Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot
Chapter 80 - 79 - “Now, bark.”

Chapter 80: Chapter 79 - “Now, bark.”

Moonlight filtered through the treetops as Raven stepped back into the forest clearing, completely calm, his wet hair now brushed backward.

Beside him walked Lio—or rather, Lia, once again disguised with the silver ring now glowing faintly on her finger.

Her pink hair had returned to short, and her posture was back to the awkward slouch of a wimpy prince.

No one batted an eye.

"Yo, where did you find him?" Alex called out, stretching by the campfire. "Was he shitting or something?"

Lia flinched, lowering her head, expecting Raven to rat her out, but—

"—Yeah, he was. I almost stumbled when I heard him fart. It was like a dragon’s roar."

The first part of Raven’s words made her feel relieved, but as soon as she heard the second part, she yelled in shame and anger.

"What the fuck do you mean?!"

But as soon as she felt the shocked gazes of the other Vaises and Selena on her, Lia realized her mistake.

’...fuck.’

She, who was supposed to be listening to Raven’s order obediently, couldn’t yell at him.

Well, she wouldn’t have if Raven hadn’t found out her deepest secret.

Now, she felt like he had the right to be treated better.

After all, Raven had seen her naked.

Recalling that scene, her fair face lit up with a light red hue, making her expression seem strange.

But Raven spoke up right then, his brows frowned as he turned toward Lia.

"Hey," he called, making Lia turn toward him, only to see Raven looking at her with condescension. "Did your brain get clogged by water or what?"

Realizing that Raven was trying to help her, Lia played along, lowering her head. "I-I’m sorry."

Raven nodded before he added, "Now, bark."

"Huh?" Lia had question marks appearing above her head.

She couldn’t understand what Raven meant by those words.

Did he want her to bark? Why? What did she do?

"What’s with the ’Huh?’? Do you not understand what barking is?" Raven’s question brought her back to the present, and she finally noticed the way others were looking at her.

There was doubt and suspicion in their eyes.

Lia realized why that was.

It was because she was acting relaxed around Raven.

The reason Raven was ordering her to bark was to show that nothing had changed and to avoid suspicion. Lia knew she had to follow through, but—

’—Couldn’t he have asked me to do something else? Who asks a woman to bark?!’

On the outside, however, Lia gritted her teeth, and—

"—W-Woof..."

"What was that? Was that a meow?" Raven asked, frowning, making Lia clench her fist, but she didn’t protest and raised her voice.

"WOOF! WOOF!"

As soon as that sound fell, everyone in the area paused for a second, even the squirrels.

They all stared at Lia, looking at her with eyes filled with pity before they continued their work.

Lia understood that she was saved, but her self-respect wasn’t. Her image—whatever it was—was now turned into nothing.

Shaking his head, Raven went ahead and sat beside Clara, picking an apple and crunching a bite.

"Hm~, this is good," he hummed, making Clara nod.

"Yeah, they are surprisingly good at gathering food."

A squirrel in the distance bowed, as if taking the credit, making everyone chuckle out loud.

Things were finally normal—Lia could tell that.

She glanced sideways at Raven, her face unreadable.

’...How can he act like that?’ She wondered.

Like he hadn’t screamed "WHY ARE YOU A GIRL?" with a voice crack that still echoed in her ears.

After all, Raven was acting as if he hadn’t just seen her completely naked.

If it were a normal person, they would be stuttering on every word and trying their best to act natural.

But Raven wasn’t.

’How is he so normal?!’ She thought, biting her lip, unsure if she was grateful or insulted.

She felt like her feminine charm had been useless against Raven, making her wonder if she wasn’t as beautiful as she thought she was.

What she didn’t know was that Raven was having a hard time hiding his boner.

After all, it was his first time looking at a girl—a real girl—naked in both of his lives.

Even if he had seen someone before, he wouldn’t be a man if he were to stay calm in front of a beauty like Lia.

What neither Raven nor Lia noticed, however, was that Clara had her eyes squinted.

She tilted her head slightly.

Raven behaved like he did every day, but something tonight felt... off.

There was a layer of neutral overacting in his tone, like he was mimicking his own past self.

But she wasn’t the only one who noticed that.

Siris, staring coldly at Lia, twirled her dagger.

’You are saying that he’s a girl?’ She asked inwardly, and the fairy in her head replied, her voice serene and calm.

’Yes. I didn’t want to tell you before, but it seemed like something had happened between them so I decided to tell you.’

Hearing that confirmation, Siris’s eyes turned icy. ’She needs to die.’

But before Siris could go further with her plan, the spirit in her head stopped her.

’You can’t do that. If you did that, I don’t think Raven would like it.’

Siris froze the moment she heard those words.

’...Raven would hate me?’ She muttered to herself, imagining Raven not even looking at her.

Just that imagination was enough to constrict her heart.

So, she decided not to kill Lia and observe for a while.

Then there was Selena. She had also noticed something.

"Why does Lio feel like he has become a bit more feminine?" She whispered.

She didn’t know why, but Lio, who always had this feminine charm, seemed to be more free around Raven.

Still, she said nothing.

After all... Raven was straight. Right?

Jessy, Jake, and Rufus, on the other hand, were busy helping themselves with the dishes that squirrels had put forward.

Jake was silent, nodding at a squirrel before him whenever he felt like something was tasty, and the squirrel, copying his expression, would nod back.

Jessy was complimenting the squirrels verbally, earning herself more treats, while Rufus was eating whatever he was given.

He got the least food, as even the squirrels had graded him as the lowest in the group.

But suddenly, the bush rustled.

A blur shot out, tiny paws pounding the ground with desperate speed.

"SQUEAK!!!!"

"GAH—!" Rufus flinched as the blur bolted past his leg.

The camp fell silent as the squirrel—burned, bloody, and twitching—sprinted into the middle of the clearing and collapsed dramatically in front of Raven.

It was Squeaky.

Commander Nibbles, sitting atop Alex’s head like a tiara of vengeance, suddenly straightened.

His eyes gleamed.

Without a word, he leaped down and began frantically signing in squirrel semaphore with his tail and paws.

Alex followed Commander Nibbles and kneeled immediately, nodding along like he was receiving war plans from a military general.

"What is it?" Raven asked, already reaching for his coat.

Alex stood up. His expression was grim. "It’s Nutwatch. They’re under attack."

Jessy, who had just bitten into a biscuit, froze. "Wait. Nutwatch? Like the squirrel squad?"

"Yeah," Alex said, gritting his teeth. "Squeaky was the messenger. The others... they were buying him time."

Rufus stood, brushing dirt off his palms. "What kind of beast?"

Alex nodded once. "Big. Six legs. One eye. Mouth on its stomach. Purple veins. Everything died where it walked."

Selena’s expression darkened. "...What?"

She knew what and what it was, but so did Raven.

Others might not know, but Raven, who knew the plot, definitely did.

He also noticed Selena’s reaction, finding it suspicious, but for now, he focused on the task ahead. "It’s a demon beast. A beast that is infused with demonic mana and can use demonic mana."

"Such a beast was there in this forest, and no one knew?" Clara frowned, and Jessy, who had come to a similar question, also turned toward Raven.

Raven’s answer, however, tensed them more. "Demonic beasts can’t survive in a pure environment for long. That means it wasn’t always here; it was brought here."

Everyone’s expressions turned grave while Raven turned toward Commander Nibbles, his voice low but dangerous. "Where?"

Commander Nibbles quickly answered, and Alex translated it for Raven. "Northwest. Past Mistgrove. Willow Flats."

The exact direction Lia and Raven had met.

It was some distance away, but it was close by.

Raven clenched his jaw as he saw Nibbles looking at him with tears in its eyes, pleading to him. "We move. Now."

Everyone jumped to action, grabbing gear and weapons in practiced motions.

"No plan?" Rufus asked, cracking his knuckles.

"We don’t need one," Raven said, his voice cold as he needed to kill that demonic beast. "We’re saving squirrels."

Squeaky sat on Clara’s shoulder now, trembling but determined, holding a tiny stick like a sword.

The campfire was left burning behind them, flickering in the night wind like the last signal of peace.

They didn’t know what they were walking into.

But they weren’t walking.

They were hunting.

And somewhere in the distant woods, the demon beast snarled into the night—

Unaware that its next meal was coming armed... and one of them—a squirrel—was pissed.