Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 41: The cause of her misfortune

Chapter 41: The cause of her misfortune

Rhea blankly stared. For humans immortality was something they would give everything to have. It comes with powers that would never tire. Possess the gift of eternal breath. To defy time’s grasp, to conquer death itself.

Draven continued, "Centuries ago, Alina fell in love with a mortal. They were madly in love with each other, but their love couldn’t last forever as he was a mere human with no magic to keep him young forever. Time became their eternal foe. He grew older with each passing year, while she remained young, until his bones couldn’t hold on again, he died. Alina couldn’t accept his death to the point she used a spell to trap his soul, and looked for countless ways to bring him back to life."

Rhea just quietly listened to his story, she even squatted before Draven, who had also sat on a tree root.

"She was willing to do anything to give him life and grant him immortality so their love story would be forever. In her desperate search, she somehow found out about the dragon’s legend. And intended to reincarnate her lover’s trapped soul after taking full possession of the most powerful dragon’s core, so he would be born as an immortal with powers."

Draven chuckled darkly, "Of course, I used to be the most powerful dragon that had ever existed on earth. So she came after me. Only my core was powerful enough to grant a mere human an eternal life and great powers. A normal dragon core wouldn’t do what she wanted. And Alina knew she couldn’t face me head on to forcefully take my core. So she made her plans to mislead me instead..."

Draven’s gaze looked distant as if recalling the past. Although, even before Alina betrayed him, dragons and human were not friends nor were they enemies. Every realm lived in peace without crossing the lines of the other. However, Draven had always found the ways of the humans fascinating, despite being the ruler of dragons, he’d sometimes snuck out of his realm just to get a glimpse of the human world. He would wander around Birhhan in his human form in the guise of a commoner.

However, that was how he ended up meeting Alina. When he first saw her, she was laying on the ground in a pool of blood, almost half dead.

"Alina faked her injuries just so I could help her. She was like a dying angel descended from Heavens. I was so stupid to fall in love with her at first sight. Hence, because of my stupid feelings I didn’t hesitate to take her back with me to the dragon realm. When she was asked about her family, she claimed to be an orphan whose whole family had died."

Rhea, who had been listening quietly to this point quickly interjected,

"Hold on, I have a question. If Alina wasn’t a beautiful woman, would you have been so willing to let her stay in your realm, and even fall in love with her at first sight?"

Draven shot her a glare, "Are you still interested in hearing the story?"

Rhea sized him up, "Of course, continue!"

"I allowed her to stay in the dragon realm despite the rest of my kind being against it. She was so kind to the little dragons and even taught them the ways of the humans. She got along with the female dragons. She pretended to be understanding and supportive towards me as well...but I never knew she had her hidden intentions for doing so. She was every thing I’ve ever wanted in a woman. I decided to make her my soulmate, my queen, to live together in bliss. But..."

Draven’s mouth pulled up into a bitter smile, his face filled with ridicule,

"But on the day we were supposed to get married, she had already made her plans before hand. For all the years she’d been staying in my realm, she had been slowly casting a spell to trap the rest of the dragons so she could easily take what she wanted without being caught. She even went as far as to poison my food on the day of our wedding to weaken my strength."

Draven spoke softly with no emotions on his face, "For a hundred years, she had been preparing for that faithful day to bring me down and take my core. On that day, she tore away my form and essence, my powers. She reduced me to a mere human. If she wanted me dead, she would have used a spell to destroy my soul like the Birhhan book had said. But she didn’t, she knew if I died, my core would be useless."

"Thus, she made up a false story about the whole event. She knew with such a story, and with all the fire clans in Birhhan as her backing, there would be no way for me to come after her as a mere mortal. She sealed away everything she took from me with my weakness. Fire barriers."

Rhea felt a shiver run down her spine as she recalled the scene in her nightmare. How could Alina live with herself after committing such a ruthless deed? Although, she had only seen Alina in person once in the capital. But at that time, Rhea had looked up to her like a hero and an idol. She was a beauty without a smile, but who would have known behind that beautiful face was a ruthless evil monster, who would do anything to achieve her goals.

Such a vile woman deserved no place in the book of legends. Rhea slowly glanced at Draven, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, he must have gone through a lot. Her expression filled with empathy as she gazed at him. However his expression remained rigid, as if the heart touching story he’d just told had no relations to him at all, his pale blue eyes showed no ripples of emotions at all. But for some reason, Rhea felt that behind his tough exterior was a heart broken and still in pain from the betrayal.

Rhea’s tone suddenly became timid as she asked, "Then...did she successfully remove your core?"

Draven shook his head with a small smile, "No, she didn’t."

"Then do you still possess your core?" She asked, her doll-like black eyes blinking curiously.

Without any warning, Draven raised his hand and placed it against her chest. Rhea was startled, she slapped his hand away,

"What do you think you’re doing?"

Draven’s piercing blue eyes blinked and stared at her, he answered her previous question, "No, your body currently possesses my dragon core. It flows in your heart and through your veins. It’s one with you now."

Rhea was taken aback, "What? You must be joking. I wasn’t even born at that time, so how is that possible?"

Draven chuckled, his laughter was both mocking and sinister, "I couldn’t let her just take my core and give it to another man after destroying me. So I used the remaining strength in me to send it away."

Rhea was stunned beyond words, "So you mean Alina didn’t succeed in taking your core even after planning for a hundred years?"

Draven pulled aside Rhea’s hand that was covering her chest and placed his large hand on her chest again,

"Yes, she didn’t. Because my core ended up choosing your body to reside in."

"...!" Rhea stared at Draven with her jaw slacked in disbelief. At that moment, she recalled her father always talking about the evil thing that fell upon the Villden household and possessed her body. In results, it had caused her dear mother’s death by freezing her to death.

So it turned out this core was the main cause of her misfortune since childhood. And also the reason she possessed ice spikes instead of flame. After all these years, she had been seen as a bad luck because of a core she never even desired to possess to begin with. It had caused her to live without knowing her birth mother, without being loved by her family.

An unborn child who knew nothing about the couple’s conflict had been plunged into such a mess. Rhea thought.

Rhea now understood why she could see the scenes of that unfaithful day. And the reason she could feel the dragon’s pain. It was because she had a part of him residing in her body. A part of him she never wanted.

In a split second, Rhea suddenly felt an unbearable anger swell over her. The damn core was the cause of her mother’s death!

Rhea angrily smacked Draven’s hand away from her chest, "You bastard! Why the hell did you throw your core at the moment I was being pushed out of my mother’s womb? Because of it, she froze to death. And now I’m being known as a bad luck and being hated by my family because of your stupid core. So it really turns out it was all your fault I lived a miserable life for twenty years!" Rhea angrily punched his chest as she yelled,

"I never wanted such a thing. Why did it choose my body. I don’t want it, take it out right now! Take the damn thing out of my body, I just want to live a normal life with my family!"

Draven didn’t even move as she angrily hit at his chest. He simply looked at her in disbelief. Any human would do anything to possess such a powerful thing. Yet, this girl wanted him to take it out of her body?

With a swift motion, Draven grabbed her wrists before she could hit him again. He then said, "Think before you speak, little girl. If I remove that thing from your body now... your body won’t be able to function normally again, it will only be a matter of two days before you’d die. The core has already adjusted itself with you, you are one with it now. But if you insist, I’ll gladly take it out."

"What?" Rhea pulled away from his grip and retreated backwards, "You mean I won’t be able to live without it now, and if you take it out, I’ll die?"

Draven calmly nodded his head and said, "Yes, if I remove it now. Your body will slowly lose it’s strength until it stops functioning."

No freaking way! She couldn’t afford to die now when she hadn’t achieved any of her goals in life yet. Rhea thought as her eyes widened in terror. She immediately took another step away from Draven.

Seeing her horrified expression, Draven’s mouth slightly curved into a small smile without him noticing, but it quickly disappeared. He then said seriously,

"Worry not, little girl. I have no intentions of taking it back or taking your life. However, if you still refuse to accompany me to my journey, I will be left with no choice but to take it back."