Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 90: Unwelcomed feelings

Chapter 90: Unwelcomed feelings

The next morning, Draven slowly opened his eyes, greeted by the soft morning light filtering through the curtains. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the brightness, but as he tried to shift his position, he frowned, feeling his head pressed against something surprisingly comfortable and soft. His eyes widened as he realized his head was resting on Rhea’s chest.

He froze for a moment, feeling the warmth of her chest against his cheek. His heart skipped a beat as he felt one of her hands was tightly wrapped around him, holding him close, while her other hand gently stroked his hair in her sleep. Draven couldn’t help but feel a mix of comfort and unease.

He glanced up, his gaze falling upon Rhea’s half-asleep face. Her eyes fluttered, struggling to stay open. She was still murmuring softly, her voice laced with sleepiness.

"I’ll take the pain away..."

Images from the previous night flooded his mind, he recalled feeling an unbearable pain in his chest as heat consumed him from within, and the next thing he knew was feeling a comforting coldness on his face, and hearing the sound of blood flowing through the person’s veins, he couldn’t control himself and sank his fangs into her flesh until the blood flushed away his pains...

As Draven gazed at the redness on Rhea’s neck, a pang of guilt tugged at his heart. He knew he shouldn’t have given in to his desires for her blood, but then, she didn’t even try to fight him or push him away, she even stayed up all night and coaxed him to sleep.

Draven’s frown deepened, and he carefully tried to lift his head from her chest, trying not to disturb her slumber, but then stopped when he realized her other arm was still hugging him tightly.

He gently untangled himself from her grasp, careful not to wake her. He then slightly pushed himself up a bit with his elbow, his blue eyes wandered over her, taking in the delicate features of her face. He couldn’t help but feel a sudden sense of protectiveness, a desire to shield her from any harm just like she’d taken away his pain last night.

He slowly reached out, softly brushing a strand of her silver hair away from her face. With a mix of gratitude, he whispered. "Thank you..."

Rhea suddenly stirred, her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a few times as if to adjust to the morning light. She looked at Draven, her gaze filled with sleepiness, "Are you still in pain?" she asked, her voice still husky from sleep.

Draven’s heart ached at the worry he sensed in her voice, but he couldn’t shake off the guilt that lingered within him. "Rhea," he began, his voice filled with a mix of regret and concern. "What happened last night..."

He had not finished speaking when Rhea abruptly pushed herself away from him and sat up, as if just realizing their current position. "You...!" She grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his face. "You claimed your corruption was gone, but last night, why didn’t you go out and search for blood? Because of you, we had to share this cramped bed, and my chest feels so sore from supporting your head. I couldn’t sleep well and had to take care of you like a child." She angrily tossed another pillow in his direction. "If this happens again, I will not sacrifice my sleep for you or my blood, and I won’t allow your big head to rest on my chest ever again!!"

"..." Draven’s ears slightly flushed red, he then coughed awkwardly and moved to sit at the edge of the bed to hide his embarrassed expression.

However, Rhea didn’t give him any chance to speak and said again, "Move out of the bed, it’s still early I need to sleep some more. If I don’t get to sleep well, I won’t be able to face Lord Edmund tonight. Get away!"

Draven, who was about to stand up felt a hard kick to his butt, he stumbled forward, but controlled himself from falling face flat. Rhea paid no more attention to him and covered herself with the blanket and rolled around twice until she found a comfortable position. At this moment, she couldn’t think of anything but sleep, however her silly mind was still wondering if he was fine or not from yesterday’s sickness.

Draven silently looked at Rhea’s curled up figure on the bed for a long time. For a moment, he couldn’t believe he had been shoved out of bed to the point he couldn’t get a single word out, she’d disregarded him after taking care of him for the entire night.

Draven shook his head and smiled faintly, he was about to leave to go and get ready for the day, when he suddenly felt Rhea grab his hand. He was stunned, he didn’t know when he became accustomed to the coldness of her hand, to the point he didn’t instinctively fling her hand off when she began to trail her fingers around his wrist, her slender fingers explored to his forearm area, before taking her hand back and said,

"Good, your temperature is normal now." Her hoarse voice lazily spoke from under the blanket, "You may go."

Draven felt like a soothing coolness had been taken out of his hand, to the point he felt a scorching burn in the area Rhea had just touched. He made his way towards the bathroom, leaving a sleeping Rhea behind. As he walked towards the bathroom’s door, he took one last glance at her, then at his burning hand before entering.

Even after soaking himself in an icy bathtub, the area Rhea touched was still burning. And remembering the comfort of sleeping in her arms... he’d never had such a good night’s sleep in ages. Furthermore, he didn’t know why he was suddenly having the desire to stay by her side and take away her pain and anything that could harm her.

Perhaps he was experiencing a strong sense of protectiveness and emotions because it had been many years since he had encountered someone who treated him as kindly as Rhea did. When she was gracious enough to take away his pain, he found himself developing strong unwelcomed feelings for her.

Draven sat in the oversized bathtub, his mind filled with a mixture of conflicting emotions. He ran his fingers through his wet and messy hair, attempting to clear his thoughts. Then, he gripped his hand, recalling the spot where Rhea had touched him, he submerged his head and body in the water completely, attempting to wash away every lingering sensation of her touch.

***

Rhea didn’t wake up until noontime, she woke up with an unsettling headache, but then she managed to tidy up the room and freshed up as today was the day they’d be facing Lord Edmund and get back Draven’s powers. By the time she finished everything and had a talk with Valen and Aria, it was already sunset.

Rhea and Draven wore the same black attire, resembling assassins ready for a mission. They strategized their approach: once Valen began his banquet, they would discreetly slip in through the rear entrance. With Lord Edmund’s absence, the grounds would be heavily guarded, but Rhea’s upgrade in abilities would allow her to effortlessly face the guards.

As they entered the grounds of the establishment, everything turned out as they’d planned. All the guards rushed to block them. However, there was no one who could dare block Rhea, who unleashed her ice and froze a group of men, all the guards were stunned, they were astonished by her ice magic.

In the beginning, Rhea was scared that the guards would see through her and know that she wasn’t from the east dragon clan, but to her surprise, some of the guards started to shout out in alarm,

"She’s a Dragon with a strong magic!"

"She must be one of the spies from the Eastern Dragon Clan. She is highly dangerous!"

With that exclamation, fear gripped everyone. They all knew that an unsealed dragon, not under the spell of the Fire Controller, had the ability to transform and freeze them all to death. Without Alina or any of the leaders present, they had no means to control any dragons.

In no time at all, the supposedly skilled and powerful guards scattered in fear. None of them dared to engage in direct combat with Rhea, fearing her freezing abilities. Rhea observed as the guards on the grounds discarded their armor and ran away. Seeing them flee like they were being chased by demons, she couldn’t help but scoff, "What a bunch of losers! They couldn’t even put up a fight, yet they had the audacity to harm and torment innocent creatures. It’s unbelievable that they are also afraid of dying!"

Draven blandly replied, "Do you think everyone is as daring as you are and unafraid of death?"

"Duh, I’m not a loser, I will face my enemies without a fear. You should see me when I was still in my father’s house, I used to beat up noble men with hard-headedness and unafraid of the worst."

Of course, Draven thought. She wouldn’t be Rhea the troublesome second daughter if she didn’t do all those rebellious acts. No ordinary girl would proudly brag about beating up noble men.

Rhea continued to tell him about the men she’d beaten before, he only silently listened to her as they entered through the main entrance of the building, where he could already sense his powers up ahead.

They had been here twice before, but failed in the attempt to regain his powers, but now he could finally sense it’s presence. As per their plan, Lord Edmund should have been informed of the situation in the building by now. He was likely hurrying back at this moment.

Draven only needed to enter the hall, retrieve his powers, and restore them to his body. Then they would patiently wait for Edmund’s return and eliminate him once and for all, Draven thought. However, as he pushed open the door, his footsteps abruptly halted at the scene before him.

Rhea, who was trailing closely behind him, collided with his back and furrowed her brow. She was about to inquire why he had stopped, but when her eyes caught a glimpse of the scene inside the hall, the question died in her throat. "Hell be damned." she murmured in shock.