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 Kel should have withdrawn her gaze immediately, but curiosity got the better of her. Though his muscles were well defined, without the thick armor and bulky mantle, the emperor was unexpectedly wiry.
 The way he stood in the water left his bare back entirely exposed to Kel. A large tattoo on his right side climbed from his lower back to his shoulder blade. It was identical to the marking on his armor—a black dragon.
 That mark had become a symbol of fear for the western kingdoms in recent years, but the Serin Empire hadn't always been represented by a dragon.
 From history classes in the palace, Kel had learned that leadership in the empire was highly volatile, and most of the emperors declared a new national symbol when they took the throne. As a result, a variety of flags, seals and uniforms all historically denoted Serin citizenship.
 Like previous emperors, the Dragon Emperor issued his own national symbol when he came to power. However, he also gave the order that all other symbols must be burned under the threat of treason. Only a year after his coronation, arrests and trials began for anybody caught with a banned mark..
 How befitting of the Dragon Emperor, Kel thought to herself, to so ruthlessly establish the mark of his rule, and a mark that represented his own title at that. He was probably the continent's first ruler to make himself the national symbol.
 But now wasn't the time to be having a history review. Kel refocused her attention on the matter at hand. She needed to sneak away before the man in the water noticed her presence.
 Just as she was preparing to sneak farther downstream to continue the hunt for medicinal herbs, the emperor suddenly turned her direction. With a muffled gasp, she dived down into the bushes, hoping to have avoided his sight. How would she be able to explain herself if she was caught?
 After several noiseless seconds passed, Kel bravely peeked over the top of the leaves covering her face.
 The stream was empty, babbling happily along its undisturbed path. It was as if the man bathing had never been there at all.
 "Did he… drown?" Kel whispered to herself.
 It was a ridiculous thought, but she could think of no reasonable explanation for his silent disappearance. There was no way he could have slipped out of the water without so much as a splash.
 She raised her head a little higher to increase her range of vision and pivoted on her heels, doing a full sweep of the area. As she came to face the trees, she carefully searched for some trace of the emperor's figure.
 "You're much bolder than I thought."
 Kel started at the low-toned voice behind her. She whirled around to face the source of the voice, crashing awkwardly through the brush as she did so.
 The Dragon Emperor stood waist-deep in the stream directly in front of her, glowering.
 Kel was at a loss for words. She felt like a criminal caught in the act. She really hadn't intended to spy on the emperor, but no excuse could justify this situation.
 "I suppose I did take away your wedding night," the emperor grinned slyly, slowly moving toward her. "Is this your way of asking me to take responsibility?"
 More bare skin slowly became visible above the rippling water as he strode.
 "Don't come near me!" Kel shrieked, holding her hands out to block the view of everything below the man's incredibly sculpted abs.
 "I should be the one saying that," he snorted, heedlessly continuing his advance.
 Kel's face flushed behind her upheld hands. It was true that she had spent more time than necessary admiring his body earlier, but this was too much.
 Unconcerned with her distress, the emperor quickly closed the distance between them. He rigidly grabbed hold of her wrists as he came within reach and pulled her arms out of the way. Kel instantly scrunched her eyes shut.
 "Open your eyes," a very irritated-sounding voice commanded.
 Please punish me some other way! She silently begged, her entire face now a deep shade of crimson.
 As if in response to her inner plea, the emperor's grip on her wrists tightened. Kel knew she had no choice but obey.
 Growing up in a predominantly male profession, and often being mistaken for one herself when she was in uniform, she'd seen her fair share of naked men in her life. The circumstances now shouldn't even phase her.
 It's no different than those other times, she chanted to herself as she slowly peeled her eyelids apart. Something dark slowly came into view where the lower half of the emperor's body should have been.
 "..Pants?" Kel wondered aloud, scanning his linen-covered legs.
 "It seems you were expecting something else," the emperor smirked.
 "No! I jus-," Her eyes flicked back up to the man's face as she realized where she was staring. "W-who bathes with their pants on?" she stammered.
 "Well, with peeping princesses around, one can never be too careful."
 "I didn't peep!" Kel yanked her arms away and crossed them across her body. He was the one half naked, so why did she feel so exposed under his burning gaze?
 "Is this the second time today you've been allowed to roam freely through the forest?" the emperor asked, his piercing eyes locked with hers.
 Kel hastily dropped her gaze to the ground, put off by his powerful aura. Of course, it was only natural that he'd already know about the whole ordeal from earlier.
 "I'm not trying to run away," she muttered, knowing that was exactly how things looked.
 "I'm not sure if the solution is more guards.." The emperor's arm unexpectedly shot out, grabbing Kel's side just below her ribs. "Or more competent guards," he finished, plucking the chunk of salted meat from where she'd stashed it in her belt.
 Kel stood stupefied. Was he a dog? How had he known the meat was there? He even seemed to be aware that she'd used it to bribe the soldiers. Nothing had gone unnoticed under that terrifying scarlet gaze.
 The emperor stepped closer to her, once again reaching out to her waist. He pulled her in until hardly an inch of space remained between them. With his breath tickling her ear, he whispered, "you'll find jewelweed if you follow this stream farther east."
 With that advice, he turned and stalked away through the brush, leaving Kel alone.
 There was no doubt now. The Dragon Emperor knew everything on Kel's mind. She shuddered, replaying the conversation in her head. Regardless of how he managed to find out, one thing was certain: this man was no ordinary human.
 Kel managed to find the jewelweed quickly, thanks to the emperor's direction. After securing a small bundle, she hastily made her way out of the forest.
 As she pushed through foliage, she tried to ignore the nagging suspicion that the emperor had sinister motives when he told her about the herb. If he knew the kind of plant she was looking for, then he likely knew why she was looking for it.
 Had he led her to a jewelweed doppelganger that was actually highly poisonous? Or had he sent someone to finish off Barclay before she could get back to him?
 Neither scenario was outside the realm of possibility considering she was dealing with the Dragon Emperor. She just hoped she could rely on his words that he wouldn't kill Barclay while he was still useful.
 In contrast to her rapid hike back through the forest, the guard's leisurely pace back through camp was painful to bear. Kel's feet itched to run. The voices in her head were screaming that Barclay was in danger.
 After what seemed an eternity of trekking between tents, they finally arrived at the familiar little canvas hut. Kel immediately moved to duck through the door.
 "Aren't you forgetting something?" the guard huffed, holding an arm out to stop her.
 The other piece of meat! With the whirlwind of anxious thoughts swirling around her head on the way back, she had forgotten that the emperor took it from her.
 Her waist tingled, remembering the sensation of the emperor's touch. She put a hand up to calm the uncomfortable tingling while contemplating what to tell the soldiers. To her surprise, there was a bulge in her belt.
 It was the meat. The emperor must have returned it when he grabbed her the second time.
 Kel blinked forcefully, trying to dispel the feeling of the emperor's touch as she granted the guards their eagerly awaited prize. She quickly retreated into the tent as the men began to gobble the meat.
 Barclay was exactly as she left him, curled up on the ground with the bag of goodies stashed securely in his embrace.
 "B-Barclay?" Kel whispered, bending down.
 "Kel? What is it?" Barclay murmured.
 The strength in her legs gave out as relief washed over her, and she crumpled to the ground next to the burly man.
 "Hey! Kel, are you ok?" he hissed, nudging her with his elbow.
 "Everything is fine," Kel breathed.
 ***
 The Serin group spent three more days on the road before reaching the capital city. The jewelweed worked like a charm, and Barclay's condition was improving by the day. Every evening, Kel would discover fresh provisions carefully stashed away in their tent. Barclay was certain Dash was to thank, but Kel remained impartial on the matter.
 "If he really wanted to help us," she had insisted repeatedly, "he wouldn't have sold us out in the first place."
 In contrast to what Kel always assumed about the inferior Serin Empire, the capital city turned out to be a sight to behold. The roads were clean and wide, buildings large and architecturally commendable, and the people all seemed neat and well mannered.
 The palace was shockingly anticlimactic in comparison with the rest of the city. It was certainly beautiful, but hardly more so than any of the other structures in the city. For a man as narcissistic as the emperor, the lackluster castle didn't quite fit.
 Kel was quickly settled into a building to the west of the main palace. It was unsurprising that she was allowed comfortable living conditions. Thanks to her status as royalty, she could count on this much.
 What brought greater comfort was when she learned that Barclay had also been given a small room in the same building. Though the circumstances were far from ideal for his recovery, it was much better than rotting away in a dingy prison cell.
 Kel had just flopped on the bed in her own room when she heard a knock at the door.
 "Come in," Kel called lazily, feeling much more at ease than a war hostage should.
 The door creaked open, and a man entered. She propped herself up on her elbows to get a better look.
 "Dash."
 A river of muddled emotions flooded her mind as she stared across the room at her old friend. This was the second time they'd faced each other since that fateful night in the clearing. Out of all the questions she wanted to ask, there was only one she could find the words for.
 "Are you a traitor?"
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 The Dragon's Kiss novel is a popular light novel covering Comedy, Fantasy and Romance genres. Written by the Author Currer.
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 She was stupidly in love with him. Because of him, she became rude and unreasonable, overbearing, jealous, insane. But he did not spare a glance to her. Married for two years, he didn’t favor her once, letting her become the laughing stock of the whole world. Eventually, she ended up in an affair, leading to her tragic death.
 When her eyes opened again, it was a different person.
 Since it’s an empress, then we absolutely must be virtuous, generous, correct the previous jealousy defect.
 Thus begins the replacement empress’ harem life.
 Taking the initiative to help the emperor look for beauties, sending them to serve in the bedroom, teaching the imperial concubines how to primp themselves to win the emperor’s favor, and even using the phoenix seal as a reward. Whoever can satisfy the emperor on the dragon bed, will have the opportunity to take the phoenix seal and sit on the phoenix seat, to experience the feeling of being the empress. Being this virtuous can really be called impeccable.
 She was this virtuous, the emperor ought to be pleased in every aspect!
 Hadn’t expected the emperor wouldn’t know good from bad. Not only reprimanded her, but also contradicted her everywhere. The beauties she’d sent were actually all driven away.
 Since he didn’t like the beauties, apparently there’s a special interest. In that case, send over a group of beautiful men. Can top, can bottom, every option is there.
 In the end, they were also driven away.
 Thus the empress personally arrived to battle at the emperor’s bedroom-
 “Your Majesty, do you have an unmentionable illness down there? If so, rest assured and tell me. I’ll let some people treat it in secret.” Take a look at her virtue, she could move herself to tears.
 “Unmentionable illness?” The emperor’s sword-like eyebrows raised, the eyes suddenly looked dangerous. Approaching her slowly, unexpectedly ordered: “Tonight, the empress will serve me.”
 “What?” Then, Mo Qiqi with lightning speed jabbed the hornet’s nest.
 “Ah!” A miserable scream.
 Mo Qiqi worriedly looked at the emperor to inquire: “Your Majesty. Are you alright!”
 The emperor spoke with a pained expression: “Call the court physician!”
 “You did have an unmentionable illness!”
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 An internet troll who wanted attention, the reader criticized his favorite web novel, saying: “The protagonist is dumb and the author is stupid.”
 Author: “… Got it.”
 Unfortunately for him, the author actually listened to his (troll) feedback. The formerly lighthearted tale of a cute harem master suddenly became super dark and edgy. The reader could only helplessly look on as the the protagonist was abused and betrayed, finally embarking on the road to becoming completely evil. Everything was a mess!
 After that the reader transmigrated into a strange world. How come the person in front of him looks like the protagonist (evil undead version)? Just what is going on?!
 Note: Du Zhe (读者 meaning Reader) and Du Ze (杜泽 the character’s name) sound almost the same
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 The famous actor, Yin Dong, died suddenly in an accident. When Yin Chang rushed back to China to deal with his father’s aftermath, a scandal shocked the entertainment industry.
 Before his death, Yin Dong was going to adopt a child named Shao Junling. Although his origin was unknown, he looked surprisingly like Yin Dong.
 Even though he felt conflicted, in order to fulfill his father’s wish, Yin Chang began his 18-year-old cub raising life.
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 She is an international ace agent,An amazing doctor, God of Assassination, However due to a box she accidentally rebirthed and became an ordinary junior high school student. Weak and incompetent, That scum woman wants to put her head into the toilet. The gambling father, borrowed a lot of money and now they are being chased by loan sharks for debt? There is also a group annoying people in her life. The reborned Yunxiao sneers: I want to know how to write the dead words! She returned from the wind, high-profile attack, if people dared to bully me, they are courting death!
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 Han Dong works as an extra as well as a fortuneteller who foretells marriage fortunes extremely accurately. One day, he accidentally foretells his own fortune and discovers that he and a Mr. Golden will become “a match predestined by fate”. As a straight man, he doesn’t hesitate to ruin his image in front of Mr. Golden — acting as a fool, a despicable man, making himself as annoying as possible because he is afraid that the other man will take a liking to him.
 Did you think that this golden man would fall for him? You’re wrong.
 Han Dong tosses from side to side but unexpectedly becomes tempted, he begins to use thousand ways, a hundred plans in order to rescue the situation. As a result of his acting skills before, his foolish image already entered deeply into the man’s heart……
 Note: Thousand ways, a hundred plans = by every possible means)
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 Before going to bed, Xie Fei read a rich novel. In the novel, the family took home a son and made a living. The parents were so crazy about the adopted son who had the blood of a koi, they ended up looking at their own son with disgust and disdain. In the end, the real son was smashed into a vegetative state by a falling object.
 When Xie Fei woke up, he found himself lying on a hospital bed as that cannon fodder son. He thought that he wouldn’t survive past three chapters but he ended up accidentally inheriting an unconventional inn for monsters–
 Seahorse Tyrant: I heard that I’m pregnant with 1,800 cubs?
 Jellyfish Gambler: After getting old, I’m no longer afraid of getting my hands chopped!
 Groundhog Singer: Ah! I can’t help but scream!
 Since then, Xie Fei was forced to devote himself in restructuring, rectifying, and managing the inn. Additionally, he became involved in emotional counseling and resolving disputes.
 Later on, the inn made the headlines! One room was occupied by a gold medal producer. Another room was occupied by the city’s richest man. The big sister of society also lived in one of the inn’s rooms. In Room 004, a popular idol has boss Xie trapped on the sofa and boldly said, “Kiss me again if you dare!”
 Xie Fei: *kisses again*
 Popular Idol: “….kisses, kiss me ten more times!”
 This is the story of a cannon fodder-now-protagonist facing Buddha. It’s also a fantasy story filled with monsters and sweet sugar!
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 There were always villains with frustrating fates and miserable lives, here the heroine transmigrated to save the villain’s miserable life.
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 Terror is resurrected and the horror space descends on the whole world! 
 Si Yan, who traveled to this parallel world three years ago, was accidentally pulled into the horror space and awakened the supreme career tree system! 
 A weird chef, a weird delivery boy, a weird doctor, a weird teacher, a weird masseur... 
 "Miss Vampire, please respect yourself! I am a cook and I only know how to cook!" 
 In the Vladimir family castle, Si Yan held a spatula and said seriously to a vampire girl. 
 "Although I am a teacher, I am only responsible for answering questions!" 
 In the mysterious fog ghost city, Si Yan hit the headless female student hard with a pointer. 
 "Madam, I am diagnosing your pulse, not you diagnosing mine!" 
 In the treatment room of Weiling Hospital, the charming female ghost in red was scolded by Si Yan in a white coat. 
 ... 
 Monsters are rampant, and the terrifying space is like a hell on earth, making all players tremble with fear! 
 However, Si Yan, who has full career charm, is galloping in the scary space! 
 Sakura: "Kyushu has definitely deciphered the horror space! They are liars!" 
 Eagle Sauce: "Why is it that this Kyushu native lets those fierce ghosts back him while others are struggling on the edge of a narrow escape?" 
 Dahan: "We now have reason to suspect that this terrifying space was developed by Kyushu!" 
 Jiuzhou: "Si Yan, hold on! The future of Jiuzhou depends on you!"
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 The Soaring Dragon Continent is a world of summons, you can only become strong if you become a summoner! Yue Yang, an average high school boy, was suddenly transported into this world. When he woke up, he was greeted with a lot of worried faces and found out that he had assumed another person’s identity. Turns out he’s the good-for-nothing third son of the Yue Family, who had just recently drowned himself because of a failed engagement. Unlike the third son of the Yue Family who was useless in summoning, Yue Yang succeeded in making a contract with a summoning grimoire on his first try, even when the other guy failed for the past fifteen years. Others would have a headache making contracts with beasts afterwards, but countless beasts tried to gain favour with Yue Yang instead, acting like a good kid before him.
 Yue Yang the brat, however, didn’t feel grateful at all: “Scram, Mythical Beasts! Do you think you are cool like that? Go away from me now, I only like beautiful summons!”
 Even when royal families approached him for his talents, the shameless brat replied, “I’m not interested in government stuff, I’m only interested in beauties!”
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 Photophobia, bloodthirsty, immortality… 
 Colin, who passed through, found that he seemed to be in line with the characteristics of the vampires. 
 But the problem is, there is no record of vampires in this world! 
 Am I the first vampire in this world? 
 There is no predecessor’s guidance, and there is no system to help. 
 To clarify the setting of kinship in this world, Colin had to treat himself as an experimental subject. 
 [Under direct sunlight, the strength is reduced by about 30%], [The throat, heart, and brain are no longer fatal weaknesses], [Ordinary food cannot satisfy hunger, only blood can restore physical strength]. 
 Holy water…Huh? Who gave me holy water!
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 Chen Fan found that he had become a planetary consciousness wandering the earth. 
 Forced by the helium flash crisis and the oppression of another world, he had to travel through time and space on the wandering earth. 
 He took Ava away from "Avatar", helped the coalition government blackmail the Trisolarans in "The Three-Body Problem", and then destroyed the alien invaders' home planet in "Pacific Rim"... 
 During time travels, Chen Fan reached close cooperation with the coalition government, and finally found the ultimate solution to the crisis together with mankind. 
 (Completed worlds: Avatar, Three-Body Problem, Pacific Rim, Transformers, Edge of Tomorrow, The Cage, Dune, Resident Evil, Godzilla vs. Kong , "Super Seminary")
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 System: Han Yanyan, you have been chosen by the quick transmigration world. What kind of gold finger do you want, you can propose it here.
 Han Yanyan: If the world is peaceful and prosperous, I want to be beautiful and have a lot of money. If the world is life-threatening, I want to have strong combat power.
 System: Sorry, your requirements cannot be met.
 Han Yanyan: Then why did you ask me?
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The Dragon's Kiss

Chapter 8 - EIGHT: The Emperor&#39;s Bath Time

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The Dragon's Kiss

Chapter 8 - EIGHT: The Emperor&amp;#39;s Bath Time

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Chapter 8 - EIGHT: The Emperor's Bath Time