The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 424: The Cost of Defiance

Then again, what was a dragon supposed to do when her own family refused to support the one thing her heart truly desired?

A harmonious family.

Strange as it seemed now, there had once been a time when the Wyvern Queen had believed she wouldn’t have to choose between her beloved mate and the family she’d been born into. After all, she had once been proud of those roots.

As she made her way back toward that wretched place once more, the memories she’d spent so long burying quietly resurfaced.

It had been many, years ago, back when Eryndra bore little resemblance to the world it had become today. It was before the Great War, when dragons were still revered almost like gods and lived in an era defined by power, prosperity, and unquestioned authority. Back then, even she had been naïve enough to believe that simply being born a dragon was everything one could ever wish for.

Until that illusion shattered.

Until she came face to face with the reality hidden beneath a dragon’s glorious reputation.

Back then, she had been known as Rhazira.

It was a name bestowed upon the sole heir of the then-reigning dragon lord of the prestigious white dragon clan, one that had been spoken with nothing but reverence, admiration, and pride for as long as she could remember. She had every privilege one could imagine, every resource placed within her reach, and a future that countless dragons would’ve envied.

At least...

That was true until the day she naively stood before her father and told him she wished to spend the rest of her life with the one she loved.

It should’ve been a joyous occasion.

The sort of conversation a daughter ought to have with her family.

But who had she been trying to fool?

Even now, after what others would’ve considered several lifetimes, she could still hear it.

A single, resounding crack.

The sound that shattered not only her naïve expectations...

But also the way she would forever see the creatures she’d once proudly called family.

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The grand hall fell deathly silent as a towering figure clad in elaborate ceremonial robes stood over the young woman he’d just struck hard enough to send sprawling across the polished floor.

His hair was so stark white that he could’ve blended seamlessly into freshly fallen snow, while blood slowly trickled from the corner of Rhazira’s lips as she stared back at him with wide, disbelieving eyes, still struggling to comprehend the sudden and violent shift in her father’s demeanor.

"You dare associate with such filth?" the white dragon lord roared, his face contorted with absolute fury. "A wretched, lowly beast! To think my own daughter would even entertain something so revolting!"

Rhazira had expected him to be angry to some extent.

Disappointed, perhaps.

Even opposed.

But never this.

His reaction was especially difficult to reconcile with the simple fact that her own mother had been a wyvern.

She’d always known their union hadn’t exactly been born out of love. Her father had openly spoken of waiting for his fated mate, unwilling to permanently bond himself to another dragon while there was still hope that destiny would eventually bring the perfect one to him.

Unfortunately, hope alone wasn’t enough for someone expected to produce an heir. With the succession of the white dragon clan constantly hanging in the balance and rival clans eager to push forward their own candidates, he’d ultimately chosen the most practical solution available to him.

Her mother.

Someone whose existence could fulfill its purpose without permanently binding him to a future he didn’t want.

And so, at the cost of her mother’s life, Rhazira had been born.

A miracle, they called her.

One who’d thankfully inherited enough draconic characteristics and potential to satisfy even the elders, despite not being a pureblood.

To think she’d actually convinced herself that somewhere along the way, maybe her parents had grown to have some affection for each other.

But the moment she saw the expression on her father’s face and felt the sheer extent of his fury, she realized just how foolish that assumption had been. Her mother had never been anything more than an expendable tool, one whose value had ended the moment she’d fulfilled the purpose expected of her.

Even then, Rhazira refused to abandon hope.

She knew the kind of dragon her father was.

Every decision he made revolved around benefits. If... if she could simply show him that this relationship would strengthen the clan in some tangible way... then perhaps he’d at least be willing to consider it.

__

Unfortunately, his greed proved far greater than she’d ever imagined.

Before long, what had already been a slim possibility disappeared altogether as her father decided that the simplest way to end her foolishness was to completely eliminate what he believed had corrupted his otherwise obedient daughter.

That day, the daughter of the dragon lord died long before her body ever did.

Had she not escaped the confinement imposed upon her and secretly followed the force sent to exterminate the wyverns, she would’ve never reached him in time.

The sky burned blue.

But not the kind people admired.

Rhazira arrived just in time to watch the impossible unfold beneath the midday sun.

Her father stood at the forefront of a host of white dragons, his blue flames sweeping across the valley in devastating arcs that reduced forests to ash and carved deep scars into the land.

Wyverns fell from the sky one after another, some consumed before they could even scream, while others crashed into the mountainsides so hard their bodies scarcely resembled living beings anymore. The air reeked of scorched flesh and molten stone. Rivers ran red enough that they no longer reflected the heavens above, only the devastation below.

There was no attempt to conceal any of it.

No carefully woven excuse.

The dragon lord, her father, had marched upon the wyverns in broad daylight with the sole intention of making an example of the wyvern his daughter had dared to love.

Every burst of those dreaded blue flames carried the same message.

This is what becomes of anyone who dares stain the white dragon clan.

And as wyvern after wyvern fell beneath the relentless assault, Rhazira searched frantically through the smoke and fire for only one figure.

She found him.

Just barely.

By the time she reached him, those blue flames had already left wounds no being should’ve been able to survive. His scales were blackened and split apart, entire sections of flesh burned away until bone peeked through in places, while blood pooled beneath a body that scarcely moved anymore. Every ragged breath sounded weaker than the last, as though life itself were slipping through the cracks faster than she could possibly hold on to it.

She still remembered crying until there were no tears left as she poured every bit of mana she possessed into preserving what little remained of her beloved. It didn’t matter how impossible everyone else believed it to be.

She promised herself that she would fix him.

She would fix all of them.

And when she returned to the dragons’ domain that very night, she did so knowing there would never be an amicable way for her to live the simple life she’d dreamed of with the one she loved.

If she ever hoped to be with him again...

Then the rest of them couldn’t continue to exist upon the same plane.