Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 86: Accepting reality

Chapter 86: Accepting reality

Rhea carefully inspected each cage, noticing that every single one contained a person who appeared terrified. As she glanced at them, some even retreated further into their cages, seemingly attempting to hide. It was evident that they all believed they would be killed rather than be rescued. Eventually, Rhea located Aedan’s cage. Aedan lay motionless on the ground, appearing haggard and near death. His torn clothes were also stained with blood.

Aedan remained still until Rhea called out his name. "Aedan?"

Startled by the familiar voice, Aedan abruptly awakened and managed to sit up, shifting towards the edge of the cage. Gripping tightly onto the rusted iron bars, he asked in a barely audible, raspy voice, "Are you... here to take me to my mama? Have you come to save me...?"

Rhea’s heart sank as she recalled the boy’s mother. It was said that Johanna had been sealed away by Alina, and now that Alina was out of the city, she had no idea where the woman was sealed. Rhea decided not to speak about his mother yet, she quickly opened the cage, "Come out, you need to rest first, after that, I will tell you about your mother." She said as she helped him out of the cage.

The boy had gone through a lot, he needed rest and care to get better, just by holding his hand she felt like she was holding his bones. He looked so thin and unhealthy, it made her heart hurt. She could only release Aedan for now, the rest wouldn’t trust anyone to touch them and could attack out of fright, to be safe, it would be best to take Aedan to her room first.

But then, she knew nothing about what dragons eat or feed their children. This boy needed something to eat to get well. Rhea’s eyes scanned the area until she spotted Draven crouched down beside one particular cage. He had a serious expression on his face, his hands gesturing gently as he tried to communicate with the little dragon girl inside, who looked terrified.

"Draven!" Rhea called out to him. He turned his head upon hearing her voice, his intense blue eyes meeting hers. However, she couldn’t help but notice a change in his expression. The slight tenderness he used to display whenever she addressed him by his name seemed to have vanished. It appeared as though he had become colder.

Rhea gazed back at him, she understood that he must be dealing with internal struggles after seeing the state of the dragon children. She knew he was concealing his pain, which was why he wore a distant expression. He felt guilty, remorseful, and blamed himself for their condition. He was bottling up all his emotions, she could sense it. He was the type to keep his suffering and feelings to himself rather than voice them.

Rhea approached him, Aedan cautiously trailing behind her. " We can’t open all of the children, but I want to feed and tend to Aedan’s wounds...Do you know what little ice dragon children like to eat?" she asked, her voice laced with a touch of uncertainty, but making sure not to show that she noticed any changes in his expression. Draven’s gaze shifted from Rhea to the boy she was holding. For a moment, he seemed lost, as if unsure how to respond.

Despite being a dragon king himself, Draven had never been close to little dragons before, he only watched them fly around behind their parents, but never even considered touching one or paying attention to what they like. He had grown up among the larger, more mature dragons, and the younger ones were a mystery to him. As he continued to stare at Aedan, the little boy couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease, causing him to hide timidly behind Rhea.

Rhea could sense Aedan’s fear and quickly stepped forward, placing herself between him and Draven. The boy had no idea this man used to be their king, and his fearfully reactions seemed to hurt Draven even more, she could see his tightly clenched fists as if suppressing another lump of emotions. He then indifferently said, "Feed him human food, he’ll be fine with that." Saying this, he brushed past them and walked out of the garden completely.

Rhea let out a sigh as she watched Draven walk away, and without saying a word, she guided the boy to her room. She tended to his wounds, fed him regular food as Draven had instructed, then helped him bathe before selecting one of Draven’s shirts for him to wear. It looked like a nightgown on the boy, but it would do for now. As she tidied his hair, she asked him about his experience at the establishment. Meanwhile, Draven silently entered the room and perched on the window frame, listening to the boy’s words.

Aedan’s’s experience was even worse than she had imagined. However, the most surprising revelation was that he claimed all the dragon cores were given to a man, and the man’s description matched Azure’s. This man would come every night to collect the cores and take them out of the establishment.

Rhea’s heart sank as she heard this part, she had hoped that Azure wouldn’t be part of all this, and that he still had that same good heart she knew him with. But...

Rhea went silent, she helped Aedan into bed and coaxed him to sleep. After he fell asleep, she sat on the edge of the bed and spaced out.

Seeing her expression, Draven asked, "What’s wrong?"

She mustered a smile and said, "I was just thinking about how we haven’t been successful in retrieving your powers. Lord Edmund has likely increased the number of guards on the premises by now. How will we infiltrate and reclaim your powers so they can’t be used to harm innocent children again? We need to put an end to this once and for all..."

Draven raised an eyebrow and asked, "And then what?"

Rhea turned her head to face him and questioned, "What do you mean?"

Draven’s icy blue eyes hardened as he replied, "I mean, they need to face consequences for their actions. All the fire controllers, including Azure. You can’t ignore the fact that he’s involved in all of this and responsible for Rinus’ death. Just because he saved your life multiple times doesn’t make him a hero."

Rhea froze, after everything that had happened. She was already certain of all of this, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed in Azure. Only his flames had the powers to hurt someone like it did to Rinus’, she could understand why he was hurting dragons, but why would he do that to Rinus’?

Recalling all the instances when Azure had come to her rescue, supported her when everyone was against her, she found it difficult to hold any hatred towards him or blame him for Rinus’ death. In the past, he had been the source of light in her dark world. However, she now realized that he was capable of causing great harm to others as well. But, why was it so hard to accept?

"Rhea, you need to face the truth. Azure is not the person you believe him to be. Blindly trusting someone can destroy you. He has committed a crime and must face the consequences. You..."

"That’s enough," Rhea interrupted, struggling to accept the reality of the situation. "I want to rest. We can discuss our next plan tomorrow." With that, she turned around, lay down beside Aedan on the bed, and closed her eyes.

Draven didn’t speak again and remained seated on the window. He silently stared at her small figure curled up on the bed. She almost looked like a lonely abandoned child. He suddenly thought to stop forcing her to accept the harsh reality and let her live in her delusional world.

He knew better than anyone else how cruel it was to break one’s fantasy ideal of another person. The one you love and image of that person were two different people. Aside from accepting and becoming resigned to that, there was no other way. Because in this world, you might encounter situation that you could change with your efforts, but that other person’s heart would be the hardest to change.

Just like him and Alina...

His intention was to make Rhea understand the truth, so she wouldn’t have to face it too late like he did. Although she was just a human girl who happened to possess his dragon core, he had developed a fondness for her and didn’t want her to experience what he had. His entire world had crumbled due to his trust in a single person.

Regretting the "what ifs" was pointless now; he could only fix his past mistakes. He had attempted to refrain from using Rhea to regain his powers, trying hard not to exploit her magic for his own gain and seeking alternative solutions. However, witnessing the pitiful state of his kind earlier, he realized he could no longer delay and let her take control again, it was time he did it in his own way.

With a heavy sigh, Draven closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they flicked to black and blue. He couldn’t delay any longer, tommorow he’d have to use his ways to get Rhea into doing what he wanted again, to trick her into believing what he wanted her to believe.