Chapter 172: All Dragons Are Late

Then again, maybe he should’ve taken an even longer bath.

Because now, every time Orien, that little menace, proudly brought up mating, babies, storks, birds, bees, and—for reasons Kael could not and would not try to understand—beads, the continentally feared dragon lord had to dig deep within his soul not to teleport the child to another island.

Just like now.

Across the sunlit garden, two small figures sat on the grass: one glowing faintly gold, with scales and wings too big for his body, and the other a human boy clutching a half-eaten cookie like it was emotional support food.

“Lord Orien, because you saw it earlier, the stork might not come…” said the despondent boy who could only find the energy to nibble on his food.

But how could he eat happily when they were facing such a crisis?

“I’m telling you!” Orien said, wings flapping furiously as his tail smacked the ground. “Delayed! The stork must have been delayed! It’s obviously just late! It’s probably the beads. Dragon babies always want nice beads, so the stork is probably looking for that.”

Yes, definitely, in one dragonling’s mind, what else could it be? Nice beads were always difficult to find, and it would be dreadful to send off dragonlings without their very own bead!

Moreover, a dragon baby would be powerful enough to ensure that the stork persisted in traveling. So what was there to worry about? Surely it should be fine, right?

“But… but what if it got lost?” Liam sniffled, eyes watery. “What if it couldn’t find the way? Maybe the wind changed!”

“The stork? Lost?” Orien’s golden eyes gleamed indignantly in the light. “Impossible! If the stork is carrying a dragon baby, then even if it gets lost, it would still manage to find its way! That baby would roar and force the stork to turn back immediately!”

Liam looked horrified. “But babies can’t roar! They’re small and soft and can’t even talk yet! Even dragon babies are small!”

“No,” Orien argued, puffing up proudly, his tiny chest expanding like a smug balloon. “Dragons are never weak, not even as hatchlings! I was never weak!”

Liam blinked. “But Lord Orien… You got kidnapped, though.”

The small dragon froze.

For a moment, the silence was so thick that even the wind stopped to listen.

Then Orien’s head whipped around so fast his tail nearly smacked a flowerpot. “That was a strategic setback!”

Liam’s lower lip wobbled. “So the stork really could get kidnapped, too?”

“No! Absolutely not!” Orien flailed, his voice pitching higher as the tears gathered in Liam’s eyes. “Listen here, humans are fragile, yes, but storks are… uh… durable! Very good at flying, maybe not as good as me, but good enough! Plus, you said there are birds and bees, so how could all of them be so bad at directions?! And like that, they could serve as distractions so the stork could escape!”

Orien had absolutely no idea what storks even were, but if they were going to be carrying dragon babies, they couldn’t be too stupid, right?

However, the little sprite didn’t seem convinced and was still depressed about his missing nephew. They had been waiting for a while now, but still nothing, and the weakling had turned very despondent.

“Then maybe the baby found someone better…,” Liam whispered, his eyes glistening as he thought the worst.

“No, no!” Orien’s wings fluttered in panic. “Who could even be better than me?! Just my uncle, so it’s just late! Yes! Late, because all dragons are late!”

Liam blinked at him through the tears. “All… dragons?”

“Yes!” Orien nodded rapidly, seizing his own explanation like a lifeline. “All dragons are late! My uncle’s always late! My granduncle’s late! Even the elders are late! So if the stork was late in delivering a dragon baby, it just means its assistant has no discipline!”

It was a proud statement, and from the door, Kael stood motionless, face unreadable as he wanted to throttle the child whose mouth just wouldn’t stop.

He had heard everything.

Riley’s parents had heard everything.

Worse, Riley had heard everything.

Every single word.

And somewhere in the chaos, his will to live had quietly walked out of the room and never returned.

At this point, it honestly sounded like a better idea to wake up next year.

Yes, he knew he had to figure out what was happening to his body—preferably before the next time it betrayed him—but how exactly was he supposed to face his parents when the two children kept debating about babies and storks?!

He wanted to sleep again.

Unfortunately, fate was never on his side.

“Riley.”

His eyes cracked open. The voice was deep, calm, and about three inches too close.

He turned—and nearly rolled off the couch.

Kael, who had very clearly teleported straight into the bedroom again, gave him a look that suggested he wasn’t sorry. “My mother has arrived.”

Riley froze. “Huh—what?”

“Lady Cirila. She has urgent news.”

Kael’s expression didn’t change. “Get up.”

Then, as if seeing something Riley couldn’t see, the suddenly annoyed dragon lord took one step forward. “I’ll carry you.”

“What? No! No need!” Riley sat up so fast his back cracked. “I think I should be able to walk, you know, exercise!”

Kael’s golden eyes narrowed slightly, as though he were seriously calculating how long it would take to ignore that request. But then he paused, remembering something.

The last time he had teleported Riley, the weak twig ended up feeling nauseous.

“Fine,” Kael said after a moment. “Then walk. At least this way, no one will say you have morning sickness.”

“!!!”

That bastard lizard!

Excuse him?!

If Riley had reservations about walking, he surely didn’t have them now!

Although apparently, that was easier said than done, as his legs hadn’t been used in a good while. And when he did attempt to use them earlier… maybe he actually ended up overworking himself.

His knees shook, his feet complained, and somewhere deep in his soul, his dignity wept.

The dragon watched silently as Riley shuffled forward like an elderly man seeking vengeance on gravity itself.

And yet they walked together like this, and it might have been nice if the whole place didn’t seem like a giant maze!

“Remind me again,” he panted, “why every room in this house is one mountain away from the other?”

“It keeps visitors from wandering,” Kael replied smoothly.

“Yeah, well, I’m wandering straight into my grave.”

But apparently, he wasn’t the only one. Because the moment they entered the drawing hall, Riley realized there were people in worse positions than he was.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep