Romance Novel!

It wasn't that the Imperial Princess, Lucia, lacked competence; rather, the dragon she encountered, Lance, was extraordinarily formidable, an anomaly among his kind.

"This dragon is nothing like those of legends," Lucia mused as she approached him cautiously.

"Are you feeling hungry?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern.

Lance looked at her, bemused, "Hungry? But you've just given me those two charred beast legs. I noticed you didn't eat anything yourself. I feared you might be hungry."

Lucia shook her head slightly, "No, I'm not hungry."

With a gentle motion, Lance repositioned the gleaming diamond ring onto one of his horns.

"Feel free to roam, rest, or explore as you wish," he told her, his voice deep and reassuring.

The young dragon, still visibly tense, nodded her head, a soft "Oh oh oh" escaping her lips. It was clear from her wide-eyed, cautious demeanor that she harbored some fear towards Lance, the adult dragon.

Time, Lance knew, was the only remedy to ease the young dragon's apprehensions.

After some time together, he hoped she would understand his benign nature and perhaps her natural curiosity and playfulness would resurface.

Initially, Lance believed that engaging her in conversation might help alleviate her anxiety. However, he soon realized that it only served to make her more uneasy. Perhaps granting her the freedom to explore might ignite her innate curiosity.

His lair, adorned with intriguing artifacts and sprawling spaces, was far from dull.

Quietude enveloped the lair as Lucia settled amongst the soft blooms and verdant grass, watching Lance retreat to his study.

In the solitude of his lair, something extraordinary happened, Lance began to glow, and to Lucia's astonishment, his formidable dragon form began to shrink dramatically, soon becoming no larger than three meters in length.

Lucia, now significantly larger than the shrunken Lance, entertained a mischievous thought. What if she were to give him a playful slap? Would he whimper? The thought made her chuckle; the repercussions, however, would likely be less amusing, considering Lance's formidable nature as a evil dragon.

Lance, despite his reduced size, was a marvel. How could he so effortlessly control his physical form?

Curious about his actions, Lucia crept towards the study.

Peering over his desk, she saw him engrossed in writing, his claws delicately handling the pen. To her surprise, the script was human.

At the top of the parchment was written: "Favor: The dragon fell in love with me."

Puzzled, Lucia's eyes widened in wonderment. What could this possibly mean?

"What's this?" Lucia's eyes narrowed in curiosity as she glanced over the parchment filled with a neat, flowing script.

"Why do these first few lines remind me so much of a romance novel from the Imperial Publishing House?" She mused aloud, a hint of amusement in her tone. Among the aristocratic circles, it was common for ladies to indulge in such novels to while away their leisure hours.

Lucia herself often turned to these stories of dragons, princesses, and gallant heroes during idle moments. Her perceptions of evil dragons were shaped by a mix of such fantastical tales and the more grounded stories from seasoned adventurers.

"Could it be that Lance, an evil dragon, is penning a novel?" She chuckled at the thought. "Impossible. How could an evil dragon with no experience of love craft a romance series?"

Approaching Lance with a mix of curiosity and incredulity, she asked, "Evil Lance, what exactly are you writing?"

"Writing a manuscript," Lance replied nonchalantly, his claws skillfully maneuvering the pen.

"A manuscript?" Lucia echoed, her eyebrows arching in surprise.

"Yes, the sort meant for romance and entertainment, particularly favored by human girls."

Lucia was taken aback. "It really is a romance novel! You've even identified your target audience, human girls."

"Are you writing this to help the princess you capture to pass her time?" she asked, a playful smirk playing on her lips.

"No, it's for making money," Lance responded, his tone matter-of-fact.

Lucia was astonished. The idea of an evil dragon writing to earn money was unheard of. In the imperial capital, writers of such books indeed made a decent income, and the more successful among them even collaborated with theaters.

"But Lance, you're an evil dragon. Wouldn't the conventional approach for amassing wealth be to plunder human settlements?" she prodded, her curiosity piqued.

"Can you actually make money with this?" she inquired skeptically.

"Yes," Lance confirmed. "After tallying up the bits and pieces, one can earn around a hundred gold coins."

Lucia's mouth fell open slightly. "A hundred gold coins? Isn't that a bit... modest for a dragon of your stature? If it were me, I'd consider holding the owner of the publishing house for a hefty ransom to buy my novels at a premium price. One could easily demand a thousand to ten thousand gold coins for such a work!"

"It's too little. You could accumulate wealth much faster by looting human towns," Lucia remarked boldly, her curiosity evolving into a blend of concern and challenge. "Lance, why don't you engage in raids or ambush caravans instead?"

Lance's gaze softened, and he sighed, "The gold obtained from such acts isn't clean; it carries a foreboding aura. I dislike bullying the weak. Earning money on my own terms is far more satisfying and interesting."

From the moment he cracked through his eggshell to his rise as a formidable adult black dragon, Lance had never once raided a human town or ambushed a caravan. He had steered clear of oppressing any of the diverse races that inhabited the mainland.

"As long as humans don't provoke me, I see no reason to harm them," Lance explained, his voice carrying a tone of solemnity.

"If a human challenges me, however, I'm not averse to demonstrating what an evil dragon can truly be," he added, his eyes glinting with a hint of warning.

"So, you've never ventured into the human world to pilfer their riches?" Lucia questioned, skepticism coloring her tone.

"No," Lance replied, lifting his head proudly. "Don't believe me?"

"It's hard to trust when other dragons claim such, but somehow, I believe you," Lucia admitted, feeling a strange surge of intuition. Despite her fears, she found Lance's words unusually credible.

"Perhaps it's best you abandon this manuscript," she suggested after a pause.

"Why would you say that?" Lance inquired, his curiosity piqued.

"You've never experienced love. The romances you write might fail to resonate with the noble ladies of the human world," Lucia explained bluntly.

Lance fell silent, her words striking a chord. It made sense, and he couldn't deny it, his previous attempts at romance novels had indeed been met with indifference by publishers.

"Do you believe one must fall in love to craft a compelling love story?" he challenged, a hint of defiance in his voice. "The love stories I've penned are actually quite good. If you're doubtful, I'd be happy to show you my earlier manuscripts."

Changing the subject, Lance then turned his attention to another project. He ceased his work on the romance manuscript and instead began revising educational materials.

"Dragon Clan: Kindergarten [Young Dragon Edition] Dragon Language Textbook," he announced, outlining his plan. "I'll start with the kindergarten version of our dragon literature textbook, and once the young dragon have mastered it, I'll develop the primary school version."

"Let the young dragon learn at their own pace," he mused. "After all, if there's one thing we dragons have in abundance, it's time."

As Lance switched the script from the common human tongue to an ancient draconic script, Lucia watched in fascination. Being an imperial princess, she had been trained in several foreign languages, including Elvish, Bestial, and Dwarven literatures, and she could communicate effectively with elves, dwarves, and orcs.

"This could be a wonderful exchange," Lucia thought aloud. "You teach me dragon literature, and I could teach you these foreign languages in return."

"Let's begin with Elvish literature," Lucia proposed with a smile, intrigued by the prospect of teaching Lance something new.

Elvish script is renowned for its beauty, its characters flowing elegantly and freely, much like the elves themselves.

Although Lance was knowledgeable in many areas, Lucia was quite sure that Elvish was not one of them.

"It seems I'm not entirely without skills that could impress you, Lance," Lucia mused to herself, a playful smirk playing on her lips.

"Lance, what type of script is this?" she asked, gesturing to the intricate symbols he had been writing.

"Dragon script," Lance replied without looking up from his work.

"You use dragon script for writing entertainment books?" Lucia asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"This is a textbook. I plan to teach you how to read and write in dragon script starting tonight," Lance explained, setting his pen aside.

"Huh?" Lucia was taken aback. Was she really expected to become a student on her very first day in the dragon's lair?

"Two hours of study every evening, except on the Divine Holidays," Lance continued, referring to the weekends.

"Oh, I understand," Lucia nodded, processing the new schedule. "Just study then."

She considered the rarity of ancient dragon literature, something many historians yearned to learn but few dragons were willing to teach.

"And perhaps during the day, you might find yourself learning Elvish from me," Lucia suggested, already envisioning the exchange of knowledge.

"At night, I am the dragon's pupil; by day, the dragon becomes mine."

"Lance, can you speak Elvish?" she inquired, curious about his linguistic capabilities.

"Yes," Lance paused his writing and turned to look at her. "Do you also wish to learn Elvish?"

Lucia didn't respond immediately; instead, she squatted beside him and absentmindedly drew circles with her dragon claws on the ground.

Was this evil dragon perhaps a little distracted by this shift in their usual dynamic?