Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 89: Giving her blood to him

Chapter 89: Giving her blood to him

"I will teach you how to conjure ice like a dragon." He repeated.

Rhea couldn’t help but ask, "Is it possible for me to conjure ice like a dragon?"

Draven nodded his head, "Yes, it’s possible as long as you have my core in you. I will teach you techniques of the Eastern dragon clan, as I’m familiar with their practices."

In the past, Draven’s clan held unparalleled dominance within the dragon realm. Even the king of the east dragons paled in comparison to his immense powers. He commanded great respect and was regarded as a role model by all. However, now...

Rhea glanced at Draven and inquired, "So, if I understand correctly, your strategy is for Valen to distract his stepfather, then you and I will break in and steal your powers. Once Edmund hears the news and returns, I will challenge him to a fight and defeat him, right?"

Draven nodded in agreement.

Rhea took a moment to contemplate the plan. Although she felt a bit frightened and had second thoughts, something within her prevented her from backing down again. "Draven, there is one more thing I need to ask. Are you certain that I can master ice conjuring magic in such a short time? And will I be able to defeat Edmund with it?"

"You shouldn’t worry about that, I will be there to assist you once I retrieve my powers."

Rhea fell silent once more. At this point, she decided to temporarily place her trust in him to learn the ice magic. After all, he had lived much longer than her and presumably knew better. However, there was another question burning in her mind. "But what if Valen refuses to help you lure Edmund away?"

Draven responded with a cold scoff, "He would surely agree, after all, humans are the same, driven by greed and a hunger for power." He’d noticed the complicated relationship between the father and son within the short span of time. They were enemies pretending to put up with the other, and now that Valen had the opportunity to eliminate a formidable enemy, even if it meant risking his own life, he would willingly accept the offer.

"Let’s go and wait for his reply." Draven said.

As predicted, Draven’s expectations came true. The following day, Valen sent Draven a letter, notifying him of an upcoming banquet in two weeks. In the letter, Valen revealed that he had sent an invitation to Edmund, regarding him as an esteemed guest. Edmund, without hesitation, accepted the invitation, as he held no belief that his stepson possessed the ability to cause him any harm.

Valen completed his assigned task, while Rhea and Draven began their training. Rhea found it more challenging than she’d thought to learn ice magic; she had assumed it would be similar to conjuring her ice spikes, but it turned out to be entirely distinct. Nevertheless, Draven took a gentle approach in guiding her, using uncomplicated techniques. Occasionally, Rhea would feel overwhelmed and on the verge of exhaustion due to exerting excessive energy, yet Draven consistently provided her with support. Moreover, she quickly caught up and grasped all the necessary skills.

"Be careful!" Draven exclaimed, swiftly catching Rhea’s waist just in time to prevent her from collapsing. Her skin had turned extremely pale from the coldness of the ice forming in her body, and she exhaled fog with every breath. Gently holding her waist, he guided her to rest her head on his chest and said, "You need to take another break; using the core’s powers will drain your energy." With that, he slightly bent over and lifted her into his arms.

Rhea’s eyes widened as she was lifted into his arms, but her exhaustion prevented her from protesting. Instead, she wrapped her arm around his neck and leaned on him.

Once Rhea had recovered her strength, they resumed their training. Nevertheless, the longer their time spent in each other’s company, the more Rhea grew anxious. Every time she observed him do the demonstration for her everyday or caught a glimpse of his alluring face, his graceful gestures, and his slender fingers, it inflicted immense torment upon her.

Whenever Draven was seriously explaining something to her, she just wanted to hug and rub her body against him, and anytime he stood behind her to control her hands movement, she’d felt the urge to turn around and grab his hands, interlock their fingers, and never let go. And whenever he held her waist to make her stand in the right position, she just wanted him to never release her again.

Rhea constantly wanted to ask Aria; wasn’t the antidote supposed to have worked by now? Didn’t she said the effect would go away in a day or two? Then why did it seem like the potion was still frighteningly strong in her body?!

And the most surprising part was, during their occasionally breaks from each other, Draven would climb up a tree in the garden and stare at his hands, lost in thoughts. He would fist his hands and then powerlessly release them.

Watching him like that, Rhea would unexpectedly see the flashes of memories of the day he was reduced to this. She saw how powerless he was and felt an overwhelming heartache for him. She’d suddenly feel the urge to climb up there and console him, to tell him everything would be alright, to...coax him to sleep on her lap.

The strangest part was that she could no longer tell if all these feelings were due to the potion or if it was just her feeling pity for him. It was really starting to scare her at some point.

However, regardless of how confused Rhea was, the time they spent together passed by quickly. And in the blink of an eye, it was already the day before the banquet Valen had planned. Rhea had learned the basics of conjuring ice magic like a dragon. Although, she couldn’t use it fluently, but she wouldn’t have a hard time tricking people into believing she was a dragon.

Nevertheless, there was another thing she was worried about. "Draven, can I really win against Edmund with this?" She asked.

Draven seemed to consider it for moment, then said, "Judging from his flames...you have only six percent chances of winning against him with your current ice."

Rhea frowned, "Then what if I lose?"

"We will let fate decide your destiny if you lose." He remarked nonchalantly.

"...!" Rhea grasped her ice sword in her hand, "Then let’s not sleep tonight and practice until tommorow morning."

Draven heard her words, he wanted to nod, but his eyes suddenly changed to complete black, not a single blue was left. He quickly turned away from Rhea’s direction and said, "I can’t practice with you, follow the instructions I gave you earlier." Saying this, he hurriedly left the garden without another word.

However, Rhea who had noticed his eyes was stunned silent. She remembered Draven telling her that his corrupted heart would be cured if he retrieved his essence, but what was that in his eyes? The last time she’d seen his eyes like that was in the border town when he was about to drink blood from an animal but he ended up drinking her own blood.

It seemed his corruption hadn’t cured completely. She couldn’t help but recall his sharp fangs sinking into her neck, at that thought a shiver ran down her spine.

Rhea resisted the urge to go after him and suppressed the uneasy feeling in her heart. His condition was none of her business, he’d look for an animal to suppress it. She thought and continued to practice alone in the garden, she didn’t stop until the moon rose high in the night sky.

Rhea knew Draven was good at enduring his pains, and most likely wouldn’t stay in The Den Of Pleasure tonight, so she tried not to worry about him and returned to their room. However, once she entered the room, her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight she met.

Draven, who she’d thought was out hunting for blood was infact curled up on her bed shirtless, his forehead was covered in sweat, his eyes were tightly shut close. His skin looked frighteningly flushed, his breath were rapid and shallow. He looked like a sick child with no one to rely on but himself.

It turned out Draven actually came back inside their room and curled up on the bed Instead of going out to look for blood...

"Draven?" She called out softly, but he didn’t respond. When she used her finger to touch his forehead to feel his temperature, her heart tightened. The heat in his body was like being close to burning flames. She couldn’t help but wonder how much pain he must be feeling internally.

Rhea scolded herself to not care about him nor worry about his health, she told herself to sleep on the floor and ignore him. However, in the end, her hands moved on their own and cupped his heated face to provide him with some coldness from her hand.

As she observed her own hands cradling his face, an internal struggle consumed her. She silently urged herself to retreat before Draven could draw her towards the bed and take her blood. However, before the thought had completely crossed her mind, Draven’s hand predictably reached out and pulled her into the bed, enfolding her in his arms like a child seeking the comforting warmth of its mother.

He held her so tightly that she thought she could hear her bones creaking. Without warning, he moved his head to the curve of her neck, and she could feel his warm lips brushing against her skin. The last time Draven had forcefully sank his teeth into her neck and drank her blood, she hadn’t recovered her spikes and was unable to defend or escape him. However, now she possessed her spikes and the ice magic he had taught her, making it easy to push him away in his current state. But...

Surprisingly, she didn’t want to push him away. Instead, she simply closed her eyes, and in that moment, she felt his fangs piercing her flesh. She shivered in pain and gripped his arms with her nails as he began sucking her blood. His mouth felt extremely hot against her neck, and unexpectedly, it ignited a heat within her. Unconsciously, she let out a small cry that resembled a moan.

Draven’s grip around her tightened, and he continued to drink her blood, even emitting a small groan as if savoring the most exquisite meal. Their position was undoubtedly intimate as he fed on her.

He even flipped their positions, lying on top of her while his fangs remained in her flesh. Rhea’s eyes widened in astonishment, and just when she thought he would drain her completely, his fangs slowly withdrew from her skin. However, his warm tongue began to lick her neck, as if cleansing it of any traces of blood.

Suddenly, his body went limp on top of hers, but his head remained nestled in the curve of her neck, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin. His weight on her was uncomfortable, yet realizing that Draven seemed calm and had started to relax, she decided not to push him away. Instead, she raised her hands to embrace him, gently stroking his hair, while whispering, "It’s okay, you’ll be alright. Rest, I’ll take away your pain before morning..."

She coaxed him like a child, while holding him to sleep. It had to be the cause of the potion, Rhea thought to herself. How else could someone who previously disliked this dragon suddenly develop weird emotions for him? The only explanation was the potion; it had to be the cause.