Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 155: What about your core?

Chapter 155: What about your core?

Upon their return to the palace, Draven immediately took Rhea to her room, with Lilac following closely behind. He gently placed her on the bed, and at that very moment, Ethan, who had stationed spies around Rhea’s room to inform him of her arrival, rushed into the room.

"What happened to Rhea_mighty dragon? What kind of creature is this?!" Ethan froze in his tracks as his gaze fell upon a young girl with two broken wings on her back, standing beside Rhea’s bed. He examined the small girl from head to toe, then turned to Draven.

"Draven, where did you find this thing?" he inquired, but Draven was too preoccupied with caring for Rhea to respond.

However, Lilac, who had heard Ethan referring to her as if she were an inanimate object, retorted, "What? Myself is a living being, sir! Myself is not a thing!" she snapped.

Ethan was taken aback by the audacity of the little girl raising her voice at him. He approached her, attempting to touch her broken wings, but Lilac swiftly jumped away and swatted his hand, saying, "Do not dare to come into contact with my wings!"

Ethan frowned, "How dare you smack my hand? Do you have no respect for a prince?"

With her hands placed defiantly on her small hips, Lilac sized him up, then burst into laughter. "Myself do not care who you are. If you touch myself wings, myself will not hesitate to smack you!"

Ethan, who always liked to carry his pride on his sleeves, felt insulted by the tiny creature. He despised being disrespected or spoken down to. He had come here upon hearing that Rhea was back, but she was unconscious, and this little creature with broken words had the audacity to insult him like this?

Furious, veins bulging on his forehead, Ethan exclaimed, "I dare you to hit me again! I will touch those wings of yours and you won’t do a thing but stand still!"

Lilac gasped, "How dare you!"

"You dare me? I will_" Ethan was interrupted by Draven, who had finally had enough. "Both of you, get out!" he snapped.

Lilac turned to Draven, saying, "Myself don’t know anyone else, so myself can’t go out with this person."

"I am here to see Rhea. You can’t throw me out without knowing how she’s doing," Ethan argued.

"Don’t make me say it again, Ethan. Take Lilac with you and look after her until Rhea wakes up."

Angry and gritting his teeth, Ethan left the room, closely followed by Lilac. Draven could hear their loud argument outside, but he chose to ignore it and massage his throbbing temple. Taking a deep breath, he left the room as well to make arrangements for Rhea’s recovery.

***

Rhea didn’t wake up until it was the next morning, she opened her eyes and found Lilac sitting crossed legs next to her on the bed, and when she noticed that Rhea was awake, she exclaimed, "My savior, you are awoken! How is your body feeling?" She asked, "If your body feels better, you can request myself to do something for you!"

Rhea turned her head, her voice was still husky from sleep, "Lilac, I just woke up, don’t fawn over me like that, I don’t need anything."

Lilac pouted her lips, "But myself want to do your request so me can feed on your happy emotions." She murmured, but Immediately her purple eyes lightened up as if she’d gotten an idea, she then clasped her tiny hands and said, "Ah, myself can make you see fake images of that wicked woman, Oriana in your memories, you will see her die and buried, in that ways, myself will make you feel the emotion of happiness!"

Rhea’s eyebrows knitted together, "I don’t want to see that witch first thing in the morning, it will only ruin my mood."

Oriana was the last person Rhea wanted to see or think about regardless of what the memory was about. She was already suffering from intense body pain and headache right now, it was like something was banging in her head.

Lilac stood up on the bed and was about to suggest another idea, but before she could speak the room’s door burst open with a light bang, and Draven casually strode in turning his gaze to the fairy, "Lilac off the bed." He said, and she promptly complied, crawling down from the bed and positioning herself beside it.

Draven then turned to Rhea, "How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"A little better than yesterday." She replied.

"Hmm," he hummed, "I asked king Henry to give me access to his late wife’s chamber so you can use the healing pool in her palace, I’ll take you there in the evening when you feel much better."

Due to the fact that King Henry’s late wife was human and unable to heal as swiftly as the dragons, the king had constructed a healing pool in her palace to expedite her recovery. Draven had personally approached the king and obtained his permission for Rhea to use the pool for the time being.

Rhea was a little bit stunned to hear that, she’d learned how much the king loved and cherish his late wife’s property, it was a surprise he gave Draven the permission to allow her use it. But then, knowing Draven’s personality, he probably used some form of words to make him agree.

Rhea didn’t question how he got the permission, she just nodded, and tried to prop herself up from the bed, "I will go to the pool now, I don’t have to wait till evening."

Lilac hurriedly moved forward, "No, your body need more resting in bed!"

Rhea shook her head, "No, I want to recover quickly so I can get stronger, I will go now." She insisted.

Draven just silently walked towards the bed, and right when Rhea was about to fall back due to her weak bones, he swiftly caught hold of her arm, he gave her the support needed to stand up.

Rhea glanced up at his face, but he didn’t wait for her to speak, before he said, "I know how stubborn you are, so I won’t try to stop you from going now, but I will take you there myself." Saying that, he bent over and effortlessly gathered her into his arms.

Rhea let out a startled gasp and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn’t protest for him to keep her down as she was aware how weak her legs were at this moment, instead she quietly rested her head against his shoulder.

When Draven steadily walked out of her room carrying her like she weighed nothing, Rhea softly sighed, "Draven."

"Hmm?" He hummed softly.

"You must have been a caring gentleman in the past." She mumbled.

Draven looked down at her, he was a bit stunned to hear that. But he didn’t speak and quietly walked out of prince Zachary’s palace. He could barely even remember what his past self was like. Because all he’d made himself believe in the past twenty years before he met Rhea, was that the past Draven was a fool and too naive to see through fake gestures.

Although Draven didn’t reply to Rhea’s remark, but Lilac who was walking, or rather jogging beside Draven spoke while panting as her legs were too short to catch up,

"My savior’s remarks is not right, she is making herself believe that because Mister’s kind gesture always made her heart beat quickly, then you must be a nice gentleman only. But what she is unaware about, is that Mister’s kindness is only for her. She is not smart enough to be aware that she has feelings..."

Before Lilac could complete her words, Rhea craned her neck and shot her a glare to shut up. She then said, "Lilac don’t follow the adults, go and feed or play."

Lilac frowned, "But myself is also an adult, so I will follow the adults." She argued.

"Do as she said, go." Draven said sternly, and immediately Lilac’s footsteps paused, she stomped her feet and said, "Fine, myself will go and feed on that prince’s happiness!"

After Lilac ran off to the opposite direction, Rhea sighed, "I hope we haven’t gotten ourselves some trouble by bringing her to the palace. Having her around is no different from giving birth to a brat."

When Rhea’s words fell on Draven’s ear, he couldn’t help but smile faintly, he then remarked nonchalantly, "Actually having someone like her by your side can bring some comic relief, she’s a good company."

Rhea was a little taken aback as she knew Draven didn’t seem to like the girl in the first place. However, who could resist liking such an adorable little fairy?

Rhea agreed, "When you put it that way, I suppose you’re right. She does provide some sort of relief, although she tends to talk a lot of nonsense, just like she did earlier. Don’t believe a thing she says." She made sure to clarify her stance to Draven, not wanting him to think that she had any romantic feelings for him, especially after his previous warning.

Draven simply hummed in response, but Rhea didn’t notice the slight twitch in his expression, as if he didn’t like what she had said.

After a short while, they finally reached the palace of the late Queen, which was just as magnificent as the king’s palace and had several additional buildings on the premises. Upon their arrival at the healing pool, Rhea noticed that it was enclosed by a massive icy fence, topped with a wooden roof. Nevertheless, there were already lamps lit around the pool, as if Draven had made all the arrangements beforehand.

Rhea was taken aback to discover that the water in the pool was not ordinary; it appeared milky and murky. Once Draven carefully placed her in the warm milky water, he stepped back and positioned himself as a guard at the entrance.

The milky water was warm at first, but it suddenly felt cold when it began to seep into her flesh and bones, curing her injuries.

Rhea sighed and stared at the wooden roof in boredom, she then decided to speak with Draven, "Do the east clan dragons no longer need you to make the war plans?" She asked.

"They have their war commanders, I don’t have plans of taking their work away from them, I have my own problems to deal with. My Dragon is still missing some parts, and I need to get them back."

When Rhea heard that, she looked towards him. She hadn’t actually seen him in his dragon form to know which part he was speaking of. "What part is missing?"

"My scales, I have no scales, and without them, my dragon wouldn’t be complete and will easily get injured."

Rhea’s frown deepened, she tilted her head to speak to him better, "You mean to say Alina stripped away your scales before sealing your dragon form?"

"Yes, and I plan to get them back from her residence." He said.

"How did you know it’s in her residence?"

"My senses are sharper than ever, I can sense them no matter the distance. She is keeping them in her residence."

Rhea was silent for some time, before she murmured, "It’s in her territory..." which meant Draven would have to personally face off Alina to get his scales. Although he was more powerful now, she wasn’t sure if he was as Alina. However, with her own current body she doubted she’d be of any help to him if he decided to fight Alina. Nonetheless, she wanted to be there when he’d fight her, she wanted to witness his victory.

Draven spoke again, "Right now, Alina’s entire residence is protected by a spell to stop any creature from going in. She’s too cunning to be unguarded."

This time, Draven’s tone lacked the filled hatred he had previously exhibited when mentioning Alina’s name. It almost seemed as if he was discussing an insignificant person, his tone was devoid of any emotions, but a resolute voice to achieve victory.

"If I can find a way to break the spell barrier surrounding her house, I will regain my scales."

And once that happened, he would be whole again, but there remained a lingering question in Rhea’s mind, which she had been curious to know.

"What about your core? Don’t you need it to be the mighty dragon you used to be?" Rhea asked with curiosity, her heart pounding in her chest as she awaited his response.

Draven didn’t answer immediately, remaining silent for a while before finally saying, "No, I won’t need it. My dragon can function without it." He lied.

Rhea let out a sigh of relief, placing her palm on the right side of her chest where the core was located. She felt it’s slight coldness on her palm, then said to Draven, "I will treasure it, thank you."