"What way is that you speak of? And how can I be of help?"
"The place I brought you to last time behind the forest, it has my dragon essence that can completely get rid of the corruption." He said, "I need your ice to pass through the fire barrier and retrieve it."
Rhea chuckled, "That place is guarded with an extremely impenetrable fire barrier, and mind you, I have no inner snow flurry anymore. I can't get through the fire just like you. I don't think I can be of help in retrieving your essence." Rhea remarked without even thinking twice. She had no faith in this betrayer at all. Helping someone like him, would mean going against her realm, she wasn't crazy enough to help a traitor. Furthermore, even if she wanted to help, she had no flurry.
Draven didn't give up and said again, "If you're willing to help me get through, I will find a cure to get rid of the serpent venom in your blood, I'll also help you capture the serpent who stole the treasure..." Seeing that his words weren't convincing enough for her, he added, "I promise to pay you additional money to the one you'd receive after taking the treasure. Moreover, you'd get to rescue your cousin from the serpent." He stared at her, despite the fact that he was trying to convince her to help him, his expression and tone were as cold as the wind in winter with no slightest warmth in them.
Rhea thought about the advantage she'd get from helping him. If he added more money to the chest of gold she'd receive after returning the treasure, wouldn't that make her a doubly wealthy woman? To top it all, if she takes her infamous cousin back to the capital, she would be seen as a hero. Perhaps even her father would be proud of her. Not to mention she would be rewarded by the Emperor.
But, if she returned to the capital while still being married to this man, the Emperor would surely send her back immediately. Rhea looked down at Draven, but as if knowing her thoughts, he spoke,
"Rest assured, once I reclaim my essence, I shall send you a document terminating our union. The Emperor will presume that Jurian initiated the separation. With this agreement, you shall be unburdened by the prospect of wedlock, exactly as you desire."
Rhea's reaction was unmistakable. The knowledge that being divorced once meant she would forever be viewed as soiled was plain on her face. Despite her clear wish for striving, apprehension tempered her thoughts. Could she trust this man? What if he got back his essence and then he killed her? Could she rely on him to follow through on his promise?
Rhea looked down at him, "Give me time to think about my decision, I can't make up my mind right now."
Aware of her skepticism, Draven expected as much. Nonetheless, he added, "I will give you some time to mull over the offer," he said, standing up and regarding her with his piercing blue eyes. "Before we proceed, we muat return indoors. Otherwise, Lady Lila may become aware of our absence."
He gestured towards the door and slowly strode forward, leaving Rhea behind to follow him. But she stood there glaring at his retreating figure.
This man was really good at pretending to be nice, but she wasn't Alina, she wouldn't fall for his facade. Rhea thought as she dragged her tired feet back to her room. She hadn't slept well last night because she'd let that imposter use her chest as a pillow, but in the end, it turned out he was the damned dragon she'd loathed in the book of legends. He was also the main reason she didn't believe in marriages nor love in the first place.
The thought alone made her even more angry, and now he was expecting her to help him retrieve his essence?
HECK NO!
Rhea climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over her head not caring about anything else.
Although Rhea was wrapped under her blanket, she tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. Her mind kept drifting off to Draven El-Dezeus the ice dragon in the legends.
The first time she'd heard about the legend, she was still about seventeen years old. She had personally snuck out of the mansion and went to the state library in the capital just to read about the ice Dragon king herself. And that was when she first met Azure, who was an immortal and knew everything about the story as he was an acquaintance with Alina's sister.
The legend said; The dragon had been pretending to be in love with Alina for more than a century, with the intentions of conquering Birhhan. The book she read was muddled with uncertainty and to top it all, it wasn't complete.
Frustrated, Rhea had cursed the book under her breath as she flipped through the pages, trying to find the ending. "Damn this book of legends!"
Suddenly, a shadow had loomed over her, and she jumped in surprise. Only to turn around and see a tall, dark-haired man standing behind her chair. He had a kind smile on his face, and his eyes sparkled with amusement as he saw the book she was holding.
"Having trouble finding the ending?" he asked, his voice deep and smooth.
Recalling his kind smile now, it made Rhea beam like a fool under her blanket. Azure, the nicest person she'd ever met in her life!
She'd blushed in embarrassment, realizing that someone like Azure was speaking to someone like her. "Yes," she admitted, "I can't seem to find the last few pages."
He had chuckled softly and leaned over her shoulder to look at the book. "Ah, I know that legend," he said. "I was around at the time of the event, if you want to hear the main story I'll tell you everything I know about it. Do you want to hear?"
Rhea had nodded eagerly, she listened to the story from his mouth. Alina had found out about the dragon's hidden intentions for being with her for a century. He had never loved her but was only misleading her to take over Birhhan. However, on the day of the wedding, Alina had fought him with everything in her to protect the magical realm.
After spending hours in Azure's company, Rhea was captivated by his storytelling skills and the sound of his voice. Despite hearing about the infamous Azure from numerous girls in the capital city, Rhea had never actually met him. She knew that he had reached the pinnacle of his powers, gaining eternal life by mastering the highest level of magic in both elements. However, it wasn't until Azure shared the legend with her that she finally saw him in person. Remarkably, despite his age exceeding a hundred years, he appeared youthful.
Even Azure had praised Alina for doing an excellent job in protecting their realm. "Alina had risked her life to save our realm years ago. She's the real hero." He'd said.
That was the first time Rhea had met Azure. Even though he was also a close friend of Rinus as they were both known as top geniuses in the capital, he was nothing like her arrogant cousin. Ever since then, she'd looked up to Azure.
But unfortunately, before she could become closer to him, the Emperor had sent him and the other remarkably powerful people on battle to fight the outcast demonic creatures from Birhhan, which was also when Rinus had disappeared. However, when he returned she hadn't gotten the chance to meet him, because she was also sent here to marry the general...
Rhea realized that her thoughts had drifted too far off in the past, she hurriedly pulled her mind back to her current problem.
Alina was the hero of their realm who deserved to be happy after being betrayed by that bastard Draven. Rhea thought.
Wait a second...
Didn't she already pull out of that thought? So shouldn't she be worrying on how to escape this dragon now instead of thinking about Alina's heroic achievement?
Rhea lightly hit her head, then she suddenly realized she hadn't yet made up her mind on what to do with this dragon. She couldn't possibly help him, could she?
No! No!
It was still obvious that he was still the same as he was before. Or else why on earth would he mislead her into believing that he was the serpent? It could only mean that he was planning to betray her just like he did to his lover, Alina.
But she wasn't his lover, why would he betray her?
'Rhea don't be stupid nor fall for his trap, look for the serpent yourself, take Rinus and leave this border town. This dragon is none of your business.' she assured herself internally, however she couldn't help but feel like something still didn't seems right. A part of her seemed to develope the inexplicable desire to help Draven so badly, but then a small part of her wanted to get away from him by all means.