The dragon's harem

“I’m here! Did anyone call me?” Zephyr flew through the keyhole of the door, waving her hand as she approached Isdis and Merida.

Arad opened the door and walked in, “I brought her,”

“Finally, what took you so long?” Merida stared at him.

“I was eating,” Zephyr waved her hand, and Merida could feel the resistance on the straps drop. “You can tie her now,”

“Thank you,” Merida smiled, tying the straps on Isdis’s back, pulling hard enough that she gasped, “Don’t tighten it too much,” Isdis cried. ℴ

“You’re a princess. I can’t let my clothes look bad on you,” Merida tapped her back, “Go, show the nobles what I got,”

“Are you treating me like an advertisement,”

“It’s once in a lifetime chance,” Merida giggled, “I’ll have to take my chances.”

As they talked, they heard someone knocking on the door. Arad immediately knew who it was.

“Come in,” He said.

The door slowly opened, and Aella walked inside. Looking around, “Is Zephyr here?” She immediately spotted her chilling on the counter beside the makeup.

“What happened? The link between us suddenly burned hot, the magic you supplied me with almost quadrupled,” Aella asked with a worried face, “You aren’t sick, are you?”

“If I was sick, you’ll get less magic,” Zephyr flew toward her, “I just had a decent meal,”

“We weren’t starving you,” Aella looked at her, confused.

“I was starving myself,” Zephyr waved her hand, “Keeping a lot of pressurized wind inside me will ensure that I vent it often. That usually takes the shape of tornados and typhoons.”

^[Natural disasters are the result of spirits venting their pent-up energy. Zephyr was protecting the lands from herself, by starving and limiting her own power.]^

“You intend to fight Vlad?” Aella glared at her.

“Of course, do you think I’ll sit here and sunbathe?” Zephyr stopped, “Probably I’ll do that, but after I crush that blood-sucking fiend,”

Aella sighed, “Let’s leave this talk for later. The people are waiting outside. We need to get the ceremony started,”

Arad stood, “She’s right. Baltos said he wanted to hold a party in the castle afterward. We can’t keep wasting time here.”

Isdis rushed to stand at his side, “Let’s go,”

Arad opened the door and walked out with Isdis. He could see the people starting to enter the massive church under the guards’ surveillance, making sure they stayed out of the way.

As messy and unorganized as they seemed, most of them were the kingdom’s nobles fighting to stand in the front lines. The marriage of the kingdom’s princess was bound to attract a lot of attention, some wanted favors, and some just wanted to be remembered as present at the wedding.

“Small deeds like this rack up to the nobles,” Isdis whispered to Arad, “Not attending my wedding could get them in trouble like being called over it later, or even being rejected land and favors from my father.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”

“And they can’t afford to offend you. For all they know, you could blow the capital into the clouds with a sneeze.” She giggled, “And it would be awkward for them to try doing business with you later when they didn’t even attend your wedding,”

“I feel like it both makes sense and doesn’t,” Arad mumbled, standing with Isdis in front of Amaterasu’s alter. The priest approached them, looking at both with a book in his hand. ℴ𝑚

“We meet today in front of Lady Amaterasu and the gods of her pantheon to celebrate a happy occasion, the wedding of our princess Isdis Lior Ruris and the protector of the capital, Arad Orion.” He opened the book, “Princess Isdis, Do you Accept Arad Orion as your husband, and promise to share the throne with him in case you win it.”

Isdis smiled, “I know my wedding is far more impactful than the average wedding. The fate of the whole kingdom could possibly be hanging on the line, but I do promise to do my best for the throne, and the prosperity of the kingdom.”

She looked at Arad, “I do accept Arad Orion as my husband, with all the responsibility aligned with that.”

The priest smiled, turning toward Arad, “Arad Orion, Do you accept Isdis Lior Ruris as your wife knowing the full weight and responsibility aligned with her blood and heritage as the princess of the kingdom? With this step, you’ll be in line for the throne alongside her. It is a responsibility far too great.”

Arad blinked, ^Becoming a king means I’ll get a bigger land and more treasures for my hoard.^

“Of course, I do accept her as my wife. Why would I be standing here otherwise?” Arad smiled, “And for the kingdom, as a king, I dare anyone to try landing their hand on it.”

Everyone could feel it, bloodlust dripping from Arad’s words as the air around them felt thicker, making it harder to breathe. The nobles knew Arad was powerful, but didn’t expect his mere bloodlust to strangle them.

“Calm down,” Zephyr flew and sat on Arad’s shoulder, “Don’t imagine it, your bloodlust is getting out.”

The mana reacts to the person’s will and conjures the magic, it’s how people can cast spells and it’s mainly controlled by the brain. When a creature wills death, or imagines himself ripping something to shreds, that intent gets carried to their mana and ends up ejected out.

The resulting waves are usually far too weak to do any damage, but they start having an effect when the power difference between two creatures is far too great.

Creatures have started training and evolving to sense those waves as a form of telegraph for violent actions. If someone intends to stab you, those waves will come before the strike, signaling the threat. It was thus called bloodlust.

On the other side, some powerful creatures discovered that those weak waves could be weaponized against those weaker than them. If the bloodlust is coming from an extremely powerful creature and is directed toward a weak one, the effect could become real, and the will of death will manifest.

In simple terms, the bloodlust of an ancient dragon could kill an ordinary man.

Arad took a deep breath and stared at the nobles, “Don’t worry. As long as you don’t cause trouble, everyone will be safe.” He smiled.

Right now, no one of them could breathe under his bloodlust.

“Ahem!” The priest cleared his throat, lifting a small gold-laced white pillow with two rings on it, a silver and a gold one.

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