Chapter 263: Midnight Snacks and Magical Problems

Liam, whose world had collapsed earlier, was slowly rebuilding a new one, brick by brick. This time, his big brother had reassured him about their relationship, just as Lord Orien had said he would.

There were tickles. A lot of hugs. And far too many kisses for both him and the golden dragonling as Riley made it very clear that no matter what happened, they would always be brothers.

The puffy child peeked up at Riley’s face again. Somehow, he and Orien had ended up lying on the bed, surrounded on all sides by Riley, his mother, his father, the dragon lord, and the guardian worm who had settled nearby like a watchful sentry.

To Liam’s credit, he truly thought his day was finally over. Surely this meant bedtime.

But lo and behold, Liam Hale and Orien Vathros were both floored when the next words came out of Liam’s mother’s mouth.

No wonder they had been asked to lie down.

Because honestly, who knew where Orien would have ended up had he been standing when he learned that the little sprite was not so little after all?

A drake.

The golden dragonling lost strength almost immediately and flopped back onto the bed before the actual child at the center of the issue even reacted.

To be fair, neither of them knew what a drake was, which was probably why Liam’s reaction came with a delay. But when his mother shifted her form once again, scales shimmering as her body changed, the child’s eyes widened.

And then he screeched.

“Ahhh!”

__

The adults in the room weren’t really sure how to go about it because, clearly, there were some strong reactions there.

Liam had taken the part about his maternal family being bound to another dragon clan surprisingly well. Maybe a little too well, especially after learning that it was his brother’s clan.

In fact, he liked how he was bound to both Dravaryns and the Iltherans as both a Hale and a Calden. To Liam, that just meant he had the right to be there.

That it was his noble duty to be there.

Obviously, that sounded like his dreams and more. But what he hadn’t been prepared for was learning about another identity that even his mother didn’t think they’d ever get to know.

For when Riley’s seal fully manifested, it included sealing the abilities of those who vowed to take care of him.

If the seal hadn’t been broken in this lifetime, then Liam would have simply grown up as a human, unable to ever tap into his drake bloodline as a child who never really got to build up a core.

The story that had been retold was thankfully one that was more appropriate for children to hear. While his mother had been upfront about the challenges and what led to all the secrecy, Renee and Lawrence were now actively trying to explain as much as they could to the shellshocked child.

However, it wasn’t really just Liam who was processing things.

Then again, maybe the adults should have predicted this turn of events as children, regardless of race, were bound to have different priorities.

Before anyone could calm the suddenly empowered golden dragonling, Orien had already wriggled free from the blankets, scrambling closer to Liam on all fours. His little nose twitched as he leaned in, sniffing the child intensely.

Liam blinked, utterly confused.

“Huh?”

Orien circled him once, then twice, sniffing again with deep seriousness.

“Is it true?” the dragonling demanded. “Can you really turn into a magical beast?”

Liam stared at his mother, then back at Orien. “I can?”

“And use magic?” the great dragon pressed, golden eyes glowing with excitement.

“I can?!” Liam echoed, voice climbing an octave.

Renee lifted one claw in her drake form, smiling. She waved it gently.

The blanket on the bed rose into the air.

The little boy gasped.

Renee moved her claw again, slow and deliberate. The floating blanket twisted, folding in on itself as if guided by invisible hands, until it tied itself neatly into a ribbon.

The room fell silent.

Liam gawked.

His jaw dropped.

Then he grabbed Orien with both hands and shook him wildly.

“Mom! Wow!”

Orien let out an undignified squeak, equally shaken and equally awestruck, as the two children stared at the floating ribbon like they had just discovered the greatest secret in the world.

But what do you know? For if others had known what they had discovered, they would have agreed that it was a far greater secret

Thankfully, it was a secret that would only be revealed much later, due to several important matters, such as learning how to basically do anything.

__

In one of the rooms, well past midnight, when everyone should have been fast asleep, the oddest gathering was taking place over a spread of quiet midnight snacks.

Orien sat on the floor with a small plate balanced in front of him, his cheeks faintly smeared with remnants of flan he had been devouring with great focus. Suddenly, he raised his hand, mimicking the way Liam always did when he had something important to say.

Because this was important.

“Auntie,” Orien began seriously, “are you saying you don’t actually know how to return to your dragon form? Is it because you’re so tiny?”

Riley silently prayed to the heavens.

It was not that he didn’t already know he was tiny. He was painfully aware of that fact. But hearing a tiny dragonling look at him with genuine concern and conclude that he was a tiny dragon was somehow far worse.

Really, really tiny.

And to make matters worse, he still didn’t know how to change.

But Riley didn’t get mad. Instead, he sighed and answered calmly, “Thyrran said it could be done with practice. He even said that Liam should train with me, because he would need it too.”

The young child, who was very much past his bedtime, lit up instantly.

“Training?” Liam repeated, eyes sparkling. “With my brother?”

“For magic?” he added, voice rising.

Even if there were extra assignments, even if it was hard, Liam was suddenly very certain he would be willing to do it. He’d even volunteer to wake up early every day just so he could learn magic!

“Brother! I’ll join! I promise I’ll be a good student!”

Riley laughed softly and ruffled his baby brother’s hair. “It should be fine. Thyrran seems to know what to do.”

That was when a familiar hiss cut in.

“I can’t particularly teach you.”

Everyone froze.

Thyrran lifted his head slightly, eyes half-lidded as if this were obvious. “As guardians, or even as familiars, we have never needed to learn how to draw mana. We were created doing that automatically.”

“Eh???”

Riley straightened at once. “Then how are we supposed to learn?!”

“Young Master,” Thyrran replied calmly, “with a house full of dragons, and even a drake, how would it not be possible to learn?”

Well.

He had a point.

Riley took a thoughtful bite of his midnight sandwich, then turned to his mate. “Kael. How does one actually turn into a human? Or vice versa?”

“…”

“…”

The silence stretched.

Kael, looking unfairly handsome even in his pajamas, finally said, “You just do. If you will it, it’ll happen.”

“…”

“…”

Riley blinked up at him.

For some reason, he suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to commit violence, even against such a specimen of beauty.

He rubbed his face slowly.

Before he could say anything else, Liam, who had sensed something was wrong, tugged at his sleeve. “Brother? What’s wrong?”

Riley lowered his hand and looked at him seriously. “Liam, this is why sometimes it’s not good when everyone around you is a genius. And it’s also the reason why the smartest people aren’t always the best teachers.”

“Huh?”

“Because look at this,” Riley said, gesturing helplessly at Kael. “This guy doesn’t know how to explain it. It just comes naturally to him.”

Riley sighed deeply.

How could he forget all those people who, when asked how they solved a difficult equation, would simply shrug and say they just did.

Oh god.

For some reason, Riley felt like he had been thrown back into primary school, struggling with something that should have been a basic developmental milestone.

The problem was not just learning it. The real issue was finding someone who could actually teach him. This was supposed to be part of his inheritance, just like it was for every other dragon. And they can’t exactly post an opening for a dragon tutor when he wasn’t even supposed to exist.

Riley’s spiraling thoughts were interrupted by his mother.

“Son, I can help with developing Liam’s core. That is something I learned because I had to go through it when I was younger. And while I can help with learning how to switch forms as a drake, I am not entirely sure if it works the same way for dragons who can actually turn into other forms.”

All of that made sense to Riley, who suddenly had to think of something.

But from the side, one golden dragonling’s face slowly twisted into visible confusion.

Orien blinked.

Then blinked again.

“Auntie,” he asked carefully, “how come I know how?”

“Huh?” Riley turned toward him.

“I know what steps to take to transform from a dragon and back.”

“What?! Really?!”

“Yes!”

Liam gasped so hard he nearly choked. “You know how?!”

Orien puffed out his chest. “Of course I do.”

“How?” Liam demanded, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Orien lifted his chin higher. “Because I’m a great dragon.”

That answer alone sent Liam into immediate delight. But while that HAD to be true, the baby dragon figured it was because transforming back and forth was something dragonlings and hatching still had to think about, despite knowing exactly how to do it.

Like they had to know how to simply transform certain parts and how to hold transformations with their limited mana.

But still. Apparently, knowing wasn’t something all dragons could do, and the dragonling thought he was great because he knew something his uncle didn’t.

“Wow!”

“And as a great being,” Orien continued smugly, “I will naturally teach Auntie how to do it.”

He folded his arms with absolute confidence.

However, the smugness didn’t last.

Kael reached out and tapped the dragonling on the head.

Bonk.

“I will teach him,” Kael said flatly. “How hard could it be?”

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