Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

As the night grew darker and darker, the end of the feast drew near. All the dishes on the tables had been wiped clean, leaving only the bare bones.

Smiles of content were plastered on nearly all the faces of those present in the feast. The few dissatisfied bunch were those who lost in gambles or those who failed in courtship. But putting aside those two misfit bunch, the feast was a success as it ended on a happy note—

—or so Henry hoped. The feast had been a pleasant one, overall, but hitches were to be expected when alcohol is involved.

Though the tribes in Ulrum were never warm, they at least respected the purpose and strength of one another. However, humans were a different story, especially one that was dressed in a fashion of those hateful adventurers who were known to disregard boundaries.

Alayne was an adventurer and she dressed the part. Naturally, the stereotype spread over to her. She was heading back to her seat after relieving herself. She had downed a few mugs and she was already stumbling in her steps.

It was just one misstep and she fell forward. But a Lavan was standing just in front of her, with a filled hand and his back turned to her. She was spared from a complete fall but in return, the Lavan that cushioned her fall had his drink spilled on himself.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Alayne immediately begged the Lavan’s forgiveness after she realised her blunder.

Alayne was already considered one of Henry’s women and they all knew the consequences of showing their hostility towards her no matter the reason. However, the Lavan that Alayne just offended was drunk. He could barely form a coherent sentence.

The Lavan said nothing as he turned around. His inquisitive gaze turned into a frown when he realised it was a human that bumped into him and made him spill his mug. His frown then contorted into a glare.

“You damn human…!” the Lavan growled as he tossed his empty mug aside.

There were two other Lavans standing nearby, presumably the friends of the first one. The two were also intoxicated, apparent from their flushed faces and their unfocused eyes. No hint of sensibility could be seen on their faces. They cared not about the reason. Their friend was offended and that was good enough of a reason for the two.

“Wait, I already apologised!” Alayne raised her voice once she noticed her apology had no effect.

The Lavans merely scoffed in response and they strode towards her with inflamed gazes.

Before Alayne could cry for help, the first Lavan had already made his move. He lunged at her with his claw thrust out, aiming for her neck.

Alayne managed only a panicked yelp as she stood helplessly, frozen by fear. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable.

She waited for a few seconds but the strike never came. The noises and sounds around her had all gone silent. Something was off.

Alayne took a peek hesitantly and what came into her view stretched her eyes wide, though her gaze softened immediately afterwards. A wave of relief washed over her and her heart throbbed.

“Lose your pride or your hand,” Henry said with the Lavan’s hand in his grip.

Before Alayne knew, Henry had moved in between her and the drunk Lavans.

Everyone’s gazes had fallen on the commotion. The majority of the onlookers wore pale faces. They were also intoxicated but not as much as the three Lavans who dared to harm a woman of Ulrum’s guardian.

The rest of the Lavans were especially fearful and distressed as their own people had committed a grave sin. The three Lavans only came to their senses then.

All three of them fell to their knees with all the colours drained from their faces.

“M-mercy…” pleaded the Lavan who had his hand firmly gripped by Henry. “F-forgive me, my l-lord. I was j-just—”

Henry squeezed his grip lightly, enough to make the Lavan squeal.

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked Iluna, who came running towards the commotion. Yula and Chloe were trailing behind her.

Tiana and her daughter were standing some ways far from the commotion. They were prudent enough to not meddle in affairs that weren’t their concern. The other Kivus also tried to distance themselves as far away as they could from the commotion without making their retreat obvious.

“Lady Iluna….!”

“Please, save us!”

“We were foolish! Please, help us!”

Seeing the distressed state of the three, Iluna looked towards Henry with a fearful gaze. “Lord Henry, please tell me what happened here.”

“Despite knowing full well this lady here is my woman, they still have the audacity to lay their hands on her.”

Hearing Henry’s explanation, Iluna glared at the three with her eyes widened in disbelief and exasperation.

“We were in the wrong! We were drunk. Please, have mercy on us!”

“Please, spare us. We are sorry!”

The last Lavan only sniffled as he struggled to even get a word out of his shivering lips.

“Lord Henry. I know that they have committed a grave sin but if I beg of you, please find it in your heart to be lenient with them.”

Well… this is awkward.

While Henry was truly furious that these three drunkards tried to harm Alayne, he never intended to kill them just because of that. After all, no harm was actually inflicted and he wasn’t a person that did things excessively.

“Very well,” Henry said.

Relief spread across Iluna’s face and a smile appeared. “Thank you, Lord Henry. Your clemency shall be remembered.”

“Just this once, Lady Iluna, and only because you were the one who asked.”

“I understand, Lord Henry.” Iluna bowed, not just because she felt grateful but also to hide her blush. She knew what Henry meant by those words and so did a handful of others.

Henry turned his attention back to the three drunkards. “Apologise,” his voice reverberated across the clearing.

“W-what?”

“Apologise.”

“I-I already—”

“Not me. Her. All of you, apologise to her.”

“Forgive me, my lady!” the three exclaimed with their heads touching the soil.

Henry glanced over his shoulder, his eyes met with Alayne’s.

She nodded.

Henry turned his gaze back to the trembling Lavan. He loosened his grip.

The Lavan quickly retracted his arm and scurried away from the scene along with his two friends.

With the situation defused, the audience dissipated and everyone went back to what they were doing, or at least they tried to. Given what had just transpired, anyone would not be so willing to continue with the festivity mood as if nothing had happened.

Even so, Henry gave not a damn about the awkwardness that now permeated the feast.

“Are you alright?” Henry asked.

Before Alayne could utter a single word, her legs gave out.

Henry swiftly moved forward to receive Alayne. “I guess that suffices as an answer,” Henry chuckled as he gazed warmly at the flushed adventurer.

Alayne could only manage a nod as Henry carried her into his arms.

Instead of walking to the cave, Henry strode down in the opposite direction. No one questioned where he was going with a girl in his arms. No one dared to. Those who already figured out the reason either turned their reddened faces away or smiled warmly at the two.

Iluna had the former reaction while Tiana had the latter.

Even Yula didn’t question Henry, but not because she didn’t dare to. She simply gave a knowing smile when Henry glanced at her with a nod.

“Where is he going?” Chloe asked but in a whisper.

Yula giggled. “You can follow him if you’re curious, or you can wait until tomorrow morning.”

“What could they possibly be doing that it will take them a whole night—” Chloe stopped herself from babbling any further as realisation struck. “Ah… they can’t be intending to…”

“Why can’t they?”

“It’s public indecency.”

“Only if we’re back on Earth.”

“Still… aren’t they afraid that someone will spy on them?”

“For their sake and their people’s, I hope no one will be that big of a fool,” Yula spoke with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

****

“Where are we going?” Alayne asked after they had travelled deep into the forest for a few minutes. She didn’t ask because she was curious. She was merely trying to break the tension between them, or at least it was tense for her.

“Somewhere far away enough from the feast,” Henry answered with a calm expression that exuded not a hint of worry.

Alayne’s face turned redder than ever but she did not look away this time. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Henry’s head and pulled herself into a kiss, though it was only a light peck on the cheek. “T-thank you…” she said.

Henry chuckled inwardly. “It was nothing but you’re welcome anyway.”

“No… I didn’t mean just now… I want to thank you for all that you have done for me even though… you didn’t need to do any of those at all. Thank you, Henry.”

“I’m doing this because I fancy you, Alayne.”

“But what if the feeling’s not mutual?”

“A little late for that considering you have already promised to surrender your body to me. And I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

“So even if I change my mind, you’re still going to bed me?”

Henry stopped in his tracks and locked eyes with Alayne. “Yes, I would still bed you. I will hold you down and fuck you good and hard until you submit to me.

Alayne felt a shiver went down her spine but it was not an unpleasant feeling, much to her surprise. “You’re… terrible…”

“Oh? Then shouldn’t you be trying your best to get away from me now if that’s what you think?”

Instead of letting go, Alayne tightened her hold around Henry. “Rogue,” she huffed and then pulled herself in for another kiss. But this time, she went for his lips and Henry was more than happy to oblige her advance.

Without breaking their deep and hot kiss, Henry gently laid Alayne down on the flowery ground. After about a minute, their lips parted and pearly strings were stretched and dangled between their lips.

Though their kiss broke, Alayne’s arms remained locked around Henry and the same went for their eyes. They stared into one another as the heat in their bodies grew and their breaths became warmer than usual.

“You’re quite good at this, Alayne,” Henry teased. “You have a lot of practice.”

“I did say I had a partner. Are you perhaps disillusioned with me now?”

“Why would I ever be disillusioned about you? It’s not like I did not know about that until now.”

“Still… whenever I told people that I was… not the naive girl they believed me to be… they instantly lost all of their chivalry and started treating me like a common whore. Some even went as far as to spread that fact to everyone who bothered to listen.”

“Good riddance, I say. They’re just in love with an idea of you, not the actual you.”

“And you are any different?”

“To be honest, I’m not even sure about that myself. I’m not even sure if what I’m feeling is love at all or just an eternal lust that could never be sated. But one thing I do know is that I do not want you to end up in the arms of others. I can’t stand the thought of anyone touching you.”

“That sounds worse than being treated like a whore.”

“But you’re not resisting.”

“Even if I want to, what’s the point? I’m already yours and there’s nothing I can do to escape you. Besides… what if I like being treated as something less than a whore.”

Henry was startled at first but then, a delighted and devious grin appeared on his face. “Oh, Alayne… I just there’s something special about you. Otherwise, why would I be so intoxicated with you?” Henry said and began disrobing Alayne.

“Can I make a request, my dear husband?”

“Speak.”

“Don’t be gentle with me.” Alayne’s breaths quickened. “Make it rough…. Make it hurt. Treat me less than a whore…”

Henry sneered with a snicker. “Gladly,” he said and proceeded to tear apart Alayne’s garments without a shred of hesitation.