"Then why not give the throne to someone else?" Long Cheng questioned mockingly.

Long Kael snorted, "If I do that. Who would want to take care of annoying assholes like you? Cause if I know someone genuinely wants that,? then I will gladly step down."

"Just have a child then. You have a harem of half mates. Choose one to breed with then, train the child to be exactly like you. There, the problem solved. You would have the freedom that you have always wanted." Long Cheng suggested. It sounded like a joke but he knew that it was also a possible suggestion.

For how many centuries, Long Kael was the king almost alone?

Long Cheng's mother, the king's sister had passed away many years ago. He did not know who his father was, as an outsider was not allowed inside the dragon country during his birth.

He was still a young dragon at that time who had not reached maturity. Since that was the case, Long Kael acted more like a father than a king to him.

There was a long pause, Long Kael was looking unhappily at Long Cheng like he was disappointed, which could easily make his nephew uncomfortable.

"It was just a suggestion. The harem was there just for that reason right?" Long Cheng mumbled.

"Really? Then how could I be sure that it was my child and not yours? Should I visit your mate and tell her all your happy times inside the harem?"

Long Cheng groaned, "That was just a joke! You could not do that. " Before, he did have some fun with the harem women. They actually liked him to be around.

However, he could not step around the boundary of the physical intimacy as even though the king did not visit them and most were virgins, they were still the wives of the king.

Long Cheng stood up from the chair. He then placed his clenched knuckles across his heart, "Uncle, if you can save my mate, I swear to all the Blessed Dragons that I will do anything that you want, and else I will kill myself." He vowed.

"You are vowing to the wrong person. Do you trust your mate that much? She was only accused now, but there is a witness. Are you telling me to break our laws and get her out of the prison regardless of what happened?" Long Kael asked amusedly.

It was seldom that the king talked to someone casually. In the palace, he was known to be a serious and merciless king who never tolerated mistakes. However in his private domain with a few selected people, he sometimes showed other emotions as well. Amusement, concern or disappointment.

This time, Long Cheng was aware of the fact that his uncle was making fun of him. He was more like testing his emotions. If he was thinking from his mortal side of the dragon that would always side on its instinct.

"She did not do it." Long Cheng replied with utter conviction and confidence.

With a raised brow, the King asked, "How could you be so sure? I received a report that she saved you from assassins. That means she has the ability to fight and kill a member of the special unit." Long Kael had received the report from Long Jun earlier.

He actually knew about the chase, before it had gotten out of the hands. He had actually brushed it off at that time, which was why he decided to just take a nap.

"I trust her. Since she saved me,? I also need to do the same." Long Cheng replied with confidence. Trusting your mate was a given. Regardless of what she did, he would still do his best to defend her.

Then he continued, "She could fight my assassins that also means that if she wanted to kill any of our people, she would have done it sooner or cleanly at least. She wouldn't have left any traces behind."

Long Kael nodded his head, "Well I still would like to congratulate you. At least you managed to meet her before she died. In case she dies," he said almost bitterly.

"Uncle.. Please do not talk like that," Long Cheng requested,? sounding frustrated. He then sat on the chair nearest to Long Kael.

He was silently envious of his nephew. Long Kael had made the wrong choices before, that forced him to please the people of his country, especially the elders who offered their daughters to be a part of the royal family. Despite that, he was still blessed to meet his mate in this lifetime and he would like to take advantage of that.

Was it his retribution for being unfaithful that caused his mate to be hurt whenever he touched her? If that was the case, he immediately needed to find out how to fix that.

He also knew that she would not appreciate being part of a harem. Long Kael needed her to be head over heels in love with him first, before telling her everything. That was the reason why he was closely monitoring Mo Rin so he could keep things under control.

Long Cheng ran his hand on his face, "I don't know what to do.. Please help me, uncle.." He said, watching his uncle looking at a particular book on his shelf, before taking it to read.

There were stacks of books inside his office. No one really knew what the king liked to read, but he was known to have a large library of his own collection.

Right now, Long Kael was particularly reading a famous book titled, 'Dragon's mate'. It was a book that explained how mating worked.

Everything, from types of mates a dragon could have or limitations.

There was also a part for courting, mating ceremony, acceptance of the dragon spirit for outsiders. The book also had more detailed information regarding fertility.

"Uncle, I already vowed. Please help me!" Long Cheng asked sounding extremely frustrated since Long Kael was not paying attention to him anymore.

***