The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 98

CH98

Tarofu

I didn't bother to hold her in place. It was more enjoyable to watch the guilty try to escape their punishment. The way she shrieked and tried to dodge reminded me of a much simpler time, when my Pyra and I were still running and building the dragon kingdom and our connection with the

humans.

Celestials and humans alike tended to be like this at the end: fearful and desperate.

"No! Stop!"

Ari tried to dodge, but it was no use. The figure of darkness, crashed down on her, as if she could ever escape judgement from me.

With a sickening crunch, the figure landed on Ari, its claws digging into her flesh. Ari screamed, her body contorting in agony. The Elders watched in horror, their eyes wide with disbelief. They had never seen anything like this before.

As the creature continued to attack, Ari's body began to change. Her skin hardened, her nails lengthened, her eyes glowing with an unnatural light. She was transforming into her dragon form, but it seemed to be agony. She fought, twisting and clawing through the air. Not a single drop of blood was spilled. Her dragon scales began to melt, falling away like snow and dissolving into sparks of light that was swallowed by the darkness. I could taste her malice, her jealous and obsession. The more that was unearthed, the more I felt until I could see her whole life, rushing through my mind from the moment she was brought into the royal family to the moment she met Elia and started her tryst.

She wanted to become queen. She wanted Tsuneo. She wanted power and wealth and all the things that her father had wanted and died for.

I wondered if she knew how closely in her father's footstep she followed. After all, her father supported Elia's rise to the throne, not Hayato's. I wondered if she knew how stupid she was. Considerable. Let her father would have sold her off to Elia at the first opportunity. What an idiot.

She let out a last cry, falling back to the ground, completely human. The robes slipped and slid off her, just as dirty, but seemingly more ethereal for how completely ordinary she was now. She lay here, her body trembling, her eyes filled with a mixture of shock and horror. Ordinary, Human. Vulnerable and at the mercy of the whims of those with more power.

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The darkness dissipated and Tsuneo was shocked into silence at the back of my mind. The whole hall was silent. The Elders watched in silence, their eyes wide with disbelief and fear. How did you do that?

We are the black dragon. We are the elder from once all dragons come. It is our darkness that

allows them light.

but I didn't not

and shivering. She was pale

you

said, calmly. "I made

gasped. Her breath caught

said again. "As powerless as you've made them

his son, you'll be

her throat, bowling over and

Tsuneo-

seems for all

unbonded to a celestial," I smiled. "And it seems his talk about you being his phoenix, he has not bonded

a snake like that could see the evil in you would poison

and she burst into tears, reaching for me only to be shoved back to

s she sobbed.

you can't do this to me!

have

and hauled her up. She choked on the very air she was trying to breathe. Her ow

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at me and for a moment he seemed to see me, and I him. I thought of our daughter, the first golden

an Elder began to

until she dies." I smirked at him.

will she be human

exile them just yet too. I hoped it would serve as an example of what would happen if they crossed me. I could bet they'd start scurrying to hide their secrets or push to get rid of

faster.

see what they came up

"Now, reparations

Ari, did