The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 377: Blooming Courtyard

Chapter 377: Blooming Courtyard

*Xuan Jian’s perspective*

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The sun shone brightly over Nanshan Estate’s Blooming Courtyard, casting a golden hue over the still lush scenery. The summer was coming to an end yet even the smallest and weakest of plants thrived in this courtyard.

The greenhouse had been in much worse shape than the living plants with sun damaged rice paper, and weather scarred wood. Rain, snow, heat, wind, and anything else the land could throw had been thrown.

Before today, the greenhouse was barely standing on its last leg. Even so, it was still Xuan Jian, Xuan Yang, Da Long, and Xiao Long’s favorite place to be.

The energy and the memory of their loved one lingered like a specter.

Despite the heat, an unexpected reprieve spared the land from the anticipated drought, as if the heavens themselves granted solace in the aftermath of Xu Feng’s passing.

The weather, less volatile than the years prior, offered a semblance of calm, but for one individual, the oppressive summer months carried a weight he had never experienced before.

As fall approached, the searing heat seemed to continually intensify Xuan Jian’s internal struggle.

Seasons held no respite for him; each one brought forth a never ending stream of memories of Xu Feng—their shared laughter, the warmth of his smile, and his deep love for nature.

The vivid memories, both lived and unrealized, only served to plunge Xuan Jian into the depths of his pain. There was so much life left for them to live.

Xu Feng’s passing was almost too much for the young dragon to bear. He couldn’t understand how humans could remarry after losing a lover.

The dragon found no solace in any season. Spring, Summer, Winter, or Fall, all were tainted by the absence of his lover. Visions of his mischievous smile, and the lewd look he would get in his eyes when he tried to tease them—Xu Feng.

The pain was overwhelming, a constant reminder of what was lost and the dreams left unfulfilled. The only flicker of light in his desolate existence now rested in the form of Xuan Yang and their willful unhatched cubs.

A piece of his heart was missing, ripped from his chest.

Xuan Jian gazed down at his hands, weathered and rough from the manual labor he had taken up while concealing his identity as a member of the Xuan family.

It wasn’t a source of pride in his realm, where appearances held too high of a significance.

Though not a woman or a ger requiring meticulous attention to appearance, the markings on his hands would be sneered at among his people unless earned through the rigors of battle and training.

Dragons, revered as among the highest beings in any realm, bore the responsibility of stabilizing kingdoms, worlds, and realms.

They were neutral guardians, ensuring equilibrium wherever they roamed.

Xuan Jian, fully aware of his duties as a dragon, couldn’t shake the yearning for a life free from such responsibilities.

Still, the prospect of returning to his clan, a group of less than a dozen inner members, held little to no appeal at all. Among them, the majority were old farts, devoid of genuine emotions except for the affection they reserved for their mates.

That was all that awaited him there—affectionless dragons, and the demon beasts that served them.

As the scorching summer continued, Xuan Jian grappled with the weight of his grief and instead focused his strength on the task at hand, preserving his lover’s things.

Xuan Jian thought he was different from those stuff old dragons, the ones who ignored him, but he was just like them. A dragon to the core.

A faint, whimsical smile graced the man’s lips as he reflected on his own behavior. In truth, he WAS just another dragon, viewing the world with the expected cold detachment that defined his kind.

Dragons, in their majestic dominion, were staunch guardians of peace in their realms. Yet, for all their detachment, the one force that could thaw a dragon’s heart was the presence of a mate.

He hailed from the Krav Dragons, a breed predisposed to battles that spanned across realms, including the heavenly expanse. They were the warriors of all of the dragonborn.

The Torann lineage, to which he belonged, boasted only eight full blooded dragons, himself included.

It was normal for dragons to seek non dragon mates in the hopes of expanding their lineage, but this also carried the risk of non dragon offspring.

A union with a human or another demon beast would likely result in human/lesser demon beast descendants—around a 90 percent chance and only a 10 percent chance of birthing a dragon cub—it was still the most viable option.

The stronger the bloodline, the more difficult conception was.

Xuan Jian, one of only two dragon cubs born in the last five centuries within his clan, was the outcome of an unsavory and temporary union.

This was why he was determined to make the contract marriage between Xu Feng and Xuan Yang as easy for the ger as possible.

Even before he met the silver haired ger, he felt something for the poor ger forced into an unwanted union.

Xuan Jian’s mother, a dragon, had been impregnated by a phoenix, a union devoid of consent and affection—it was a powerful union only for the benefit of the clans.

After his birth, and the dissolution of his parent "union," Xuan Jian was a forgotten byproduct. He was a dragon so he stayed with his clan, but he was an invisible byproduct nonetheless.

Ignored by his mother, he became a product of necessity rather than love. At the tender age of six, he was thrust out of the realm, deemed old enough for "adventure" by draconian standards.

It was just an excuse his mother used to get rid of the eyesore.

Xuan Jian never faulted her for her coldness.

Despite the knowledge that attachment to lower level creatures such as Xuan Yang and Xu Feng was unwise, Xuan Jian couldn’t escape the emotional bonds he had forged.

He was acutely aware of his longevity compared to theirs, a truth that should have discouraged such emotional ties. Dragons, even those of the Krav bloodlines, often met their demise through heartbreak and an inability to outlive their beloved companions.

Continuing his task of installing new wooden beams, Xuan Jian maintained a thoughtful expression on his typically stern appearance.