Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 182 - 181 - To the Royal Court.

The Vaises had always been open about accepting outsiders into their family, as it would help the family grow.

Their background didn’t matter as long as they swore loyalty to the Vaise.

The way to swear loyalty wasn’t as simple as speaking the words.

In the Vaise family, the family seal—which was used to judge Siris as a Vaise—worked as a slave seal for those who joined the family while not having the blood of Vaise.

However, what if a person had already sworn his loyalty to someone before joining the Vaise family?

Would the Vaise family’s seal be able to bypass it?

In normal cases, yes.

But Damien, one of the people in the Vaise family that Raven had always been cautious of, wasn’t normal.

He was one of the best spies of the royal family who had eaten Oathworm soaked in the king’s blood, so even the seal of the Vaise couldn’t do anything.

He was trained from birth, and using his skills, he had fooled even Argon into believing that he was a friend—or, more like, the only friend.

He was so good that no one had ever suspected him.

But Raven, who knew the plot, had always known that, and that was why, even in Cradle, when he could easily learn from Damien, he didn’t.

Because he knew that the future of Damien’s disciple was bleak.

Now, as the upcoming patriarchal selection of the Vaise family was right above their heads, Damien had decided to betray the Vaise family.

However, since the family still didn’t know of the betrayal, Damie was officially an elder of the Vaise family, hence fulfilling the condition to take Raven and his group to the courtroom.

Now, with no choice but to follow the knights to the courtroom, Raven and his group, excluding Selena, Lia, and Graye, who were pulled away, were sitting in the carriage leading them to the castle while listening to Raven explaining everything to them.

.......................

Inside the Moving Coffin (A.K.A. the Royal Carriage).

The golden carriage creaked forward with the gentle rhythm of death bells being politely rung.

Inside, Raven sat with arms crossed, shoulders stiff, and a face that said, "I’m already done with this day, and it’s not even noon."

The air inside was thick with silence—well, it was trying to be, but the silence didn’t last long in this group.

Jessy was seated directly across from Raven, legs crossed, calmly radiating electromagnetic pulses like a human static warning. "So, he betrayed the Vaise?"

"As I said, he was never one of us," Raven muttered, voice sharp and low.

There was a heavy pause.

"Is that bad?" Rufus blinked, lifting a hand slowly like he was back in school. "Because he had that cool coat, and usually a cool coat means main character tier. Are we the villains here?"

Jake exhaled softly from the corner, head lowered, arms crossed, gaze on the floor. "If he’s Oathworm-bound to the king, it means he can’t betray the crown... no matter what. Not even death can break that oath."

"Man, aren’t you speaking a lot these days?" Alex suddenly spoke, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Have you finally evolved?"

Everyone turned to the guy with a deadpan expression.

"What?" Alex shrank back as Nibbles, who was allowed to follow them, sat on his head, facepalming.

Even the squirrel could read the room better than this dumbhead.

However, everyone soon shook their heads, going back to the topic.

Clara, who sat beside Raven, reached up to brush invisible dust from his collar, leaning on his shoulder.

"I hate how he was using his position as the Vaise elder, saying that he still wasn’t removed from the position..." she huffed.

Her voice was calm, but the edge was there—a glint of ice beneath the surface. "The gall to do that while literally betraying our family..."

"Don’t worry, he’ll pay the price soon." Raven patted her head.

"Should I stab him next time?" Siris asked sweetly from her spot on his other side, her eyes filled with hope and knives.

"No," Raven replied instantly.

Siris pouted like she’d been told she couldn’t have dessert after dinner. "But I could make it look like an accident. Maybe he trips... into a hundred stabs."

"Siris," Clara said gently, reaching her hand to pat Siris on the head like one might an emotionally unstable kitten. "Not yet."

Jessy raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Yet?"

Rufus raised both hands. "Okay, so let me get this straight. This guy ate a blood worm that forces loyalty, tricked even Raven’s terrifying father, and now he’s using his fake elder badge to legally escort us to what is clearly a trap, and we’re just... going with it?"

"Yes," Alex chimed in brightly, now somehow upside-down on his seat while Nibbles was attempting to telekinetically levitate a grape from a bowl—which was given to them as if showing their polite gesture—into his mouth.

"Because clearly, this is the best course of action for a functional group of war criminals slash national celebrities slash unpaid interns."

"Blargh agrees," Alex added, patting his own chest. A muffled grunt echoed from within him.

Nibbles squeaked, the grape wiggling in the air. Then it stopped and slammed directly into Rufus’s forehead.

"Thanks, buddy," Rufus said with a nod, accepting the grape as a tactical gift.

Jessy stared at them, then looked at Raven. "Are we seriously leaving the three most suspiciously unstable people behind? Selena, Lia, and Graye?"

"They weren’t left behind," Raven said, voice low. "They were pulled away because they weren’t Vaise."

Siris immediately stopped twirling her dagger. "...Are they in danger?"

"No. They are people the royals can’t touch," Raven clarified. "Selena is their own. Lia is a princess of the neighboring kingdom. And Graye is someone similar to a princess of the nation with the most population."

"Oh, so no revenge killing." Siris deflated like a balloon.

She was sure that Raven would allow killing if the girls were even touched, but the plan failed.

"No revenge killing." Raven nodded.

"Internal bleeding only, then."

Clara was quiet beside Raven, but he noticed her hand reach under her long coat.

She wasn’t relaxed—no, she was calculating. Waiting. Planning.

"We need a strategy," Clara said. "The moment we enter that palace, we’ll be surrounded. Even if we’re innocent, they’ll twist the story. They always do."

Jake nodded once, his voice a whisper. "There are chances that they might try to make Selena speak against us—"

Raven shook his head. "They won’t."

It wasn’t merely him saying it.

The way his eyes turned cold the moment those words were said made it clear that he didn’t want anything like that to happen.

Because it did, and then he didn’t know what he would do.

The atmosphere turned tense. No one said anything.

Raven noticed it, so he took a deep breath and sighed.

"Why are we even thinking things like that?" He asked. "They are all strong enough to survive whatever hell you put them through. Especially Graye. If she is with them, I don’t think anyone could do anything to them."

"True," Jessy muttered. "She is the type who defeats demons with a pan."

"Also someone who nearly won against Raven," Alex added helpfully.

Raven leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his voice cold now. "Listen up. I don’t care if they think they’ve boxed us in. We’re not here to bow. We’re not here to answer anything. No matter what we are asked, we will stay silent—"

Catching a grape thrown at him, Raven nodded at Nibbles. "Thanks, little guy."

Squeak!

The squirrel gave him a salute, and Raven continued. "So, as I was saying. We stay quiet, as even the royals won’t try to force us to say anything. We will wait for someone we trust to arrive."

Everyone nodded.

Except for Siris, who raised her hand again.

"Can we preemptively stab if we’re really sure they’re bad guys?"

"No."

"Can we at least look like we might stab someone?"

"...Fine."

Siris beamed like a child given a candy made of violence.

Omni’s voice suddenly rang for everyone to hear—sharp, ancient, and just a little smug.

"You guys could just let me talk. A few choice words, and everyone in that palace would soil themselves. I ain’t even gotta raise my voice—just hit ’em with that cosmic vocabulary. Watch grown gods cry."

He paused, then added with a grin you could feel through the tattoo. "Bet even the throne would shake a little."

"Not now, Omni. This is serious," Raven sighed.

"But what if I say please?" Omni cooed.

"You’re a sword."

"Yet I have more charm than most people you know."

"...Why can’t I bring myself to call you wrong?"

The others merely stared at Raven, the interaction making them raise a brow.

"Why don’t we let him try?" Rufus spoke as if he had a brilliant idea. "I bet they would think that it was a ghost or something." ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Raven stared at Rufus, making the guy duck a little as he thought Raven would bully him, but surprisingly the guy didn’t.

"...Not a bad idea," Raven said before shaking his head. "But still a no."

Before Rufus could even celebrate his first compliment from Raven, the carriage began to slow.

They’d arrived.

Outside, the Grand Palace rose like a marble monster—glittering white stone, golden towers, and too many guards to be "coincidental security."

The moment the carriage doors opened, the group stepped out as one. They were like eight weapons—Nibbles included—disguised as people and an animal.

Nibbles literally radiated menace as he floated slightly above Alex’s head like a divine mascot.

Raven stepped forward, eyes meeting the approaching royal attendant.

"Lead the way," he said.

But in his mind, a very different line formed.

’Try anything... and we’ll turn your Grand Palace into modern art.’

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