Dragon King's Harem Chapter 462. Broken Loyalties
Dragon King's Harem Chapter 462. Broken Loyalties I didn’t stop there. “Earth Grave.” The tiles beneath their feet crumbled as jagged hands
Dragon King's Harem Chapter 462. Broken Loyalties
I didn’t stop there.
“Earth Grave.”
The tiles beneath their feet crumbled as jagged hands of stone erupted from below. They clawed upward, grasping legs, snapping weapons, dragging bodies to the earth like graves trying to claim the living. Screams filled the air.
A wall of flame surged behind me.
“Flame Pillar.”
… cutting off their retreat.
Some tried to cast.
Too slow.
“Chronos.”
The world slowed to a crawl.
I stepped forward through still air, watching fire freeze mid-leap, spells hanging in the air like shimmering threads of glass.
And I whispered, “Poison.”
[You have activated Paralyze Poison.]
Green smoke coiled from my skin like breath in winter—only it clung, toxic and vicious. The instant time snapped back, it exploded outward.
The casters screamed as the gas hit their lungs. They dropped, gagging.
One tried to run, the one who taking Cedric’s side. I flicked my fingers.
“Telekinesis.”
He lifted into the air, limbs flailing, then slammed back into the ice hard enough to crack bone.
Still more came.
“Blazing Orbs.”
Six spheres of molten fire spun into existence around me, searing with heat and death. I didn’t even point. They launched on instinct. Each found a target. Each exploded on impact.
The screams were fading now.
Not because they stopped fighting.
But because most were down.
Some still twitched in the frost.
Some just cried.
The rest?
Backed away.
I lowered my hands.
Mana hissed off me in waves.
Maria walked beside me now. Quiet. She looked at what remained.
Broken loyalties.
Ashes.
Regret.
I didn’t speak.
She did.
“If you still think I sold you,” she said coldly, “then maybe you were never mine to begin with.”
No one answered.
Because what was left to say?
The frost around us started to melt. The snow lightened.
My chest rose with one last breath, fire still in my lungs. I looked out across the courtyard, past the wreckage, the corpses, the silence.
And said, not loudly—
Just honestly—
“Then let that be the end of it.”
The wind answered first. It swept through the ruined yard, stirring ash and snowflakes together like two things that were never meant to mix but always did. Somewhere, far off, I heard a bell—maybe from the northern chapel—ringing its dull echo across the palace grounds.
I turned to Maria.
She stood with her back straight, even now, like a statue cast in frost and memory. Her hands were still glowing faintly. But her eyes… they weren’t looking at the survivors or the broken banners or even the blood still fresh on the cobblestones.
They were locked on Cedric’s body.
I stepped toward her.
“What are your plans after this, Maria?”
She didn’t answer at first. Her lips were parted, just slightly, and her fingers twitched like they wanted to reach for something but didn’t know what.
Then she finally breathed out, “To bury him.”
I blinked.
She turned to me, her voice steady but low, like she was tired of holding back emotion and just wanted to get through the rest without shattering.
“Whatever he became… he was once someone I trusted. Once someone who fought for this kingdom. Once someone Kaelen looked up to.”
Her gaze dropped. “Kaelen may have a hard time accepting all of this for a while.”
I nodded slowly. “He's a good kid.”
“He is,” she whispered. “And he’ll need time. But more than that… I have to sort this all out. The snow elves’ internal court will be chaotic for some time to come. Cedric didn’t just leave a hole—he left a fracture. And I have to clean this all up.”
She looked at me again. There was tiredness in her voice now. Weariness that only came after the blood stopped spilling but the real work began.
A beat passed between us. Cold, quiet.
“Should I… give an announcement or something? Just to say you didn’t sell your tribe to me?”
Maria blinked.
Then turned her full body to face me.
Her steps were soft but deliberate, and when she stopped just two paces away, she lifted her chin and met my gaze head-on.
Her eyes were sharp. Glacial. Not angry—just clear.
“And what will you say to them?” she asked. “That you helped me out of pity?”
Her words landed with weight. Not accusation. Not sarcasm.
Truth.
I didn’t speak.
She tilted her head slightly. “Or maybe you’ll tell them you gave me all of this… for free?”
That hit deeper than I expected.
I stood there, lips parting—but no words came out.
We locked eyes.
And in that silence, I understood.
She loved me.
That part was never in question.
But her crown—the frost-etched weight on her head and in her bones—it demanded something else. It demanded sacrifice. Image. Distance. An ice queen could fall for a dragon… but she couldn’t follow one.
Not now.
Not with a kingdom in pieces.
And me?
I couldn’t ask her to.
I looked down. The silence dragged out. Not awkward. Just heavy.
Then I turned. My eyes found Cedric’s sword—the one still lying in the snow beside his body. The runes were faint now, the magic inside quiet.
I stretched out a hand.
Telekinesis hummed beneath my skin, subtle and sure.
The sword lifted from the ground with a soft clink, rising slowly into the air like it didn’t want to be touched but accepted it all the same.
It drifted to me, hovered above my palm.
I looked at it for a moment.
“…Let’s say,” I said finally, voice low, “I owed something to your father.”
Maria’s eyes widened just slightly.
I turned to her, held the sword out.
“And this is my payment.”
She stared at the blade. Then slowly reached for it. Her fingers brushed against mine as she took the hilt—cool skin against blood-warmed flesh. She held the weapon with both hands like it was something sacred and cursed all at once.
“…You didn’t owe him anything,” she said.
“I know.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because it’s easier than telling them the truth.”
Her gaze met mine again.
“What truth?”
“That a foreign king would cross borders, defy crowns, and drown a kingdom in fire—just because you asked.”
I held her gaze.
“Not for power. Not for land. But because it was you. And… that was reason enough.”
She sucked in a breath.
But didn’t speak.
Didn’t have to.
We just stood there, eyes locked, the storm long over, but something inside both of us still trembling.
Eventually, she stepped back.
The sword lowered to her side. She gripped it like it had always been hers.
Then she whispered, “We should go. Kaelen will wake soon. And there’s still much to be done.”
“Yes,” I murmured, eyes drifting to the melting frost around us. “There is.”
She turned first. Her silhouette moved through the ruins. I stayed behind for a moment longer.
Looked at the sky.
Dark clouds parting.
Sunlight finally trying to bleed through.
I whispered under my breath, “Guess I’ll be the villain again…”
Then followed her into the cold.