Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 220: Never entertain such thought!

Chapter 220: Never entertain such thought!

After Draven and Rhea returned to the main dragon realm, they went straight to the palace to meet king Henry as Draven had things to confirm. Rhea also went with him and he didn’t ask her to go home ahead of him, for which she was grateful as she also had something to ask the king.

Draven and Rhea entered the grand throne chamber, where King Henry awaited, his eyes already fixed on them. Draven, with a determined stride, wasted no time in pleasantries, he went straight to the point.

"I’ve obtained the serpent’s core," Draven declared, his gaze unwavering. "What’s the next step?"

Before the king could respond, Rhea interjected with her own inquiry. "Your majesty, since Draven has the serpent core, can we switch? I’ll give him back his, and—"

Draven sharply cut her off, his tone stern. "Never entertain such thoughts, Rhea," he locked eyes with her, "Never."

Seeing the warning in his blue eyes, Rhea fell silent, she had noticed how Draven hadn’t been able to even transform into his dragon form on their way back. They had to use the portal. Even if he didn’t say it, she knew the serpent’s core wasn’t doing good with his body.

king Henry maintained his composure, and answered Rhea’s question even though Draven had cut it short. "You can not use a serpent’s core as a human. It’s venomous and dark, it will slowly kill you instead of giving you life. Your husband is only able to keep such a thing in his body because of his pure dragon bloodline." He explained, "And it will take time before his body mends with the new core."

Draven looked at the king and asked, "For how long will it take for Erebus to cultivate his heart?"

"It will take months," King Henry began, acknowledging Draven’s question. "Without his heart, he won’t be able to handle sunlight or have a form. Now that he is gone, he will be under some world until he is ready, and when that time comes..." The king paused for a moment, then added, "He will strike back without hesitation. As that is when he will gain full powers.

"Since you have the serpent core, you still have some time to mend with it before the day Erebus returns."

After the discussion with the king, Draven and Rhea exited the throne chamber, but Draven halted and turned to her. "Don’t ever think about giving away your core. It’s your life," he said, his eyes sterned and serious. "And mine as well."

Rhea simply nodded her head. She wouldn’t give it away if the serpent’s core would be enough, which she doubted with how much it was messing with his dragon senses.

"I won’t give it away," she smiled reassuringly then interlocked their fingers, "Let’s go back home so you can use the healing pool in our house, you are still bleeding."

After the couple returned to their house, Draven insisted that Rhea should go ahead of him while he walked around to the healing pool at the back of their house. At first, Rhea insisted on going with him to the pool, but Draven sternly refused. She didn’t argue with him and went inside while wondering why he didn’t want her to stay with him in the pool.

Rhea entered their room, the weight of the day’s event pressing heavily on her shoulders. The revelation of her pregnancy had filled her with conflicting emotions, and the thought that her husband didn’t want her to see how the core was affecting him only added to the turmoil within her.

Draven had told her that serpent core wouldn’t affect him in a bad way and given time, he would be fine, but was he really telling her the truth? It was a core removed from a venomous creature, how could it not affect him in a bad way?

As Rhea drew a bath by herself without the help of the maids, the water seemed to mirror the turmoil in her mind. Each drop echoed the uncertainty of their future, and as she submerged herself, she felt a mix of sorrow and fear envelop her. At this moment, the core keeping her alive felt like both a lifeline and a burden.

Rhea took long inside the bathing tub, not because she was enjoying the water, but because she had spaced out the whole time forgetting where she was. When she finally realized she was still in the tub, she got out.

Standing before the floor-length mirror in their walk in closet, droplets of water traced silent paths down her reflection. Her gaze fixated on her flat stomach, she couldn’t believe a child was growing inside her, and she wouldn’t be able to share the news with Draven, who had desired to have a child for centuries. Bitterness welled up within her as she pondered on how she would hide her pregnancy until she was certain of their future.

Draven must not know about it, she wouldn’t tell him. What was the use of telling him when the child might never be born to this world? What was the use of giving him hope and then shattering it into pieces. It was best he never knew until...

With a heavy sigh, Rhea dried off and donned a new set of clothes. Each fabric felt like an armor against the vulnerability she faced. In the milky light of the dressing room, her eyes betrayed a mixture of sadness and resilience.

Walking into the dining hall, the aroma of food did little to stir her appetite. Yet, she forced herself to eat. With each reluctant bite, she acknowledged the silent responsibility growing in her stomach. As she ate for the child, she couldn’t escape the ache of the emotional void that had crept into her life.

While Rhea sat alone in the dining hall, quietly eating, Lilac suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped in front of Rhea, who was lost in her thoughts.

"Rhea!" Lilac exclaimed with excitement, startling her. Rhea almost lost her balance on the chair before balancing herself and quickly turned her head towards the fairy.

"Lilac, how many times have I told you to stop scaring me like that?" Rhea scolded, clutching her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Lilac grinned and apologized. Seeing her sparkling purple eyes, Rhea couldn’t help but ask, "Why do you look so excited?"

Lilac’s grin grew wider as she flew around the hall, leaving a trail of purple sparkle dust from her wings. "First, before I tell you why myself is excited, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Rhea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you tell Mister about the baby in your stomach?" Lilac flew back to sit beside Rhea. "When should we celebrate-"

"There will be no celebration, Lilac. And I haven’t told Draven about it, nor will I until everything is settled," Rhea interrupted firmly, giving Lilac a stern look. "I know you always tell him everything about me whenever he asks, but don’t you dare tell him about my pregnancy until I say so. Understand?"

Lilac had always been like a spy for Draven. Whatever Rhea did in her husband’s absence, she always suspected that Lilac would end up telling him.

Lilac frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she questioned, "Why should Mister be kept in the darkness about his child? It is important to share such news with husbands, you know."

"I have my reasons, Lilac. Can you please keep this a secret? I will ask Livia to do the same. I will inform Draven when the time is right."

Lilac remained silent for a moment before standing up and sighing, "Alright, I won’t tell on you."

Rhea breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

Upon hearing the question, Lilac’s purple eyes sparkled with excitement. "You won’t believe what happened to myself. My magic has reached its full potential. Myself can manipulate anyone’s memories and thoughts. I can—"

"Rhea!" Prince Ethan’s voice interrupted Lilac, as he burst into the dining hall. He was panting heavily as he said, "Draven is losing his mind. I saw him leave your house just now with his eyes red like a demon’s. I was terrified by the sight, so I came here to— wait, where are you going?!"

Prince Ethan didn’t finish his sentence before Rhea dashed out of the house. Before he could chase after her, Lilac threw her shoe at his face, hitting his nose directly.

"What the hell!" He turned to Lilac in anger, "How dare you hit me with your filthy shoe?"

Lilac huffed at him and removed her other shoe. She yelled, "Myself was about to demonstrate how my magic has improved, but your irritating voice interrupted me!" She threw the shoe at him, but this time he dodged it.

"Damn you, fairy!" He cursed, "No one cares about your stupid magic. Your magic can’t do more than a dead rat."

Lilac gasped at his insult. "You dare insulted me?" She dramatically pointed to her chest, "Myself will show you what my magic can do."

Prince Ethan didn’t even get a chance to respond before Lilac snapped her fingers in front of his face. His blue eyes rolled back and then returned to normal. He looked at Lilac blankly.

"From now on, you will do anything I tell you, Ethan," Lilac said with a grin.

"Yes, Madam," Prince Ethan bowed to her.