Dragon Genesis: I Can Create Dragons - Chapter 460

Chapter 460: Don’t act like you have won yet.

“It is decided then.

Aelindra will inform Kael when we face a wood shortage, and Kael will have a week to find out all the necessary information that we need.

Till then, our men will remain behind the Walls.”

After the council meeting continued for about fifteen more minutes, Morvain finally concluded.

“You are all dismissed.”

She ordered, staring at the elders.

The Elders nodded and stood up one by one, ready to leave, but then—

“Lavinia, you stay.”

Morvain ordered as she stared at the Mage.

Lavinia frowned at those words, the rest of the elders froze, but honestly, they all expected something like this to happen, and they knew it was better for it to happen now than later when something worse happens.

Both Lavinia and Morvain were important for the people; the two of them needed to be on the same page.

So with that thought in their minds, the other Council Members started leaving—everyone but Kael.

He was going to stay.

But—

“I said you are all dismissed.”

Morvain spoke, staring at Kael, who hadn’t moved.

“I am—”

Kael wanted to refuse, ready to go against even Morvain if that was what was needed, but Lavinia slowly turned towards him and nodded with a meaningful look on her face.

Kael frowned, tilting his head as if asking whether she was sure, and only after Lavinia nodded again did Kael finally walk out—and he didn’t do it without staring at Morvain one last time, as if warning her not to do something foolish.

Once the Dragon Rider finally left and the doors of the Council Hall were closed,

“He cares for you, quite a lot.”

Morvain commented, staring at the door Kael had just walked out of.

“I am fortunate.”

Lavinia answered with a simple nod.

At those words, Morvain raised her head and stared at the standing Lavinia; then, she gestured for her to sit. Lavinia followed and made herself comfortable; it seemed like she had no intention of saying anything until Morvain did.

“You are fortunate and ambitious.”

Morvain commented.

“I believe you can use that word for me, yes.”

Lavinia nodded.

“But I cannot use the same word for Kael.”

Morvain stared at Lavinia.

“What do you mean?”

Lavinia tilted her head, confused, and the Matriarch sighed from exhaustion.

“Stop with the games, Lavinia.

You know what I am trying to say.”

“I do not.”

Lavinia didn’t budge.

For a moment, the hall turned silent; the Matriarch and the Seventh Vein just stared at each other, trying to read each other’s faces while trying to hide their own thoughts.

Then finally—

“You enjoy it, don’t you?”

Morvain questioned.

“Enjoy what?”

Lavinia tilted her head again.

“Playing these games.”

Morvain answered.

“I—”

Lavinia wanted to answer but—

“Humiliating a Council Member.

Twisting a vote to your liking.

Using fear and chaos as tools.

You enjoy all of it.”

Morvain said directly.

“You make it sound poetic.”

Lavinia smiled faintly.

“I’m not joking.”

Morvain spoke in a firm tone.

“You’ve turned my Council into your stage.”

“Your Council?”

Lavinia raised an eyebrow.

“Funny. I thought it was supposed to belong to the people.”

Morvain stared at Lavinia for a moment and then—

“You are dangerous.”

“I’m effective.”

Lavinia answered.

“You have no respect for order.”

“I have no patience for incompetence.”

Everything Morvain said, Lavinia had a retort ready; it was quite… infuriating.

Their eyes met again; Morvain now seemed angry, Lavinia, however, was still the same as before.

“You do realize your actions are involving him in something he does not want to be a part of, correct?”

Morvain spoke. For a moment, Lavinia stayed silent—this time, the retort did not come right that instant.

But still, Lavinia was prepared.

“I know what I am doing.”

“Do you?”

Morvain raised her eyebrow.

“You think Kael cannot fight his own battles,”

Morvain continued,

“So you swing blades in his name. You humiliate his enemies, threaten the Council, and call it protection.

You’re making him into something he’s not.”

“And who do you think I am doing this for?”

Lavinia questioned, but this time, instead of arguing or raising her voice, Morvain looked at her and,

“Do you?”

She asked in a low voice, and once again, Lavinia turned silent.

“You think you are doing this all for Kael, but are you really? Does Kael really want whatever it is you are preparing for him?”

For a moment, Lavinia lowered her head. She seemed to be… hesitating.

Morvain didn’t push her either; she waited for her to answer.

And Lavinia did—

“He doesn’t have a choice.”

Morvain narrowed her eyes at those words, and Lavinia raised her head, staring at her.

“He is a Hero summoned from another world to protect ours. I do not believe in fate or destiny, but someone like Kael cannot avoid battles in the future.

Be it the Twilight, Xenthalor, or Drakthar, they will all come for him eventually. The power he holds is simply too strong for him to not be involved in this mess. Unlike the rest of us, Kael simply cannot stay hidden in the corner of the world.

One day, he will need to face his enemies. You think he will be able to do it if he stays the way he is?”

Lavinia asked.

“So you plan to change him to what suits you?”

Morvain raised her eyebrow.

“No, I plan to change him to what I believe will keep him the safest.”

“And what about my people? What are we in your eyes? People you can sacrifice to protect what is yours?”

The Matriarch narrowed her eyes.

“No, your people will simply be the people Kael saves.”

“Save or recruit?”

Morvain questioned directly.

Lavinia sighed softly.

She knew Morvain was no fool. The Matriarch knew what she had been doing—the cult-like following Kael now had, the continuous rise in the number of people who believed in Kael, the shift of power in the Council Meeting.

It all led to one simple ending.

And Lavinia knew Morvain could see it as well.

“I do not know who our final enemy is. I do not know how strong they are. I do not know how strong we will become by the end,

But I do know one thing—

Whatever happens, no group or force will be able to avoid it, and the Velmourns will not be an exception to that either.”

“That does not answer my question.”

Morvain shook her head.

“It does.”

Lavinia nodded, staring at Morvain with a meaningful look on her face, and the Matriarch realized it as well.

“So my power is what you are after, huh…”

She commented directly.

Lavinia didn’t say anything directly either.

“I will do what is best for the people.”

She nodded assuringly, but Morvain just smiled.

“I would like to see how long you keep lying to yourself.”

Once again, the two women stayed silent. This time, instead of reading each other, they each had their own thoughts in their minds.

The silence was loud; none of them spoke for more than a minute until finally—

“Don’t think I will give you what you want easily.”

Morvain spoke.

“I do not expect that; I am no fool.”

Lavinia smiled lightly.

“You seem quite confident.”

Morvain smiled as well.

Then her smile became heavy and—

“Then again, with everything you have done in the limited time you have been here, you have all the reasons to be confident.”

As the Matriarch actually said those words, her face grew even more emotional.

“It feels strange.”

She commented as she looked down at her hands.

“To watch the power and authority you have slowly being taken away from you.

I always thought that I did not care for power, but it seems I am no different from others—craving power and control.”

Lavinia stared at the usually strong Matriarch breaking down.

It was clear that as much as the Matriarch would try to resist, deep inside, she knew it wasn’t a battle she could win.

Kael is the Warden of Vigilance who watches over every Velmourn, half of the Velmourn Army has absolute trust in him, even Korvath, the Commander of Watch, took his side during the meeting. Now, he is even taking care of the wood. Not just that, Kael feeds more than half the Velmourns three times a day; people literally see him as a God—there is now even a cult that actually worships him.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, Kael has Lavinia by his side, who single-handedly holds the Seventh and the most important Vein of Heights, responsible for teaching Velmourns magic.

With a power like this, Kael and Lavinia alone are shouldering almost all responsibilities. How can one compete with that?

There was no way the Matriarch would be able to keep her power when her people were this reliant on Kael.

“You are afraid.”

Lavinia commented, looking at Morvain’s face.

“…I am.”

Morvain nodded as a depressing smile appeared on her face.

“I am not as selfless as I thought I was.”

She spoke, but suddenly, Lavinia shook her head.

“You are not scared of losing power.

You are scared of losing control. You are scared that once this happens, you will be helpless if something goes wrong.

You are… scared for your people.

That doesn’t make you selfish; it only makes you a good leader.”

This time, the Mage was honest.

“That is different from what you said before.”

Morvain commented with a light smile.

“Well, being a good and caring leader is different from being a smart leader.”

Lavinia said jokingly.

“You are quite ruthless.”

“I will make sure the people do not think that.”

Lavinia answered, and for the final time, the two women looked into each other’s eyes and—

“I will do everything in my power to make sure our people prosper and go beyond this island, rightfully.”

Lavinia spoke with an earnest look on her face, and Morvain—

“Don’t act like you have won yet.”

She answered with a laugh.