Engagement Hijacked, Destiny Rewritten

To save money, Mother scheduled Rhea's wedding and mine on the same day.

To make sure Rhea looked grand, Mother poured every last coin she'd ever stashed away into her celebration with lavish dishes on the menu and extravagant, meticulous decorations.

In stark contrast, the celebration originally planned for me couldn't even be described as modest. It was downright pitiful.

Drakon took one look at it, grabbed my hand, and walked me out. The next day, he booked a venue of a far higher standard than Rhea's.

When we were greeting guests, Rhea and I crossed paths. She tightened her hold on Flint's arm on purpose.

"Astrid, I've never met anyone as sharp as Flint. He's brilliant at reading the clan politics and social dealings, and he can spot business opportunities instantly. I'm sure I'll be living well in no time."

I smiled. "I'm sure you will."

Rhea had a naively simplistic view of building a fortune. While Flint was clever, he lacked innate talent for business. It'd take him a long time to improve their living conditions.

In our previous lives, she had seen me living well within a year and assumed she'd do even better. She'd boasted everywhere that within six months, Flint's business would succeed, and her life of luxury would begin.

Influenced by her confidence, Flint began believing it and swaggered about.

Rhea could barely suppress her smug smile. "You just enjoy what you have with that ill-fated soul while you can. Everything you have will be taken back sooner or later."

With that, she turned to leave, but I wasn't about to give her a chance.

I lifted the hem of my gown and kicked her hard. "You and your filthy mouth deserve a beating."

She shrieked as she hit the ground hard. "You whore! How dare you hit me!"

Not one to take an insult lying down, she scrambled up to retaliate. Behind her, Flint rolled up his sleeves and was ready to join in.

But the fire dragons were nobles. They would never stand by and watch me get bullied by a lowly wolf.

With just a few instructions from me, Flint was pinned to the floor by the fire dragons, forced to bow and apologize.

Rhea looked like she wanted nothing more than to tear me into pieces. "When Drakon dies, we'll see who protects you then! I'll pay you back for everything you did today a thousand times!"

…

On the wedding night, I sat cross-legged on the bed doing accounts.

Behind me, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. Drakon pouted and asked, "It's late, honey. Aren't you tired?"

He might as well have suggested outright that we call it a day.

When I pushed the ledger aside, looped my arms around his neck, and leaned in to kiss him, he nearly jumped. "W-What are you doing?"

I laughed. "Going to bed."

His face flushed a spectacular shade of red. "Of course, I knew that! I was just testing you!"

I was thoroughly amused. He was an interesting fire dragon indeed.

Hooking a leg around his waist, I pushed him onto the bed. He swallowed hard before flipping me under him instead. "I should handle things like this."

That was how I discovered the true, terrifying stamina of a young fire dragon.

That night, I went from being confidently in control to repeatedly begging for mercy. But he wouldn't let me off, not until I was limp and pliant.

When it was over, and I was utterly wrecked, he scooped me into his arms with a satisfied smile. "You've worked hard, honey."

All I could manage was a weak, coy kick. He just chuckled and caught my foot, holding it playfully.

What a rogue!

…

The next morning, I looked in the mirror and found myself staring back in shock. Why was there a faint dragon mark between my brows?

In high spirits, Drakon explained, "Are you looking at the dragon mark? It only appears after intimacy with dragons."

Realization hit me, and my eyes widened.

Why hadn't Rhea shown one in our previous life? Could it be that she and Drakon had never consummated their marriage?

Delighted, I grabbed Drakon's face and kissed him twice, hard. He was absolutely thrilled.