The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 121

The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

CH121

Morgan

Tsuneo seemed a bit troubled by what I was saying, but for a while we said nothing. After a moment, Tsuneo eventually walked away to tend the fire. I watched Tsuneo, as he tended to the fire, and I couldn't help but feel the weight of everything pressing down on us. Pyra stirred within me, her presence faded to the back of my mind. It wasn't just the Convening that loomed-it was the uncertainty of how much control we truly had over our own lives now that we were tied to Tarofu and Pyra.

As I sat on the couch, I looked back to how we got here. It was strange, thinking back to the beginning, when we were strangers, deeply suspicious of each other, and now, we were united in ways neither of us could have predicted. It was a bit funny. With the Convening coming. everything felt more surreal. Pyra's odd silence unnerved me, and I had begun to wonder what exactly she was hiding. She didn't feel duplicitous. She didn't feel like a liar. If anything she seemed fearful, but I still wasn't sure what she was so worried about. I didn't want to admit it out loud, but there was a growing fear inside me-what if whatever she was so afraid of affected me irreparably? Death came to mind, or pure annihilation. Maybe she'd take over my body and I wouldn't be me anymore. The thought made my stomach twist.

I was fearful, but the fear felt a bit hollow. Like a part of me knew it was unfounded. In some ways... weren't we the same person?

1 groaned.

"Thinking too hard?" Tsuneo asked.

"This not knowing is irritating. The fact that she's dead silent now, isn't making it better."

"I'll talk to Tarofu tonight," he said. "We need answers. I suggest you try to do the same. We can't go into the Convening blind, let alone beyond that

I nodded. "But Tsuneo... Are you assured that he's being honest with you?"

"What?"

"What if they don't tell us everything? What if they've already made up their minds, had some plan in the works?"

"If they've made up their minds to do... whatever it is. It would be best to figure out what the plant

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head. "I don't get the sense that it will be

"I'm glad you

""You don't?"

certain... It's... weird having this whole section

suppose it would be... Human

worry, but we're not helpless,

leaned against him. "It

this," Tsuneo said, squeezing me close. I

his

all the colors there. His eyes locked on mine. His gaze was calm, steady, but I could see the weight of the situation in his expression. "Whatever Pyra and Tarofu are planning, we'll figure it out. We at least have each other, hm?" I nodded, though the worry still gnawed at the edges of my thoughts. "I know. It's just... the Convening is coming so fast. We don't

regretting sending my parents

said. "Not even a little bit.

me and steered me toward

think. We'll talk to them tonight, and we'll do whatever we have to. For now, we

nodded, grateful that he seemed so

smiled, a small but reassuring smile, and I felt the tension in my chest ease just a

Tsuneo

about all of this," I said with a sigh. She

on my mind and body. I was tired, exhausted in a way I hadn't noticed before. Having Morgan awake, beside me, gave me a sense of peace I

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yet there was still an

there was still so much more to come. The Convening of the Celestial Compass loomed over us like a dark cloud, its implications more complex than either

reached out, her fingers

figure it out," she whispered.

nodded, giving her hand

that, we both closed our eyes, letting the exhaustion of the

in a familiar place-one that I had only been to in my dreams. It was the grand temple at the heart of the dragon kingdom, its towering pillars reaching up toward the heavens, adorned with carvings of our ancestors. The air was thick with the scent of incense, and the sound of the wind whistling

the center, there was

And I wasn't alone.