Chapter 10: Father (?) and Son

The story between Yuyan and the Dragon Mother is actually a reflection of the current situation within pure-blood dragon families.

And the reason it has turned into such a bitter, never-ending feud — well, both sides share the blame.

Yuyan, a pure-blood dragon who came all the way from the East, had grown up entirely within the twisted mating culture of the dragons there.

So, when he later met and defeated Sal’s mother (who at the time wasn’t even female yet), and saw that she willingly turned into a female without asking for anything in return, Yuyan couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of guilt.

In those days, the East was the region where dragons demanding jewels before gender transformation were the most common and rampant.

Yuyan himself had been unable to afford the outrageous “dowries” demanded by those who wished to become female.

Urged by his dragon parents, he finally decided to travel overseas in search of luck elsewhere.

And it was there that he met the Dragon Mother, who was out hunting.

They locked eyes — both of them were dragons who had rarely ventured far from home — and the more they looked at each other, the more curious and attracted they became.

In the end, the Dragon Mother abandoned her prey and, after a wordless exchange of glances, took a battle stance.

The two fought fiercely and passionately, but in the end, the slightly older and more experienced Yuyan emerged victorious.

“You win,” she said. “Then I’ll be the one responsible for giving birth.”

“You… don’t want a dowry?”

“Dowry? What’s that?”

The Dragon Mother tilted her head, clearly confused by his words.

“It’s, uh… like giving jewels and treasures as gifts before… that kind of thing…”

Hearing that, the Dragon Mother finally understood.

There were indeed many dragons in this region who intentionally transformed into females just for jewels and riches.

But the Dragon Mother prided herself on not being that shallow.

To her, as long as both sides truly liked each other, love itself was the greatest treasure.

“Oh, you meant those things. I don’t really care about jewels. Since I lost, turning into a female for you is only natural.”

That direct confession left Yuyan — who was considered a rather handsome dragon back then — completely stunned.

What kind of situation was this? He had never seen anything like it!

It was like a human who lived in a country where marriages cost hundreds of thousands just in dowries — so he decides to go abroad to try his luck — and the moment he arrives, a cute foreign girl stops him on the street.

She challenges him to a simple game of rock-paper-scissors.

He wins two out of three rounds, and suddenly, she confesses passionately and insists on marrying him.

And she doesn’t even ask for a dowry!

Yuyan couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

No wonder they had hit it off so quickly — the “foreign dragon charm” on both sides had worked a bit too well.

Given that, how could Yuyan not agree?

…

“So what happened next? You two lived happily ever after?”

On the way to the tavern, Rayne walked ahead, listening to Yuyan’s story, and asked knowingly.

Because anyone could tell — from Yuyan’s current female human form, and from the numerous battle scars on her body left by fights with Sal’s mother — that things had gone terribly wrong.

Rayne had already examined the wounds.

They were large, and most of them were concentrated on her vital spots.

It was clear that Yuyan’s “ex-wife” — as Yuyan herself called her — harbored deep resentment toward her.

Rayne had several guesses about what might have happened.

But all of them boiled down to one word.

Betrayal.

Either Yuyan or Sal’s mother — one of them must have done something to wrong the other.

At first, Rayne thought it was probably the Dragon Mother’s fault.

After all, from Yuyan’s tone and behavior, she seemed more like someone who had been hurt, someone too stubborn to let go, now seeking revenge.

But soon, Rayne completely discarded that idea.

Because he realized he had been listening to Yuyan’s story entirely from her perspective — and had overlooked one crucial fact.

That this red dragon standing before him — who was originally male — now identified completely as a female.

If the Dragon Mother was really the one at fault, then why had Yuyan turned herself from a normal male dragon into a female one?

A couple argues, and then the husband changes gender?

In that order, it makes no sense.

But if you reverse the order…

Rayne suddenly understood everything — and came up with a rather explosive theory.

“Don’t tell me,” he said slowly, “after you two started living together, you secretly transformed into a human female at home and…”

“…At least my intentions were good,” Yuyan interrupted, her voice defensive.

“I only did it to help with our finances. I saw how other female dragons had piles of gold and jewels, but she barely had any treasure around her. I… I felt guilty. So I thought of a way to help…”

(Oh wow, this is a real soap opera, huh?)

A peaceful couple — and then the husband, trying to make things better, secretly turns into a woman and starts doing what a wife usually would…

Rayne remembered reading something like this once in one of those gossip novels that used to circulate in the academy.

Except in those, it was always the woman who cheated first — the man was the victim.

Here, the man was the one who turned into a woman himself.

…

Yuyan, use your brain next time!

“So why did you later ambush your ex-wife — even trying to kill her?”

“Because she never understood me!” Yuyan snapped, teeth gritted. “I did all of this for her! But she, the one who benefited most, abandoned me and walked away!”

The anger in Yuyan’s voice said it all — she had once loved the Dragon Mother deeply.

And now that love had turned entirely into hatred.

“She didn’t even leave me a single child! Instead, she went off and had a bastard with some dragon I’ve never even met! Just thinking about it makes me— makes me want to kill her!”

“I spent so long finding her again, just to see if we could start over… if we could have another chance.”

“But instead…”

Seeing Yuyan’s defeated expression, Rayne couldn’t help but smile.

Because now he was certain — Yuyan didn’t know.

She didn’t know that the “bastard” she spoke of… was actually her own child.

Even if horns could lie, bloodlines could not.

And now, Rayne was more eager than ever to see the moment when this “father and son” finally looked each other in the eye.