Dragon King's Harem Chapter 479. Ulterior Motives
Dragon King's Harem Chapter 479. Ulterior Motives
I tried to calm myself.
Tried to eat again. Slowly. Chew. Swallow. Pretend the roast didn’t taste like ash and ulterior motives. But it was hard. Harder still when I could feel Callum’s daughter watching me.
Not just a glance. Not shy curiosity. No. This was observation. Careful. Calculated.
Smart woman. Dangerous woman.
She didn’t speak, didn’t blink much. Just sat there next to her father, absorbing the tension like it was part of breakfast.
The rest of the table? They’d turned the whole damn meal into a chessboard.
One by one, delegates from every tribe took their turn. Offering suggestions, dropping names—some obscure baron with "great potential," a minor prince "eager for diplomacy," or a cousin thrice removed from some noble bloodline now conveniently single. It wasn’t about love. It wasn’t even about alliance. It was about leverage.
They wanted a piece of her.
Maria smiled through it all. Poised. Cold. Regal. But even ice cracks under enough pressure. And I could see it, faint as it was—the subtle tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers curled slightly tighter around her cup each time someone mentioned “bridge between our tribes.”
Some didn’t even bother pretending.
“We have forces stationed near the southern pass,” one of the mountain tribe reps said, casually sipping her tea. “Should you need help keeping order while the territory rebuilds…”
Which really meant ‘We’d like to occupy your border and ‘help’ manage it.’
Another from the lowland swamps offered trade routes. Generous ones. With long-term contracts. And hidden debts that would chain this kingdom’s future.
It was exhausting.
And I couldn’t say a damn word.
Because I’d already played my part.
She asked me to help her free herself and her son.
I did.
That was the deal.
If I meddled too deep now—if I started countering offers or throwing my weight into the talks—I’d be no different than them. Another king trying to stick his claws into what wasn’t his.
So I ate in silence.
Watched the game. Memorized faces. Weighed lies.
Even Jyne, who usually had something to say about everything, was speechless. She just raised an eyebrow and took tiny bites of bread while mentally eviscerating half the room.
Sela? She was 100% locked in on Kaelen. Helping him fold napkins into tiny dragons. Zero care for the nobles groveling for Maria’s hand like it was a discount artifact.
Al still hadn’t blinked. Or maybe he had. Once. His eyes hadn’t left Callum. It was like sitting next to a heavily armed statue powered by vengeance and caffeine withdrawal.
I ignored it.
Mostly.
Honestly, sitting next to Al at this point felt like choosing to eat breakfast with a live grenade and hoping no one dropped a spoon.
Eventually, mercifully, the meal ended.
Dishes were cleared. Chairs scraped back. Delegates nodded, bowed, or fake-laughed their way out of the hall. Most of them returned to their rooms.
Others went to "stroll"—which meant circling the palace halls hoping for a quiet moment with Maria, like political pigeons waiting for crumbs.
The city itself wasn’t safe enough to wander yet. Rebels, looters, and loyalist rats still scurried in its frozen veins.
Which left us with the garden.
Sela took Kaelen to see the ice drake again. He was bouncing beside her, showing off another soup monster drawing. She listened like it was war poetry.
I, on the other hand, slipped out the side corridor with Jyne.
No real plan. No direction. Just walking.
She matched my pace, her fur-lined coat swaying with every quiet step. The halls were mostly empty now. Just the occasional guard. Or a servant pretending not to hear the previous hour of thinly veiled threats disguised as diplomacy.
“You didn’t say much,” Jyne said after a few turns.
“I didn’t need to.”
“You wanted to.”
“Yes.”
She glanced at me, long lashes framing eyes that saw too much. “Why didn’t you?”
I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck. “Because if I say something now, they’ll say I’m claiming her. That I want the throne. Or her hand. Or that I’ve got some secret army hidden in the mountain. Hell, maybe I do. But that’s not the point.”
She stopped walking, turned to face me fully.
“Then what is the point?”
I looked at her for a second. Let the silence sit between us.
“Balance,” I said finally. “I’m not here to conquer. I’m not here to play prince charming or knight in shining armor. She asked for help. I gave it. That’s all.”
Jyne tilted her head, fox ears twitching. “And if she falls?”
“She won’t.”
“But if she does?”
I clenched my jaw.
“Then the next person who tries to put a crown on themselves with her blood still wet—dies screaming.”
Jyne’s eyes narrowed. Then she smirked. “Romantic.”
“Violently romantic,” I muttered.
She started walking again. “You know you’re already too deep, right?”
“I know.”
We passed under a tall arch laced with frost-carved roses. The air smelled faintly of crushed pine and snow-damp stone. I could hear Kaelen laughing in the distance, Sela’s voice trailing after him like a soft hum.
It almost felt… peaceful.
Jyne broke the moment.
“You trust her?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah,” I answered. No hesitation. “More than I should.”
She nodded slowly. “Then don’t wait too long.”
“For what?”
“For whatever comes next.”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
Wasn’t sure if “next” meant war, or rebuilding, or some future where I had to make a choice between my empire and hers.
We kept walking, boots crunching softly against the frost-dusted stones of the palace corridor. Outside, the snow had stopped falling. A pale light filtered through the tall, crystalline windows like a ghost that hadn’t made peace with its past.
Jyne didn’t speak again right away. But when she did, it was direct.
“She loves you, doesn’t she?”
I blinked, slow.
“What?”
She stopped, arms crossed loosely under her fur-lined cloak, her tails flicking with idle grace. Her tone was quiet, almost too casual. Which meant it was very, very not casual.