Arvid had found me in my chambers just as the sun was setting, coming to collect me for dinner. He looked exceptionally tired, with dark circles under his eyes and a weariness in his posture. Sure, he had wisely delegated all the complex matters related to the Gunasera family investigation to the ministry responsible for such cases—and he had publicly announced a generous grace period for civil servants who had taken bribes from people to come forward voluntarily and confess. But still, since he was the one who had initiated the entire process and set everything in motion, he felt obligated to be present for the major proceedings. And it had taken an extraordinarily long time, stretching from early morning all the way until dinner after the sun had already set.
Still, despite the exhaustion, it had been a genuinely productive day. Sure, it would inevitably take much more time to fully correct the deeply corrupt system that the Gunasera family had built over decades. But still, the process had finally been started. And as the saying goes, starting is half of the work.
After we finished our meal together, I had offered to massage his forehead since he had complained of having a persistent headache. I was provided with a small bottle of herbal oil when I asked the palace servants for something effective for headaches. I discreetly used my healing spell on the oil to enhance its natural effects, then started gently rubbing it on his temples in slow circles.
Arvid positioned his head comfortably on my lap and closed his eyes, sighing with relief. I rubbed the fragrant oil thoroughly into his skin, using soothing circular motions. After a while of comfortable silence between us, with only the sound of our breathing, he finally started talking.
"I officially rewarded the Surga merchant guild today for the valuable service they provided to the Empire," Arvid said without even opening his eyes, his voice relaxed. "I elevated them to diamond grade merchants—the highest classification. And I sent them a hefty sum of gold for their future investments and expansion. And I dispatched an imperial physician to personally treat the old man who was whipped."
He paused. "The physician examined him thoroughly and said that the old merchant can definitely be cured with the right treatment, and will wake up soon from his comatose state. When he wakes up, everything will be properly fine and resolved."
"Yes, that's wonderful for them," I told him encouragingly, soothingly running my fingers through his golden locks of hair. "And you did the right thing. You're a good emperor."
He suddenly opened his eyes at those words of praise. And he swiftly got a hold of my hand and sat up on the bed, turning to face me directly.
"Then you should reward me too," he said suggestively. His voice had gone noticeably deeper and the tone became breathy with desire.
I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "What kind of reward are you thinking of?" I asked him, feigning innocence even though I knew exactly what he meant.
"Some kind of reward that involves us mixing our flesh together intimately..." he said with a breathy sigh, his eyes darkening.
"Liar," I told him, gently smacking his reaching arm away. "I thought you said you had a terrible headache just minutes ago."
Then I stood up from the bed, putting distance between us. "As much as I would absolutely love to do exactly that," I told him honestly, "you are tired and not feeling well. I don't want to strain you any further so that you can't even wake up properly tomorrow morning. You know very well that once I start, I can't stop myself."
I leaned down and gave him a tender kiss on his forehead.
He grumbled in disappointment but ultimately complied with my decision. I helped settle him properly in the bed, adjusting the pillows and pulling the covers over him. Then I sat beside him and kept gently patting his head rhythmically so that he would fall asleep faster. Which he did quite quickly, his body clearly desperate for rest. His breathing became deep and even, and soon he drifted off into what appeared to be a deep, peaceful sleep.
But sleep came nowhere near me, despite my own exhaustion. I kept watching him in the dim candlelight, and I found him deeply fascinating to observe. I ran my fingertips gently through the curves of his face, softly caressing his features—his strong jaw, his high cheekbones, the slight crease between his brows.
According to the noble women I had met earlier today during tea, Arvid had been every noble lady's dream since he was young. He had been an adorable child and had grown up to become a strikingly handsome man. Even if it meant sharing him with a thousand other women in a traditional harem arrangement—something I found repulsive—many of them had said they wouldn't mind becoming just one of his many concubines.
But that man sleeping peacefully before me was mine. Mine and mine alone. As much as I would love to keep him all to myself forever, I did understand rationally that I couldn't do that. We had duties to fulfill. We had responsibilities to the empire and the succession.
As I was gently caressing his face, one of my fingers suddenly twitched involuntarily. I immediately jerked my hand away from him, sitting up straight and holding my hand out in front of me to examine it. The finger kept twitching completely out of my control, the movement random and unsettling.
Then a sharp, stabbing pain shot through the base of that finger, making me yelp out loud.
I immediately covered my mouth firmly with my other hand, desperate not to make any more sound and accidentally wake Arvid up from his much-needed rest. I carefully got up from the bed, moving as quietly as possible, and walked slowly to the balcony door. I opened it with painstaking slowness like a thief trying not to be detected, and slipped outside into the night air.
"What the hell is happening..." I muttered to myself as I stared at the still-twitching finger under the moonlight.
As if directly replying to my worried inquiry, the uncontrollable twitch suddenly began in the next finger. Then it spread to the next one... and the next after that. Until my entire hand was experiencing violent spasms that I couldn't control at all.
"Aiona! Aiona, please answer me!" I called out to her urgently in my mind. The fear in my internal voice was clearly visible and unmistakable. And my terror must have reached her consciousness because she quickly rose to the surface of my mind, becoming present and alert.
She took in what was currently happening with my spasming hand, observing carefully.
"Oh," she said in a kind of mysterious, knowing voice that I absolutely didn't like.
"It has finally begun," she announced, and I could hear enthusiasm in her mental voice. "The dragonification process. You will need a large, open space and will need to lock yourself up completely away from everyone until you fully become a dragon. This is not optional."
She said this enthusiastically, which I very much didn't like or appreciate at all.
"What do you mean 'it has begun'?" I demanded, trying to keep my rising panic under control. "What exactly is happening to me? Is this—is this what you went through?"
"Yes," Aiona confirmed. "This is the transformation I told you about. When a dragon-blooded person reaches maturity, around seventeen or eighteen years old, they undergo dragonification. But you're different—you're older. The process was delayed because I was suppressed inside you for so long. The seed inside of you has sprouted, now that you've been using dragon magic extensively, your body has finally reached the threshold."
The spasms were getting worse, spreading up my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain.
"How long does this take?" I asked.
"Days," Aiona said. "Maybe a week. And Rhia—it's going to be painful. Very painful. You need to prepare yourself."
I looked back through the balcony doors at Arvid sleeping peacefully, completely unaware. How was I going to explain this to him?