CHAPTER 60: ORIEN’S WISDOM

Of all the things Riley expected to see in the Dragon Lord’s estate, this was not on the list.

On the couch in the lounge, Orien was in his baby dragon form—tiny tail sticking straight up like a flag in surrender, hind legs splayed awkwardly, wings drooping to the sides as if life had already given up on him. His face was completely squished into the cushions, so all Riley could see was the curve of his back and a twitching tail that looked more like an involuntary spasm than anything deliberate.

For a split second, Riley’s heart leapt into his throat. It looked exactly like the aftermath of a very small, very fluffy murder mystery. All that was missing was chalk outlines and police tape.

"Orien!" He blurted it so fast he forgot any honorifics entirely.

The baby dragon did not move. Not even a twitch of his ear frill.

Riley spun toward Kael, eyes wide. "What happened here?!"

Kael’s expression didn’t so much as ripple. "It seems to be an unknown disease."

Riley’s stomach dropped. "Unknown disease?!"

"Yes." Kael’s gaze shifted back to the couch, tone so steady it was like he was reading tomorrow’s weather forecast. "One moment he was unwrapping something he claimed was a snack... then the next, he went catatonic. That is why I came to get you."

Riley stared at him. "You came to get me—not a healer?"

Kael’s golden eyes slid back to his. "You are more efficient. And what’s a healer supposed to know about what he ate?"

A sharp, irritated "tsk" escaped Riley before he could stop it.

He marched over to the couch and crouched down, carefully prying Orien’s little face from where it was buried deep in the cushions. The baby dragon’s eyes fluttered half-open, glassy and dazed, like someone halfway between sleep and an existential crisis.

"What did you eat?" Riley asked, his tone already edged with suspicion.

Orien’s tongue poked out faintly, and he made a pitiful squeak. "Cold... too cold..."

Riley froze. Then his jaw dropped. "...You have got to be kidding me."

Riley let out a long sigh. "Alright, my lord, you’ve got brain freeze. Either try breathing a bit of fire or press your tongue against the roof of your mouth."

Orien gave a faint whimper and did as told, little puffs of warm air slipping past his teeth.

"That’s what you get for swallowing ice cream like you’re racing a timer," Riley scolded while visibly relaxing. "Now you’re in pain, and it’s your own fault."

But even as he said it, Orien looked so ridiculously small and fluffy in this form that Riley almost felt bad for yelling. Almost.

Orien blinked up at Kael with watery eyes. "Can I still have dessert tomorrow?"

"No," Riley and Kael said at the same time.

The baby dragon huffed, tail giving a weak flick of rebellion. "I’ll... take that as a maybe..."

With the allegedly ill dragon now revived, Riley straightened up, brushing his hands as Orien flopped onto the couch like a spoiled patient.

"Alright," Riley sighed, "now that the ice cream crisis is over, I think I need your help with something else, my lord."

Kael raised a brow. "Help?"

Suddenly interested in how his aide had spoken more in the past few days than he’d bothered to in the last five years.

"I think we need to clear up this misunderstanding with my parents."

Kael’s gaze was steady. "What misunderstanding?"

"The one where they think we’re—" Riley made a vague flailing motion, "—together."

Kael didn’t even blink. "Misunderstanding?"

"Yes!"

"I don’t see a misunderstanding when that’s what it looks like. In fact, it’s worse."

Riley stared. "What?!"

Was this dragon serious?

"Considering the predicament, it is the safer option."

"Predicament?"

Kael looked at him like this was the second time they’d had the same conversation. "We already agreed to cooperate. Why are you being like this now?"

"That’s different, we agreed on the case. Not on this! I don’t want to lie to my family!"

Kael’s brow furrowed slightly. "Lie?"

"Yes!" Riley rubbed the back of his neck. "Sir, I get it—the thing has the same effect, but that’s just the effect. It’s not the same as what they’re thinking."

"And what are they thinking?"

"...!!!"

Kael waited.

"They just... think wrong!" Riley’s ears were turning pink. "But it’s bad if they keep thinking that way!"

"How do you expect me to correct something I don’t know?"

Riley clamped his mouth shut because, annoyingly, that made sense. "Parents want their kids in an actual relationship, with a real future. It wouldn’t be fair for them to think this way."

"And?"

"What do you mean and?! That’s already a big problem! Aren’t you going to tell your Lord Karion and Lady Cirila?"

"Why? Tell them what, when you were mine to begin with."

Riley’s face went scarlet. "Servitude is not the same as being a partner, my lord." The honorific practically hissed.

Kael’s lips twitched. "Your tone suggests disagreement."

"It’s because I disagree! You can’t just claim me like I’m an extra chair you’ve decided to keep, my lord!"

"You sit well enough."

"You’re insufferable!"

"And yet you continue to cooperate."

"I don’t think it’s cooperation when I’m not given a choice."

"Weren’t you given a choice when you tried to explain it to your family?"

Riley froze. He had been given a chance—it was just that everyone’s faces made it impossible to articulate without wanting to sink into the floor.

"That’s because I didn’t get to finish! Because of the emergency!"

"Then go back and explain. How do you want me to explain it?"

"Tell them it’s not a relationship when for dragons it is. Am I supposed to lie?"

On the couch, Orien sat between them, head swiveling from left to right like he was watching two beasts circle the same shiny rock.

Finally, the baby dragon lifted a paw. "I don’t understand the disagreement."

Both Riley and Kael turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Riley asked.

"I don’t understand how you’re going to say you’re not in one when you talk more than every other dragon I’ve ever seen. You even talk more than my married little people."

Riley groaned into his hands. Kael looked faintly smug while Orien just couldn’t understand why any of this was a problem.

Don’t they understand that there are worse issues than this?