Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 108 - 107 - Situation with Clara 2.

Chapter 108: Chapter 107 - Situation with Clara 2.

The silence in the room was dense.

Raven sat like a knight before a dragon, unarmed, sweaty, and about five seconds from either getting incinerated or married. Possibly both.

Clara hadn’t spoken.

He stared at her, clutching the metaphorical reins of his courage while his inner monologue screamed, "Abort mission! Initiate the backup plan: fake amnesia, move to a different continent, and become a carrot farmer!"

But Clara...

She just kept staring at him. Unmoving.

And in that stillness, something within her mind stirred.

................................

[Flashback—A Day Ago, Selena’s Mansion.]

Clara had found something unexpected in a hidden gallery in Selena’s room.

At first, she had laughed it off, not wanting to worry the just-calmed-down Selena.

After all, it hadn’t even been half an hour since their talk about Selena’s contract with a demon.

She wanted to take it slow.

So, after joking about Raven’s portrait with him stepping on a watermelon, she finally decided to address the elephant in the room.

Clara gestured around them. "So? You gonna tell me what this is, or should I pretend this is a really avant-garde squirrel cult?"

Selena looked down. Her hands clenched. Then unclenched.

"...I think I love him," she said.

Clara’s smile disappeared.

Selena looked up quickly, her face flushed. "But—but I know he’s yours. I mean, he’s not, not really, but—ugh, I know you’re the one who’s been with him the longest, and I respect that. Gods, I swear I didn’t mean for it to happen."

She laughed bitterly. "I didn’t even notice it at first. You kept talking about him—his weird jokes, his hidden strength, how he made you feel safe even when he was annoying—and I kept thinking, ’Wow. He sounds like someone I could trust, too.’ Then I met him."

Her voice grew quieter.

"And he didn’t treat me like porcelain. He teased me. He looked at me and not at Princess Selena. Just looking at him made me feel... alive. I felt like I wasn’t some broken noble girl with demon scars on her soul. Just me. Just Selena."

She wiped her eyes, wiping the tears even before they could form, and tried to laugh it off.

"But I’m fine. You don’t have to do anything. Really. I don’t want to ruin things. I don’t want to ruin us. I know what I feel, but I’ll bury it. I can still be close to him without being... You know. With him. It’s fine."

She smiled through tears she didn’t even notice falling.

Clara just stood there.

Watching.

Listening.

She gritted her teeth, feeling Selena’s pain.

She imagined herself in Selena’s position, and honestly, she didn’t know if she would’ve stepped back like Selena.

For a long moment, Clara didn’t speak. Her fingers clenched as she looked at her friend—not a rival, not competition—but the girl who, for two years, had become someone she could laugh with, confide in, and rely on.

The girl who now stood trembling under the weight of her own heart.

"...Selena," Clara finally whispered.

The other girl blinked. "H-Hm?"

Clara stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her.

Selena stiffened, shocked. "C-Clara...?"

"You idiot," Clara murmured, her voice cracking. "You think I’d let something like this ruin us?"

She pulled back and looked her in the eyes.

"You’re my only real friend. And if sharing Raven means I get to keep you too... then I’m all in."

Selena’s eyes went wide. "What—wait, no, I wasn’t saying that just to make you feel guilty! You don’t have to—"

"I’m not doing it out of pity," Clara said, more firmly now. "You love him. I love him. And maybe, just maybe, that idiot’s dumb enough to love us both."

She gave a sad smile. "I can’t promise what he’ll say. Honestly, I thought he’d never even think about a harem. I mean, have you seen how he reacts when someone flirts with him? He looks like someone offered to sell him a cursed radish."

Selena let out a watery laugh.

"...But I’ll talk to him," Clara said. "I’ll try. If it means keeping both of you... I’ll try."

Selena couldn’t hold back anymore.

Tears fell fast. She clutched Clara tightly, burying her face in her shoulder.

"...Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

She thanked her not because Clara had acknowledged her feelings for Raven but because now, she wouldn’t have to try to do something that could harm her only friend.

After all, Selena wasn’t someone who would give up on Raven.

Of course, Clara didn’t know that.

................................

Present.

Now, as Clara stared at Raven, she couldn’t help but regret wasting so many brain cells trying to think of a solution for Selena’s situation.

’So he does want a harem...’ she thought, remembering Selena’s trembling sobs, the relief in her eyes after that talk.

’She might get a chance after all.’

But Clara didn’t speak right away, thinking this might be one of those rare chances to know what Raven would do if she were to say no to this harem thing.

She leaned forward, her face unreadable.

"So," she said coldly. "You want to become a walking anime protagonist cliché."

Raven sighed like a man facing death with grace. "Look, I know it sounds bad—"

"You want a collection of women."

"Okay, see, when you say it like that—"

"A magical card binder full of girlfriends."

"It’s not that—wait, actually... Now I kinda want a binder like that."

Clara narrowed her eyes.

Raven immediately backpedaled. "No! No binders! I’ll cancel the binder!"

Then, he sighed, his expression as honest as it could be. "Look, Clara... I want a harem, yes. But not if it means losing you."

Clara froze.

Raven looked down, expression solemn.

"I thought about this. Really thought. If you say no... if you tell me to drop it... I will. I don’t care how many cute girls throw themselves at me. I don’t care how many fathers come begging me to marry their daughters. If you say you’re out—then I’m out. No harem."

Clara’s pupils dilated.

What she had wanted to end as a harmless prank turned into something way more serious.

’He... He meant that.’

Clara could feel the truthfulness in Raven’s words.

He was giving her the final word.

He had, after thinking a lot about it, decided to blame himself for not telling Clara about his harem plans beforehand.

Now, if Clara, the first girl he proposed to, were to say no to the harem, then he would never even dream about having a harem.

He was ready to sacrifice his long-cherished dream for Clara.

Clara could tell that as well, so she took a deep breath, trying to calm her heartbeats, only to fail.

Then, before Raven could say anything else, Clara leaped across the small table between them like a missile.

"WAHH—?"

Raven barely had time to react before Clara grabbed his face and started kissing it furiously—his forehead, cheeks, chin, and nose.

"YOU IDIOT!" She shouted between kisses. "YOU DUMB, DUMB MAN! WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING SO STUPIDLY ROMANTIC?!"

"Because I’m a romantic dumbass?!"

"CORRECT!"

She kissed him again, this time on the lips, her arms wrapping around his neck like vines of relief.

Raven blinked.

"...So wait... is that a yes?"

Clara leaned back, eyes shining.

"It’s a ’yes-but-I’m-watching-you-and-if-you-break-anyone’s-heart-I-will-make-you-eat-your-own-teeth’ yes."

"...Fair."

"Also, if you fall for another girl or feel like you will fall for her, then you should tell me beforehand. I won’t stop you, but I at least want to know who or what she is."

"Double fair."

Clara smiled.

It wasn’t smug.

It wasn’t cold.

It was real.

"I love you, Raven."

He smiled back. "I love you, too."

From the ceiling, a squirrel dabbed silently and disappeared into the shadows like a ninja of love.

................................

A while later.

Raven sat like a man who had just won the war, the lottery, and possibly the world’s rarest sandwich—all at once.

His shirt was creased beyond redemption, the collar lopsided like a man who had been mauled by affection (accurate), and his face was riddled with so many kiss marks it looked like a red-spotted battlefield.

Clara sat sideways on his lap, her arms lazily draped around his shoulders, legs curled comfortably over his thighs, and her head nestled against his temple. She had tried—tried—to explain things, but Raven had decided her neck was far too distracting to ignore.

"So... mnn—Selena—Raven! Stop that, I’m trying to—mm!—talk!"

"Talking and neck," he murmured against her skin. "Multitasking."

"Your multitasking is criminal," she huffed, biting back a smile as he kissed a sensitive spot below her ear, causing her breath to hitch.

Raven smiled against her neck, smug but soft. "You were saying...?"

Clara groaned and flicked his forehead gently. "I was saying... Selena has feelings for you."

Raven blinked, still holding her. "Selena? Well, I never noticed. I recall noticing a certain type of glint in her eyes, but I thought it was something suspicious."

"No," Clara said, her voice quieter now. "She told me yesterday. She’s been hiding it for a while."

Raven pulled back a little, his brow furrowing in surprise. "...Huh."