The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 114

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Tsunco

"On his way," Father said. "Apparently, he had a tough tgetting to sleep last night.

Mother squealed. "I wanted to meet him earlier, but it's better for little ones to get as much sleep as possible.

Then, Kai arrived, rushing towards Morgan.

"Lady Morgan, you're awake!" he cried, throwing his arms around her. "I really missed you."

Morgan hugged him back. "I missed you, too. | hope you weren't too lonely?"

He shook his head. "Tsuneo keptcompany sometimes, and I've been learning stuff."

He lifted his head and looked over at my mother. "What's going on?"

Mother caround the table and crouched down in front of him.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Kai. I'm the king's wife, Haruka."

He blinked up at her in wonder. "I know who you are... my father talked about you sometimes."

"Oh, I'm sure he did. Welcto the royal family, dear." She offered his hand. "How about some

breakfast? You want to sit next to me?"

"Can I?" He shuffled his feet. "That feels like a really important spot..."

"Well it is, and | say you can."

Mother led him to the chair beside her and lifted him into it.

She had clearly taken an instant liking to him, and he seemed to feel the same. At least that meant he wouldn't

be looking at Morgan like a replacement maternal figure. Morgan almost seemed relieved. | leaned toward her

and whispered. "Happy to just be a big sister?"

Morgan flasheda grin. "I have a lot of experience in that department, you know?"

Morgan

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Tsuneo chuckled and started to fill my plate.

"You're such a sweet boy," Haruka cooed, her voice Billed with a sense of tenderness.

Kai blushed, his eyes darting away. Thank you," he replied, hi fee barely a whisper.

| smiled, my heart filled with a sense of warmth. It was great to see Kai getting smaternal affection.

She sept her gaze over the table.

"I convened breakfast this way to speak about a few family matters... starting with Keiji."

His mother scowled. "Unless you're going to have your son executed for murder we have nothing

to talk about."

Haruka scoffed. "So tic, and an enabler as usual. Where are their bodies?"

"What difference does it make to you?" She snarled.

"It makes no difference to me, | would imagine it makes all the difference to you," Haruka said. They're your

children. Have you started making burial arrangements?" Her eyes glossed over.

"What burial? Your monster of a son killed Keiji who knows where and tore my daughter in half."

Haruka sighed, draatically. "If your children weren't doing things that angered a man who could kill them, they'd

be here irritating us all with their presence the way the always did. And if you find their bodies, you won't need a

burial or a memorial service."

She snarled. "You may have cback from the dead, but the celestials are not granted multiple blessings." She

sniffled. "The only reason you are here is because the king prayed for return when he would not pray for his own

children!"

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Hayato's eyes widened, but before he could speak, Haruka did.

"If you would like them to remain on the edge of life and death, that can be arranged, but you go far insinuating

that Hayato does not love all of his children. Your daughter tried and failed to kill my son, and your son

kidnapped and planned to violate his wife. If he were any other man and she any other woman, you would not

think it strange that he killed them, so don't feign smoral high ground. You have none."

She looked at me. "If their bodies are recovered and properly contained, it would help them revive

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faster. They are born celestial, after all. Until they are exited, they cannot die."

Everyone was silent, their eyes wide with disbelief child went through all me. | had assumed that Keiji would

remain dead.

"How do you know this? Hayato asked, his voice barely a whisper.

She smiled and looked at Tsuneo Queenly secrets, and your can hardly ensure that he won't get any ideas like

Elia if you let him revive and disappear into the wilds."

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Who was Elia, and why did Hayato seem so uncomfortable at the mention

of him.

| looked down the table and noted that it wasn't just Hayato, but several others. | narrowed my

eyes.

"| suggest that Hayato and Tsuneo manage the recovery and collection of the bodies," Haruka said. "So they can

properly stand trial for their crimes. In the meantime, Morgan and | have a few house matters to deal with." |

frowned. "House matters?"

Starting with Anya.

Images flashed through my mind, and | nodded. We finished breakfast. Tsuneo went with Hayato to his office and

Haruka and | walked Kai to his lessons before heading to Doctor Shang's office.

Doctor Shang looked stunned to see Haruk, but he bowed. "Your Majesty..."

"Hi, dear," she greeted, pinching his cheek. "You've grown up quite well, haven't you?"

He flushed. "Hi... Uhm, what are you doing here? And welcback."

"Here to see Anya. Is she awake?"

He grimaced and nodded, leading us outside and down the hallway to Anya's room.

My heart ached with pain. | had seen flashes of memories through Pyra and the palace of her suffering, of the

torture she had endured at Ari's hand. | admired her strength, but | knew that Pyra was hoping to formally heal

her. When we entered the room, we were met with a sight that chilledto the bone. Anya lay in bed, wrapped

in bandages and surrounded by light.

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"I've just made her comfortable as | really wasn't sure where to start. She's suffered a lot of damage. | believe Ari

used ssort of poison on her."

My eyes stung with anger. Her body was bruised and scarred, her eyes filled were closed as if she were just

sleeping. She was so broken. Could Pyra really save her through me?

Haruka knelt beside her, her hand resting gently on her shoulder.

"Anya," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Its me, Haruka. If you can hear me, | want you to

open your eyes,"

Anya looked up, her eyes wide with surprise though hazy with pain and sleep.

"Your... Majesty?" She whispered, her voice barely a whisper.

| smiled, drawing closer as Haruka stroked her hair.

"I'm so sorry for what happened," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "We'll do everything we can to help you

heal."

Is eves welled with tears. "I can't... | don't think..."

here for you," | said, my voice barely a whisper. "We're here for you. | promise being mortal ill the be least of the

suffering she endures for what she's done."

Haruka looked up at me. "Tfor your first lesson in being a royal phoenix."

| blinked. Pyra seemed curious at the back of my mind. Then, Haruka held up her hand, fluttering her fingers. A

soft golden flstarted to rise from her fingers. "Your fire is the life of the kingdom."

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CH115

Morgan

| nodded and watched her send the wave of fire over Anya. An sighed and relaxed further inter the bed. And

eventually, slowly but surely, Anya began to heal. The shadows of her pain that had clouded her mind began to

lift, replaced by a glimmer of hope. The bandages caught fire, vanishing in the flas the blood went up in

flames. | watched her heal, amazed.

Can | do that?

Pyra chuckled. Haruka wields not even a fragment of my power, but she will teach you a lot.

Why aren't you teaching me?

She huffed. Because you're in the way ofand my husband.

| scoffed, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks.

You'll live.

The wave of energy surged through the room, a warmth that seemed to fill the air. Anya's body began to glow,

her skin shimmering with a soft, ethereal light.

As the light faded, Anva's eves surprise and confusion.

fluttered open. She looked around, her eyes filled with a mixture of

She sat up. She looked down at her hands, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"| feel..." She sniffled. "There's no pain..."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at us. "Thank you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Thank you so

much. | don't know how | can ever repay you."

"The young Crown Princess is in need of council," Haruka said. "And you... were once a noble,

weren't you?"

She blinked. "I would have been, yes...And... if Lady Morgan would have me, | would be

honored...

"Of course, | will." | replied, my voice barely a whisper. "And it's my honor."

Anya smiled atand swung her feet over the edge. A glint of light caught the scales on her neck

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as she pulled the bandages off her face. As soon as saw her face, Pyra reared back with a gasp of pain. My hands

shot out to take Anya's. She went still, but | had no answer. The overwhelming grief that floodedstole my

breath. My eyes burned. | tried to distance myself from Pyra's emotions, but | couldn't. The emotional weight of it

strong.

I was no longer in Anya's room, no longer in the palace. The air was blistering aroundcrackling on my skin,

sharp and vicious. | was running and filled with unease, but | wasn't in my own body. It felt my hair whipping

around in the wind, longer than | had ever worn it. This had to be one of Pyra'a memories. | could feel what she

felt as if | was there. It wasn't just a vision like before. It felt heavier, more real. Her pain filled my mind,

groundingin her world.

This wasn't just a memory, but a personally traumatic memory for Pyra. | felt like | should try to get out of it, but

I couldn't.

The sky aboveshimmered in shades of gold and crimson, the light diffused as if everything aroundwas

caught in seternal sunset. | looked down to see iridescent scales glistening beneath my feet-the ground was

covered in dragon scales, radiant with an unearthly glow. The world aroundfelt vast, ancient, like | had been

pulled into the heart of a place | wasn't meant

to see.

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| saw her.

-no, a young woman, standing on a cliff edge, her back to me. Her hair shone in the light, cading down in waves

of deep black like Tsuneo's, and her skin-covered in iridescent scales, caught the sunlight in a way that made

them sparkle. She was breathtaking, but it wasn't her beauty that struck me. It was her familiarity.

She looked exactly like Anya.

| gasped, my breath catching in my throat. It wasn't just the resemblance. There was something deeper,

something | couldn't yet place. This girl was tied to Pyra.

| felt Pyra's presence surge, emotions crashing overlike a tidal wave. Grief, love, fury-all wrapped in one. And

then | knew.

This was Pyra's daughter.

Her nflickered in my mind, carried by Pyra's anguished thoughts-Siora. She was an iridescent dragon, one of

the rarest types of celestials, and she had been Pyra's heart, her world.

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Suddenly, the memory shifted, the scene darkened, tension rippedd through the air. The beat

turned icy. Bright white gusts of snow swept in, covering the ground. | could hear the distant roar of battle-the

clash of steel, the cries of dragons and warriors alike. The air was thick with th scent of smoke and blood.

| turned toward the sound, my heart pounding in my chest, knowing something terrible was coming.

A man with long dark hair and covered in black scales was locked in battle.

That had to by Pyra's husband. Her gaze swung away from her husband.

"Siora!" a voice cried out-a voice filled with desperation. It was Pyra's voice, echoing through the memory,

though | couldn't see her. "No!"

| whipped my head back toward the cliff, just as Siora spun around, her eyes wide with panic, her wings unfurling

as she shifted and prepared to take flight. But before she could, a shadow fell over

her.

The ground trembled beneathas a massive tiger emerged from the trees, its massive body coiled with raw

power. It moved with terrifying speed, claws extended, its eyes locked on Siora with a murderous intent.

"No!" | screamed, feeling Pyra's fear becmy own, my voice swallowed by the chaos around

1. me.

But it was too late.

The tiger lunged, claws ripping through the air. Siora let out a sharp, guttural cry, her wings beating furiously as

she tried to escape, but the tiger was too fast. Its claws slashed across her chest, and she stumbled, her

iridescent scales went flying and fluttering in the wind. Her wings

faltered.

| could feel Pyra's agony, her helplessness, as her daughter was ripped to pieces. A guttural, pained roar fill the

air as her blood filled the air and thick, wet bands that dyed the snow red,

| was running, rushing.

"No!" A man roared, but I didn't stop or slow down, Fire stretched out as | screamed, fury and rage filling me. A

sword appeared in my hand. | flew forward, desperate to get to her.

| felt it like a The vision blurred as Pyra's grief overwhelmed me, her pain too immense to be wound in my own

chest, a loss so deep, so profound, it threatened to drown me. And yet, beneath

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the sorrow, | could feel her fury-a burning, unquenchable rage that had never faded, not even after centuries.

The tiger stood over Siora's body, its chest heaving from exertion, and then, with a final, brutal strike, it sank its

claws into her heart as tears welled in my eyes and the deep burning warmth in my chest vanished like Ed blown

out match.

1 screamed, swinging. The tiger lifted its head as | reached it and | felt the bite of my sword cutting through its

head. | heard my own cry screaming, then the shock wave,

"Pyra!"