Meanwhile—

While one red dragon fought for his life far longer than expected, and two children, completely unaware, had already fallen asleep from being forced to sit still like statues...

Elsewhere, the noose was tightening with every passing moment.

Resounding screams muffled only by magical barriers echoed off the walls as one dragon was this close to losing it.

"You dare show your incompetent faces here?!"

The woman at the center didn’t look imposing.

In fact, by appearance alone, she seemed a bit too delicate for the world. Refined.

But the moment she spoke, everyone dropped to their knees.

Her overwhelming presence alone was forcing them down, while her anger kept them there.

"But mother—"

"Silence!"

The word cracked through the room.

"You should be grateful I’ve left your mouth intact after what you’ve done!"

The dragons on the floor flinched.

"It’s been years," she continued coldly, "and all you’ve managed is to become an even bigger embarrassment."

Her gaze swept over them.

"Not only have you lost your mind when you completely allowed someone else to deal with the problems you created. But you even dared lie about it?!"

"Why would you think you deserve to even live?"

"Mother! Aren’t you being too much?! H-how was I supposed to know that Chancellor Malrik would turn out like that when even you didn’t—!"

"SHUT UP!"

The force of it shook the air.

"Don’t even think about calling me mother," she snapped. "Not when you’ve done nothing but disgrace me!"

The disgraceful dragon lowered his head, fists clenched.

"All these years and you’ve learned nothing. Even now, instead of fixing your own mess, you come crying and blame it on everyone else?!"

The sturdy walls shook in her anger.

"Had you not been inferior to Orryn, then none of this would’ve happened in the first place!"

Lady Seraphyne, the head of the red dragon clan, was livid.

Forget her long-held desire to overthrow the Dravaryns and become the most powerful dragon clan. The moment she realized her first child was nothing but a pure-blooded disappointment, she could only make the smallest moves out of embarrassment.

Maybe it would have been best if she’d simply taken in that branch dragon Orryn instead of keeping this living liability breathing.

She tried to control her anger, but it was difficult when seeing that stupid son of hers cowering after his incompetence had been exposed.

The clan head watched as the dragons trembled at her scathing words.

As expected, the fool was still clenching his jaw, teeth gritted in anger. Lady Seraphyne wouldn’t be surprised if, in that bird-brain of his, he was still blaming everyone but himself.

And that she wasn’t that off the mark. After all, even as a hatchling, he’d long since blamed Orryn for everything that didn’t go right in his life.

However, he didn’t have the time to pin everything on that usurping bastard. The problem was dire, and without help from his mother, there might be a chance of connecting him to the case.

But as the legitimate heir to the red dragon clan, there was no way he could fall at the hands of the dragon lord! So even if it wounded his pride, there was no choice but to beg his mother for help.

He could only bow lower.

"Mo— No... My Lady, please!"

His voice shook.

"From what we’ve gathered, one of the Chancellor’s subordinates managed to escape!"

He swallowed hard, remembering just what happened to Chancellor Malrik.

"We tried to locate him, but it seems the Dragon Lord reached him first! I— If he talks, then I— our entire clan—"

He stammered in fear while banging his head against the floor in a show of desperation.

"Please! For the sake of our honor—"

But he didn’t get to finish.

The ground beneath him cracked.

He was sent flying back as the floor splintered.

"ACK!"

"Out."

Her voice dropped.

Dangerous.

"All of you. OUT!"

No one hesitated. Not even her own child.

They scrambled to leave, rushing out in terror.

Lady Seraphyne sat there, seething. Then she made a small gesture.

A figure appeared beside her. Silent and respectful, clearly understanding what should be done to de-escalate the situation.

"You called, My Lady."

"Find that runaway. Kill him before he gets to open his mouth."

She didn’t blink as she said it.

"Knowing Malrik, he would’ve at least had precautions."

She continued, her gaze distant.

"So even if that imbecile claims that the vermin has been brought to the MBE, it’s possible he’s too broken to be of use right away..."

Lady Seraphyne paused briefly as if coming up with a difficult decision.

"Then prepare to announce the third son as my legitimate heir. We need to wash our hands of that idiot before it’s too late."

"Yes, My Lady."

The servant bowed before stepping back and disappearing.

While staring out toward the mountain that should’ve been serene, Lady Seraphyne thought deeply:

The Dravaryns must be held accountable before they flip this on us.

And so what if they’ve found Malrik’s people? Isn’t it still a problem that they’ve only done so now?

With incompetent leaders like that, how could they guarantee the bright future of all the dragons?

__

Ah, if only they hadn’t fallen into the trap of assuming the attendant had been captured.

Then again, even Riley and Kael would’ve preferred getting their hands on Tavos directly instead of relying on misdirection.

But alas, the guy was dead.

As for the red dragons, the problem was rather simple.

Unfortunately for them, those people likely had little understanding of forbidden sigils.

And because of that, along with the deaths taking place at the Nest, they likely had no clear way of knowing who was truly dead or alive.

That uncertainty worked in Riley’s favor.

Especially since the Nest had already been cleared before the other dragons could investigate on their own. Not that they would’ve bothered much. Most of them didn’t care about anyone beyond themselves anyway.

Then there was the matter of authority.

The Nest—and therefore its attendants— weren’t under the MBE’s jurisdiction. Instead, they were under the dragon lord.

Which generally meant Kael could dispose of them whenever he wanted, just as he could with anyone whose breathing he didn’t particularly like. There’d be backlash from hypocritically self-righteous dragons, of course—but in the end, they’d still be dead.

Just like that.

It was an unsettling kind of power.

And Riley was genuinely relieved that Kael was the one holding it.

His mate wasn’t a saint. Obviously.

But he also wasn’t the type to abuse authority just to keep it. Instead, Kael would just find that all too tedious.

Imagine if he’d been someone like those Elders who just couldn’t help but send their people to ensure they gained something out of it.

Ugh.

At this, Riley couldn’t help but wonder how many of them had dealings with Malrik, and how many of them were aware that instead of chasing after an attendant, they should’ve been looking for his carefully filed documents.

Still, even Riley and Kael had to admit something.

They still didn’t know where Tavos had gone.

They had tried tracking his last movements.

Nothing.

No trail.

No signs.

But unbeknownst to them, that wasn’t really their fault.

Because who would’ve expected an abduction to happen right then and there?

No one.

Not even the ones who carried it out.

Because even they didn’t realize they’d have the opportunity to take someone—no, something crucial to their own plans.