Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 120 - 119 - The Hero of Acornia.

Chapter 120: Chapter 119 - The Hero of Acornia.

It was already the night of the second day.

Raven’s group had no gems until now—at least not in their hands.

The squirrels had said that they had gathered some and were still gathering, so Raven decided to trust them.

After all, there was always another way of getting first place—by stealing others’ gems.

Raven had thought of doing that if the squirrels failed to find the gems or if they picked something else (shiny acorns, maybe) instead of gems.

For now, Raven and his team were relaxing.

The campfire crackled gently beneath the night sky. A canopy of stars blinked overhead like ancient gossipers eager to watch Raven’s descent into madness.

Around the fire sat Raven’s team.

Squirrels were notably absent, off doing "important squirrel things," which probably involved acorn smuggling and micro-siege warfare.

Nibbles and Fluffy had vanished earlier with dramatic salutes, promising to return with "vital intelligence" and "possibly explosives."

That left the humans.

Raven sat exactly where he had always wanted to be, between two beautiful women—except they were more like time bombs wrapped in women’s clothing.

On his right, Clara. She was calm and composed, gently sipping herbal tea like a noble lady from a historical drama.

Her hair shimmered in the firelight. Her aura was relaxed. Her leg rested beside Raven’s.

On his left...

"Hubby~♥"

Siris leaned on his shoulder, smiling like a cat that had licked the cream, the spoon, and the entire fridge.

Her bandaged arm looped around Raven’s casually, ignoring the slight twitch in his eye.

Raven sighed, not denying them, as they were his women. Rather, he was slowly starting to like it.

He could feel Siris’s breasts on his hand and Clara’s soft caresses on the other.

’Is this why people love harem?’ He wondered.

Suddenly, an image of him being surrounded by women appeared in his head, only to be shaken away by him. ’Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.’

Clara, for her part, said nothing.

In fact, she was... smiling? Peacefully?

Alex blinked. "Okay, what the hell? Why is Clara acting like this? I mean—did someone swap her soul, or did she finally eat the patience fruit?"

Clara raised an eyebrow and turned her head slowly toward him.

Alex paled. "Wait, wait, wait. I didn’t mean anything bad! I mean, you used to insult everyone within a two-meter radius—usually me! You were like a sarcastic hydra!"

The memory hit him like a bolt of trauma.

Flashback:

Alex, a year or two ago, had called Clara "shrimp princess" for fun, only to find Clara standing near his bed at night, and the next thing he knew was that he was getting choked by her.

He had almost died that day.

Recalling that, he went quiet. Very quiet.

Rufus, seated slightly away from Raven’s "Harem Danger Zone," kept chatting with Jessy and Jake instead. "You know, I’m just gonna... stay over here. Safer this way."

Jessy raised a brow. "From what? The heat? Or Raven’s glare?"

"Both," Rufus muttered. "Especially the glare."

Jake said nothing, as usual. He just chewed on some dried jerky and stared at the flames as they owed him money.

Meanwhile, Lia sat beside Rufus. Her appearance was now openly feminine—soft features, slender frame, long eyelashes—but some habits were hard to break.

Alex instinctively patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, bro, pass the salt—"

He froze mid-gesture.

Everyone stared.

Lia blinked at him innocently.

Alex’s hand retracted like it had touched lava. "I—I forgot! Sorry! I mean—sis—I mean—Your Royal Bro-liness—I mean, crap! I’ll just shut up."

Lia just giggled. Pure. Serene. Graceful.

But inside, her thoughts were on fire.

’Raven hasn’t looked at me for a while. Not even once. Not even when I dropped my spoon like in those novels where the guy helps you pick it up and your fingers touch and—wait, is Siris holding his arm?! That girl played well.’

For a while, Lia realized that she was quite beautiful, but Raven never looked at her like that.

Before, when she acted like a boy, he treated her as his footrest, but now that she was behaving and living like a girl, he didn’t even talk to her.

’Why?!’

No one could answer her, though.

Still, she smiled sweetly.

Externally, a saint. Internally, a war criminal.

Meanwhile, Selena sat slightly apart from the others, her long silver hair shielding her expression. She had been quiet all evening.

Too quiet.

Watching.

’How much more do I have to wait?’

Before, she understood that it was an urgent situation, but what about now?

Why was he not addressing her situation now?

Heck, even Siris, who wasn’t even supposed to get into a relationship with Raven yet, was already with him.

After Clara, it was supposed to be her, not Siris.

Selena’s fists clenched on her lap. The fire flickered in her eyes. She bit her lip.

’Now that you’re free, why don’t you talk to me?!’

She wanted to ask that question to Raven, but she didn’t.

She exhaled slowly, taking a deep breath.

No. Not now. Not in anger.

So she stood and stepped forward, her eyes focused like a blade.

"Raven."

The name cut through the air.

Raven turned, a brow lifted.

Clara blinked. Siris paused mid-hubby-nuzzle.

Selena looked at him. Just him.

"...Can we talk now?"

A pause.

Then Jessy muttered, "Welp. There it is."

Rufus whispered, "Oh gods. The love triangle’s evolving into a parallelogram."

Alex scribbled it down. "Note to self: Never fall in love. Ever."

Siris tilted her head innocently. "She sounds tense. Is it because I’m already married to him?"

Everyone stared at her.

"What?" Siris said.

Raven sighed and stood, brushing himself off.

Unlike what others thought, he wasn’t free. He had more worries than any of them, and the first of his concerns was to make them stronger.

He was thinking about that right now, but since Selena wanted to talk, he would do it.

Clara raised her teacup in a mock salute. "Good luck, Mr. Popular."

He gave her a dry look. "You’re not helping."

"I know," she said serenely, "and I’m enjoying that."

Selena turned without a word, walking toward the forest’s edge.

Raven followed.

Siris leaned into Clara. "Do you think they’re gonna fight?"

Clara sipped her tea. "No."

"...Kiss?"

Clara’s smile grew. "That depends on how stupid Raven acts."

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

Meanwhile, in the new base tree of Acornia, another battle between love and duty was being fought.

Like Raven, Nibbles was also making a hard decision.

He was about to reject his father’s proposal to take on the emperor’s position.

In the towering hollow heart of the new Great Nut Tree—the central stronghold of the squirrel empire Acornia—a council of furry elders had gathered.

Acorns the size of walnuts (to human eyes) hung from crystal chandeliers. The walls were carved with ancient stories of nut raids and cheese heists.

There, atop a glorious throne made of polished bark and enchanted nutshells, sat the current ruler of Acornia, Emperor Nutrius Acornpaw IV.

He was old and majestic, with a crown of golden acorn caps and the beard of a sage (aka: slightly bushier cheek fur than average).

Across from him stood Nibbles, wearing his Clawtail Recon armor, tiny blades strapped to his sides, eyes determined.

Fluffy had called him adorable.

He was not adorable.

He was a knight.

"...I will not accept the crown," Nibbles said firmly, his tiny paw held over his chest.

Gasps echoed through the war room—Lady Chatterella fainted dramatically onto a pile of velvet moss.

One of his distant brothers, Minister Sorenut, slammed his tail against the wall in disbelief.

"You would abandon your Empire?!" Sorenut barked. "For what? To run around with that human boy and his harem of unstable girls?!"

"He’s not unstable!" Nibbles protested. "...Well, some of them are. But that’s not the point!"

The emperor, however, merely chuckled.

"Hoh..." Nutrius’s wise old whiskers twitched. "I predicted you’d say this, my son."

"...You did?"

"Yes. The moment I saw you try to stab a demon in the eye with a twig and yell, ’For Raven!’, I knew you had chosen your path."

"Oh. I was yelling, ’For snacks!’ but Raven controls my snack supply, so I did that."

"...Ah."

The emperor coughed politely and waved a paw. "Regardless. Go. Follow your destiny."

Sorenut stormed out in frustration, muttering something about how "the army needs a real leader, not an acorn-chasing romantic with wing fever."

Lady Chatterella—now dramatically reviving—fluttered her lashes at Nibbles. "Do take your scarf, dear; it gets cold in the human world!"

Nibbles bowed deeply. "I shall return when the world no longer needs me."

He turned.

He paused.

Then, he ran back and hugged them both, because he was still their son and a softie on the inside.

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

Later that night, under the moonlight near the Floating Blossom Grove—a secret glade just beyond the Acornia stronghold—Nibbles met with Fluffy.

Fluffy was a winged, pink-furred, squirrel-like creature of mysterious origins, capable of flight, dream-singing, and martial arts involving tailspins.

She looked like a magical cupcake and hit like a freight train.

She was the love of his life.

Nibbles touched her stomach gently, eyes serious.

"I want you to give birth to our child here."

Fluffy’s wings fluttered in protest. "W-What?! I thought we were going to raise the little fluffball together! I even bought a matching battle harness!"

"I know. And it’s adorable. But it’s too dangerous right now."

He looked toward the forest, the wind whispering across his whiskers like a prophecy.

"They’re still searching for you—those who want your bloodline. I’ve seen it. They’re closer than ever."

Fluffy pouted, puffing her cheeks. "But I’m strong! I can fly! I can suplex an owl!"

"I know. That’s what makes this harder." He leaned in, touching foreheads gently. "I trust only you to keep our child safe. You are my queen. My blade in the shadows. My fluffy murder cloud."

Her eyes watered. "You sweet idiot..."

"Promise me you’ll stay hidden. For now."

"...Fine," she sniffled. "But the moment the baby learns to kick, I’m sending them to find you. And they better not inherit your reckless brain."

Nibbles grinned. "They’ll have your wings and my glorious battle teeth. That’s enough."

He turned dramatically.

"I go now. To aid the humans. To stop the demons. To make sure Raven doesn’t die in a soup-related incident."

He ran three steps, then tripped on a root.

Fluffy flew over instantly. "You okay?!"

"I’m totally fine. That was a tactical roll."

"You faceplanted."

"Tactical."

They stared.

Then Fluffy lunged forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"For luck."

"...That worked better than potions."

With that, the Acornian hero was going back to the team, not knowing when he would return.

What he did know, however, was that he now had more people in this place to return to.

Follow current novels on freewe(b)novel.c(o)m