Chapter 254: From Way Back

So much for thoughts about a mother’s placenta or the nutrients babies needed to survive while in the womb.

Apparently none of that applied to Riley, whose birth could probably be classified as one of those bizarre cases that scholars wrote about for research.

Countless thoughts drifted in and out of his head. But if he were being honest, he was simply trying very hard to think of plausible explanations only because he didn’t want to say the most persistent thought screaming inside him.

It was probably childish wishful thinking, where he thought he’d be able to somehow get everything he wanted.

And yet hearing how he literally came from an egg that definitely wasn’t his mother’s was a sure fire way to finally dismiss that small hope he’d been clinging on to.

Riley’s hand trembled where it rested on the table. He tried to pull it back, afraid they would notice how much the confirmation bothered him. Because clearly, he couldn’t be his parents’ biological child.

And it stung.

It stung even more because it was becoming more obvious to him that he had been something like a charge to the Caldens for so long.

Someone they protected. Someone they sheltered. And probably someone that had endangered them for god knows how long.

And yet the selfish part of him still wanted to stay together with them.

He still wanted to be their family so much that he’d been trying to ignore the issue of how short a time he’d have with them.

To think he’d ever have such a problem?

Before he could hide the traces of his unease and panic, his mother reached out and placed her hand over his.

“!”

Riley stared at her hand for a moment. Her palm was warm. Steady. As if she was trying to anchor him before his thoughts spiraled further. Her fingers curled gently around his, giving them a soft squeeze.

It made him look up.

Her expression hit him harder than anything else. She was smiling. Softly. Gratefully. And yet there were tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, ready to fall.

“My son,” she said quietly. “You’re probably going to learn so many things from now on. Even things we didn’t know about ourselves. But I want you to know this. From the moment we saw you break out of that egg, we thought of you as our child. And that is something we will take with us even to our graves.”

Riley’s breath shook. He blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from spilling again.

And he would’ve broken down if not for his father who suddenly spoke.

“Then again,” Lawrence said, with calm firmness, “even under such circumstances, there are actually some concrete relations.”

“???”

“Huh? What?” Riley whispered, his voice cracking in confusion.

His father nodded. For once, he even had a small smile that surprised even Riley.

“Yes. While it’s not as direct as a hereditary relation, there is definitely a link between all of us.”

The black dragonling with an existential crisis stared at him, confused.

Lawrence continued. “And we figured it was because of how you hatched. The elders theorized that because of the sudden expulsion of mana and the much earlier activation of the full seal, you, as an egg, had to look for alternatives on what to turn into.”

Wait.

That sounded familiar.

“Just like how you had depended on the dragon lord’s mana-laden blood to restart the dragon core,” his father said, “it seems you also learned to polymorph into a human after being in contact with human blood.”

Riley stiffened, and even Kael seemed to be contemplating it.

“After all, even dragons need to learn that from somewhere. So we believe the reason you turned into a human baby, among all other possibilities, was because that was what you learned from my blood while the shell was beginning to crack.”

Lawrence’s gaze softened.

“But it wasn’t one-sided. Your mana was so concentrated that some of it stayed with us. Particularly your mother, whose body you pieced back together while you were still an egg.”

Riley stared in disbelief. His heart clenched so hard it hurt. But he welcomed it. Because even if it were as trivial as having the same favorite food, right now, he felt like he’d take anything.

But just when he thought that was everything, his father looked him straight in the eye and said:

“However, even if there had been no such ties, how could we think of the young boy we raised as anyone else but our son?”

Maybe he really had not grown up at all, because this entire week had been challenging for him in terms of managing both his emotions and his eyes. And hearing his father say something he never thought he would hear certainly did not help.

“And because it’s finally possible to say something about it, I’d like to sincerely apologize for all those years of confusion. Particularly when you expressed your goals and plans, only to be dragged around without an explanation.”

“!!!”

Riley froze.

Lawrence Hale had always been a man of few words. It hadn’t been a problem for him before because while he wasn’t one to talk a lot, Riley had never felt distant from his father. Well, at least until he grew up and felt bitter about being unable to communicate with him about things he just kept on refusing to explain.

And it was difficult not to be frustrated when someone as rational as his father kept on doing things that didn’t even seem aligned with his personality.

But now that he was learning everything like this, he felt rather ashamed because he’d held resentment over something that apparently bothered his father too.

And honestly, after hearing everything everyone had gone through partly because of him, he couldn’t even imagine holding that against them.

“Dad…”

He stood up without really thinking. His legs moved before his brain did, and he found himself crossing the small space between them. He looked like a mess, eyes red and puffed like a startled pufferfish, but with his emotions scattered everywhere, it still felt like the best thing to do.

He reached them. His parents opened their arms without hesitation.

And Riley leaned in.

The hug was warm. Familiar. Safe in the way that made his throat tighten and his arms cling a little harder than he meant to.

When he finally stepped back, sniffing quietly, a thought pushed through the fog in his head.

“Then… how come you had restrictions too, Dad? Weren’t you under a pact with the Dravaryns?”

Lawrence nodded, looking as if he had expected this question.

“Both actually have to do with the Caldens and the nature of their allegiance,” he said. “And from what I know, it only worked out because I had already married your mother before either of us knew anything about this.”

Riley blinked.

That was an unexpected loophole.

Lawrence continued, “Because we were married before learning that there was a connection between both families, there was no intent to harm. And in truth, if we had not been told where the Caldens last acquired the egg, I would never have known it had anything to do with the Dravaryns and in turn, the Hales.”

For one, no one had ever talked about Kael’s mate. Not publicly. Not privately. It had been so taboo that even among the Hales and their written accounts, the topic didn’t exist. Not even his grandfather knew that Kael had ever had one.

So imagine what it was like for Lawrence to learn about all of this only after he had already been recognized as Renee’s husband and bound to the same restrictions and duties.

Then again, his cognitive dissonance was something he could deal with. By keeping Riley safe, he was still fulfilling his duty to the Dravaryns. And since he had never been directly ordered to look into the matter, there was nothing he could be accused of disobeying.

Yes, he too believed that having such a dilemma was something he never thought he’d have, but he did

So much for contracts, really.

But what do you know, that contract was also why the Caldens couldn’t simply leave their ancestral land.

Apparently, his wife’s ancestors who were once capable of performing rituals as well as ancient seals had placed their runic circle there since long ago.

And while contracts of allegiance were something that could be passed down through bloodlines, it was not the same for their partners. A partner had to undergo a similar sealing to avoid being the weakest link in the bond.

With a clan that needed to continue on to be able to do their duties, they obviously had to think about what to do with their descendant’s partners.

So when Renee’s family found out about the elopement, the Caldens had no choice but to perform the bonding ritual on Lawrence as well, because Renee was supposed to be the next caretaker.

They simply never expected the tragedy to occur before they got to do it. More than that, they definitely had not expected the egg to hatch in this generation.

Renee let out a breath and looked at her son.

“Your father and I were pretty surprised to learn that seven generations of Caldens had already been taking care of you as an egg.”

“SEVEN?!” Riley almost fell out of his chair.

“Yes. Seven. And it goes as far back as when you were sealed. If you had not needed to expend that much mana to save all of us, it would have continued for even longer.”

“From what my grandmother told me, it was our calling to keep you as safe as possible and as hidden as possible if the seal ever ended up being triggered.”

“IF?” Kael suddenly spoke up. His expression tightened. He clearly didn’t have a good feeling about that word.

And she could understand, because such a conditional thing would have driven anyone mad.

“Yes. If,” Renee confirmed. “And the first call for our clan came when the egg that had been hidden away in the sealed ruins of the black dragon clan suddenly disappeared.”

Kael and Riley looked at each other.

Only this time, Riley didn’t even get to say anything before Kael’s face paled slightly.

Because they both realized the same thing.

Kael had said before that the egg was the one who called him over.

So technically…

Did Riley do all of this to himself?

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