Rezette spat out in annoyance, “Even if we get married, it will be difficult to sire an heir, as I’ve told you before.”
“The woman will give as much as necessary.”
“I’m not sure if there is a woman out there who could bear a dragon’s child. Even if she becomes pregnant, she will die before her stomach swells.”
“Give it a try. I’ll send some physically strong women. If I have to send them all back again, I won’t waste any more time on this.”
Noyer remained unrelenting; Rezette fought to keep his anger in check. This man was his lord, the esteemed emperor of Van Yela and his brother by half-blood, as well as a talented individual.
But he was also incredibly greedy.
“Isn’t it a success that our mother has achieved?” Noyer asked. “You were born of my mother, Rezette. Isn’t that alone proof that it’s not impossible for a dragon to bear offspring?”
“You speak as if it’s easy.”
In the end, the ridicule in Rezette’s eyes could no longer be concealed. Emilia. The brothers were well aware of the events and circumstances their mother, the consort of the king, had faced after disappearing one morning.
Noyer’s mouth closed tightly, like a clam. Rezette shrugged his shoulders lightly. “If you are still so greedy, I’ll try. But if the result is disappointing, please don’t blame me.” Bowing to the king with a demeanor that couldn’t be faulted, Rezette left the room, his stubborn back a sight to behold for Noyer, who shouted loudly in response.
“From tonight, there will be a celebration dinner held to commemorate the victory of the Northern Alliance. You must attend, Rezette, even if you don’t know anything else!”
However, before he could even finish his sentence, the duke had disappeared out of the room. Noyer pounded the throne with frustration.
“If you hate getting married so much, then just grow old and die alone! It’s so difficult to deal with you like this!”
As Rezette stormed down the corridor of the royal palace, he couldn’t help but let out a snort. The sound of the king berating his favorite concubine echoed clearly through the halls. The king’s unreasonable demands were always annoying and frustrating, no matter when they came. Although Rezette was almost incapable of feeling strong emotions, he was now at his wit’s end with Noyer’s relentless pursuit of bearing a child, a task that seemed impossible to Rezette.
“Hurry up and bear a child? As if that would happen according to my wishes,” he muttered to himself.
Rezette knew all too well the fate of the woman who had given birth to a dragon-human hybrid. It was a story that he knew firsthand, for he had been there when it happened. Noyer’s mother, Emilia, had been an ordinary human, a concubine of the king, and she had given birth to him before disappearing without a trace. Only Rezette knew the true circumstances of her death—a gruesome end that he would never forget.
He remembered the moment of his own birth vividly. His mother had been in labor for hours, and Rezette had to tear through the sac and emerge into the world on his own. All dragons are born this way, struggling to take root in a human uterus. And the woman who bears a dragon suffers a similar fate.
Rezette clicked his tongue in annoyance. No one truly desires to witness the birth of a dragon, no matter how much they may desire the creature itself. That was why Van Yela could only have one dragon in this generation—Rezette himself.
As Rezette was about to leave the castle, a face filled his mind, causing him to pause in his steps.
The underground prison…
“I must visit at least once,” he muttered to himself.
As soon as the princess stepped foot into the bustling capital, she was immediately surrounded by knights directly serving the imperial family and inevitably whisked away. Rezette stood there for a moment, lost in thought, while the passing nobles cast glances his way, their expressions a mixture of fear, disgust, and contempt. This was the way dragons had always been treated on this continent, even though Rezette had more than proven himself as a warrior, expanding Van Yela’s territory by twice its size.
However, Rezette paid no heed to the familiar reactions. All he could think about was the time when the princess of Argan was sick with a terrible fever, and the desperate words she had whispered to him as she clung to him for dear life. Those faint whispers had left an unnecessary residue in his heart.
“We’re almost at the capital, sir.”
“I feel… so bad…”
“Consider it a final struggle.”
“You can even think of me as a crazy woman…”
After a moment of hesitation, Rezette made a decision. Seeing her face one more time wouldn’t change anything. He had always made perfect judgments, so he took his steps as reason dictated.
It didn’t take an hour for the horse carrying the general and the knights following behind him to leave the palace and disappear from sight.
