Sly wants to bring me outside the palace.
But the problem is that many are still hostile towards me, as Alpha and Orm have not resolved the weird happenings in the palace.
Many thought I was the cause of the chaos in the throne room, when in fact, I didn't do anything.
Except restoring Leon's original form.
It seems that someone tried to paint me as a threat to the territory.
I wonder why.
Sly told me that Lion and Leon are trying to get to the bottom of everything too.
For now, everyone except Sly and me is busy.
Sly is tasked with guarding me for now, a task he does with much enthusiasm, but he told me he is going back to work soon and will swap with someone from the pack.
After Ghost had punished the warriors, he was busy investigating the security in the palace, as it was his responsibility.
As for the whereabouts of Maelsa, he is visiting another allied territory.
I do hope he won't cause another war. I have some suspicion that he may be in contact with the demon lord, as Asmodeus let it slip that Maelsa is working under him.
I must tell dad or Lion about it soon.
...
Much to Sly's amusement, I transformed into a tiny version of myself, tiny enough that he can hide me inside his pocket.
He chuckled for a moment as he must've recalled the time when he was also unexpectedly transformed into a mini version of himself.
Gently, he carried me in his hands and placed me carefully inside the pocket of his shirt.
Oohh.. this is so cosy!
He laughed as my movement seemed to tickle him and finally, I settled down.
As much as I like to peep, my safety is of utmost importance, given the hostility I face in the palace and the threat from the demons.
I just want everything to be over.
It seems like everyone hates me even though I didn't do anything at all.
For now, it's only the pack, Leon, dad and his underlings who are on my side. Oh, and Khamsin too.
Sly told me that Khamsin asked for constant updates and will join us soon, even though he has no heir yet. After the monster incident, he improved his city's security and placed great importance on constant training and exposure to monsters outside his city.
Besides having the city's warriors and guards train in the desert, he ordered them to destroy any cultists they encountered.
As soon as everything gets settled down, we are all going to have a meeting together.
At Lion's castle.
Ooh.. it's exciting! Everyone is meeting up! Yes, even Leon. I'm looking forward to seeing him in his original form.
Yes, it's exciting, except for the fact that we are meeting for the sake of my safety and of this world's outcome.
.....
After a long time, Sly finally managed to leave the palace.
It's a good thing that he didn't meet the rest of the pack or both of us would be in huge trouble.
Although it was a big no-no, he felt sorry for me. I'm a sort of prisoner, despite the comfortable accomodations.
Now I understand why Maelsa doesn't want him to enter the tower.
Heh.
Wait a moment, why is he not stopping?
Sly kept walking on and on until I dozed off.
I don't know how long I was asleep until he woke me up.
After stretching and sleepily glancing around me, I saw that we were currently at the outskirts of the territory.
It didn't take me long to transform back into my normal form.
Uh, why are we here?
Sly didn't say anything, but kissed me passionately while carrying me in his arms for a long time before flying through the air.
He kept on flying without direction, as if he just wanted to show me the joy of...
Wait.
Ah. I read something about how a dragon forms a bond with his mate.
Usually, this happens after a mating period, but what we did in his room is almost like mating...
Blast it. It is mating, but not in the regular way. It's way different than the secondary mating ritual we did.
Since we can't have intercourse yet, what we did is the closest thing to it.
He kept on flying with overwhelming joy clearly on his face, as if he were dancing in the air, which made me realize that he was also doing...
Heh. I should give him a wonderful surprise.
I kissed him softly, making him lower his defenses. Suddenly, I pushed him hard, causing him lose his grip on me and I fell.
Of course he was terrified and he hurriedly flew toward me while I kept smiling at him, while murmuring Ember.
Just as I was about to hit the ground, I suddenly transformed into my dragon form, much to his astonishment, which quickly turned into joy as he transformed as well.
We both flew into the air, without no thoughts other than to dance with each other.
We soared through the air and danced as if the sky was our stage, rising and diving without a thought of safety until Sly gave a huge roar, as if he was announcing to the world his joy.
Sadly, I couldn't last long in my dragon form, so I transformed back into my human form and was caught by him.
He didn't seem to mind as he transformed back to his regular form and carried me towards a secluded mountain.
There, we continued what we had done in his room, both of us making all sorts of sounds of pleasure as if nobody could hear us.
Hopefully.
We were quite loud to be honest.
Good thing that Sly didn't lose track of time or else we would be in huge trouble.
...
Sly had a euphoric look on his face by the time we came back to the palace.
Everyone looked at him with curiousity, which he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he made them even more curious when he kept chuckling out of the blue.
Thankfully, we made it back to my room before anyone else noticed my absence, especially the rest of the pack.
We took a bath together and had another passionate session.
Again, I must confirm that we didn't have intercourse. We just did the...
You get the point.
To be clear, we were using our mouths and tongues at the same time for pleasure, not my thighs.
Anyway, when all was done, we sat on the bed, where he embraced me without saying anything and continued smiling when the rest of the pack entered.
Great timing.
The rest of the pack, especially Lion, looked delighted that I was awake. Sly gave me a tender kiss before handing me to Lion.
While Lion was busy nuzzling me all over my face, the others began asking Sly all sorts of questions about why he looked so happy.
Sly gave a believable excuse about how he was so happy that I finally woke up.
They all seemed satisfied with his answer, admitting that they were feeling the same way.
If they only knew.
But let's just keep it private, as it was an intimate act.
Unless they are the sort to share each other's intimate experiences.
Lion continued to give me little kisses until I asked him to give me an update.
Yes, they will all give me an update, but not before I eat something.
Ugh! I don't want to eat!
But for the sake of peace and happiness, I will force myself to eat a bit of everything.
...
Despite trying to stay awake after eating, I can feel myself getting drowsy and my eyes getting heavy while they talk about something random.
We all ate inside my room as Ghost had cooked all sorts of food with Sly and Orm's help.
Alpha looked at Sly weirdly as he commented that Sly seemed too energetic, before admitting he and the rest of the pack were in low spirits when I took a long time sleeping.
Amazing intuition.
Sly simply smiled at him without saying anything, his high spirits clearly visible, so even when Lion reminded him to swap with someone, he didn't pout or complain at all.
In fact, he just told Orm to take good care of me as he is the next one assigned to guard me.
With a huge yawn, I snuggled against Lion, who squeezed me tightly and instructed the rest of the pack to clean up before they could join us on the bed.
Lion whispered all sorts of words of tenderness and affection into my ear, caressing me gently as my eyes closed.
With a soft sigh, I was about to doze off when I heard Lion asking Sly, who is lying behind me, if I'm still having nightmares.
Sly's tone became serious instantly as he told Lion that my nightmares were getting worse and more frequent and that sometimes I tried to fight him off in my sleep.
Lion embraced me tightly and buried his face in my hair, saying that hearing what Sly said made him decide to accept Leon's offer.
Uh, what did he mean by that?
Alpha agreed with Lion and told him that he would also accompany him.
Where are they going?!
To my dismay, Sly is also going with them.
WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY GOING?!
To their surprise, I instantly sat up and demanded Lion to tell me where the heck they were going and if they were planning to leave me.
They all looked stunned, failing to answer immediately. It made me furious, but I kept it controlled. I didn't forget what would happen if I lost control.
But I couldn't help feeling mad and sad at the same time, so without thinking, I hurriedly ran out of my room.
I kept on running, ignoring the dirty looks from the bystanders, running without stopping until I was outside the palace garden.
As luck would have it, I found a tree hollow where I cried my eyes out.
I hate my situation! I hate being like this! I didn't do anything to deserve this... this...
It only took a bit of time before the pack found me.
I murmured that they should leave me alone as I just wanted to be by myself. After all, they were just going to leave me anyway.
I can hear someone chortling and someone else shushing him.
What's so funny?!
I continued to huddle until I heard Lion sighing deeply, too deeply like he was trying his best not to laugh.
He nuzzled me all over my neck though he kept clearing his throat.
With a glare, I told him to use his water elemental magic and drink until he got bloated.
But upon seeing him glance up while biting his lip and noticing the rest of the pack averting their eyes with faces flushed, as if trying their best not to laugh, I suddenly had a dreadful feeling.
Like I did something stupid yet funny at the same time.
Um.
I think I jumped to conclusions without thinking again.
....
I went back to my room without a word, while the pack followed me, trying to talk about something random in weird voices.
As if they are having a hard time holding back their laughter.
Then I instantly covered my entire body with my blanket and just curled on the bed without moving.
They all positioned themselves on the bed in a protective circle around me. I could feel the bed vibrating, as if they were laughing secretly, when I exclaimed that I knew that they were trying not to laugh and that they should just get it over with.
Of course, there was no need for a second invitation, as they all guffawed uncontrollably until tears ran down their faces.
Yeah, yeah.. I'm glad I gave them the entertainment.
It's so embarrassing and stupid of me.
Let this be a huge lesson to me NOT to overthink.
Actually, it turns out they aren't leaving the territory. They're just training with Leon on the outskirts.
Since my safety is their priority, they are just going to take turns in training with Leon.
I don't want to listen right now. I just want to disappear from embarrassment.
Mercifully, I drifted off to sleep while listening to their laughter.
....
Orm was in high spirits as he told me his plans for us, assuring me that it's alright to spend time outside my room, though he doesn't mind if I want to spend time with him in my room too.
Oh, that reminds me, I want him to make a painting of everyone!
He lit up when I asked him to paint a picture of everyone and also a picture of us.
Immediately, he went out of my room and took all his painting equipment, while I took another bath and changed into a flattering set of clothes.
I don't have any makeup, sadly, but the color of my hair looks good on me, so it makes up for it.
With huge enthusiasm, Orm placed all sorts of mirrors in front of us before he placed me on his lap.
Then he painted us.
...
Oh, if you could see the envious looks on the faces of the rest of the pack!
Since there were only the two of us, Orm spent the entire time painting a lot of pictures of us together in several poses.
A lot of them are a bit... intimate.
But he didn't show it to the rest of the pack, saying it was only for him to look at.
Except for one where he gave me a kiss on the neck.
Upon seeing it, chaos erupted because the rest of the pack wanted one too.
I cleared my throat and reminded Orm that I was first and he hadn't made my request yet.
The rest of the pack looked at me curiously, so I told them I wanted a painting of us all.
It didn't take long for them to position themselves beside me and tell Orm to get right into it.
Despite being exhausted, Orm was in high spirits so he didn't complain and happily obliged.
Of course he is in high spirits, he's made a lot of paintings of us together to add to his growing personal collection of my portraits.
It didn't take long for him to finish painting.
He's certainly a genius in painting.
Seeing the painting brought tears to my eyes and I thanked him profusely, telling him that I would treasure it greatly and take it with me everywhere.
Everyone complimented it for a while before Lion cleared his throat and told Orm to start painting him and me together.
Poor Orm.
But he looked like he didn't mind though.
I mind as I'm exhausted and definitely not in a smiling mood.
Of course I won't complain as my feelings for Lion won over my exhaustion.
And the others as well.
So it wasn't a surprise that I fell asleep immediately after everything.
....
It's only Orm that's left as the rest of the pack are training with Leon.
I definitely don't mind as Orm is also fun to be with.
Of course I didn't forget that he attacked and tried to kill me in my monster form.
He didn't make any excuse at all but just bowed his head down in front of me and didn't say anything, though tears kept flowing down his cheeks as he tried his best not to make a sound.
As if he doesn't want me to pity him.
I embraced him and told him that I didn't forgive him out of pity. It's not entirely their fault, as a huge amount of it was my failure in trying to run away from my problems instead of confronting them.
Although I admit I was hurt by their actions, even though they didn't know it was me. I don't hold any bitterness towards them. I know it wasn't intentional and they wouldn't have done it if they had known that it was me.
With a smile, I told him I hoped we could learn from the experience and strengthen our relationship.
At that point, Orm couldn't hold back any longer and held me tightly as his tail coiled around us, sobbing uncontrollably as if he felt a heavy burden lifted from his shoulders.
He kept telling me that I'm extremely precious to him and has punished himself greatly with his foolish actions.
I don't want to know how he punished himself.
Still, he told me that he wished he could be with me, but he was forbidden from it and was threatened by Maelsa that I would be moved to another place.
Yes, he visited the tower regularly too, where he waited for Lion to receive the books, hoping that they would give me enjoyment in my dreary situation.
I thanked him and told him that I truly enjoyed the books he sent and I would love it if he read to me from time to time from this day forward.
And he did.