CHAPTER 194: THE DELINQUENT DRAGON

"What the heck?" Riley finally screeched.

"What?" asked the delinquent dragon, completely unbothered. "Even when I was young, I knew the nest was a stupid place."

The law-abiding citizen blinked, glancing around the study as if worried someone might overhear the dragon lord calling their own dragon nursery stupid.

But Kael clearly didn’t care. He just continued, voice calm and matter-of-fact.

"It was back when I was much younger than Orien," Kael began. "It wasn’t a particularly peaceful time. By then, the dragons were still wary of attacks from the last yet desperate and persistent stragglers of the Wyvern clan."

Riley straightened, curious despite himself.

"So naturally," Kael went on, "we grew up faster and stronger than the dragonlings of today. Without the luxury of peace, there was a desperate need to improve much faster. That made the nest really seem like a joke, when, much like today, they couldn’t even keep us in there properly."

The interested human nodded in understanding, but he couldn’t help but try to imagine a smaller version of Kael still being terrifying, probably breathing fire at anyone who annoyed him, and it seemed like it was everyone.

"But still," Kael continued, "that discovery was accidental."

"Accidental?"

"Yes. I escaped the nest as usual and decided to explore places that were more interesting."

Disbelieving eyes narrowed. "As usual?"

Kael ignored that and continued, "And that was how I chanced upon an unusual egg that seemed to call for me. It was in what looked like a deserted place with a strange kind of magic. At that time, I thought it was faulty."

Riley leaned forward, hanging on to the story.

"Only to find out that when I returned with the egg, my parents nearly fainted."

"Wait—what?"

The troublemaker’s lips curved faintly. "Not only did I escape the nest again, but I was also dragging back a dragon egg that no one even knew existed."

The human aide, who was definitely not complicit in this, covered his mouth, horrified. "You... stole a dragon egg?!"

"I wouldn’t call it stealing," Kael said calmly. "The egg called for me, so I brought it back home."

"Called for you," Riley repeated blankly.

"Mn," Kael confirmed. "Then I told my parents I had to bring it out because the egg kept calling on me, and it was annoying."

Riley almost choked.

He stared at the golden lizard, utterly scandalized.

He had been trying to listen with sympathy—really, he had, even amidst that slight jealousy—but now he wanted to flick the man’s forehead just once. He’d do it for the poor egg that had been called "annoying."

"Apparently, it was doing that because it was my fated mate," Kael said without a hint of irony. "But more importantly, my parents made me swear not to speak of it, especially to other dragons. In the end, only the elders of that time were allowed to know."

"But why?" Riley asked, his voice smaller now.

"Several reasons," Kael replied. "For one, it was dangerous because of my parents’ position. You remember the mate selection competition those dragonlings were talking about?"

"Yeah," The aide nodded, shuddering at the memory of that horrifying event where he, as a human, had nearly been forced to compete with furious baby dragons.

"See, the existence of fated mates was a double-edged sword politically," Kael explained. "Because of the power and stability that came with bonding to a fated mate, it became an obsession. Some dragon lords in the past refused to mate with anyone else, waiting endlessly for their fated mate instead."

"Because dragons mate for life," Riley murmured.

Kael nodded. "Mn. If a dragon lord mated with someone, only for their fated mate to be discovered later, it would be disastrous. The bond can’t simply be broken."

Riley froze. He felt that like a physical blow.

Kael’s tone softened slightly. "But finding one’s fated mate isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s always the chance they’ve already been mated to someone else. Or that they were born in another generation, long before or long after you. But the worst possibility," his eyes lowered briefly, "is that they never survived long enough to be found."

The listener didn’t say anything. The thought of someone searching for centuries, only to realize their fated one was gone, hit harder than he expected.

"So imagine if all the rulers waited," Kael continued. "The entire clan would weaken."

He folded his hands together, expression composed but grim. "That’s why, during those times, the most prominent families would send their unmated members in hopes of being chosen as the dragon lord’s mate."

"Ah!" Riley gasped in realization. "The clan that marries into the dragon lord’s line gains power and prestige."

"Mn." The dragon lord nodded. "And if the clan managed to produce the dragon lord’s true fated mate, their status would rise even higher."

The aide frowned. "So what happens if the fated mate isn’t from their clan?"

Kael’s gaze shifted, calm but sharp. "Then it would be better to get rid of them."

Riley’s eyes widened. "What?! They’d get rid of them?!"

"Yes," Kael said simply. "Because if the fated mate isn’t one of their own, that clan gains nothing. And more than that, without the fated mate, the dragon lord would be forced to hold another mating selection."

"Giving everyone else another chance," it was barely a whisper.

Kael inclined his head. "Yeah."

Riley sat back slowly, mind spinning.

He felt his hands go cold. He could barely form the question.

"I-is that what happened?" he whispered.

Kael’s face did not change, but Riley noticed the tiny tremor in the dragon lord’s fingers. It was the smallest thing, almost polite enough to be ignored, except the observant aide did not ignore it. The motion snapped something taut inside him.

"You could probably guess that the egg didn’t make it," Kael said quietly. "But if that had been the whole story, it would have been easier. I would have known where to look, who to kill, and who to blame. Revenge would have been tidy. Clean."

Riley’s throat tightened. He wanted to ask questions. Instead, Kael looked away for a breath, as if watching some distant memory play out.

"But I don’t think that’s what happened," Kael continued. "At least not entirely."

Riley’s breath hitched. "Then what did—"

"Even now," Kael said, and his voice held a rough edge the long-time aide had not heard before, "I believe it was partly because I made an accidental yet critical mistake."

"A mistake?"

"Yes. I guess you should listen well and hard, because I don’t think I’d be able to repeat this."

Riley leaned forward as if the words themselves might disappear. He drew in a careful, shallow breath.

Kael’s expression softened for a fraction of a second. He reached out, and before the twig could announce his surprise, the dragon lord’s large hand moved to a stray lock of hair that had fallen loose against Riley’s forehead. Kael pushed it back behind a delicate ear with deliberate gentleness.

The touch was small. It was so small that anyone else might have missed it. But for Riley, it landed like a warm brand.

There was gentleness in the movement, but for a moment, the human aide wondered what it would have been like if the sigil still burned bright on his skin.

If he could feel the emotions behind Kael’s expression, would he have been able to survive it?