The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 482: Practice What You Preach

But who was Orien Vathros?

A magnificent dragon in the making, obviously.

Sure, he might’ve had a moment of weakness earlier when he came looking for his parents in utter fear, but that was over now. He was back to being strong and independent, which was precisely why he’d already come to a perfectly reasonable conclusion about his current situation.

They were fine as is.

He’d acknowledged his parents already, hadn’t he?

So clearly, they didn’t need to talk even more, especially when those two looked dangerously close to tears. In a way, he was practically doing them a favor, just like any truly magnanimous dragon should.

Therefore, even if Orien could tell that his auntie was trying to encourage him to go over there, the golden dragonling had decided he was perfectly comfortable exactly where he was.

In fact, he intended to remain there for the foreseeable fut—

His thoughts abruptly shorted.

A thin, translucent barrier of mana suddenly flared around Orien and Riley, completely sealing their conversation away from everyone else.

Not even Liam, who had been closest, could hear a single word.

Orien’s ear twitched as Riley leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, "I need to ask you for a favor involving a very important mission. Since you’re older and far more familiar with how things work around here, I’m putting you in charge of preparing Liam for it too."

Oh.

Orien heard several things he liked.

The golden dragonling sat straighter, becoming considerably more attentive, only for his eyes to widen when Riley continued.

"I need to grab your uncle because we have to go deal with the stork issue."

Orien blinked.

"It’s going to be a whole busy process," Riley explained softly, somehow managing to keep a completely straight face. "And I knew I’d need help making sure everything else was taken care of so your uncle and I could concentrate on calling for the stork."

The golden dragonling stared at him, his little mouth gradually falling open.

Riley smiled warmly and gave him a small nudge.

"So I was wondering if you and Liam would be up to the task of preparing to become uncles at some point?"

Orien’s tiny chest puffed out with pride.

"Of course I can do that much!"

"Right." Riley nodded gravely, as though entrusting him with a matter of tremendous importance. "Because as you know, uncles and aunties are basically like a bonus set of parents."

Orien most definitely liked the sound of that.

In fact, he was already prepared to vow that he and Liam would become the absolute bestest uncles ever because, really, who else could possibly be better than them?

Riley watched the boy’s expressive face for a moment before casually tilting his head.

"Then if I were to ask the best future uncle what he thinks his niece or nephew should do if they ever had a rocky relationship with us, their parents...?"

"Talk, of course!"

Orien crossed his arms and huffed, answering without even needing to think about it.

Obviously.

Riley simply raised a knowing brow.

The golden dragonling froze.

Oh.

His cheeks ballooned out in frustration as a bright pink flush spread across his nose.

Riley chuckled softly, smoothing down Orien’s tousled golden hair.

"Shouldn’t you practice all those negotiation methods first so you can teach them someday?" he asked reasonably. "And what about those pastries you wanted to share with Liam?"

At this point, Orien felt like his auntie was saying far too many logical things for his liking.

Because annoyingly enough, there really a conversation he still needed to have.

That didn’t mean he had to be happy about getting tricked into admitting it!

So the instant Riley dissolved the mana barrier, a thoroughly flustered Orien practically bolted toward Liam, who was currently being held by Renee Hale.

Seeing the golden dragonling rushing toward them, Renee quickly lowered Liam back onto the floor. The younger boy barely had time to blink in surprise before Orien reached him and wrapped both arms around his body.

"Huh?"

Liam looked completely bewildered, clearly having no idea what could’ve gotten his partner so worked up.

But before he could even ask, the golden dragonling suddenly turned and dared to screech out his own brand of sagely advice.

"Auntie! This time, make sure you give the right directions, okay?" he warned with utmost conviction. "The stork might just be a bit dumb."

Orien seemed to consider whether there was anything else he needed to say before giving a firm nod, apparently satisfied with his advice despite his entire face still being bright red.

Then he turned toward Liam, visibly gathering what remained of his dignity.

"I’m going to go train for something first, so you can go rest!"

The little sprite could only stare at him.

Completely confused, the youngest Hale looked back toward his older brother, only for Riley to give him a quick, subtle wink.

And maybe because Liam was a perceptive kid himself, it didn’t take long for him to realize what that signal was for.

The youngest Hale readily showed his support for Orien, smiling brightly as he said, "I can’t wait to hear how well you do! I’m sure you’ll do great!"

"Of course. How hard can it get?" Orien declared confidently.

And apparently, the golden dragonling believed there was no point wasting any more time.

Putting his plan into action, Orien launched himself forward in a full-on cannonball straight into his parents’ arms.

Orryn and Ilyss barely had time to react before their son landed squarely against them, his little hands holding onto their shoulders. Almost at once, Orien looked back toward Liam and proudly lifted his chin, as though making sure his partner had seen just how well he’d done.

Except when he turned back, ready to continue proving just how easy this whole thing was, Orien froze.

Both his parents were crying.

Warm tears streamed freely down Orryn’s and Ilyss’s faces as they held him close, their expressions filled with so much unrestrained emotion that the young dragonling didn’t quite know what to do with it.

Because for all the strange circumstances that had brought them together, this was the first time Orryn and Ilyss had truly gotten to hold their son in their arms.

Orien could only stare.

Then his own golden eyes began to sting.

Before he could even figure out why, tears were already spilling down his cheeks, and soon enough, the family of three was clinging to one another beneath the tender gazes of everyone around them.

Lady Cirila and Lord Karion looked particularly emotional at the sight, while Liam found the whole thing so touching that he started sniffling and rubbing furiously at his eyes.

Riley took that as his cue.

He smoothly scooped up the crying little sprite and carried him straight toward their own parents before carefully depositing Liam into their waiting arms. Then, before either of them could say anything, Riley wrapped his arms around all three and pulled them into one big, tight embrace.

He’d missed them.

God, he’d missed them.

But when Riley finally stepped back, he rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck before raising a single finger.

"I missed you all, and I swear I’ll talk about everything later, but if you could just..."

He didn’t even get to finish.

"Go."

Renee Hale gave her eldest son a knowing smile before practically shooing him away with one hand.

"Don’t go worrying about us. We’ll just be here..." Her smile turned increasingly amused. "Or maybe a little farther away at the Annex."

Beside her, Lawrence Hale looked surprisingly flustered on everyone’s behalf as he held his wife and youngest son close.

Ah.

Well.

Riley wanted the ground to swallow him up too, but he figured this was just them informing everyone of the dates for their honeymoon.

Right. That was it.

Besides, he supposed there really were some things that changed with age. Who would’ve thought he’d ever hear something like that when, just a few years ago, he would’ve gotten a flying slipper for so much as thinking about it?

Still, he gave his family a grateful nod before turning on his heel and heading straight toward one particularly sulky golden dragon, who still looked utterly disbelieving that he’d somehow been made to wait this long.

Riley reached out, snagged Kael by his robes, and started dragging him away.

And despite looking thoroughly miffed about having been tricked earlier and then forced to endure an unnecessarily long reunion when there were clearly other things they could be doing, Kael willingly allowed himself to be pulled along.

Only once they’d moved farther away from their relatives and into the quieter halls of the estate did Riley finally slow down.

He turned toward his mate, his expression softening into something imploring yet distinctly mischievous.

"Sorry. I wanted to talk to them first because I thought we’d be holed up for a while..." Riley tilted his head. "Or did I get it wrong?"

Kael blinked.

For the briefest moment, genuine surprise flickered across his face.

Then the full implication of those words sank in.

His eyes darkened.

Riley barely had time to register the change before his feet left the floor.

Without saying a single word, Kael swept him straight into his arms and began marching toward their private quarters with impossibly long, urgent strides.

Comfortably hanging over his mate’s broad shoulder, Riley stared at that frighteningly determined expression for all of two seconds before a breathless chuckle escaped his lips.

Ah.

It was good to laugh while he still could.