Rayna's POV
The palace had been alive with movement since dawn.
By midday, with the sun blazing high overhead, not a trace of weariness could be seen in its walls.
Servants hurried through corridors, polishing corners, scrubbing windows, and sweeping chambers until every surface gleamed.
In the kitchens, the clatter of pots and the fragrance of simmering spices filled the air as cooks prepared a grand feast.
Outside, soldiers inspected the gates and sharpened their formations, reviewing every detail of the security framework.
And in the midst of it all, Soren and Darian darted from place to place, their voices rising over the din.
To anyone watching, it seemed Soren had little patience for his younger brother—his sharp remarks, his exasperated sighs, the way he rolled his eyes at Darian's antics.
Yet beneath it, his actions betrayed something else: a constant watchfulness, a quiet hand ready to steady Darian when he faltered.
For all his protests, Soren cared far more deeply than he let on.
A few days ago, when I asked Soren why the palace always felt like a cage to him, his answer lingered with me.
He said he felt suffocated here. His choices were already decided for him.
Everything here, he said, was imposed: where he could go, what he could do, even whom he should love. What he longed for was freedom—freedom to wander, to rest without duty pressing at his shoulders, to choose a partner not for politics or lineage, but by love.
"If I hadn't left," Soren told me, his voice low, "I'd have been trapped forever."
So Soren left. When the Vukari village asked for a Guardian to protect them from the half-beasts at their borders, Soren took the chance. He slipped away without hesitation. He said even though he grew up in the Beast City, he didn't really want to stay there any longer.
When he reached Vukari village, Soren told me the air in Vukari was lighter, the people friendlier and cool, and life was far less suffocating than it was in these gilded walls.
Soren also told me that if he hadn't gone to Vukari village, he would have never met me.
"Hehe, I'm glad he ran away," I whispered to myself with a smile.
No one should be forced to live a life decided by others. We deserve to walk our own paths. And I've always believed one thing—whatever happens, happens for the good. Even if it feels messy, confusing, or completely out of place at the time, it all happens for a reason.
As I was lost in thought, I suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning, I found Ezra standing there, his usual easy smile on his face.
"Is Yunxi still in the market?" I asked.
Ezra nodded. "Yeah. He wanted to look through the herbs and ended up exploring the rest of the stalls too. First thing in the morning, and he was already gone."
I gave a faint smile. "That's good. He was getting bored here."
Ezra chuckled in agreement before tilting his head at me.
"So, Rayna... did you find anything interesting in the archive? Anything useful?"
Yesterday, I had taken the key from Darian and visited the archive.
I gave a small shrug. "Not particularly. Plus, it was so big, I couldn't minutely check the entire archive. I only checked the spot where Darian told me to check. There wasn't much in detail about dragons. But... there was this one scroll that caught my eye."
Ezra shifted toward the window-side platform and settled down, patting the space beside him.
I joined him, still turning over the words I had read in the archive.
"It said something about dragons," I began, my voice low with wonder. "That they don't live on land at all. They belong to a realm above... in the skies."
Ezra nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, among the clouds. That's why the dragon clan is so distant."
I let my gaze drift upward, imagining it — a world high above, endless stretches of white and blue, a place untouched by the ground.
"In the clouds... it must be breathtaking," I murmured. "Do you think we could ever go there?"
He gave me a small smile, almost teasing. "Well, you're a dragon. Of course you could."
That wasn't enough. I felt it in my chest, a certainty. "I don't want to go alone," I said softly.
"I want to take you, Soren, Yunxi... all of you. My mates should be with me."
Ezra studied me for a moment, his expression gentling. "Rayna... I've never heard of anyone but a dragon setting foot there. It won't be easy."
"Maybe," I admitted. "But I can try. If I speak to them — if I insist — then surely you'll be allowed. You're my mates. That should mean something."
Without another word, Ezra pulled me into his arms, holding me close against the steady beat of his heart. "You're too sweet my sunshine," he whispered with a smile.
I closed my eyes, leaning into him.
"And what else did you get to know?" Ezra asked.
I told Ezra what I'd managed to piece together.
"The scroll started with the Elemental Dragons—those were written clearly. Fire, water, earth, and air. It described them in detail—dragons breathing flames that could scorch valleys, summoning storms, moving mountains, even controlling the winds. Those were the common ones, the ones everyone seems to know about."
I paused, remembering the rest, my brow furrowing.
"But after that... it got harder to read. The pages were faded, torn. I could only catch fragments—something about shadows, another line about dragons of dreams and stars. That's all I could make out. The rest was gone."
I gave a small, frustrated laugh. "Anyways, the scroll ended up giving me more questions than answers."
It still surprised me how I could even read the scroll at all—a language I'd never studied, yet the words flowed into meaning as if I knew them from before.
Ezra leaned back, thoughtful. "Hm... wait for the delegation to come. If you ask them and they do answer you, they'll surely give you more clarity. I know that."
I nodded, but before I could reply further, a deep dum... dum... rolled through the palace walls.
It was rhythmic, as if giant drums were being struck in unison. The sound seemed to ripple through my chest, shaking the very air.
Ezra straightened immediately, his eyes flicking to the window.
"Oh," he murmured, a slow grin tugging at his lips,
"the dragons have arrived... I believe."