Free Web NovelChapter 409: Thick as Thieves
So that was what he’d been diligently doing.
Watching. Observing. Interacting with Orien and Liam, who were clearly thick as thieves, every chance he could get.
There was guilt, of course. A crushing amount of it, really. But beyond that was something else entirely.
Relief.
Joy.
The strange yet appreciative ache of seeing how different his son’s life had become compared to the one he himself had lived.
Separate from his desire to somehow drag Malrik back to life just so he could kill the bastard again with his own two hands after learning what the former Chancellor had attempted to do to Orien, Orryn could at least admit there was one thing he was grateful for.
Because somehow, despite everything, Orien had ended up growing in this kind of environment.
Listening to the golden dragonling run around with children so much weaker than him would’ve been utterly unthinkable back in his time. For safety reasons alone, no elder would’ve ever allowed it.
Actually, not even the running around part. Just the fact that Orien was outside those restrictive walls before reaching a hundred years old was already shocking enough on its own.
And yet, not only had Orien grown strong enough to control his abilities this early, but he somehow also possessed better social skills than the rest of them combined.
Honestly, it was almost unbelievable to witness.
And more than once, Orryn found himself wishing Ilyss were there beside him to see it too.
Just as that wistful smile crossed his face, it suddenly stretched into a grin because he unmistakably heard Orien screaming somewhere in the distance about being tormented by unruly people.
Ideally, hearing a dragonling yell like that should’ve caused panic.
Instead, Orien’s outraged voice echoed through the area.
"How could you ever think of assigning a great dragon like me homework?!"
The golden dragonling sounded deeply offended. Absolutely betrayed by society itself.
But then someone suddenly asked, "Then what is seven times seven?"
Orryn almost choked.
Actually, Riley, who had lived as a human for years, nearly did too.
Because somehow, unbelievably, a confident human child had just used the multiplication table to stun a dragon into silence.
The surrounding children burst into giggles immediately afterward, tossing around adorable little taunts while teasing the "great golden dragon."
Orien crossed his arms and huffed loudly. Had his tail been out, it would’ve undoubtedly been lashing back and forth in indignation while he muttered under his breath about oppression and the blatant disrespect shown toward dragons.
Thankfully, the dramatic lament didn’t last very long because Liam, whose smile was obvious just from the sound of his voice, casually piped up, "I’d actually like it if Lord Orien became my classmate."
And just like that, the protesting stopped.
Instantly.
Orien’s jaw clicked shut mid-rant because Liam wanted him there.
Now, that was an incredibly simple and straightforward statement. But inside the golden dragonling’s particularly creative mind, it carried a completely different meaning altogether.
One that involved going everywhere together, sitting beside each other forever, and even eating and drinking together every single day.
So naturally, Orien felt like becoming classmates was actually something ridiculously tedious (exciting). But since it was his little sprite asking, then fine.
They could do all those things together as classmates. If it’s Liam... then he supposes he could do it for that one’s sake.
Orryn watched—well more like eavesdropped—in utter disbelief as the mighty golden dragonling, who had been fighting for his freedom moments ago, suddenly looked visibly convinced (shaken) by the power of friendship.
But what do you know...
That one simple incident somehow led to a certain golden dragonling receiving an entire package of books and practice sheets only a few days after the allegedly disastrous meeting.
But what happened to the fun parts of school?
The snacks? The scribbling together? The bonding?
Forget the fact that they weren’t even attending some distant school and were instead practically marooned inside the MBE.
But—
How come Orien was suddenly being bombarded with mountains of information when he couldn’t even become Liam’s "official classmate" yet because he apparently had to start from the absolute basics?!
Where were the useful subjects he planned on excelling in?
Things like mana handling?
Combat?
Dragon history?
Territorial intimidation?!
Instead, he was being asked how plants made their own food?!
The horror!
__
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the surprisingly jovial atmosphere within the confines of the MBE, an entirely different atmosphere was brewing outside of the fortress.
The red dragons, particularly the recently deposed heir and the remaining underlings still desperately clinging to his faction despite likely not wanting to, were becoming reckless enough to make truly idiotic decisions.
And unfortunately for most of those involved, desperate people tended to become very easy to manipulate.
So easy, in fact, that the former heir ended up agreeing to work with extremely dubious individuals who subtly insinuated—basically dangled—the possibility of his reinstatement right in front of him.
All he had to do, apparently, was hand over evidence regarding alleged plots against the green dragon clan.
The logic behind it was laughably simple.
If the current leaders of the red dragon clan could be painted as incompetent, corrupt, or outright vile, then someone like him, the "wrongfully expelled heir," could eventually build a case about how he had merely been framed and ganged up on by the others.
And if he were to help the green dragon clan, he’d also be able to rally a force behind him.
Honestly, to Riley, it sounded as stupid as it possibly could.
No need to even mention the green dragons, who were far too distrustful to ever help someone willing to sell out his own clan, much less his own mother.
But then again, the former heir was also narcissistic enough to genuinely believe that everyone else around him had always been the problem.
So perhaps stupidity and delusion really did make for an effective combination.
"..."
"..."
In truth, the entire thing had simply been a convenient way to deal with the red dragon clan without exerting too much effort.
Sure, they could wipe them out entirely if they truly wanted to. But the power vacuum left behind would inevitably be occupied by another equally rotten faction sooner or later.
And frankly, Riley thought that sounded exhausting, especially when they had better things to do at the moment.
So instead, he proposed something far simpler.
Why not let one group of fools monitor another?
After all, those camps had been trying to destroy each other for years in their attempts to claw their way to the top. If that was the case, then what better leash was there than mutual suspicion?
Of course, implementing something like that should’ve been difficult. Supposedly.
And yet who would’ve thought that the idiotic former heir would actually run straight toward the green dragons to tattle about the plans of his own mother after the heavily disguised Riley and Kael gave him only the slightest push?
Really, they barely had to do anything.
A few carefully placed words here. A little indignation there. Some subtle implication about betrayal and personal injustice.
And the fool practically marched there himself. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Well.
How convenient was that?
Unfortunately, perhaps the ex-mortal shouldn’t have become too complacent just because things were proceeding smoothly.
Because convenience always came with a price.
For far beyond the dragons’ petty internal struggles was something much worse.
The first crack.
One that was bound to start and end it all.
