Chapter 167: Things Left Unsaid
What could he be?
Several possibilities came to mind, and Riley’s brain was doing its best to sort through them before it inevitably gave up halfway.
There wasn’t exactly a shortage of beings dependent on blood. In fact, there were so many that one could only wonder why they weren’t running around the streets like it was a buffet.
Then again, with other beings that couldn’t be treated as prey, it would have been counterproductive for them to be so out in the open.
Imagine suddenly biting a dragon in their human form. Wouldn’t that end well?
Therefore, if someone had to pick a favorite prey, the answer would be obvious.
Humans.
Soft, fragile, conveniently replenishing humans.
Riley exhaled through his nose, feeling an itch of dread crawl down his spine.
So what now?
Was it possible he’d been turned into a vampire without knowing it? Or maybe a dhampir? Could one of his long-lost relatives have had a secret bloodline that conveniently skipped a few generations before showing up in him?
He even considered medical explanations—anemia, mutation, or a weird allergic reaction to human blood, maybe because of the contract or the sigil?
But then he made the mistake of looking at his boss.
The dragon lord was silent, his expression unreadable but sharp enough to make Riley sit up straighter.
"...What?" Riley asked carefully. "What’s wrong?"
The dragon’s gaze didn’t soften. "Shouldn’t you be the one answering that?"
"Huh? How would I even know when I just woke up?!" Riley sputtered, clutching his pajama defensively. "And I swear, I’ve never experienced anything like this before!"
Kael didn’t respond right away. His golden eyes flicked toward him, unblinking.
Riley fidgeted. "Sir, you said you talked to my parents, right? Then what did they say?"
"Nothing."
Riley frowned. "So... they said nothing’s different about me?"
"No," Kael said slowly. "They specifically said nothing. Not a yes, not a no, not an explanation, not even a peep. Nothing."
"???"
"To be exact," he continued, his voice lowering, "what I got was a look that forced me to stop asking."
"Wait. You stopped asking?"
The dragon lord didn’t dignify that with an answer. Because how could he describe the look he got?
Riley’s stomach twisted.
It was one thing to hear a denial, or even confirmation, but complete silence? From his parents? When a menacing golden lizard was likely standing in front of them, asking questions?
"How could they say nothing?" he muttered, hands trembling slightly.
The dragon lord didn’t respond. His expression stayed the same, but the silence said everything.
Riley’s gaze fell to the floor.
Was this really something he wanted to know the answer to?
Maybe as a kid, he would’ve brushed it off, thinking his parents were just being... well, parents. But even then, they weren’t suicidal. They wouldn’t just stare down Kael Dravaryn like that and refuse to speak unless there was a reason strong enough to risk it—especially when they had someone like Liam with them.
But right now?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Maybe some people were okay with spending their whole lives chasing the truth, but Riley?
He just wanted peace.
And every time someone decided it was time for "the talk," his life would fall apart.
Like the time they suddenly moved to Dravaryn territory when he was young, leaving behind everything he loved.
Or when his parents sat him down and told him that his father was seriously ill.
Or when his father bamboozled him, only to send him to work for a dragon, effectively changing his career entirely.
Every single time someone sat him down, his life changed. What’s more, every time he sat down with anyone, he never really got a proper explanation.
No explanation for why they moved, no explanation regarding their father’s illness, and no explanation about his work.
So why couldn’t he just ignore this?
If the scary golden lizard didn’t get an explanation, then why would he get one? At least if he didn’t go confront them, then he wouldn’t have to see that look on their faces that always made him feel bad about asking.
It wasn’t even about the gravity of the issues, but the fact that he couldn’t fathom why it had been so difficult to make sense of them sometimes. More importantly, he couldn’t understand why it felt as if they were fine with being misunderstood.
His head bowed, and his voice came out quiet. "...Do we really have to talk about this right now?"
The silence lingered. Riley didn’t dare look up.
Because deep down, he knew—whatever the answer was, it wouldn’t let him live peacefully again.
However, even if he wanted to sink to the floor, Kael—whom he had mistakenly cornered—was waiting for an answer.
When he met Kael’s gaze, his expression was forced into something that was definitely supposed to look cheerful—if one ignored the tightness around his smile and the panic flickering in his eyes.
"Ah, I’ll just... ask them later," he said quickly. "It’s probably something embarrassing. You know how parents are, right? Maybe they just didn’t want to talk about it in front of you. Since, well, you’re... my boss and all."
He chuckled, a little too fast, a little too loud. "Yeah, that’s probably it. They were just shy."
It was painfully unconvincing.
But Riley pressed on, pretending not to notice how Kael was watching him. "Anyway, I’m alive, right? That’s the important thing here!"
He gestured vaguely toward himself, as if that proved his point. "Alive and talking and—mostly fine! So let’s focus on that."
His hands fidgeted in his lap. "Besides, I mean, we have solutions now. There’s a blood bank, right? Maybe we can just... You know... get a regular supply or something. Like a proper medical routine. Surely, no being would be reliant on dragon blood alone, right? Or else, how would they ever survive?"
The words kept spilling out faster and faster, every new sentence contradicting the last as his smile grew tighter.
"We could even set up a rotation or—actually, maybe I’ll just drink more juice? That helps blood production, right? Maybe I’ll just stock up on oranges."
He didn’t even realize how fast he was talking until he ran out of breath.
Kael didn’t say a word.
He simply watched.
The dragon’s gaze followed every nervous movement—Riley’s twitching fingers, the way his smile wavered when he looked anywhere but at the being before him, the laugh that cracked in the middle before dying altogether.
He looked... scared.
The golden dragon frowned slightly. For someone who had just survived something so extreme, Riley’s reaction was baffling. Especially considering that he wasn’t entirely clear on all these questions and uncertainties.
The last time this happened, didn’t they rush to the archives to research the sigil? And yet here was Riley, tripping over himself to pretend everything was fine when it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Finally, the exasperated dragon spoke, his tone even but firm. "We have to figure out what you are and how to fix you."
Riley froze.
Kael took a step forward, golden eyes unwavering. "So we’re going to see your parents. Then the guardians."
He turned toward the door, clearly intending to leave immediately. Impatience radiated from every movement—the kind that came from someone who hated uncertainty more than danger.
But before the dragon lord could take another step, Riley lunged forward and grabbed his arm.
"No!"
The word came out louder than he intended.
Kael stopped, his head tilting just slightly toward him.
Riley’s grip tightened, his voice dropping to a pleading tone. "No, there’s really no need for that! Please. I’m fine."
Truly, he was—because at this point, he felt more like someone who’d skip every hospital visit just to avoid hearing he was terminal.