Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 125: Wrong words

Chapter 125: Wrong words

Hearing the king’s words, Draven’s mouth quirked up into a satisfied smile. However, Ethan’s face twisted with disbelief, "Father!"

The king didn’t pay much attention to his son’s disbelief, but instead he transformed into a majestic dragon and flew into the horizon without a trace.

When he disappeared, Rhea could no longer sense his aura, let alone where he’d flown to. She continued staring at the sky in wonderment, it wasn’t everyday that a person transformed into a beast before her eyes.

Draven glanced at the flustered Ethan, but Ethan remained silent and instead glared at him before angrily descending the mountain. Meanwhile, Rhea hurriedly followed Draven down the mountain, and they made their way directly to Zachary’s palace.

The two walked alongside each other, not exchanging any words, as they were lost in their own thoughts. However, it was Rhea who eventually broke the silence. Speaking softly, she called out, "Draven," and when he responded with a hum, she continued, "Could it be possible that Azure was the man who snuck into the mountain cave with Alina centuries ago? I mean, the king mentioned that she was with a man, and no matter how much I pondered it, Azure was the second most powerful after Alina, and their powers are quite similar..."

Draven detected a tinge of pain in her voice as she drew her conclusion about Azure. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, saying, "Hmm, it seems you’re realizing it yourself. Azure was never a hero. But you shouldn’t let it bother you now that you’re here. If he’s also using the dark powers, then he’s no different from Alina." He spoke in a nonchalant manner.

Rhea knew he was right. She had no connection to Azure, despite feeling indebted to him in the past for all he had done for her. However, even after discovering his involvement with Alina, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him, as he had never harmed her.

"Draven," she called out once more as they descended the mountain, "Do you despise Azure as much as you despise Alina?" She asked out of curiosity.

Draven’s eyes sharpened as he responded to that question, saying, "Throughout my life, I have never feared my opponents, nor have I held grudges against those who defeated me." His eyes grew cold as he continued,

"What I despise are people with misleading hearts, those who deceive others, and those with malicious intentions who harm others for their personal gain..." He trailed off as realized that he was becoming the very thing he hated, which disgusted him. He was disgusted with himself for even considering deceiving someone who had only shown him kindness and protection when he had nothing. The thought repulsed him, but he knew the consequences if he didn’t take that course of action in the future. The consequences were so ingrained in his mind that the mere thought of not doing it scared him.

Draven’s thoughts were interrupted by Rhea’s words. She said softly, "I understand why you hate Alina. She deceived you for a long time and then betrayed your trust. I can’t even imagine being in your position..." Rhea sympathized with his hatred towards Alina. He had once trusted her enough to go against his own friends to support her. Rhea had never experienced such betrayal, but she knew that if she were in his shoes, she would want nothing but revenge. She would do whatever it took to get back at that person.

Draven didn’t continue that topic any longer as it only made him hate himself. He continued walking down the mountain path, and instead discussed the current situation. "We still have about a week to plan our trip to the mountain. For safety, you will practice with me to improve your powers while I make the necessary arrangements."

Rhea’s footsteps faltered slightly as she responded, "What? You already have a lot of help from the king. Do you still want me to accompany you to that volcano?"

Hearing her words, Draven stopped walking. Rhea had already guessed he’d stop, so she also stopped walking. Thus, now there was a little gap between them, when before they had been walking side-by-side.

"You don’t want to come along?" He asked.

Rhea shook her head, "I...i mean, back when we met Oriana and her group at that inn, they were probably heading to the border. And since Azure and Alina had been the ones in charge of the war..." Rhea dropped her gaze, "I don’t want to come across anyone of them again. Now that I am here, I want to start over, I don’t want to be that rebellious Rhea anymore, nor do I want to fight with the people I once knew."

Draven hadn’t expected to see a powerless and hopeless expression on Rhea’s face, she had never revealed such vulnerability in front of him before. She was the type of girl who would brag about beating people, constantly irritate him until he gritted his teeth, and also heroically protect him from danger without a second thought. But her current expression was something he’d never thought she’d reveal to him.

It seemed like she’d lost all faith in her hero, Azure. For a moment, Draven unexpectedly felt a childish anger. He actually felt the urge to grab Azure by the neck and deliver a hard punch to his face for making Rhea trust him so much. He wanted to question him on why he made Rhea trust him this much just to break her trust?

How could he come into her life like a hero and then turn out to be a villain? He had the strong urge to find the bastard and torture him to the point his face would be unrecognizable to Rhea. However, all the anger Draven felt only showed themselves in a slightly wrinkling of his eyebrows.

As Draven gazed at Rhea’s disheartened figure, he realized he actually had no skills in comforting others, it was to the point that he didn’t understand what one should say to a lady in this kind of situation. Even in the past, he had had no situation where he’d need to comfort Alina, as she had not for once showed any vulnerability to him, or had the need to be comforted.

However, now that he stood here gazing at Rhea’s dropped gaze, he had no words to say to her to make her feel better. Thus, he ended up saying the first thing that came to his mind without even realizing he wasn’t supposed to say such things at this moment until he’d uttered the words. "Since you won’t be accompanying me to the mountain, I must collect your blood in a container to break the spell."

Upon uttering those words, he fell silent immediately, overcome with disgust towards himself. He could no longer meet Rhea’s eyes, as she had quickly glanced up at him when he said those words. However, he surreptitiously glanced at her, witnessing the disappointment etched on her face and the anger she was trying to conceal behind a forced smile.

"Alright then, I will take a knife and draw blood for you, but please refrain from unexpectedly stabbing me in the chest with a dagger again!" With that, she didn’t wait for his response and hastily descended the mountain.

Draven merely watched her retreating figure and inwardly berated himself for his lack of empathy. Despite being a thousand-year-old dragon, he lacked the understanding of how to provide solace to others.