Sol stayed beside Reina all night, he had unmistakably seen a divine bow in Ocean’s hand before he passed out. But why would it be there in the first place?

And Ocean’s words before he passed out.

"Everyone in my game is a pawn, Sol..." Ocean spoke, "yet, I’m a pawn too..."

"I... I’m exhausted of it all... I’m exhausted of humans and this world... I... didn’t want this... Yet, because of the whims of... of..."

Whims of who? Was there any divine intervention here? But weren’t they all forbidden from interfering then what were they doing with Ocean- no what were they doing with Reina? Why were these Gods suddenly making a move? And moreover, why Reina?

Sol stared at her pale and sickly face and couldn’t help but recall the gruesome memories of the war. He was there, he had seen the horrors, but at that time the responsibility of it all was only with all the Dragons and yet, there were a huge number of casualities. But this time, was that responsibility solely on this young Dragon?

Sol felt as if something was clutching at his heart tightly as he realised just how much of a burden was on this young girl. He forced himself to breathe evenly as he didn’t want to pass out or fall even weaker.

This young Dragon had been fulfilling her duty for the past eight years and had also been doing her best to remain above everything. It might just have been the time that she felt like she was on edge.

It was bound to happen at some point, and he was glad he was around when that happened so that he could take care of her. After all, he had also gone through this before and he also had someone who had looked after him. He always found the kindness of humans rather fascinating because of that. Even if there were some rotten apples in the crate but there was one who would try to be as fresh as it could be.

Such humans were rare but it was unmistakable to miss them and somehow, Sol would always end up around such humans and would be forced to see them crack like this.

Sol reached out and held Reina’s hand, it was clammy and warm. She was indeed a human beneath it.

She said she was a pawn in someone else’s game and looking at that divine bow he was able to understand what the bigger game here was. When the demons seige started for the first time, the Gods refused to be a part of it and the Dragons took charge since the humans prayed desperately to the heavens. The Dragons and earthlings were the ones who had fought that war and won... Barely and the Gods were still in the heavens unfazed. But now they were suddenly making moves and had put the heavy responsibility on a young girl and snatched away her right to have a normal life. Sol couldn’t be disgusted anymore.

"Those greedy bastards," he grimaced.

He feared no God even in his present state as none God would dare look him in the eye. After all, it was him who had decided to help humans for the first time. The God of Dragons and the very first Dragon in existence. He may have been weaker than the other Gods but he wasn’t any less God. Moreover, he was curious that they were using Reina for their own benefits.

Did they think he would sit quietly after knowing of their cheap schemes?

He maybe weak but he still held the authority to command the Dragons and could easily topple the heavens which those Gods were so proud of.

The first war with the demons had snatched him of everything that he had come to cherish and now the preparation of second one made him realise that the history might just repeat itself.

"This time, I won’t fail." He spoke squeezing Reina’s hand tighter.

"I won’t let you die, little Dragon. Those Gods can sit like useless beings up in their cozy homes, I am here so, I shall do everything in my power for you." He spoke before he reached out and placed his hand over her forehead.

His heart squeezed painfully in his chest as he tried to summon his mana and he felt the agonizing pain surge through his being as he felt the curse resisting his mana use.

He gritted his teeth and summoned a portion of his mana and blessed Reina.

"I, Solcarion, God of Dragons bless you, Reina Minerva Aurelius. You shall carry my essence and whoever senses it shall know that you stand with the authority of the God of Dragons. I shall always be your guardian and which God or demon dare try to hurt you shall face my wrath."

Sol felt the curse nearly stop his heart but the mana stone hanging over his chest glowed once before he felt the pain starting to subside.

"We’ve blessed each other in a sense," he murmured holding Reina’s mana stone in his hand with a tender look in his eyes.

"Now, I only need to find that wench to weaken this curse so that I could be of any use to you." He whispered and heard Reina’s low groan.

He sighed as he sat beside her holding her hand all night.

As per Sol’s plan the next day, Kai disguised as Ocean stepped out of the room. He had been with Ocean enough to imitate his body language and talking style.

The maids who saw him up and about gasped, "Master?"

"Master, you’re awake!"

Kai smiled looking at them, "Ah, yes... I wasn’t up to it yesterday but I’m all right now."

The maids nearly collapsed with relief before they smiled.

"I-It’s a relief that you are awake, Master!"

"Do you know how worried we all were?"

Soon enough the entire Ryujin mansion knew that Ocean had woken up and was feeling fine. To make them believe, Kai had also eaten a hearty breakfast.

"Come to think of it, Young Master Kai was nursing you all night, Master." Kate spoke and Kai paused for a moment.

"He’s sleeping, let him be." Kai said and the servants and maids who were around to make sure Ocean was all right looked relieved and happy.

Enora, Roan and Remi who were out were also making sure no one was doubting. Sol had remained in his room with Reina to avoid any mishap.

Davian who was also at the dining table was another matter though, he watched Ocean or rather Kai. It was impossible to hide it from his eyes. He knew the person before him wasn’t Ocean but Kai and that Ocean wasn’t well yet. But he could understand that this was probably done to keep the household personnel from being too worried.

But then he wondered why he wasn’t allowed to meet with Ocean. Was it because of some mana fluctuation? Or was he hurt again by some demon?

He was too worried.

"Where’s Young Master Sol though?" One of the male servants asked.

"He’s also sleeping, when he wakes, I’ll bring his breakfast to him." Enora said.

The servants were lively again and Davian was the complete opposite, he had managed to keep his anxiety under the covers but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that if anything had happened to Ocean then, who on earth could help him?

After breakfast, Kai/Ocean stood up from the chair and walked towards the office.

"Ah, Roan. I’ll be off for some work, I won’t be back for a while. Handle everything behind me." He spoke in a nonchalant way and Roan sighed. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"You just woke up from an illness, Master." Roan said and Kai looked back with a smirk that mirrored Ocean’s perfectly.

"Since when did I become so weak that I needed to stay in bed, Roan?"

The servants and maids chuckled while Roan grumbled.

"Fine, whatever." He spoke and Ocean walked away while the rest of the household personnel also went back to their work.

Davian found it his chance to go and sneak a glance at Ocean. But if he was not allowed yesterday then there was a great chance that he would be allowed even now.

He walked back to his room feeling unsettled but just as he was going in his room, he felt Ocean’s energy from the last room down the hallway. It was Sol’s room.

Davian thought of something and then went inside his room. He sat down in the middle of his room, cross legged trying to meditate to keep himself from going into Sol’s room to check on Ocean. But even after he was trying to focus he couldn’t help but recall, Ocean’s drawn, pale face which had shuddered him to the core. He had only been that scared in his life back when he had come to know that his parents had disappeared. He wasn’t sure if it was the same feeling but, he knew he couldn’t live without Ocean being in his life. He had equal respect and love for him as much as he did for Reina after all or maybe he respected him even more. So, how could he just sit there?

After a while, he snuck out of his room from the window and made his way towards Sol’s room. He knew he couldn’t be seen so, he tried his best to be as quiet as he could.

He just needed to have a glimpse of Ocean to calm his frayed nerves. He was too worried to think about anything else.

Davian walked over the edges of the eaves quietly with the flexibility of a cat before he reached right above Sol’s room’s balcony.

He expertly dropped over Sol’s balcony after he was sure that no one was in the room but Ocean.

Davian opened the door and walked in soundlessly, feeling Ocean’s mana in the room. He walked towards the bed with an anxious look on his face before he stopped short in his spot as he saw the person lying on the bed.