Dragons' Melancholic Song (Part 25)

"King Troy, do you hate me?" asked Irina

I looked at Irina, who was in my arms, surprised. The sudden inquiry left me speechless. I considered the question before. It was just that I was caught off guard, since she asked me the question after finis.h.i.+ng our romp. I looked at her face. What was even more surprising to me was how serious she looked. It wasn't that sort of random, strange question, but a serious question that caused her anxiety.

"Truthfully, I have hated you and your mom before. We trusted you so much, yet you betrayed our trust. You poisoned my mom, locked me up without any consideration for my feelings, fed me drugs and forced me to do things against my will. My original plan was to return home in under a month, but it's been close to a month now as a result of what transpired. I told you that I have a wife and children, right? When I miss my mom, wife and children at night, I'll hate you both for everything you did."

I hesitated for a bit at first, but decided to be forthright. There was no point in hiding it, after all. True, I did hate them before. I hated them enough to want to kill them. If I could kill them, I would've done so no doubt about it. My plight was only because I couldn't triumph against them. I was still stuck as their prisoner. I was merely a prisoner who had been given more comfort. There was a saying that phrased it well: being a slave isn't scary. What's scary is finding joy in being a slave. Irina became poison. I couldn't allow myself to sink any deeper.

A melancholic look flitted across Irina's eyes. She tightly gripped my arm. She muttered, "Sorry… We didn't want to resort to this… It's just… just… that Mom had no other way… If you didn't comply… we wouldn't have a future. Mom had no choice… Sorry…"

"There's no need to apologise. I know your reasons, and I know that you don't want to kill us or hurt us. Otherwise, Mommy Sylvanas wouldn't be alive until now. You've treated me well, except the fact that this is kidnapping and imprisonment hasn't changed. If you release us before Mommy Sylvanas wakes up, we might be able to become friends."

"Will you come back?"

"Unlikely."

That was a stupid question. Why would I ever come back…? I really wondered if Irina still didn't understand. I had no sympathy for the dragon race. Zero. I never considered myself a dragon, and I never shouldered their safety. I always considered myself a human being. Perhaps I was used to it since I always lived as a human.  I was in the dragons' territory. The dragon race was a hazard for the North. Not a friend. If it wasn't for Dragon Mom, I'd be in the Imperial Palace plotting how to kill the dragons; I wouldn't be lying there.

I thought, "I only came here for Dragon Mom. You poisoned her, and imprisoned me. If Mom doesn't kill you when she comes to, you would've been granted the most lenience possible. I don't think that she'll ever want to come back, so there's no chance I will come back, either."

As for Irina, I felt she was somewhat pitiful. She didn't do anything wrong. She had no part in Camille's actions. Plus, she was never rude to me. In saying that, we were after different things. The places we lived were different. And so, we couldn't even be friends. We could sleep together then, but later on, we wouldn't ever meet again.

Irina's expression froze. A layer of tears that made my heart throb formed in her eyes. It wasn't regret or disappointment, but something deeper. It was despair and anguish. She tightly gripped my arm hard enough to almost stab into my flesh. Her eyes made me somewhat emotional.  Anybody would become emotional when they saw those pitiful eyes of Irina's.

I pulled Irina into my embrace. She went along with me and leaned onto my chest. She softly sobbed a few times. In a hoa.r.s.e voice, she said, "What do you want to do to me…? What do you want…? You can hit me if you like… I won't retaliate… But… but I hope you won't hate us. Please don't hate us. Please don't abandon our dragon race. Please… I beg you…"

"Irina, Irina, calm down. Calm down first. What happened? Why are you doing this and saying this? Don't you think this is a bit too abrupt?"

Irina's tears landed on me. The agony she showed on her face would make one think that the world was ending.

Though I said that I wouldn't be back, Irina and I weren't close to the point that we couldn't bear to part with each other, right? The two of us had been together for an awfully short period of time. It took over a decade of living together for Sylvanas to become so attached to my father, Inard. We had been together for roughly one month. That was the equivalent of running onto a stranger on a bus for a few minutes before getting off.

"Why does Irina look as though she's hurting so much?" I wondered.

"I beg you… King Troy… Please…, don't hurt my mom… You can do as you please with me, but please… don't hurt my mom…"

"I never said I'd hurt your mom, nor have I ever thought about hurting you! I hated you both, but you never hurt me or did anything to me that I consider unforgivable. Perhaps I do bicker with you or offend you in some ways, but I'd never hurt you. Mommy Sylvanas is your own kind. How could I hurt you?!"

"Really…? Really?"

"Of course. There's no point to me hurting you… Irina, there has to be a peaceful way to resolve this, but only after you wake my Mommy Sylvanas up. Right now, though, do you have any news? What exactly do you two want?"

"The same as before… We want a child…"

I sighed. I pretty much figured that out from the Irina's look. A child was the most important thing to the dragon race. However, they didn't seem to understand their own plight. Camille struck at us without a warning. She was willing to go straight to war against us for what she wanted. If the dragon race continued with that att.i.tude, they'd end up exterminated time and time again even if they could resurrect themselves. That was the problem with the race. With that said, that was none of my business. I wasn't a part of them. I was sure Camille didn't want me sticking my nose in, either.

I hugged Irina again. She didn't resist. Although she was a large creature when transformed into her dragon form, she was akin to a kitten in my arms. Will she have a child? I wasn't sure.

Next day in the forest.

Camille was prepared for death, as she was a dragon, but she wasn't willing to just roll over and die yet. She wasn't willing to be resigned to the fate of dying to Sylvanas before succeeding. The dragon race had yet to be revived, and her daughter had yet to be pregnant; she didn't plan to die yet. Subsequently, Camille planned to make Troy infatuated with Irina using a drug.

Sylvanas' weakness was Troy. She was able to forsake her dignity and stance for his sake. Had that not been true, there'd be no way she'd be willing to weather a tough life with the half-human, half-elf boy. She presumed that, if Troy stood up for Irina, Sylvanas would spare her.

Camille wasn't sure when Irina would be pregnant. Irina hadn't shown any changes as of recent. Dragons didn't show any prior signs. Dragons were wild beasts. Their physical well-being was the key to their survival. As a safety mechanism during pregnancy, a pregnant dragon wouldn't show signs of weakness during the initial period of pregnancy. Only once a dragon egg had been formed would Irina show signs of fatigue.

"Irina, take these."

Camille handed Irina a handful of herbs. As the initial concoction now couldn't be used, a new drug needed to be concocted. The so-called love potion couldn't actually bestow true love. Its main purpose was to trick young girls craving love. Lucia bought a bottle before. As opposed to calling it a love potion, it might as well be called an aphrodisiac. In essence, it forced the consumer develop feelings for the person in front of them. The drug heightened said feelings to the point of obsession. Should the consumer coincidentally deeply love the person in front of them, they would fall even deeper in love and be more loyal if combined with the potion. If the consumer didn't love the other, on the other hand, it'd only cause the consumer to be besotted. But nonetheless, Camille was satisfied with that much.

"All right," responded Irina.

Irina seemed to be slightly absentminded. She went to grab the herb but inadvertently missed, leading to the herb dropping to the ground. Irina responded in a startled manner. She quickly crouched down to pick it up. She fearfully looked up at her Mom. In a quiet voice, she apologised, "Sorry, Mom, I am somewhat distracted."

Camille hopelessly sighed. She sat down next to a tree and said, "Never mind it. It doesn't matter, but you're likely to get hurt in that state. Be careful. We're in the forest at the moment. You s.p.a.ce out for longer and longer periods nowadays. What are you thinking about recently? Troy or something else? Tell Mommy."

Irina's gaze showed hints of nervousness: "The truth is… is… I do not know what I am thinking about, either. I just s.p.a.ce out before I know it… Mom… Sorry, sorry… Maybe I am not getting enough sleep. I will look after myself when we get home."

Camille scanned her daughter. Her gaze stopped on her daughter's abdomen. A joyful thought came to mind. She pulled her daughter over with one arm and then threw aside the basket of herbs. She excitedly exclaimed, "Come home with me, Irina. Come home with me. I'll give you a check-up! Maybe. Maybe you're pregnant!"

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