The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 438: The Quiet Authority

An intelligence report on the Merfolk’s movements suggested that they were attempting to pass through Silvara.

After departing from the coastal gulfs of Thalassyn, their water-bound forces had begun cutting inland by navigating upstream through the vast network of interconnected rivers that eventually branched into the freshwater streams and lakes of Silvara before leading toward the eastern border of the Dravaryn Dominion.

Officially, the Merfolk Kingdom was attempting to justify its trespassing through elven territory by claiming it was an unavoidable necessity if they wished to reach the Dravaryn Dominion, where the very Ministry they had openly scrutinized was headquartered. According to them, the terrain left them with no other viable route.

Naturally, that excuse was complete nonsense.

If anyone had the luxury of choosing another path, it was the merfolk. The open ocean was practically their kingdom, and with an entire continent surrounded by water, sailing, or rather swimming, around it would’ve been far easier than forcing their way through another nation’s territory.

Yet despite that, they were still insisting—almost publicly, even—on passing through Silvara.

The reason wasn’t particularly difficult to figure out.

The last thing they actually wanted was to reach the Dravaryn Dominion and find themselves staring down an army of dragons.

So instead, they made enough noise that every intelligence network on the continent would’ve caught wind of their movements long before they ever got close. If someone intercepted them first, then all the better. At least they could divert the inevitable conflict somewhere they actually stood a chance of surviving.

But where else could they possibly go?

Stoneforge, farther to the south, was simply too united. The dwarves might argue over the most trivial matters and nurse grudges that lasted generations, but the moment an outside threat appeared, they closed ranks with frightening efficiency.

Silvara, on the other hand, had long since fractured between the High Elves and the Dark Elves, with the latter already working alongside the wyverns. Compared to provoking the dwarves into an all-out war, exploiting a nation already divided from within was undoubtedly the easier option.

At least there, they might even find allies.

Funny enough, they couldn’t even consider passing through Wyrmfall through the back door because they likely didn’t feel safe around their own supposed flesh-stitching allies.

Safe to say, this was a development most strategists knew would eventually come one way or another, which was precisely why the elves had reached out the moment they sensed the possibility of a continent-wide war.

They just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

After all, based on the intelligence they’d gathered, the merfolk themselves were still scrambling to organize their forces and prepare for the march, or perhaps more accurately, their swimming campaign, as though an operation of this scale had never been part of their original plans.

If anything, it looked less like a carefully prepared military operation and more like a desperate gamble.

__

Crown Prince Rowan rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sat inside the conference room the MBE had designated for coordinating with its allied factions.

Without a word, he passed a stack of documents over to Riley.

That single action immediately drew the attention of many of the newly arrived representatives.

More than a few couldn’t help wondering why the Elven Crown Prince was handing strategic reports to the Dragon Lord’s aide of all people. More importantly, they couldn’t understand why Kael looked as though he wanted to incinerate the offending documents purely because Rowan had been the one to hand them over.

Of course, the truth was surprisingly way more absurd than the righteous guesses they were probably making.

It was simply two men trying to annoy each other while subtly (loudly) staking their claims.

Well, mostly one.

Rowan already knew there wasn’t the slightest possibility of getting together with Riley, so unlike a certain possessive golden dragon, he wasn’t actually trying to compete. He simply found provoking Kael amusing, especially because he knew Riley would never allow things to escalate into an actual fight.

Well, at least for the wistful Elven Prince it was his questionable form of comic relief to avoid drowning on all the work.

But as for the others...

The newly arrived attendees had come fully prepared to discuss troop movements, supply lines, and the looming invasion. Instead, they found themselves seated in the same room as three of the biggest names on the continent, all while watching two of them quietly compete over the attention of one extremely controversial human.

It was honestly far more stressful than the impending war.

Every few moments, it looked as though the Dragon Lord and the Elven Crown Prince were about to start tearing into each other. Then Riley would lift his head from the reports he was reading, and both of them would suddenly remember how mature adults were apparently supposed to behave.

The newcomers honestly didn’t know whether they were supposed to be terrified or impressed.

Meanwhile, Riley appeared completely oblivious to the silent emotional turmoil surrounding him as he calmly finished reading through the reports before setting them back onto the table.

"Okay then," he said matter-of-factly, lightly tapping the map spread across the table. "Arrange the troops. We’ll deploy forces at these three marked positions," his finger tracing across the massive parchment as he indicated each point in turn, "while the main army remains stationed here," he added, pressing a finger to a central fortified region on the map. "The advance units should primarily consist of elves who’re already familiar with the terrain, though the Dragon Lord will accompany them."

He shifted another document aside before continuing.

"As for this canyon connecting to Stoneforge..."

The focused aide was still discussing deployments, but surprisingly, very few people were actually listening anymore.

The expressions worn by both Crown Prince Rowan and Kael made it abundantly clear that neither of them had expected him to reach that particular conclusion.

Noticing that the room had suddenly become unusually quiet, Riley finally looked up.

"What?" he asked with a hint of exasperation. "Don’t tell me you’d rather I go there myself."

His gaze swept across the room before he lightly gestured toward the enormous planning table buried beneath maps, reports, correspondence, casualty estimates, logistics schedules, and enough paperwork to make even veteran administrators weep.

"If I leave," he continued, "who exactly is going to deal with all of this?"

Nobody answered.

Because he wasn’t wrong.

At some point, without anyone consciously realizing it, everyone had become remarkably dependent on Riley.

The higher-ups within the MBE already knew he was a dragon, and although his true identity as a black dragon remained hidden, that knowledge alone had dramatically changed how they treated him. His judgment was trusted, his opinions were sought, and more often than not, his conclusions became the final course of action.

Naturally, the allied leaders who still believed Riley to be nothing more than an exceptionally capable human couldn’t help noticing the amount of authority he quietly commanded. Watching individuals who possessed the power to mobilize armies willingly defer to Mr. Hale’s decisions made it abundantly clear that his position wasn’t simply that of an aide.

Whatever Riley said... goes.

And that even applied to the actual Dragon Lord.

Kael Dravaryn, the legitimate head of the entire Ministry, looked as though he wanted to argue.

Unfortunately for him, his mate turned his head and fixed him with the sort of look that even Kael, the most fearsome being on the continent, had to admit could silence anyone.

The golden dragon clicked his tongue.

Then, much to everyone’s relief, he backed down.

And just like that, the matter was settled.

The meeting concluded not long afterward, with many of the newly arrived representatives making their exits considerably faster than they’d entered. Officially, they had preparations to attend to before the coming battle.

Unofficially...

Several of them were fairly certain another minute inside that room would’ve killed them from stress before the wyverns ever got the chance.

In the end, only Riley, Kael, and Crown Prince Rowan remained behind.

As the last of the attendees disappeared beyond the doorway, the three exceptionally sensitive dragons caught one final whisper drifting down the corridor.

"We’re actually fighting alongside those two."

A brief pause followed before another voice answered in complete disbelief.

"...Wow."

__

The door clicked shut behind the last attendee before a layer of magic quietly spread across the room, sealing the conference chamber from prying ears.

Crown Prince Rowan was the first to break the silence.

"So," he said as he folded his arms, "you think that’s going to work?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Riley didn’t even look up immediately as he flipped through another document before pulling out a photograph from the stack. His eyes briefly lingered on the face staring back at him before he slid it across the table.

"I’d suggest keeping an eye on your people’s reactions," he said. "Particularly this one."

The Elven Prince lowered his gaze to the photograph.

"But remember to make it easy for him to spread the news afterward," Riley continued matter-of-factly. "We don’t want him suddenly tripping over a rock and dying before he has the chance to start tattling, do we?"

Only after saying that did Riley finally lift his head.

His gaze met Rowan’s.

"Satisfied now?"

The two held each other’s eyes for a brief moment.

Then Kael’s hand promptly reached over and covered Riley’s eyes.

The Dragon Lord frowned at the Elven Prince.

"Don’t you have somewhere else to be?"

Rowan scoffed in disbelief. It seemed even regular eye contact wasn’t allowed in front of this idiot.

And just as always, he didn’t even bother pretending he hadn’t noticed the blatant display of jealousy.

"Actually, I do," he replied with an amused smile. "Unlike some people, I’ve been entrusted with something important."

He slipped one hand into his pocket before casually raising the other in farewell as he walked toward the door, carrying himself with the effortless elegance expected of one born into ancient elven nobility.

"And I intend to do it well."

The door shut behind him.

Almost immediately, Kael clicked his tongue.

"Did you really have to assign it to him yourself?" he muttered, sounding thoroughly dissatisfied. "You said far too many words to someone who didn’t deserve them. Now the noodle is going to think you entrusted him with it because he’s important."

He frowned even deeper and at this point it was truly obvious that he was related to one tiny dragonling.

"He’s not even necessary."

Riley, who had already resumed writing across one of the reports, finally paused.

Then he slowly looked up at his mate.

"I guess you can say that’s true," he agreed without the slightest hesitation. "All we need is someone to do the job... So..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I’m guessing you’re okay with switching out from your role so you could do his task instead?"

"!"

Kael immediately recognized that expression.

Without another word, but with one hell of a huff, the Dragon Lord quietly closed his mouth and sat back down in his chair.

Riley gave a small nod before returning to his paperwork.

"That’s what I thought."