SON OF THE HERO KING

When Kiyohime came from her deeply unconscious state, she found that she was in a state of being soaked in hot water in a bathtub.

"Finally awake, Kiyo?"

Kiyohime's senses went into full overdrive mode the moment she fully returned to a state of consciousness. Not wasting even a second, she began scanning her surroundings for threats and the source of that familiar voice. Her avid and swift response— a habit she had cultivated in all the people she trained and one she followed herself.

It didn’t take long for her to surmise the essence of her present situation. She belatedly realized that she was in the bathroom of her castle on the peak of the 8th Heaven. That realization startled her as she was previously on the deck of her ship, getting packed by Sol's thick meat slab, and now she was suddenly resting in her castle. It didn't make sense to her.

"How am I here, all of a sudden?"

"Well. Since you were quite literally out cold, I decided to come here and brought you along with me. At least this would give you more privacy and the bath is bigger…way bigger than the one on the island or your ship."

Kiyohime leaked out a strained sigh before leaning her head on Sol's chest, resting herself in his embrace.

Presently, she was sitting between his legs with her back nestled on his chest, her body gently wrapped in the warmth of his embrace. She could feel his erection from the throbbing rod lined up against his butt but it was clear that Sol wasn't trying to do anything sexual with her for now. Clearly, he was ready to go but was holding back for her sake. That knowledge made her somewhat happy, if she said so herself.

The other memories, however, weren't really something she could be happy about…

"I can't believe I fainted because of that."

"Heh. People underestimate how strenuous a good session of sex can be."

Sol laughed it off, not willing to let the mood stagnate between them.

"So…who drew the bath?"

"I took care of everything."

"...Thanks."

Kiyohime did not know what she should or could say in this situation.

But at the same time, she was very glad, feeling giddy inside her heart.

Clearly, even though Sol acted pretty overbearingly during their mating session, he still respected her position and acted in a way that would not tarnish her reputation.

Kiyohime did not really care about people gossiping about her, but if they actually found out that she had fainted after a session of sex with Sol, she didn't know how she would find it inside herself to face them in the future.

"I already received all the gratitude that you could provide me."

Sol chuckled slowly as his hands found their way to her front, gently caressing her breasts. The touch of his rough hands on her sensitive breasts caused Kiyohime to shiver in pleasure, her nipples becoming hard from that touch alone.

"We don't have time for this, Sol."

Kiyohime pushed his hands away and tried to calm her furiously beating heart that almost felt like it would leap out of her chest from how hard it was beating.

She was still somewhat tired and positively strained and exhausted all over, physically speaking. Expectedly, she didn't want to enter a new session of intense pleasure, or any pleasure for that matter. It was expounded by the fact that they indeed had some urgent work they needed to accomplish, and as soon as possible.

"How long was I out for?"

"A few hours at best. I guess a lot of stress must have been building up. You had it hard didn't you, Kiyo?”

Kiyohime frowned slightly at his remarks, before sighing with an exhausted note. Evidently, Sol had hit the mark and the dragon queen herself knew that very well.

“Hey, do you want to talk about it? I'm all ears if you're willing to share…”

Sol inquired carefully, making sure to not tread along, with his words, anything that may trigger her. It was hard to establish how they stood currently in regards to their relationship. Just because they had sex did not mean that he could barge into her private life as he pleased. For all Sol was, he was quite the gentleman and an expert when it came to understanding how relationships progress worked.

Still, it didn't change the fact that he genuinely wished to lend her a helping hand if it was possible for him.

Kiyohime stayed silent for a while, not moving or talking about anything in the meantime. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting on Sol’s chest, her whole body was as still as a statue, making Sol wonder did he trouble her with his inquiry.

The silence lasted for a long while, long enough that most people would have lost patience. But Sol simply continued to caress her head, gently, soothingly, not uttering any more words and basking in the silence. His worry remained, but he decided not to be hasty in this situation. He ultimately decided that he would wait for her words and reply accordingly.

In the end, his patience was rewarded when Kiyohime finally opened her eyes, a weary light shining in them.

“Did you know? The Dragon realm has the highest rate of traitors and internal fights by far among all the territories. Be it the first or second generation divine beasts, none can compare to us when it comes to internal strifes.”

“Is it perhaps because we are born with that uselessly high pride of ours?”

Sol came to that conclusion, based on what he knew till now. If he recalled correctly, the truth Tiamat followed was <<Defiance>>.

Meanwhile, Tiamat was born from Lucifer's remains whose path was that of <<Rebellion>>, the drive to go against the current and forcefully erect a path they could solely tread upon.

All of this was mixed with the Divine concept of <<Pride>>.... Pride was always the worst of all sins, and something that would drive anything to end in the worst way possible for those who tread upon it.

He couldn't help but visibly cringe when he thought through that. This was truly quite the explosive mixture.

He couldn't help but wonder just what Superbia, the goddess of pride, thought when she was creating the dragons.

'Well, with how they are, I think nothing good came into that oh-so-divine mind of hers.'

Kiyohime did not mind Sol's silence and in fact, relished it.

She could feel that the moment she started speaking, Sol had pulled them into his dimension. As such, everything she told him here would absolutely stay between the two of them.

"Every time I sleep, I have the same nightmare. Dragons killing each other and me killing them in return. Extending the cycle that has lasted for far too long."

Her eyes reddened slightly as she quivered out those words from her trembling lips. Now, this…was a side of hers Sol hadn't witnessed.

What could Sol say in this situation? For starters, he could not understand nor empathize with this feeling of love of hers that was dedicated to one whole race.

The world he came from was a world filled with humans as the only intelligent being and the greatest atrocities were committed by said humans themselves.

Humans killing each other was as common as beasts fighting for food.

"You see. I… I really hate my mother sometimes."

Kiyohime's words were blunt and firm.

"I know… I think mother likes us in her own twisted way. I am sure that there is some love for us in her heart. But that love, as small as it is, basically stops with just us."

Kiyohime scoffed, "Of course, I understand. I understand that the relationship between the Divine beasts and their children is generally bound to end in miserable failure. We are nothing but large-scale manufactured weapons after all."

Divine beasts had the power to give birth directly by splitting a part of their energy or biologically like most living beings.

The first method was used to speed up the production of able fighters during the time of war.

After all, the chaos Spawns could be created in huge numbers relatively fast. The goddesses needed something to counter this.

"Even so. Even though we are weapons, we still deserve to be loved, right?"

Kiyohime gritted her teeth, "This is why I tried to be a mother to the dragons. I may have shown some favoritism to certain talented dragons like Nidhogg or Kaiser, but I have never once ignored any of them. I know and remember all of them."

Her voice became hoarse and her eyes reddened further, almost becoming bloodshot, "Sol, what do you think it feels like to personally kill the very people you raised?"

It was a question that needed no answer. The simple reason being there was no answer.

"I love all dragons. But the dragons do not love themselves. We are mired in an endless competition because of our own pride. Wishing to stand even higher no matter what."

Even though the small war had just ended, it was impossible to tell if they really managed to kill all the possible traitors.

What about future traitors?

What would stop more dragons from converting to Chaos or simply rebelling against Tiamat.

"I have the blood of my kins on my hands and nothing I do will ever wash it off from me."

Kiyohime closed her eyes, she refused to cry in front of Sol.

This was the last bit of pride she wanted to keep after all the things that happened between them. In the end, she was also a dragon…

“I hate my mother because she doesn't care about them. For her, traitors are insects worthy to be crushed under her feet.

“I hate those traitors who did not hesitate to hurt their own siblings just because they let their pride cloud their judgment.

I hate myself for having no choice but to kill them in cold blood even though I wish I could understand their pain and the choice they made.”

Kiyohime spewed all the relentless feelings that had been clogging her heart and filling it with frustration and agony.

She spoke and spoke while inwardly wondering why she was even speaking about the deep secrets buried in her heart to someone she knew for such a short time.

When she finished, silence returned to the bathroom.

When she finished, she was so embarrassed that she wished she could bury herself within the earth. She couldn’t help but wonder what answer Sol would give to her words.

The answer she received was quite unexpected, all things considered.

“Why don’t you just quit, then?”

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AN: I came up with a new rule. Please give me your opinion. Also I already said this but I can't read comments directly since I am non-exclsuive. So please join me on discord if you have any question.

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