The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 122

CH122 Tsuneo

"With them? Yes. You? No... But Pyra and Morgan do. He shook his head. "Those that have their own agendas will be looking to exploit your doubts. You must be ready."

I nodded, though the weight of his words settled heavily on my shoulders.

"And what about... Siora?" I asked, my voice quiet. The name had been haunting me ever since Morgan told me about her. "Does she have something to do with... this uneasiness you feel?"

Tarofu's eyes darkened, a flicker of pain crossing his face. "Siora... was our daughter," he admitted, his voice tinged with sorrow. "She was our youngest and the only iridescent dragon. She came of age in the midst of the war between the dragon and tiger kingdoms and died merely three days: after her birthday."

I remained silent, letting him continue.

"She was... such a gentle soul," Tarofu said, his voice growing heavy with emotion. "Beautiful, powerful... and a beacon of hope for our people. But the war... it took everything from us. Sioral wasn't a warrior by any means, but the tigers were out for blood and conquest. She was killed. The loss was... devastating.'

I felt a chill run through me as I listened, the weight of his words pressing down on my chest. I could see the pain etched into his features, the memory of their daughter's death still raw, even after all this time.

"Pyra... Pyra couldn't bear the loss," Tarofu continued, his voice barely more than a whisper now. "It sent her into a madness... a rage that consumed her. She blamed herself, blamed me, blamed the entire world. The pain of losing Siora twisted her into something unrecognizable. She became consumed by her anger, her grief, and she lashed out at anyone who dared come near her. The fight raged for several more weeks, nearly reducing all of the realms to ashes."

The image of Pyra, the phoenix, destroying the realm was difficult to process. Unheard of, but I could see that ruthlessness in Morgan, I could believe that it had happened.

"I'm sorry

"I don't know if Pyra thinks I remember or not, but she cannot fall to her rage, he grief, again. There will be no rekindling her. I rose the veil between the realms to try and contain the damage and force her to be reborn."

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My heart sank. "You... You had to kill her?"

He closed his eyes and gave one nod. "She would have killed everyone, her children and in the end herself when she'd realized what she'd done. And now, I fear that history may repeat itself if we are not careful."

at the thought. "What can be

quarter," he said. "And

didn't like that

flicker of pride. "You have grown stronger than I could have ever imagined, Tsuneo... You remind me of our eldest son

I blinked. "Your eldest?"

nodded. "The one for which you were named. He was a golden dragon and ruled after our daughter as she had no

I was named for

over it," He said, the hall grew hazy

slowly, I started to wake. I looked up at the ceiling, taking in the silence of the morning. Morgan was still asleep beside me. I swallowed, turning

My mother was alive.

longer teetereing on the

so in consequential. Tarofu chuckled from the back of my mind. His amusement was warm and settling. He seemed happy. The gloom that had

voice laced

I nodded. "Just thinking."

"Too early."

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cheek. "Go back to sleep.

hm?"

Did she know that Pyra had lost her mind? Morning light streamed through the windows of our chambers, slowly brightening the room. I slipped from bed, leaving Morgan there. I dressed and headed out, running into Maya and Anya in the hallway. I couldn't help but smile at how

ladies." I nodded back toward the door. "The queen

her busy all night,

smirked at Maya. "Noy just yet, Lady Maya. Though I'm sure you'll be the first to

pulled a face. "No. I have no interest in what you get

laughed. "That's good

and headed toward my office. I got there and saw the stack of files on the table. I sighed and opened, them flipping through them, growing more on edge every

were all rejections. I left my office to find

mean that