Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 107 - 106 - Situation with Clara 1.

The grand hall of the Vaise estate was usually a place of calm luxury, filled with velvet-lined sofas, glowing mana lights, and the occasional squirrel attempting tax evasion.

But today?

Today, it was a battlefield of glances and unspoken tension.

Jessy stood with her arms crossed, biting her lower lip.

Alex stood beside her, arms hanging awkwardly at his sides like he had forgotten what to do with them.

Rufus and Jake exchanged looks that somehow screamed, "Did you do something?" "No, did you?" without ever speaking a word.

Lia—still Prince Lio to the world—was silently standing behind them, posture straight, expression blank, but her fingers kept tugging at her sleeves like they were trying to crawl into her wrists.

And at the very front, like a queen holding court, stood Clara.

Tall. Composed. Gorgeous. Terrifying.

Her eyes scanned the group like she was calculating the most effective way to crush someone’s ego using only facts and mild disappointment.

No one dared to speak.

Except Siris.

Siris stood to the side with her hands behind her back, swaying slightly like she was waiting for snacks to be served after the massacre.

She wore a radiant smile, the kind that said, "Yay, bloodshed."

Clara glanced at her once, brow twitching.

Then she decided against asking.

Because behind Clara, just barely visible, stood someone no one expected to see like this.

Selena.

Graceful, elegant, always straight-spined Selena.

Was.

Fidgeting.

Her gaze was stuck to the floor. Her hands were clasped in front of her like she was awaiting judgment.

Her shoulders were slouched, and worst of all—she looked like she’d committed tax fraud and was sorry about it.

Jessy leaned toward Alex and whispered, "Okay, I’m scared. Why does it feel like we just walked into the final episode of a drama series we weren’t watching?"

"I think I’m about to get disowned, and I don’t even know why," Alex muttered back.

Rufus whispered to Jake, "Should we pretend to faint?"

Jake nodded, solemnly lifting a hand like he was about to collapse any second.

They somehow felt they were responsible for whatever was happening, especially Jessy and Lia.

’Did she somehow realize Rave’s plan about making a harem?’

This was what both Jessy and Lia were thinking.

After all, a guilty conscience was a perfect soil for fear to sprout.

Both of them had done something wrong.

Jessy, not knowing whether Clara would accept the harem thing, had motivated Raven by saying she would, and Lia, for whatever reason, had made Raven firm about making a harem.

Now, both of them feared they would be the ones turned into scapegoats.

But just then—

The door opened.

And Raven walked in.

He was still brushing squirrel fur off his shoulder.

He stepped into the hallway, took one look around, and paused mid-step.

"...Did I miss a funeral?"

His eyes ping-ponged across the room, landing on Clara.

Then Selena.

Then Clara again.

Then Selena again.

Then Siris—who smiled and gave a little wave.

"...Nope," Raven said, turning around. "Not my plotline today, I’m out."

Clara’s voice cut through the air like a blade of emotional tension. "Raven."

He flinched.

Looking into her eyes, he could tell she had found something out, and just like Jessy and Lia, he also felt guilty.

After all, despite having her, he wanted to make a harem.

He stared at her for a full minute before both took a deep breath while the rest stood with their breaths held.

"I need to talk to you alone." X2

To everyone’s surprise—including their own—Raven and Clara had said those words simultaneously.

Now that was suspicious.

The room fell into chaos-level silence.

A squirrel in the ceiling sneezed and regretted it as all eyes turned toward it.

With its tongue stuck out, it sneaked behind one of the pillars, only to never appear again.

Siris tilted her head. "Ooooh~ that squirrel is good at stealth."

Jessy blinked. "Damn, both of them said the same thing. It should be a good sign, right?"

Rave’s sharp ears caught those words, and the moment they did, he almost cursed out loud.

’Fuck! Who jinxed it?!’

It was already hard for him as it was; now, Jessy had jinxed the entire situation.

He turned to look at Clara, then closed his eyes, wondering, ’What would I do if she said no?’

He never thought about it, to be honest, but now that he did, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that she might say no.

Despite that, he spoke. "Let’s go."

Then the two disappeared into a nearby room, shutting the heavy door behind them.

..........................

Inside the Room of Emotional Doom.

Clara sat with her legs crossed, her back straight, her hair perfect, and her aura terrifyingly calm.

Raven sat opposite her like a man on trial.

Not for murder.

No, that would’ve been better.

He was here to confess something worse.

So, before Clara could speak, Raven lifted a hand. "Wait. Let me go first. Please. Just five uninterrupted minutes. Actually—give me two. Or one. One might be enough if I talk really fast and you don’t stop me mid-sentence."

Clara blinked.

"...Go on."

Raven nodded and inhaled deeply like a man about to deliver a monologue about his sins to a very attractive executioner.

"I want to come clean," he said.

Clara raised a brow. "About?"

"Everything," Raven muttered. "About my feelings for Selena and Siris. Also, probably the moment I accidentally agreed to marry Nibbles if I die in battle. That one might not count."

Clara frowned. "Raven."

"I’m getting there, I’m getting there," he waved his hand, appearing to be calm. "Okay. Look. I thought a lot. A lot, a lot. I know I mess around, and I make jokes, and I do the whole ’haha, Raven’s so funny and emotionally repressed’ thing, but I mean this seriously."

Clara’s posture shifted slightly. She was listening.

Raven stared her dead in the eyes.

"I want a harem."

Silence.

The kind of silence that gets preserved in museums.

Clara didn’t blink. Her face didn’t twitch. But her aura? It shifted from a calm ocean to a tidal wave on the horizon.

"...You want a what?"

"A harem," Raven repeated, his voice tight but determined. "I’ve thought about it. Seriously. I don’t want to sneak around. I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to pretend like I don’t care or like this is just some chaotic anime trope. It’s not. I... I really do care about you. Not so much about Selena yet. But Siris, yes, although it’s a bit weird that I do. Maybe more girls will be included in the future. I don’t even know."

Clara’s eyes narrowed.

"You’re seriously sitting there. Right now. In this room. After I nearly tore apart the hallway with sheer aura—and you’re telling me you want to collect women like magic cards?"

"Not like magic cards!" Raven shouted, offended. "More like... like legendary weapons. That love me back!"

Clara opened her mouth.

Then she closed it.

Then she opened it again and finally closed it again.

She stared into space for a long, long moment.

On the outside, she seemed shocked, and she was.

She actually was.

But her shock, unlike what she showed on the outside, wasn’t filled with anger but surprise.

’I... didn’t expect this...’ She thought.

(She didn’t expect that? Of course, she didn’t. But what’s going on in her head? That’s something you’ll know in the next Chapter.)

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