CHAPTER 284: CHAPTER 283 - “WE WON’T HAVE KIDS ANYTIME SOON.”

Decades ago, when Argon Von Vaise was in the purge mode, killing any sibling who didn’t side with him, two brothers sided with him.

One of them was the younger brother, Randolf, who was now the head butler of the family, and the other was an older brother, whose power was said to rival Argon’s.

There was no record left of them because, to the public, they were dead, but a select few knew that they were still alive.

For a while, there was no problem with this, as Argon and Randolf handled the family matters while the oldest of them, Varian, took care of the Ashen Expanse.

That was a time when Argon didn’t need to go to the Ashen Expanse often.

Varian, who equaled Argon in raw power, could easily do all that Argon could.

Yes, he had never won a fight against Argon, but they were almost equal when it came to strength.

They were both the two strongest men in Velmoria.

But Lorian, who had risen to the throne at that time, didn’t like it.

He was ambitious, so he couldn’t accept that the strongest people of the kingdom were all serving someone else.

So, he made a decision.

Lorian decided to use the ring of Vaise control to issue an absolute command, ordering Vairan to serve him like a slave.

Argon and Randolf had tried to resist, but they were powerless against the ring’s command.

It had always been like that. Every Vaise had been powerless against that ring as if it were a curse they had to go through.

Since then, Vairan had been serving Lorian like a slave devoid of will.

No matter what one did or said, he stayed like that, serving Lorian like his life depended on it.

Now, while Lorian screamed his life out because of whatever Selena was doing to him, Vairan, ordered to stand outside, stared at Raven.

The hallway was too quiet.

The screams from the king’s chamber had already bled into silence, leaving only the faint hiss of torches and the steady thrum of stillness that hung around the man in black.

Raven slowed his steps. Clara didn’t. She leaned more of her weight into his arm, perfectly content to let him do the carrying while she looked on like a girl about to watch a play.

The man, however, remained steady.

His eyes locked onto Raven’s first, unreadable, then shifted to the limp form of Velric slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

For the first time, the puppet spoke.

"—Protect... any royal... seen in distress."

The words were hollow, cracked at the edges, like a recording played too many times.

Raven tilted his head, staring. "...Huh. So that bastard of a king gave you lines to speak."

It was probably one of the commandments he was given as a slave, and seeing Velric like this must’ve triggered it.

Clara arched a brow. "Creepy. He sounds like an automaton."

"Not an automaton," Raven corrected, though his smirk was faint. "That’s my uncle."

Clara blinked, then slowly turned to stare at the silent wall of muscle. "...That’s your uncle—Wait. You have an uncle?"

No one in the family knew that he had uncles, as the family only knew that Argon had killed all of his siblings to rise to the seat of the patriarch.

Only some elders were privy to the truth, but they kept their lips sealed, so, of course, Clara wouldn’t know it.

"Honestly, I have two," Raven replied, chuckling.

"Two?" Clara raised a brow. "Since when? And who?"

"What do you mean, since when?" Raven shook his head with a sigh. "They were born my uncles, I guess."

Clara gave him a dead stare, making him loosen his shoulders in surrender. "Alright, alright. I was kidding."

"Don’t kid with me then," Clara muttered with a straight face before she leaned closer to him and added, "I won’t say no to a real kid, though."

Raven paused, his expression freezing.

Even Vairan, who was about to move to save Velric, paused instinctively. It was as if he knew he shouldn’t interrupt right now.

Raven slowly turned toward Clara, his lips twitching. "Clara. We are eighteen right now."

"And?" The girl tilted her head, making him rub his head with a sigh.

"That means we won’t have kids anytime soon."

Clara pouted, turning away with a huff. "You say it like you were even trying to make one."

Raven couldn’t hear it, or maybe he chose to ignore it because he knew that if they discussed that topic, then things might get heated soon, and they might start fucking in the hallway, right before Vairan.

Instead, he turned toward Vairan and said, "I’ll answer the question about who my uncles are."

Then, as if introducing a slightly disappointing relative at a family gathering, he said, "Meet Varian Von Vaise. He is said to be as strong as my father. Now downgraded to... guard dog."

"Oh?" Clara, choosing to ignore the previous topic, raised another brow. "And who’s the other?"

"You know them," Raven answered, making her tilt her head. Then, he added after a short, mysterious pause, "The head butler. His name is Randolf Von Vaise."

Clara’s lips parted, but no voice came.

Finally, she shook her head. "The main family sure is weird."

It was then, as if offended by her words, Vairan moved—not fast, not jerky. Smooth. Precise. His focus was Velric, his presence sharpening like a blade honed on a single edge.

Raven sighed. "Yeah, figured you’d do that."

Instead of making himself a target, he hefted Velric by the collar and—without ceremony—yeeted him across the hall.

"Uggh—!" Velric flopped midair like a ragdoll, still unconscious.

But Vairan, reduced to nothing but a puppet, didn’t let him fall.

He caught the boy with both hands, cradling him carefully as though he were the most fragile crystal. His stance softened, the lethal stillness in his frame unraveling the instant Velric was safe in his arms.

That was the opening.

"Clara."

"Mm-hm."

Her eyes half-lidded, she pressed two fingers together, her voice a velvet whisper. "Sleep."

The command slithered like silk through the air, brushing against Varian’s will.

He shuddered.

For someone who once rivaled Argon himself, it shouldn’t have worked. Shouldn’t have even touched him, as he could move out of range.

But with Velric safe in his arms, the guard-dog instinct let him relax for just a breath too long.

That was all the time Clara and Raven needed.

Raven’s right arm burned, red-black scales racing down to his fist, the air thrumming with the dragon’s pulse.

He didn’t waste words.

WHAM.

His punch connected with Varian’s jaw like a meteor.

The wall shook. Dust rained down from the ceiling.

Varian staggered one step, two—then collapsed sideways with the slow inevitability of a felled tree, still holding Velric like precious cargo even as he crashed to the floor, unconscious.

Clara whistled. "One shot. That’s hot."

"I know. I’ve always been hot." Raven flexed his scaled hand once before the dragon hide receded.

Then, he turned toward Clara, noticing her dead stare. "What?"

"Don’t become a narcissist," she replied flatly.

Raven stared at her for a second longer before he shrugged. "He was already half-asleep. Don’t give me too much credit."

"Better." Clara nodded.

Together, they pried Velric carefully from Varian’s unconscious arms. Raven slung him back over his shoulder like nothing had happened, then cast one last glance at the man sprawled by the wall.

"Rest, Uncle. You’ve been working overtime for a moron."

The man groaned unconsciously, making Raven nod with sage-like wisdom. "Yeah, I know. It’s hard being the only sane person around idiots."

Clara raised a brow at those words but decided not to break his imagination that he was sane.

Raven didn’t look back at Vairan as he adjusted his grip on Velric and strode toward the chamber doors, Clara twirling lazily behind him.

The expensive doors groaned as he pushed them open.

Inside, there was silence. No flames. No screams. Only the smell of blood, the faint crackle of power lingering in the air, and two pairs of eyes waiting in the dim glow—Selena’s, cold as winter steel, and Siris’s, sharp and alert—both standing over the broken form of King Lorian.

Raven stepped through the threshold, Clara gliding in at his side.

"...Well," Raven muttered, lips quirking in amusement, "didn’t wait for me, huh?"