Dragon King's Harem Chapter 527. Too Many Unknowns

Dragon King's Harem Chapter 527. Too Many Unknowns

I stood up. Slowly. My chair groaned a little behind me. The sky above was beginning to shift into a softer blue, midday creeping closer, but the warmth couldn’t reach us here. Not with what hung between us.

“We’ll have our chance soon,” I said, voice calm, but clipped with certainty. “We just need to wait.”

I looked at Sela then. Straight at her. She wasn’t crying, but her jaw had been locked so long it must’ve hurt by now.

“And you…” I said, more softly now. “You need to calm yourself down.”

She blinked slowly, like she didn’t hear me at first.

“Because whatever we do, whatever we’re about to do, we’ll need a cool head to execute it. If you lose control now, it’s over before it starts.” I stepped closer, the wind tugging at the edge of my black cloak. “And you can’t kill the nymph princess. Not yet. Not even before the wedding.”

Sela’s voice was sharp. “Why?”

Marissa answered instead, her tone softer than usual. “Because the princess might not want this either.”

Sela looked at her sharply. Her brows pulled together, eyes narrowing not out of malice, but hesitation. Uncertainty.

Marissa didn’t flinch. “I told you before, Sela. The princess wasn’t as cunning as her mother. At least, not the last time I saw her. She was… different. She had a kind heart.”

Her gaze dropped a little. “I don’t know if something changed her or not. It’s been years. But… I hope not.” The last part was spoken in a tone barely above a whisper. Soft. A bit strained. Like she was scared even hoping might make it worse.

I exhaled slowly, folding my arms across my chest.

“That one is uncertain,” I admitted. “Too many unknowns.”

I looked between them. Sela, still tense like a wire. Marissa, quiet, for once not smirking or teasing.

“And the others…” I said, “I want to expose the queen. At the wedding. Publicly.”

Marissa turned toward me, eyes flickering. “So you’re going to use the same tactic as before? Like with the snow elven queen?”

“Yes,” I said, then nodded. “But different.”

She tilted her head. Curious.

I looked down at the stone railing, letting my fingers trail across it before glancing back up.

“I don’t want war. I want clarity. I want the dwarven nobles and kings in Igixar to see the queen’s true intention. To see their king’s inability to see what’s right or wrong. To make the rot inside their court visible.” I met Marissa’s eyes, then Sela’s. “That’s not what happened with the snow elves. That time, Maria came to me. In a dream. Used her dream-spell. She asked for help.”

I let that sink in for a moment.

“Well…” I said. “I offered her my help. Because she trusted me. And in the end, I became her ally. Her shield. Her husband.”

Sela looked away. Marissa didn’t.

“But in this case…” I said more slowly, voice heavy with what we all already knew. “Neither of them came to me. Not the dwarves. Not the nymphs. No one’s called for the Dragon King.”

I let my arms fall back to my sides.

“I am the protector of this realm. Yes. But that doesn’t mean I can interfere with every tribe’s internal affairs. I can’t start wars for them. I can’t solve conflicts they refuse to even show me.”

They were silent. Not because they disagreed.

But because they knew.

I turned toward them fully now, eyes narrowing.

“And you two…” I said, looking at Marissa first, then Sela. “You’ve both been exiled. Banished. Disowned. They made their decisions. And they threw you away.”

Sela looked down at her lap. Her fingers clenched around the edge of her seat.

“Sela know…” she said quietly. “Sela know they no longer see her as one of their own.”

Marissa’s mouth twisted slightly. Not a smirk. Just a bitter echo of one. “Same here.”

There was something in the air now. Not just melancholy. Not just bitterness.

Grief.

A shared one. Old. Buried. Quiet. But sharp.

“I can help,” I said, voice low, steady, but… heavy. “But I won’t start a war over this. Not unless it spills directly into Draconis. I’ll act more like a spectator. Watch from the sidelines. I’ll offer support, but I won’t be the blade that begins the bloodshed. That’s not my role. Not yet.”

Marissa’s voice was quiet. “We know.”

She didn’t sound angry. Just… resigned.

Sela was staring off again. Her hands had stopped trembling, but the way her eyes didn’t blink said her thoughts were still racing.

She finally spoke.

“The only problem in Sela’s mind is… the people. The dwarves. The innocents. The ones who mine the stone. Build the cities. Raise their children… and now they might suffer because of a queen’s ambition and a king’s blindness.”

Marissa’s expression softened, and without hesitation, she reached out and placed her hand gently on Sela’s shoulder. “We’ll help them, Sela. We’ll do what we can.”

Sela gave a weak smile. Not from joy. From exhaustion.

“Sela hope so,” she whispered. “Sela hope we can help them… Sela hope no one needs to die anymore. Not because of royal greed. Not because someone couldn’t swallow their ego.”

I was silent.

Because that kind of hope…

Was dangerous.

Not because it was wrong.

But because it was almost impossible.

In this world? In this realm built on bloodlines and thrones and unending cycles of betrayal? The innocent always bled for the decisions of the powerful. Always had. Always would.

But I didn’t say that.

I just let her sit in that fragile moment of faith.

Let her have it.

Marissa was the one who broke the silence.

“I remember when I was younger,” she said softly. “Back before everything fell apart. When I thought nobility meant protecting others, not using them.”

Sela gave a soft laugh. “Sela thought nobility meant armor and banners and songs… Not paperwork and poison and arranged marriages.”

“Same,” Marissa said, shaking her head. “We were so stupid.”

“No,” Sela said. “Just… idealistic. That was before Sela realized honor is usually just what the victors write into their history books.”