The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 433: The Elephant in the Room

Message received.

Loud and clear, even.

Judging from the reports that reached the MBE only moments after that first gruesome discovery, one would’ve had to be an absolute idiot not to understand exactly what the wyverns were trying to accomplish.

Kael sat beside Riley as the magical orb hovering above the conference table cycled through one horrifying image after another. Every projection showed the same message carved into different bodies, while the scenes that followed revealed yet another ransacked mountain village that had served as the unfortunate source of those corpses.

Silence gradually settled over the meeting room as more images flickered past, several officers quietly lowering their gazes or turning away altogether as though refusing to let themselves memorize a massacre that would almost certainly return to haunt them in their dreams.

Though Riley had a feeling that wasn’t the only reason they suddenly found the walls so fascinating.

Trying his best to keep himself composed, he glanced around the room and could already tell what many of them were thinking.

The problem was that none of them seemed willing to actually say it.

But what exactly was the elephant in the room that none of these proud beings could even bring themselves to address?

Simple. The so-called exchange.

Though calling it that almost sounded generous considering there wasn’t a shred of fairness involved. This wasn’t a negotiation.

It was a demand.

The Wyvern Queen had deliberately sent the exact same message to the major factions throughout Eryndra because she wanted everyone arriving at exactly the same conclusion.

Hand over the Dragon Lord’s mate so everyone can be on their merry way.

So now Riley found himself sitting in the same conference room alongside people who’d long since become his colleagues. Under normal circumstances, many of them would’ve greeted him with easy smiles or respectful nods, but now they couldn’t even bring themselves to meet his eyes.

Well, not exactly everyone.

The ex-mortal had to give Lyra credit where credit was due.

The elf had accidentally sentenced him to social death more than once over the years, but somehow, save for his own mate, she’d also become the only person in the room who looked genuinely offended on his behalf.

"No, Mr. Poloc, are you seriously out of your mind?" she demanded after hearing the older officer cautiously suggest, "My Lord... perhaps we should first ask them what they actually want with Mr. Hale."

She stared at him as though he’d completely lost his senses.

"If they were asking for you instead, would you honestly be alright with us handing you over?"

"I only said to ask what they want."

Lyra scoffed before planting a hand on her hip.

"Well, I stand corrected, so let me rephrase." She fixed the bumbling man with a flat stare. "Mr. Poloc, would you appreciate it if we asked the wyverns what they’d like to do with you after that widespread massacre?"

The man’s eyes widened.

"Why don’t I also ask whether they’d prefer you tied up or folded in half?!" she screeched.

The room fell silent, but it was impossible to miss those fangs bared in her direction.

Then, as if finally realizing that the rest of them wouldn’t be safe from getting scolded by this crazed elf, one of the larger officers frowned.

"Lyra, this isn’t your place to—"

"Then is it yours?" she immediately fired back. "Is it your place to volunteer somebody else’s life when you haven’t even offered your own?"

Her voice echoed throughout the meeting room with enough force that several of the burly officers visibly flinched.

Clearly irritated by the interruption and momentarily forgetting who actually presided over the MBE, a few of them instinctively turned toward Kael as though expecting him to put an end to the outburst.

Instead...

They froze.

The dragon lord hadn’t uttered a single word.

He simply sat there looking at them.

Riley honestly didn’t think any of them realized that they currently owed the continued existence of their limbs to Lyra’s complete inability to keep quiet. Had she not immediately spoken up in his defense, Kael likely would’ve been the first person to respond to their suggestion.

And unlike Lyra...

The golden dragon would’ve started communicating with his claws.

Watching the officers suddenly remember that Riley wasn’t merely another MBE employee but the dragon lord’s controversial mate, the ex-mortal could only remain quietly seated, wondering whether they were embarrassed because of what had just been suggested...

Or because Kael had heard every single word of it.

__

To be fair, Riley understood why the thought had crossed their minds.

One life in exchange for everyone else’s safety?

Even to him, that sounded like a given.

He had little doubt that throughout Eryndra, countless people were already beginning to ask why the dragon lord’s mate hadn’t simply been handed over the moment the Wyvern Queen made her demand.

Of course, there would also be those who’d argue against it. People would insist that giving terrorists what they wanted would only encourage them to continue making demands. They’d speak about principles, justice, and refusing to negotiate with monsters.

But Riley also knew how fragile principles could become.

All it would take was another village.

Or ten.

The people who would initially insist on protecting him would eventually become the first to demand that he be sacrificed if it meant preventing another massacre.

No wonder his ancestors had ultimately chosen to shoulder everything themselves.

The longer Riley remained involved in this whole mess, the easier it became to understand why they’d decided that involving others simply wasn’t worth the risk.

While it must have been hard, considering the sacrifice they had to make, at least they didn’t have to contend with the added layer of peer pressure.

Unfortunately for everyone currently entertaining that line of thinking, there were a few rather important details they didn’t know.

For one, if the Wyvern Queen thought she could pressure him into sacrificing himself by steadily increasing the death toll, then she couldn’t have been more mistaken.

And it wasn’t because he felt nothing for all those people caught in between this fiasco. No, for he definitely wanted to minimize casualties to the best of his abilities.

But it had a lot to do with knowing how he was actually a buy-one-take-all deal.

More than himself, he actually had his mate to think about.

For if Riley were to die, then Kael would die.

And if they were both dead, then consider everyone else dead.

Now, with that math, so much for an equitable exchange, right?

But before the dragon lord could decide to educate his own subordinates with his claws instead of words, Riley quietly leaned forward and rested a hand against Kael’s chest as if saying,

The simple gesture was enough.

The golden dragon looked at him for a brief moment before the murderous intent that had begun filling the room gradually settled, allowing Riley to turn toward everyone else.

The officers unconsciously straightened.

From the way several of them stiffened, they were clearly expecting a speech about why surrendering someone to the enemy would only invite further demands.

But what they didn’t expect was to turn their heads and find themselves staring into a pair of slitted emerald eyes.

"!"

Maybe it was just a trick of the mind. They were all undoubtedly under immense stress.

Yet even after blinking several times, those bewildering eyes remained exactly where they were.

Then, as if to violently shatter whatever denial they still clung to, an overwhelming pressure descended upon the room without warning.

Several officers found themselves slammed against the conference table before they even realized what was happening, their hands instinctively grabbing at its edges while their heads bowed as though their bodies had surrendered long before their minds could protest. Others remained seated only because every muscle had locked in place, every instinct screaming at them to lower their gaze before something terrible happened.

They fought to look back up.

To look at the same aide who’d always walked these halls as nothing more than an ordinary human.

Yet as their bodies trembled uncontrollably beneath the invisible weight crushing down upon them, none of them could bring themselves to deny what they were experiencing.

Dragon fear.

And if those slitted eyes hadn’t already made it obvious enough, then this alone was more than enough to prove that Riley Hale Dravaryn was no human.