Chapter 36:

Love or greed!

Who will the Villainess choose?


Akira pov contd.

“What the hell are these shadow demons?” my voice came out a pitch higher in frustration and his eyes widened.

He came closer and covered my mouth with his palm as he looked around. He only took a breath of relief when he found there was no one.

“We will talk about it when we reach the palace. And then I want you to meet someone there.” he wiped his face and I looked at his untouched plate.

“You do not need to stay hungry over it. See, am I not eating? And who do you want me to meet?” I asked as I pointed at my plate. The steak was already finished and I was having the salad now.

“How can you even feel like eating when you were too scared just a while ago?” he asked me incredulously like i was doing something really amazing!.

“Because I am hungry. My stomach and my heart are not connected. So, I will eat when it is time to eat.`` I replied, shrugging my shoulders. “I do not want to die out of hunger before the man could kill me.'' I added when he did not stop staring at me but he once again covered my mouth. His warm palm touched my lips, creating a jolt of electricity.

“Nothing will happen to you. I will make sure of it. We will meet the high priest today and discuss your problem with him. He has immense power and I am sure he will have a solution to your problem too.`` His words sounded like he was trying to assure more to himself than to me, yet I nodded as I did not want to worry him further.

Suddenly it felt like I was the one who was trying to assure him that nothing would happen.

“I am sure, the problem is not that big to begin with. We will handle it well.” he looked at me with surprise when i gave him an assuring smile and forwarded his plate in front of him again.

“You are a strange person!” he commented, shaking his head as he started having his meal again.

“Saying the man who is called cursed dragon!” I mumbled with a glare as I took a bite and he chuckled.

“It is something I enjoy. I have dragon blood in my body. But at the same time I am cursed by the dragon. What an irony!” I was surprised to hear that.

“I never knew you had dragon blood. Didn't your ancestors were accused of betraying the dragons when they were bound to protect dragons.'' I asked, confused and he looked at me with surprise.

“You know a part of the story? Not many know even this. But since I am in a good mood I will share the leftover story with you.” he replied as he looked out of the window in a distant area.

“Many centuries ago, dragons were part of the land. They used to live with humans, but they were very powerful and can breathe fire, so humans were afraid of them.

This fear turned into hatred and disdain with a passage of time. And even when dragons did nothing to harm humans. They were attacked when they were found alone by the group of knights. The attacks increased so much that even if they were not able to kill the dragon completely, they injured them badly, creating more rifts on both sides.

So, dragons started shapeshifting and living among humans. They started hiding their real form. Yet there are times when they have to shift in their real form to keep the balance. Therefore they needed a few allies. Our ancestors were a group of knight who never took part in hunting dragons.

They did not want to take sides as they understood dragons have never harmed humans. So, dragons contacted us and offered a lot of gold in exchange for protecting them and hiding their identities. With the amount of gold offered, they easily agreed as it was enough to keep them rich for generations.

From there, their friendship started. They helped each other for generations. Later it is said that their population started decreasing due to lack of females. Mostly have male dragons and female dragons were attacked more since they are comparatively weak.

A young man of our family, who was supposed to protect their princess, who was asked to marry all the princes of the dragon clan to continue their lineage fell in love with the princess.

They both ran away and married and made love. It was written in our history that the man loved the princess. But dragons took it as betrayal, they thought that we tried to seduce their princess because we were greedy for more money. From the start, we helped them only for money.

The war ensued as the princess was forced to marry the prince of dragons. They became enraged and for the first time started killing humans. To save themselves our clan asked help from the hunters who used to hunt dragons from the start and the blood and gore continued to increase.

That is when the dragons started losing. A few say that the dragons who survived ran away. And a few say that all the dragons died in the war. No one knows the truth. But one thing that was sure was they used their all power to curse our clan.

That the love we were claiming would never be ours. And our clan will kill their lovers from their own hands. All we get in the end is money for which we have killed them.

So, we are still suffering from the curse. For generations the men of our family have killed their lovers, wives and the one whom they promised to spend life with. Yet I am amazed that many women are still ready to marry the men of our family. What a bunch of fools!” he replied, shaking his head.

His eyes were so calm as if he was not talking about him or his family. As if he was not related to all this gore at all. I felt pain in my heart as I felt the pain their family must be suffering from.

To kill the one you love from your own hands. No matter how hard you try to get away with the curse.

“So, that is why you act like a cruel lord. So that no woman will marry you?” I asked and he laughed.

“I am a crazy and cruel duke.” he replied with cold eyes, and i shook my head.

“I would have believed you if you would have said that a few days ago. But now I know that is not you.`` I shook my head as I remembered how afraid I was all this time of him.

“Then what am I now?” he asked, raising a brow as curiosity filled his eyes.

“You are the most wonderful and caring person I have ever seen!”