Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 474 - 474 473 King Aress Gift

Chapter 474: Chapter 473 King Ares’s Gift Chapter 474: Chapter 473 King Ares’s Gift The first scale tower of the Shadowflame Dragon was built in the northeast of the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, on a warm enclave named Cat’s Eye Emerald.

From the sky, Cat’s Eye Emerald was aptly named, resembling a giant emerald in the shape of a cat’s eye.

This was the territory of Baron Wildcat—Boske Bao Gai Cao.

Upon their arrival at this place, Baron Boske had already assembled the nobles of his territory, who were eagerly waiting in the castle for Russell and his party.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” The nobles bowed one after another.

They then bowed to the two great dragons, “Greetings, Your Highness the Blazing, greetings, His Highness Shadowflame!”

The Fiery Dragon and Shadowflame Dragon offered no response; dragons never deigned to participate in human formalities.

“Please, rise, Boske.” King Ares rose from his throne atop the Fiery Dragon’s head, paced through the air to the ground, and helped his vassal to his feet.

Russell also leapt from the back of the Black Oil Dragon Ross.

Immediately, Baron Boske inquired, “Your Majesty, is this the rising star of the Shadowflame Duchy, Baron Thunderflame, Lord Russell?”

King Ares nodded indifferently, “Let me introduce to you all, this young man is Russell, the newly appointed Flying Dragon Knight, Dragon Domain Lord of Shadowflame Duchy. He is here to accompany the Shadowflame Dragon and preside over the activation ceremony of the Shadowflame Spire.”

“Hello, Lord Russell, welcome to the Scorching Torrent Kingdom!” Baron Boske greeted warmly.

Due to geographical reasons, all trade between the Scorching Torrent Kingdom and the Shadowflame Duchy had to pass through Cat’s Eye Emerald. Thus, merely by collecting taxes, Baron Wildcat Boske could thrive, naturally making him exceedingly enthusiastic.

“Good to meet you, Lord Boske,” Russell responded with a smile.

Then King Ares added, “Russell, let me introduce you to another young prodigy of our kingdom, Sharman. He is a year older than you but also successfully rode a dragon at seventeen and has been temporarily granted the title of knight.”

Sharman, standing beside Baron Boske, was a tall, handsome young man with a sharp and commanding presence.

“Sharman has met Lord Russell,” the other bowed slightly to Russell, his gaze containing no respect, but rather a probing, investigative look.

Both being young geniuses, Sharman did not consider himself inferior to Russell.

He had simply not found a dragon on the Snowfield but had ridden a Bipedal Flying Dragon from the Royal Palace of Lieyang, and so he did not receive a baron’s title but was granted a knight’s—of course, he was not a Dragon Domain Lord either.

“Greetings to you, sir,” Russell nodded in return.

At that moment, the attention of everyone present, including King Ares, was locked onto the two most outstanding young men in the two nations.

Both were tall and handsome.

Sharman stood there like a freshly unsheathed sword, unintentionally revealing his sharp edge.

Russell, however, had a divine, reserved brilliance, lacking in dazzling brightness, more akin to a smooth, warm gemstone. At first glance, apart from his handsomeness, Russell seemed unremarkable.

But compared to Sharman’s brilliance, people realized that it was Russell who was the more captivating presence.

Even if subdued, as if he was innately superior.

Some nobles even began comparing Russell with King Ares involuntarily, feeling intuitively that these two were the knights who should be measured against each other.

“How strange…” Baron Boske thought to himself, “I always thought no young man could exceed Sharman, but now that Shadowflame Duchy’s Russell is here, Sharman seems rather ordinary.”

He shook his head to himself, “The old saying is true, comparing goods makes you throw away the inferior, comparing people frustrates you to death. In this comparison, Sharman is much less than Russell!”

It wasn’t just Boske who felt this way.

Even King Ares, who had specifically called Sharman to compare the young talents of the two nations, frowned slightly.

But he quickly relaxed, smiling, “Russell, Sharman will accompany you and the Shadowflame Dragon to the four Shadowflame Spires. Of course, there’s no need to rush today; first, let Boske host a reception for you at Emerald Fort.”

“Your Majesty, please proceed… Lord Russell, Lord Sharman, after you,” Boske called out warmly.

Although to Russell the cat’s eye emerald already belonged to an exotic flair,

the systems of many human kingdoms were inherited from the Holy Glint Empire, including the tradition of castle banquets.

Eating and drinking, the atmosphere heated up unconsciously.

King Ares was the focus of the banquet, and Russell was equally chased by everyone, constantly pushing cups and changing seats.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Having drunk another glass of wine, Russell couldn’t help but reflect in his mind, “There are so many castles in the world, each with a different style, yet the nobles who live in castles seem… utterly alike!”

…

After the banquet, Russell chose to circulate his Dragon Breath to refine the vigor of the wine.

“Using martial energy to digest alcohol, something a lover of wine would do,” said King Ares, reeking of alcohol.

Using the study of Emerald Fort, he and Russell chatted alone for a while.

“I generally favor fine foods the most, my pursuit of fine wine might fall a bit short,” Russell responded.

“That is a lack of realm, when you reach an old age, you will understand that the answers of life can be found in fine wine,” King Ares said, discussing about wine culture while searching through the desk, soon finding a box of cigars.

On the cigar box, the bright words “Cloud Mist” were engraved, obviously it was an import from the Shadowflame Duchy’s Rain Dragon Cigar series.

Without using a firestarter, King Ares snapped his fingers, causing a burst of flame to spark from his fingertips, lighting a Cloud Mist cigar.

He then pushed the cigar box towards Russell.

Russell waved his hand to decline.

This made King Ares shake his head incessantly, “A cigar in hand, wine on the lips, this is the perfect enjoyment for a knight, you, my friend, are still too young.”

“Perhaps,” Russell said, “compared to Your Majesty, I have faced far too few trials and tribulations.”

The content of their conversation was just casually about topics on drinking and smoking.

King Ares didn’t bring up the “Tri-Dragon Sacrifice Method” again, and Russell didn’t ask about it either, as if that conversation had never happened.

In the end,

Seeing that it was getting dark, King Ares stood up, “State affairs entangle me, not a moment to rest, I must return to the Royal Palace of Lieyang.”

“Your Majesty indeed works tirelessly,”

“Before parting, I have a gift for you, consider it a mentor’s gift to the junior in the Way of the Knight,” King Ares said, pulling out a small box from his pocket, tossing it casually to Russell, then striding out of the study.

Russell did not immediately open the box, but quickly followed.

King Ares didn’t look back as he left Emerald Fort, reaching the main gate he began walking through thin air, and the Fiery Dragon, smoking, flew over to pick up King Ares, then soared skywards, flying far away toward the last streak of sunset.

“Farewell Your Majesty!” Baron Boske and others at the gate, bowed deeply toward the sky.

Upon returning to rest in the castle, Russell finally took the opportunity to open the box gifted by King Ares, inside was a golden, translucent stone.

“Amber!”

Russell exclaimed.

He then picked up the amber stone, inspecting it under the gem light, where inside the golden stone, a small bee was encapsulated.