The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL]-Chapter 323: Practice Makes Panic

Riley watched as Kael kept shaking his head like a fly was persistently bothering him, and he had to bite back a laugh.

He knew.

He knew his biggest baby was annoyed as hell.

So he reached out, picked up a cake pop, and held it out as an offering.

"Care for one, honey?" he asked sweetly.

Kael looked at him with that familiar stare.

Narrowed eyes.

A sinful mouth.

Then an arm slid around Riley’s waist, pulling him in close in a way that left no room for misinterpretation.

But as expected, Kael stopped scowling at the children.

Not because he had forgiven them.

But because he had to care more about eating that cake pop.

Then again, Riley found it funny because the children were far too busy to notice.

Yes.

They were most definitely busy with everything and anything.

For Liam, it was as if he had woken up after a massive reboot.

In truth, everyone had still been concerned about the effects of Orien’s heart on his little brother. Their parents had barely gotten a wink of sleep, watching the children closely for even the slightest change.

But they had held back their worry because, contrary to everything they had feared, the children woke up full of energy.

No complaints.

No pain.

Nothing that felt remotely wrong.

They were apparently doing fine.

Fantastic, even, according to one small baby who literally shone with his crystals.

While Liam had shown a moment of uncertainty before passing out the previous day, he now looked as if he genuinely enjoyed being in that form.

Of course, it came with a lot of crashes.

Vases were knocked over.

Tables were misjudged.

Corners were clipped with alarming enthusiasm.

"Careful!" someone called out, just as a decorative piece toppled sideways.

Before it could hit the floor, a soft glow flared.

Renee flicked her fingers, and the vase floated back into place as if nothing had happened.

"Eyes forward," she said calmly, already fixing another displaced ornament with magic.

The children barely noticed.

They were too busy facing each other.

Liam held up his cake pop proudly and said, without noticing everyone else watching, "Of course, I’d be happy to give you a bite."

Orien leaned in.

Took a bite.

Then another.

Then another.

He froze.

Slowly, he looked down at the empty stick in his hand.

His eyes widened.

"I ate it," he said, horrified. "I ate all of it."

Liam blinked.

Then smiled brightly.

"It’s okay," he said. "If it’s you, Orien, then it’s fine. My father always said the same thing to my mom."

Silence.

The little golden dragonling’s scales turned a shade of red so fast it was impressive.

"What?" he sputtered. "No, that’s not, I didn’t mean, I just..."

Orien immediately puffed up, wings flaring halfway as if sheer indignation might undo reality itself. His tail lashed once. Then twice. His paws curled and uncurled against the floor in clear distress.

The great him couldn’t possibly keep increasing his debt! Moreover, considering how the mighty golden dragonling didn’t have anything but gold at the moment, he couldn’t even begin to offer compensation for the bead!

It hadn’t even been a day since that happened!

Which was exactly why, with a dramatic huff and a fierce nod of resolve, Orien shoved his own cake pop straight into Liam’s hands.

"There. Now it’s even."

The little sprite dared to laugh at him.

His wings snapped shut.

His tail flicked once more.

And he turned away far too quickly for anyone to miss how red he still was.

The children took off again, running through the space, chasing each other as adults called out halfhearted warnings.

"Slow down."

"Watch where you’re going."

They didn’t particularly listen.

They collided.

Tangled.

And promptly rolled onto the floor in a laughing heap.

Riley watched them, smiling softly, and wondered if he would experience something like that once he could consciously shift.

He probably would.

It helped that he had a momentary taste of it when he first transformed.

He knew what it felt like when the center of gravity suddenly changed.

How half the shelved items were out of reach.

How familiar spaces could feel strange and new all at once.

Heck, just last night, he once again discovered things about himself that shocked him.

It had been unsettling.

But it had also been relieving.

Like unlocking a full identity that had always been there. He didn’t feel particularly incomplete before and had never been big on trying to find himself, but that was something that was having even greater appeal to him now.

So maybe that was also how a certain little dragonling felt.

It wasn’t as obvious now, but the same child who had just been caught sneaking one cake pop too many probably had a similar realization after last night’s events.

Thankfully, Orien, for some reason, looked refreshed.

If they hadn’t known how hard the child had cried the night before, they wouldn’t have appreciated how spirited he looked today.

It was as if he had cried everything out and was completely ready for a new life.

Then again, it wasn’t hard to wake up happy for children who had just been told they would get water park reservations today.

They didn’t listen much to the logistics.

But one particular dragonling couldn’t help but focus on the implied trip to the temple.

A dream that was so well within reach, if not for the surprise exam sprung on them by one scowling uncle.

"!!!"

"Uncle! What do you mean we’re included, but it’s t-tentative?!" Golden eyes were as wide as he was aghast.

Orien couldn’t believe he was hearing something that sounded eerily ominous!

"It’s just as you heard. I was told it would be easier to have more people on the reservation than add someone afterwards." As a Dravaryn, of course, they could probably just obtain the entire waterpark, but they were going in disguise and must act as others would.

The children froze at the news.

At first, they couldn’t understand why that would be the case when they had already been doing well with practice. But then Orien looked over and remembered that Liam had just transformed.

And at this point, he still hadn’t tried to go back into his human form!

Oh no!

There was a collective gasp with the realization, and the duo honestly sounded like an entire gaggle of similarly shocked children.

"What about the skewers?"

"The floaters!"

They were valid concerns in the mind of one golden dragonling.

But more importantly, what about the bottled lightning?!