My night with Irina was somewhat embarra.s.sing as predicted . Previously, my wives weren’t around . We chose to do it late at night, and Irina did her best not to moan aloud when we started . We were just doing it for a dragon egg, after all . We couldn’t show that we enjoyed it . That was a way of respecting my wives plus Irina’s guilt and courtesy . However, once Irina got into the mood, her moans grew bolder and bolder .

Irina stopped caring about controlling her moans . She shook her hips on top of me as if she craved it . She moaned louder and louder, bolder and bolder . Lucia would’ve perceived it as a provocation if she heard it .

Irina was comparable to a suction cup that sucked me dry . She tightly hugged me . The fatigue tried to rob my conscious . Irina refused to let go even once we were done . I don’t know if that was the dragon race’s trait or Irina’s herself . It didn’t feel that way in the past, yet I felt it then .

After a few rounds, Irina, drained, slid off . She lied there and gasped for air . She was a lot easier to please than other dragons . I instinctively hugged her . She went along with me and leaned onto my chest . She gently placed her hands on my chest and closed her eyes . I suppose she felt secure and bliss once she felt at ease . I, on the other hand, didn’t feel all that happy . Once it was time for me to enter sage mode, I watched her eventually fall asleep before covering her with the blanket and getting out of bed myself .

Lucia’s sleep at night was unstable as per usual, which was why she might be blankly sitting outside in a sour mood for all I knew . During the day, she said, “Your Highness, please don’t say sorry to me again, please don’t apologise to me again,” which worried me somewhat . She forgave every time I apologised . She never made me worry, yet she herself would be stuck bleeding from the effects of the pain I inflicted for a long, long time . I knew that it would be too mean if I went and hugged Lucia then . Using her gentleness and fearlessness, then trying to give her a hug to smooth it over was just sc.u.m .

I didn’t have any other way to extend Mommy Elizabeth’s lifespan . I didn’t know how to write poems or sing ‘h.e.l.lo Hawaii,’ in English, so how was I supposed to extend Mommy Elizabeth and Nier’s lifespans? All I could do was use the dragon egg to extend their lifespans, granting them the chance to continue staying by my side . That was the only way . It was my only opportunity to help my mom and wife . I let Lucia down by doing that, but Lucia could stay by my side for a very, very long time .

“I guess I’ll use time to make it up to her . I’ll spend time at her side to make up for the pain I put Lucia through,” I decided .

I exited the cave . The wind outside blew my cloak open . It was freezing in the forest late at night . I wrapped my cloak around me due to my s.h.i.+vering . I peered into the dark forest underneath the cold and clear moonlight . The leaves blocked out most of the light . I was surprised to find n.o.body was outside . Lucia wasn’t outside . Uhm, n.o.body was outside . Instead, there was a dragon .

I’d never mistake the black scales . It was Dragon Mom . Lying on the ground, she took gentle breaths . Perhaps she was sleeping . When she heard my footsteps, she opened her golden eyes to look at me . I paused . I didn’t speak, as I was totally stunned . I didn’t expect Dragon Mom to be there .  I thought, “Why did Dragon Mom come out here to lie? This isn’t a nice place by any means, and it’s cold . ”

Hesitantly, Dragon Mom inquired, “Did you come out for something, Son?”

“No, nothing, I just want to take a stroll . ”

“Yeah?” Dragon Mom nodded and then slowly stood up . She stood before me with her humungous body that exuded a dragon’s unique dominant presence . She shook out her body to shake off the leaves on her . Then, she said, “Since you can’t sleep, how about flying a lap with Mommy? The weather is clear today, so it’s perfect for us to fly a lap . ”

I didn’t know why Mom made the sudden suggestion . A whim, I guess? She should’ve been aware I wasn’t a fan of flying because I could barely glide, and it was frosty . Moreover, it was late at night . To my surprise, I nodded .

I climbed onto mom . She allowed me to lie on her back . I grabbed onto her scales . Mom slowly stood up and ensured I was secure before taking off . The gales whistled next to my ear . My eyes were reluctant to open and expose themselves to the moist and frosty temperature in the sky at night . As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even breathe . I suppose some people were fond of race cars due to the feeling of being pushed back into their seats . That said, I didn’t have a backrest behind me . The risk of feeling weighed on my mind . Dragon Mom soon steadied her flight . I gradually sat straight up .

Mom was right . There were no clouds that night, and it was bright despite the time . I could also see the stream down below as well as the forest . I could even see the smoke from the fires that had been put out . That should’ve been the flames acting as light for the town if I was correct . That was the first time the moon overhead seemed so closed . I was even afraid I’d hit my head on it and, thus, bent down a little . The moon in this world was weird . It was different to the moon I once saw . The moon in this world didn’t have a single blemish on it . It was as though it wasn’t a planet .

Mom suddenly spoke up: “If this was in the past, we would fly together as a group underneath such a soothing moonlight . Our bodies could virtually cover the entire sky . Our wings alone could shroud the moonlight, engulfing everything down below in darkness . When Mommy was younger, Mommy loved to draw all sort of pictures in the ground using Mommy’s wings for fun . ”

Mom drew all sorts of beautiful lines with her flight underneath the moonlight . While looking at the sky, she nostalgically told me, “At the time, I never thought about how the future would be once I grew up, and I never put any thought into what’d happen . Now, though, Mommy hasn’t even reached middle-age, yet Mommy has begun to consider things after death . Dragons never fear death . What we fear is vanis.h.i.+ng . ”

I didn’t respond, as I didn’t need to . I had figured out what Dragon Mom was trying to express .

“I know that you see Mommy as a traitor, a jerk for what Mommy did this time . Mommy wasn’t considerate of you and didn’t care about your feelings . I know you must be mad at Mommy, but I hope you can understand . Son, Mommy knows fear, too . Mommy is afraid right now, too . After seeing the wings shroud the sky that day, Mommy regretted and felt agonised, as well . I used to be filled with pride upon seeing that grand scene, yet I all I felt was pain and rage when I saw it again… Son, don’t blame Mommy . Please, you’re Mommy’s only family . If even you hate Mommy, Mommy really doesn’t know what to do… I really… can’t do anything… Son…”

“It’s all right, Mom, I don’t blame you . ”

I honestly didn’t blame Mom . I didn’t blame any of my Moms; n.o.body was wrong . It was just that what we coveted was different . If I could make them happy, I’d be very happy myself .

Once I finished up what I wanted to do, I’d head back . As for what happened in the forest afterwards, it was none of my business… Henceforward, the dragon race would need to continue on their path on their own . I didn’t want to have too much involvement . The dragons wouldn’t be able to threaten the North again after the big ma.s.sacre, and they fundamentally lost their future . I gave them their last hope . I didn’t want to see such a prominent race just vanish henceforth . Despite it being true that they brought it upon themselves, I didn’t want to see the last dragon’s lonely tears…