He touched his shoulder and pulled the fabric of his shirt, revealing a thick white scar that looked like someone had stabbed him on his shoulder. “You see that? He stabbed me there and hoped I would die.”

I paled.

He pulled back his shirt and smirked when he saw my expression. “Don’t be scared, little rabbit. A wound is a normal thing.”

“B-But didn’t it hurt?”

He looked taken aback by my question and he stared at me for a second before shrugging. “All wounds hurt to some degree.”

“That’s terrible,” I said without thinking. “I could never hurt one of my brothers or sisters like that.”

“I suppose that’s what makes you so sweet,” he said with a wry smile. “You wouldn’t even think about harming a little mouse. I, on the other hand, am a wolf. Or,” he drawled in amusement, “a dragon, as people call me.”

“It’s because you’re so strong,” I said carefully.

He pulled a dagger out and flipped it in his hand, making me flinch and lean away from him. He chuckled at my wide eyes and waved it in front of me. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said when he took note of my tense posture.

The dagger was beautiful and thin, a dragon curling around the hilt of the blade. It was entirely black save for the dragon’s eyes, which were two tiny pebbles of ruby. Even the blade was as dark as ebony.

“It’s beautiful,” I said once I realized he was just trying to show me the dagger.

“It is, isn’t it?” He ran a finger over the flat of the black blade. “It’s made from a dragon’s fang.”

My eyes widened. Dragons and other creatures were deadly and far too powerful for humans, and it was rare when people took down those creatures. “A real dragon’s fang?” I sucked in and stared in awe at the blade.

“You’ve never seen a dragon?” He smiled at my expression. “I killed it; it was a big, black dragon with teeth that could rip apart a house. Once it was dead, a young man I knew crafted this from the dragon’s fang.”

I gasped and stared at him in disbelief. Usually, when people had items made from monsters or dragons, it was because they had found a dead one on their path. Killed by another creature, it was how most items were forged. To think that he was like Raia, the legendary dragon slayer from the kingdom of gold and sand, was shocking and awe-inducing.

“People called me Drakkon from that point on,” he continued, lost in thought as he stared at the blade. “That was back when I was in Sanguis, the kingdom of bloodshed. Ever since then, I suppose, I picked up that name and gave it to myself.”

Firstly, he didn’t have a family name to begin with? Secondly, he traveled to Sanguis?

“Sanguis? Did you see those coliseums that they’re so famous for?” I asked hesitantly.

He bobbed his head. “Gladiators and bloodthirsty beasts. I even fought in a pit myself.”

“How—” Before I could finish, Commander Bohai entered the room and cut me off. His dark brown hair was messier than usual and he had a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Sensing the tension from his commander, Meilin narrowed his eyes and sat straighter. “Bohai, what happened?”

“Hai got in a fight with Bolin,” he said.

Meilin scowled at him. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“A serious fight or a fight among friends?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It looked serious but it didn’t, at the same time.”

Meilin cocked a brow. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, they both were fighting seriously, but it looked like it was over something stupid... but it was serious. However, it didn’t look like a fight they would hate each other for afterwards.” Bohai scratched the side of his neck. “Does that make sense?”

Meilin sighed loudly and rubbed the side of his face. “How seriously are they injured?”

“Hai is bleeding from his chest while Bolin is unconscious.”

“They’re always so stupid,” Meilin said with a huff. “What was it this time?”

“A woman.”

“A woman?”

“Yes. Bolin said she was pretty while Hai thought she was ugly. They both started fighting because they didn’t agree with each other’s tastes.”

“You’re kidding,” Meilin said with the most flabbergasted and pissed expression ever.

“Unfortunately, I’m not.”

“I’ll have their heads,” Meilin muttered darkly. “Seriously, they’re such idiots sometimes.”

“And you wanted Hai to be the emperor,” Bohai joked with a smirk.

Meilin snorted. “The empire would’ve fallen for the stupidest of reasons if he had been.”

I stared at the two of them for a moment, amazed at how well they were conversing with each other. It was obvious that Commander Bohai was among the men that Meilin trusted dearly and cared for, since he was being so casual with him.

“My little rabbit, Daiyu,” Meilin suddenly interjected. “Unfortunately, I’ll have to cut this dinner short and leave earlier than expected.”

He rose to his feet and rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly, a scowl on his face as he spoke to Bohai about Hai and Bolin. In moments, they both left the room, leaving me to wonder if Meilin was as cruel as people said he was.