A Pet for the Dragons

172.

ARIKA

"You'll rot if you don't defy your mother?" I asked, confused but deeply... intrigued. This was something entirely... unexpected. That was the best I could describe this situation.

"I'll rot if I don't do what I am supposed to," He corrected me. I paused for a moment, trying to make sense of it.

"And that is to defy your mother?" I asked.

"It's one of the things, yes," He answered with a shrug, bringing me a chair. I couldn't help but notice how hospitable he was to me. I could've never imagined him being this considerate in our first meeting. He came off as an absolute brat back then.

But then again, maybe he was an absolute brat, and he was merely doing this for his interests, which involved my unborn child. My hand immediately shot to my stomach.

In the midst of all this, I didn't have the time to process anything properly. I could finally think about this for the first time since I learnt.

I was pregnant.

I couldn't believe it all. It all felt like a fever dream because I could've only dreamed about such things. I'd thought of becoming a mother, but I had never considered it seriously.

I was pregnant.

Once the realisation truly sank in, panic rose. I wasn't ready for this. I didn't think I could ever be prepared for something like this. I didn't know how to be a mother because I never had a mother. She abandoned me, and then I was raised in an orphanage where I could only rely on myself.

I grew up to be selfish because that was the only thing that assured my survival. I didn't know how to care for someone other than myself because my life had only one motto— eat or get eaten.

I was selfish to the bone. I had betrayed my dragons despite them being kind and gentle to me. The thought of having a child scared me. I dropped my hand and focused on the presence, forcing myself to snap out of the thoughts regarding the child.

First, I needed to figure a way out of this situation. If I survive this, I'll have endless time to reflect on it.

"How strange," I mumbled, gazing back at the prince, observing me thoughtfully. Even though he looked much younger, the sternness on his face could be only that of an adult. "Yet you were running around in the body of a boy,"

He laughed.

"That's the version to deal with the nobles and the court," He replied, "I am my real age in this body," He said, putting a hand on his chest and sighing deeply as if to remind himself that he was alive. I shuddered on his behalf.

"Your mother allows?" I couldn't help but ask. He chuckled.

"She can't stop me from what I do with myself," He said with a smile that slowly drained away from his face as he added, "She has a habit of controlling things too hard for her good. She has experienced it with me. She knows best not to test my boundaries."

"Oh, she's definitely controlling me and my dragons... but—"

"— but what?"

"All this doesn't make sense to me. What does it have to do with me and my dragons?"

"See it as a little course correction,"

"How?" I pressed, narrowing my eyes at him. His strange answers were starting to get to me. He grinned at me.

"I've been here before," He answered. "I'm just making sure how things ought to be according to the heavenly design,"

"Ugh... It's not working for me, kid. Give me better reasons," I told him, crossing my arms on my chest and shaking my head. "Just tell me what you want in return for this, and I'll make sure we never meet again."

"I only speak the truth to you," He said, giving me a solemn look, "And we'll meet again, but in the distant future, but the situations would be a lot different then."

"That tone again. You speak as if you've seen the future."

"I can see it, but I'm here to ensure things play out as intended."

"And how is it intended to be?" I asked.

"For you?" He gave me a knowing look, a sly smile pulling the corner of his lips, "You'll get out of here and reunite with your sister."

My jaw almost hit the floor, but I schooled my features immediately. However, it was too late because he smiled at me, seeing my shocked face.

"H-how did you— okay, fuck this. That was a fucking wild guess,"

"You're not on good terms with her. You did terrible things to her, and it haunts you," He added, and my mouth went dry.

Maybe he knew what he was talking about.

"Who are you? Some freak who can look into the past and the future?" I asked, trying not to sound freaked out. The bodies in the room were not helping in this situation anymore. The conversation was distracting enough, but it wasn't helping at all. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Me? I'm the Prince of Rot. A fragment of destiny reborn,"

"Whatever that means," I snapped back, feeling anxious suddenly. The sudden sense of doom was thick in the air, and it seemed to be choking me. I noticed that sudden shift in Yvune's face. He seemed to have noticed the same things.

Before I could say anything, he grabbed me and dragged me to one of the cupboards at the back of the room. I followed him silently before he pushed me into one of the cupboards and shut the doors abruptly.

Just in time, I heard the vault door open, followed by footsteps.

"Come out, brat. I know you're hiding in here," An unfamiliar voice roared. It was a man's voice. However, it lacked depth and came across as snappish. I'd have found it annoying had I not been in this situation.

"No need to scream. I'm right here. What do you want?" Yvune replied with a bored tone. I listened carefully while trying to be as silent as a mouse. I needed to know who this person was.

"Where are the grimoires that I gave you to—" The voice stopped abruptly, and a tense silence drenched the room. I could hear my heart race in the silence. It sounded like war drums in the cold, silent vault.

"Which ones?" Yvune replied, keeping his tone casual and unbothered. However, I had an odd feeling about how the previous voice abruptly stopped talking....

...did they notice I was here? My heart raced faster at these thoughts.

"Gauze, blood, and glass," The voice noted slowly, "What have you been up to?" There was a dark threat in that voice that I couldn't miss. I put my hands over my mouth, afraid to make a noise.

"Nothing. I was here to dissect my previous corpse to study my rot," Yvune answered easily, but still, it didn't feel right.

"You think I'm stupid?" The voice said. I placed my hands on the cupboard door, ready to run for my life at any moment. I knew it.

I was caught. The owner of the other voice knew that something was amiss in this room, and that wasn't the bodies. It was me.

"Hmmm... do you want my honest opinion on that?" Yvune returned. I bit my lip. I would've laughed if it were another situation, but at that moment, I was entirely focused on making a run for the door the second situation headed south.

Well, it was already headed that way, but I meant deeper south.

A growl cracked the tense silence in the vault, further injecting it with more tension. I crept the door open as quietly as possible to see what was happening. I noticed a tall dragon man staring Yvune down with a dangerous look. From the looks of his cloak, he seemed to be a high-ranking official at the court.

"I will—" He stopped abruptly as his creepy, glowing emerald green eyes shifted past Yvune and darted in my direction. I was about to step back, but it was too late because my eyes locked with his through the gap.

~

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