Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 47: Guilt

Chapter 47: Guilt

As they both plunged down the cliff, they crashed through countless branches before they were stopped by a large tree, but then they resumed to fall down again, one branch at a time.

Draven was heavier, so he was the first to crash onto the dried riverbed, but before he could crawl away, Rhea crashed down onto his stomach, making him fall back flat on the stony ground again, groaning and covered in dirt and leaves.

They hadn’t gotten the chance to catch their breaths, when the ice sword came whistling through the air as well. The pair’s eyes widened at the same time as they noticed the sword descending upon them. However, Draven was quick to pull Rhea and himself to the other side. The sword stabbed itself right on the spot they’d laid a moment ago.

The birds in the trees were startled by the couple’s fall and flew away into the distance. The animals in the forest cried out with continuous calls from afar.

Rhea lay on top of Draven, laughing as if their fall had been enjoyable. She carefully untangled herself from him, her expression a combination of amusement and embarrassment. Then, she rolled off to lie next to him on the ground, gazing at the sky and breathing heavily.

Dawn was approaching, and on the horizon, there were faint rays of light piercing through the darkness.

Seeing the sky was starting to brighten up, the birds’ cries also started to die down. Rhea continued to gaze at the sky without blinking. No words were shared between the pair for a very long time. However, Rhea’s neck continued to bleed, her blood pooling on the ground where she laid.

In the end, it was Draven who first sat up, rubbing his aching neck. He could feel a numbing pain around his neck as Rhea was injured. However, his pain was not as much as what she’d be experiencing at the moment.

He cleared his throat, then said, "It seems your neck isn’t hurting enough for you to not attempt to take out the hook."

"Shut up! It’s all your fault I’m injured, I should’ve just given you to them in exchange for my life." She snapped, her tone was gloomy and cold. It didn’t seem like she was joking.

Draven turned his gaze towards her neck, but Rhea didn’t let him look for long before she sat up and grasped the hook that was still jutting out of her neck. If she was a normal human girl with no dragon core, she’d have died from such injury. She clenched her teeth, preparing to yank it out.

However, Draven frowned when he saw her actions. He immediately grasped her wrist to stop her from yanking it out. "Are you crazy?" He uttered then quickly removed her grip from the iron hook, "The hook is not an ordinary one, do you want to rip out a chunk of flesh from your neck?"

Rhea glared at him, "So the heartless dragon still cares about such things. Didn’t you want me to cut off my neck earlier?"

"I said that because I knew you wouldn’t do such a thing." Draven said, then shot her a glance before bending down beside her, "Lay down, I’ll take it out of your neck."

In that particular circumstance, where she was experiencing pain and bleeding, Rhea stopped herself from engaging in any argument with him, instead complied by lying down in front of him. He positioned himself above her head and she allowed him to proceed as he desired. Rhea felt the sensation of his chilly fingers gently tracing around her injured neck, seemingly attempting to ease the discomfort that would follow the pain.

Draven examined her neck, he saw how the spot where the hook had pierced her neck was already mangled, and the wound didn’t seem to be healing due to the iron hooking in her flesh. He looked over Rhea’s face, however she wasn’t looking at him, but staring at the sky. Nevertheless, her expression seemed resigned towards the pain he would cause her by removing the iron from her neck.

Draven looked down on her neck, his movement was extremely gentle, but despite that, a feeling of guilt clutched his heart. He was feeling guilty for being the cause of another person’s misfortune.

This girl hadn’t done anything to him to deserve this, she was innocent and had nothing to do with what had happened decades ago. However, simply because his core had chosen her as it’s new owner, he had to bind her to himself. He had already dragged her into danger several times.

Although, she had a foul mouth, but still she was innocent. He was feeling guilty over his actions of having to bring her along with him. Even though they were bound together, her pain would only be faint in him, however his own pain would hit her double because of his core residing in her.

Nevertheless, his guilt was far too little to make him change his mind. It was far from making him push away his selfishness. His desire for revenge was too strong for him to let go of the girl.

Hence, even if she was in pain, he would swiftly brush it away and watch her suffer, even if bringing her along would cause her a lifetime damage, he would still take her with him and wouldn’t let her go.

Because, life was far from being all rainbows and sunshine, he had also been tossed about in the fruitless struggles of the world, transitioning from a powerful dragon king to a mere mortal devoid of abilities, and ultimately becoming a fugitive.

Draven’s slender hand went around the hook on her neck. Rhea shut her eyes close, she endured the pain and muffled a groan as he gently pulled out the hook from her neck. Her eyes snapped opened at the same time Draven tossed away the blood-covered hook.

He then said, "The wound is deep, it might take some time to close up as it was inflicted by the shadow stalker’s weapon." After saying that, he swiftly ripped from Rhea’s dress and tied it around her wounded neck.

Rhea glared at him, not pleased with the way he ripped her dress.

"You didn’t have to rip my dress, you know! I could’ve handled it myself."

Draven shrugged nonchalantly, seemingly oblivious to Rhea’s annoyance. "It was already torn from the fall, so why bother about it?"

Rhea’s eyes widened in shock as Draven boldly reached out to her dress planning to wipe his hands. But this time, she quickly smacked them away before he could soil her dress with his bloody hands.

"No way! You’re not using my dress as a hand cleaner!"

Draven looked at Rhea, deadpanning, as if his actions were perfectly reasonable.

"I believe it’s your blood, and only your clothes are suitable for such a task." He remarked, and without giving her a chance to hit his hands away, he swiftly wiped them clean on her dress.

"What are you doing? That’s my dress!" She exclaimed angrily, but he ignored her.

Rhea, now seething with anger, retaliated by grabbing the nearest muddy twig and flicking it right at Draven’s face. The twig landed perfectly on his nose, leaving a brown smudge that looked like a comically oversized mole. Draven, momentarily stunned, slowly wiped the mud off his face and stared at Rhea, his eyes filled with disbelief mixed with irritation.

However, Rhea couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the ridiculous sight before her. Her giggles echoed through the forest, causing birds to take flight and animals to scurry away in confusion.

"Poor grandpa, look at your face!"

Draven’s expression chilled up immediately he heard the word ’grandpa.’ For some reasons, hearing that word from her mouth only made his temper flare up.

As Rhea’s laughter filled the air, Draven’s face remained still, his eyes narrowing into a glare that sent a chill down her spine.

Rhea’s laughter abruptly died down, and she shifted uncomfortably on the ground. The atmosphere in the surrounding suddenly became heavy, as if the air had turned icy cold.

"If you’re done laughing, we have to keep moving and get to a nearby town before they catch up to my scent again." He said firmly.

Rhea pursed her lips, "I can’t move when I’m hungry, and I’m already starving."

Draven didn’t argue with Rhea, because she was just like a little annoying pet he had to care for from now on if he wanted to use her to his advantage. He simply stood up to his feet and swiftly climbed up to a nearby tree and plucked down some eatable fruits. Rhea hastily gathered the fallen fruits from the ground and voraciously devoured them, also stashing some in her dress pocket.

"Alright, now we can leave_Ahh." Rhea pushed herself up from the ground, however she suddenly felt like the earth was swaying beneath her feet, a wave of dizziness washed over her, threatening to pull her back down. Just as her legs gave out, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back into an upright position.

Startled, Rhea’s eyes widened as she looked up and found herself met with Draven’s intense gaze. His piercing blue eyes bore into her, momentarily stealing her breath away. Time seemed to stand still as her heart skipped a beat, captivated by the sheer intensity radiating from him.

Draven’s grip tightened around her waist, providing a steadying support. "You’ve used too much of the core’s powers for today, you need a good rest to recover." After saying that, he bent slightly and put his arm under her legs then swiftly lift her up into his arms.

Rhea was startled at his sudden action and stared wide-eyed with her hands in the air, "Put me down!"

"If I put you down, we won’t be able to leave here on time because you can’t walk in such a condition. So stay still."

Rhea thought about it. What Draven said was reasonable. Also he was going to carry her all the way, which meant a free ride, so why not take advantage of it? Rhea gladly wrapped her arm around his neck, right then and there, "If you dare drop me, I’m going to choke you to death."

Draven ignored her warning and started to walk.