Chapter 236: Just Play Along

A few minutes passed as Aiden finished explaining the situation to Laela and how they ended up here.

“She’s been trying to force my hand to give her the same thing ever since she realized I’m the dragon’s vessel. It’s obvious why. She knows I’m not as strong as the others.”

Laela stared at the lifeless copy of herself. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this. I’m not even part of whatever conflict she has with you, yet she was going to kill me… just to get this boon?” Her voice trembled slightly.

“And that was her a mistake. Lucina threatened what’s mine.”

Laela was quiet for a moment, processing everything.

Then her gaze drifted past Aiden’s shoulder toward a corner of the domain, where a figure sat silently watching them.

She tilted her head slightly. “Aiden… who is that?”

Laela looked particularly worried seeing another woman sitting there.

Aiden turned his head to follow her gaze, then looked back at Laela. “Oh, right,” he said, as if he’d almost forgotten. “Do you remember the woman in our party the first time we traveled to Rivendale?”

Laela thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up with recognition. “Yes… the huge one. Ingrid, wasn’t it?”

Aiden smiled slightly at the description. “Yes, her,” he confirmed. Then he gestured toward the demon woman. “That’s her child.”

Laela blinked twice in confusion. “Her child?” She looked between Aiden and the figure in the corner.

“Yeah. You remember when we got them out of that dungeon?” Aiden asked again.

Laela nodded, that’s how she remembered Ingrid’s name in the first place

Aiden then goes on again to explain this part. How Ingrid had gotten conceived for the demon that kept her captive.

The longer story with Thamoryn’s experiments and finally here, where they were.

Laela absorbed that while slowly nodding. “Wow, that’s… a lot to take in.”

“I know,” Aiden replied.

Laela studied the demon woman for a moment. “But she’s still a demon, isn’t she? Is keeping her here really the right choice?”

She expressed her concern.

Aiden sighed and glanced toward the demon woman. “I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly what I was doing. What I do know is this: she’s part human too. And I guess… a part of me wants to give that part of her a chance.”

After a moment, Laela stood up slowly and brushed off her skirt. She took a few tentative steps toward where the demon woman sat huddled in the corner.

Aiden’s avatar watched closely but said nothing.

The demon woman’s eyes tracked Laela’s approach, it was wary but not hostile.

Laela stopped a respectful distance away and offered a gentle smile. Then she extended her hand forward.

“Hi,” Laela said softly. “I’m Laela.”

The demon woman stared at the outstretched hand for a long moment, as if unsure what to do with it.

Then, slowly and hesitantly, she reached out and took Laela’s hand in hers.

Her grip wasn’t exactly firm.

“I… have no name,” the demon woman said quietly.

Laela’s smile didn’t falter. “That’s okay,” she said kindly.

The demon woman looked up at her fully now, studying Laela’s face, in such a way that felt almost awed. “You’re beautiful,” she said suddenly, almost shyly.

Laela blinked in surprise, then her cheeks flushed slightly. “Oh… thank you,” she said, a bit flustered but genuinely touched by the compliment.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Aiden stared at the demon woman for a moment, genuinely taken aback by what had just happened.

“That’s the first time you’ve ever decided to speak to someone else,” he said.

Then he dded with a slight frown, “That’s not fair, you know.”

He was referring to how the demon lady had never spoken a word to his avatar ever since.

The demon woman made a face at him, scrunching her nose slightly in what might have been defiance or amusement.

it was hard to tell.

Laela laughed lightly at the exchange. Despite everything that had just happened to her, her kind soul hadn’t faltered.

She looked down at the demon woman and asked gently, “May I sit beside you?”

The demon woman hesitated for only a moment before nodding. She shifted slightly to make room, and Laela lowered herself down beside her.

Aiden watched them for a short while, staring at Laela’s cheerful self especially.

Then he spoke again;

“Laela, can you hold on here for a bit. I have to deal with this goddess. Will be back before you know it.”

Laela turned her head toward him and nodded.

But just as Aiden began to turn away, she called out to him.

“Aiden.”

He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder.

“Give her hell.”

Hearing that put a devious smile on Aiden face. He nodded again, and then walked over to where the lifeless duplicate of Laela lay on the ground.

He knelt down, and cradled the body carefully in his arms, then vanished afterwards.

—

Aiden reappeared in the main room of Ravens Grave.

The moment he materialized, every head in the room turned toward him instantly.

His expression was solemn as he stood there holding Laela’s lifeless body in his arms.

Elena was the first to speak, with her voice cracking as she stepped forward.

“Aiden… how is she?”

Aiden said nothing. He simply shook his head.

Elena’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh no,” she whispered, and then her composure shattered.

She turned and buried her face in Oliver’s chest, sobbing openly as the young mage wrapped his arms around her, trying to console her even though tears were already forming in his own eyes.

Piers stood frozen in place, with his mouth slightly open as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

Katherine’s jaw tightened and she looked away, with her fists clenched at her sides.

Innis pressed both hands over her mouth, with tears building up in her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief.

Kayden moved to try and console her.

Arianna, however, had her eyes fixed on Aiden, and her expression was one of confusion rather than grief.

Something didn’t feel right.

She shared a connection with Laela through the Dragon’s Bond, and right now, at this very moment, she could feel Laela alive.

But Aiden was standing there holding a dead body.

How?

She didn’t react immediately. She wasn’t even sure how to.

Aiden turned his gaze toward Aeris, who stood near the corner of the room with her hands clasped together and sadness written across her face.

“Aeris,” Aiden said. “Tell Lucina that I’ll do what she wants.”

His voice was flat and empty.

“She doesn’t have to continue killing anyone anymore.”

Aeris’s expression crumpled further, and she nodded sadly. “I will,” she whispered. “I’ll tell her.”

Aiden nodded in acknowledgment.

Then he turned toward the door leading out of the main room and began walking toward it with Laela’s body still cradled in his arms.

“I need some time alone,” he said without looking back at anyone.

The moment he stepped through the doorway, Arianna moved.

She ran after him immediately, catching up just as he crossed the exit point.

“Aiden, wait!” she called out, reaching for his arm.

He stopped but didn’t turn around fully.

Arianna stepped in front of him now, blocking his path as confusion filled her expression.

“Something’s not right,” she said urgently. “I can feel Laela alive through our bond. Please… please just double-check before you—”

Aiden turned his head slightly toward her then, and a smile appeared on his face.

With a thought, he activated the supplementary spell Quiet Tongue, letting whispered words carry clearly to the one he intended.

Only then did he lean in slightly and speak in a low whisper. “Of course. Do you really think I’d ever let any of you die?”

Arianna’s eyes widened instantly as understanding dawned on her face.

She opened her mouth to say more—”But—”

Aiden interrupted her immediately. “Shh,” he whispered. “It’ll all make sense later. Just play along.”

Arianna stared at him for another moment before nodding.

Aiden nodded back at her once more before stepping past her and taking flight into the air with Laela’s duplicate body still held carefully in his arms.

Arianna stood there for a few seconds longer before turning back toward the guild entrance.

When she stepped inside again and returned to the main room where everyone else waited, her face crumpled into sadness too.

But this time, it was all an act. She was playing along.

—

Aiden flew far from Dragonhold until he reached a lonely cliff overlooking an ocean.

The wind whipped around him as he descended slowly and landed on the rocky ground.

He knelt down carefully and laid Laela’s lifeless duplicate onto the stone surface before him.

Then he sat beside it, with his head bowed as if in mourning.

For several long minutes, there was only silence except for the sound of waves crashing against the rocks below.

Then, suddenly, two figures materialized behind him in a flash of light.

Lucina stepped forward with Herxes standing at her side.

She looked down at Aiden’s back with a satisfied smile on her lips as she spoke:

“I thought you’d never come to your senses.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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