragon.

Adrian's gaze swept over my face, then landed on my wedding gown. "So you're the sacrifice they sent this year?"

"Yes." I tightened my grip on the dagger hidden in my sleeve and forced myself to meet his eyes.

I was afraid of him, but I hated him even more.

Since I had made it here, I would find a chance to kill him!

But unlike what I had expected, Adrian didn't attack me the moment he saw me.

Without the slightest change in his expression, he just waved a hand at me. "Noted. Now get out."

After hearing his words, I froze.

I had no idea where else I could go. And I was not sure whether I should just go home.

As I stood there at a loss, I immediately remembered Kane's warning. "The dragon won't kill his prey right away. He'll give them hope first, and then savor watching them sink into despair."

So I figured Adrian was only letting me go now so he could hunt me down later and relish the sight of me in my despair.

I took a deep breath. Instead of retreating, I tried taking a step forward.

Adrian's gaze instantly turned cold. "I'll say it one last time. Get out!"

His roar startled me so badly that I nearly let the dagger slip from my hand.

But I couldn't back down; backing down meant dying for nothing.

I took a deep breath and forced down my fear, saying, "Distinguished dragon, it was the Temple of the Ash Town that gave me to you. I have nowhere to return to."

Adrian said nothing. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly moved, so fast I could barely see him.

The next second, his handsome face appeared right before my eyes.

He was so close that I could even see the fine dragon's scales on the side of his neck clearly, and could feel the heat radiating from his body.

I didn't know what he intended to do, or if he was going to kill me.

I bit down hard on my lower lip and tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth, and all I wanted was to flee.

But I couldn't move. Adrian had already seized my wrist tightly.

His fingers, through the sleeve, were right around the handle of my dagger.

I was so terrified I felt like I was suffocating, and I couldn't help panting heavily.

I thought he had discovered my dagger and knew I was going to kill him.

I instinctively tried to pull my hand back, but Adrian used the motion to draw me closer to him.

He rested his hand lightly against the side of my neck. With just the slightest force, he could easily snap my neck.

His gaze traveled from my eyes down to my neck, then swept over my face, which had gone pale because of nervousness. "Have we met before?"

I didn't answer. My mind had already gone blank because of fear.

I thought I was about to die and failed to avenge Sarah.

Just as my tears of terror were about to fall, Adrian released me. "I don't need a sacrifice. Since you have nowhere to go, find a room somewhere and stay there until dawn. Don't touch anything in the castle, and especially, don't go near the old chapel on the west side. And don't stay in the main hall."

I collapsed onto the floor, but when I heard his words, I suddenly clenched my fists.

At that moment, I believed what Kane had told me that the old chapel had to hold a sacred relic capable of subduing the dragon was true; Otherwise, Adrian wouldn't have specifically warned me to stay away from the chapel.

Adrian seemingly hadn't noticed my reaction.

"Don't let me see you again before dawn." With those words, he left.

I gasped for breath for a long while before the trembling in my body finally stopped.

I didn't know why he hadn't killed me just now, but since I was still alive, I would use what time I had left to find a way to subdue Adrian and kill him.

I was doing this not just for Sarah, but for all the young women in the town who were still alive.

I braced myself against a stone pillar to help myself up and looked toward the pitch-black corridor on the west side of the main hall.

And I knew it led to the old chapel.

Before nightfall, I first walked along the corridor, pushing open every door that would budge, and memorized the staircase leading to the courtyard as well as a few windows.

I had long since prepared myself for death, but I still needed to leave myself an escape route.

I could only die after I had succeeded in avenging Sarah.

When I passed a corner, I pulled a handful of flour from a cloth bag I brought along and scattered it along the floor as I walked. Then I deliberately went to another corner of the corridor and waited in the shadows for a moment.

Through this method, I confirmed that Adrian wasn't following me.

I sat by the corner for a long while after that, only heading back through the main hall and toward the west side once night had fallen.

There were no candles in the corridor. The deeper I went, the colder it got, and I could smell a faint metallic scent of blood in the air.

I tightened my grip on the dagger in my sleeve and walked to the end of the corridor, where I finally saw a stone door wrapped in black chains.

The doorframe was carved with many strange runes, none of which I could read.

This was the old chapel.

Before I could do anything, I suddenly heard the sound of a woman weeping while saying something from behind the stone door.

I pressed myself against the crack in the door at once and listened carefully, trying to make out what she was saying.

But the sound came in fits and starts. I couldn't make out what she was saying.

Just as I was about to straighten up, I suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Evelyn..."

My entire body went rigid.

It was Sarah's voice.

I yanked at the chains with all my strength, but they didn't budge.

I clenched my teeth, wedged my dagger into a rusted lock, and threw my shoulder against the stone door.

With a sharp crack, the outermost chain finally snapped and crashed to the ground with a piercing clatter.

Not caring whether the noise would alert Adrian, I braced both hands against the stone door and pushed with all the strength I had until I managed to push it slightly open.

A cold wind laced with the sickly sweet scent of blood struck my face.

I squeezed through the gap sideways and shouted, "Sarah, are you in here?"

No one answered.

There were no statues of any gods inside the chapel, but only an altar wrapped in chains made of dragon bone.

Around the altar were several white candles; their flames didn't flicker at all.

The voice from earlier had vanished completely.

"Sarah?" I called out once, but no one answered.

I crept forward along the wall. When I reached the altar, I spotted Sarah's name on one of the candles at a glance.

My mind went blank. I dropped to my knees at once and wiped the dust off the candlestick with my hand.

I hadn't been mistaken. It really was her name.

"Sarah, why are you trapped here..." Before I could finish, the magic circle beneath my feet suddenly lit up.

Crimson marks rapidly crawled up my legs. Then, a cold force shot into my right arm, seizing control of my arm and forcing me to raise the dagger, aiming its tip at my own throat.

Terrified, I grabbed my wrist with my left hand, trying to stop myself from putting the knife into my throat. "Stop!"

But my right hand refused to obey.

The dagger kept inching closer to my throat, and its tip was about to press into my skin.

In that moment, I finally understood that Adrian hadn't been warning me just now.

He had deliberately made a point of telling me not to go near this place, precisely to plant suspicion in my mind and make me walk right into the magic circle.

That way, he wouldn't even have to kill me with his own hands. All he had to do was hide in the shadows and watch me slit my own throat.

"Adrian!" I gripped my own wrist desperately and shouted toward the door. "You went through all this trouble to lure me in here. Don't you even have the guts to show yourself now?"

I heard no answer at all.

The blade slowly cut into my skin, and warm blood trickled down my neck into my collar.

My arm was already starting to go numb, and the hand pressing down on my wrist was going limp.

Tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I didn't want to die, not in a trap Adrian had laid, without ever uncovering the real reason behind Sarah's death!

Just as the blade was about to pierce through my throat, the stone door behind me blasted open with a deafening roar.

Black flames swept into the chapel, and the red marks beneath my feet were instantly severed by the flames.

Before I could even see who it was, someone grabbed the dagger in my hand.

The blade cut into Adrian's palm, and blood streamed down his wrist.

But he seemed to feel no pain at all. He yanked the dagger away and pulled me straight out of the magic circle.

My legs gave out, and I nearly collapsed to my knees.

Adrian looked down at me condescendingly. "I warned you not to come near this place."

Adrian's face was terrifyingly dark at that moment.

I gasped for breath, still shaken. But when I saw the faint trace of concern in his eyes, a surge of fury rose up inside me. "You did this on purpose."

Adrian frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You deliberately told me to stay away from this place. You wanted me to get suspicious and come here on my own." With a trembling hand, I wiped the blood from my neck and took a deep breath. "And once I walked right into your trap, you came swooping in to play the hero and save me, so I'd start trusting you."

Adrian stared at me for a moment, then let out a bitter, contemptuous laugh. "What the hell are you thinking exactly?"

Seeing how angry he looked only made me more certain that I had hit the mark.

"Am I wrong?!" I snapped and pointed furiously at the white candle beside the altar, the one etched with Sarah's name. "You were not satisfied after killing Sarah. You had to trap her and the others' souls here too, just so you could savor watching the moment they die over and over again, didn't you?! She died because of your twisted tricks! You're a pervert who gets off on toying with people!"

Adrian's face darkened completely. "These candles are nothing like what you think. They're..."

Before he could finish, a golden mark suddenly appeared on his neck and lit up.

The mark, as if alive, swiftly coiled around his throat, tightening gradually.

Adrian's body stiffened, and he was forced to choke back the rest of his words, a trace of blood seeping from his lips.

He was silent for a moment, then finally said coldly, "Stay away from these candles."

With that, he let go of me and walked toward the altar.

He dropped to one knee and pressed his hand against the still-glowing magic circle. Black dragon flames slowly spread along the dark red marks of it.

I didn't answer him. I just leaned against the wall, catching my breath, my right arm still numb. But my gaze quietly drifted toward my boot.

He had taken the dagger made of dragon bone I meant to kill him with, but before I set out, I had hidden a short knife as well.

Because I knew that to kill a dragon like him, I would need to make many preparations.

His back was to me now, so this was my best chance.

I clenched my teeth and slowly drew the short knife from my boot.

Just a little closer, and I could stab him through the heart from behind.

I held my breath and lunged forward, driving the knife toward him.

I was certain that I would succeed this time!