Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 154: Soaking in the lake

Chapter 154: Soaking in the lake

Alina stepped out of the secret room and let out a deep sigh of relief, her tense muscles finally relaxed. Erebus wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, and she’d already involved herself with him. She had been so desperate when her husband died centuries ago, she tried everything to bring him back, but nothing worked, and she realized the only thing that could help was Erebus.

Back then, she couldn’t break Erebus’ spell on her own, she needed another person’s help, someone she could trust. Someone like Azure, he was her childhood friend, they used to be close like siblings in the past, he’d been a friend of her husband as well. And when she told him her plans, he had been against it at first, but in the end, she talked him into assisting her, she let him know all the powers he’d have by helping her break Erebus’ spell. It took days of convincing before he finally agreed.

Erebus had assisted her in numerous ways after breaking him out of the seal, he had granted her powers and made a promise to resurrect her beloved Enzo. In return, she had agreed without hesitation to fulfill his own desires. In this world, her husband was the most important person to her, and she would go to any lengths, even if it meant destroying the entire world, to ensure his return.

She was aware that Erebus’ desire was to conquer the world and be more powerful than an ancient Dragon king, and to do so, he had to get what made an ancient Dragon powerful, the core. She had agreed to get Draven’s core for Erebus if he agreed to bring back her dead husband.

Alina was aware that the man she was forcing to stay with her didn’t have the memories of her husband, but she had to force him to stay until she got her hands on the core, after that, Erebus had promised to give him back all his past memories. And now that she already knew who had it, it was only a matter of time before she would get her hands on the girl.

Everything she was doing for Erebus was to get back her husband. For twenty years now, she and Azure had been searching for the person who possessed the core, but they had failed, and now she had a lead.

"Rheanna Villden..." She murmured softly with a slight frown as a thought crossed her mind; how come the girl had been in the capital, but yet she had never sensed that Rhea possessed the core?

Alina didn’t dwell much on those thoughts, she picked up the robe she had been making for Enzo and stepped out to go and give it to him. She found him standing in the courtyard looking down at the colourful fishes in the pond. Seeing him gazing at the fishes brought a warm smile to her lips, she was happy to know that Enzo still liked gazing at fishes even though he was a reborn.

"Old habits die hard," she murmured to herself.

Alina walked towards him and hugged him from behind. However, Enzo stiffened and swiftly turned around and pushed her away from him.

"Get away from me... don’t touch me." He warned firmly.

Alina’s heart tightened at his actions, but she forced a smile and handed him the robe, "Look what I made for you, I came to give it to you. It will protect your body from any sickness. Your body is too weak, I put a lot of effort to make this for you, Nick."

Oriana, who had just come out to sit on the swing in the courtyard saw what happened. She frowned as she saw Enzo glaring at Alina and turned back to gaze at the fishes in the pond. Oriana had never really liked Enzo with how much he had been troubling her Aunt. After everything Alina had done for him, he never appreciated her gesture. Just like that beautiful robe, her aunt had worked hard to make, he didn’t seem to care.

Oriana sat on the swing and watched the pair.

Alina didn’t look mad at his cold demeanor, she simply draped the robe on his broad back, and said, "Don’t worry, I will soon cure your heart disease and give you back all our past memories. I have found a way, Nick."

Enzo didn’t speak again, he just stood there staring at the pond while she draped the robe around him. He was already tired of telling her to stop calling him Nick, because he wasn’t her husband. He would rather prefer death than stay with someone who killed his wife and child. Many times he had even tried to end his life, but she was always there to bring him back.

"Take care of that robe, it will guide your body from any harm while I’m away." She said and left the courtyard.

After Alina left, Enzo carelessly grabbed the robe and threw it into the pond. He wasn’t a fool not to know that the robe was made with dragon scales, she had used an innocent creature’s skin to make such a thing for him, he would rather be sick than wear something like that.

Enzo angrily left the courtyard.

However, Oriana who had seen what Enzo did, quickly walked towards the pond. She bent down and picked up the robe. She had seen her aunt working hard for this but that stupid Enzo discarded it like it was nothing. How dare he?

Oriana tried to squeeze the water out of the robe, but the scale on it was sharp enough to cut her finger. She winced and looked down at the robe closely, that was when she noticed even the scales on the robe weren’t ordinary, they were shining like diamonds under the sun.

"Wow, a royal dragon scales..." She murmured in wonderment.

***

After Rhea and Draven left the ruined world with Lilac, they returned back to the bonelake so Rhea could continue from where she stopped.

Draven and Lilac stepped out of the lake to allow Rhea take her time, he went to stand behind the tree while the talkative fairy sat beside the lake with crossed legs.

The waterfall at the lake’s end continued to fall, making a loud splashing sound in the surroundings. However, Rhea was in intense pain, she felt like her bones were coming apart, it burned so bad that she bit down on her bottom lips to hold back from crying out loud.

"My savior, is you in much pain?" Lilac asked in concern as she noticed Rhea’s eyes were red. However, Rhea didn’t reply and closed her eyes instead, she feared if she opened her mouth to speak, she’d end up breaking down into tears.

She needed to learn how to endure pain just like Draven, he was good at holding and enduring, she also wanted that. In order to grow stronger, she had to become accustomed to it. To seek vengeance for Cal and herself, she needed to master the art of concealing vulnerability and embracing fierceness.

Rhea felt like a dagger was being plunged into her skin to carve out her bones. She endured the pain until night. Nevertheless, due to the intense pain in her bones, she couldn’t move to crawl out of the lake, and she suddenly felt her vision started to blur and her head started to spin, before she could control it, she felt the world go completely dark around her.

Rhea’s body fell completely into the lake. Lilac, who had been monitoring her the whole time leapt off the ground and turned to yell towards where Draven was standing, "Mister, my savior has died in the lake!"

Draven, who had been leaning against the tree the entire time, quickly ran out without even bothering to remove his clothes, he dove headfirst into the water. He grasped Rhea’s unconscious and naked body. Emerging from the water, he carried her in his arms, with water dripping from his face onto his taut chest.

As Draven felt Rhea’s burning skin, he looked down at her, but made sure not to gaze beyond her face, aware of her nudity. He held her in his arms, staring at her face for a long moment before instructing the anxious fairy.

"Lilac, fetch my cloak and lay it on the ground," he commanded, and the trembling girl promptly obeyed.

Although Lilac had been attached to Rhea now, the same could not be said for Draven. Earlier when she had trapped him in her world, she had sensed that he was no ordinary Dragon, and his memories were too limited for her to delve into deeply. From the moment she laid eyes on him, she knew he was not someone to be trifled with. Now, with Rhea seemingly sleeping or even dead, Lilac found herself alone with him, and the mere sound of his voice terrified her.

Lilac trembled with fear, while Draven paid no attention to her. His focus was solely on the unconscious Rhea, whom he had placed on his cloak and covered her body with it. He brushed the damp strands of hair away from her face with his hands. Without looking away from Rhea, he spoke to Lilac.

"Do not shake. I won’t harm you unless you cross your limits."

Lilac immediately stopped trembling as if she had been commanded. Summoning her courage, she asked, "Is my savior dead?"

"No, she’s unconscious," he replied softly, using his finger to gently stroke Rhea’s pale cheek. "I need to take her back and help her recover quickly. She’s burning."

Draven’s affectionate gaze towards Rhea left Lilac stunned. He looked at her so lovingly, but earlier when they had returned to the lake and she had referred to them as lovers, Rhea had corrected her, saying they were just friends and she should stop calling them that.

Eh, friends? Hmph, she had never seen friends acting like this before. Maybe they were lovers hiding it from her?

When Lilac saw that Draven had finally carried Rhea back into his arms, she quickly packed Rhea’s clothes from the lakeside and followed behind him before he’d leave her behind.