The Villainess Wants To Retire-Chapter 304: A little dragon

Rael stopped walking and looked up at his father.

"Her face was... um... hard," he said. "Like when it’s cold and you touch the ground and it hurts. Not squishy. Yours is squishy."

He went quiet for a second, staring at nothing in particular.

"And her eyes didn’t do the smile thing. They were... pointy. I think. Like ice. Like ice you’re not supposed to touch ’cause it’ll hurt you."

He swallowed.

"And her mouth was just—" he made a straight line with his finger. "Not up. Just like that."

His voice got smaller.

"It made my tummy feel bad. Like when I did something wrong but I don’t know what."

The boy looked down at his boots, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I was scared. Maybe she hates me."

Caelen felt a flash of genuine pain. Eris, his Eris, the woman who had once been the literal hearth of his life, was now a figure of terror to her own flesh and blood.

"You’re wrong, Rael. She’s just... she’s changed a little. But she still cares. Let’s find her again so we can talk to her. Once she sees you properly, everything will be fine."

Rael looked up, a spark of hope returning. "I even got her a present! I kept it in my pocket the whole way."

He reached into his small tunic and produced a toy... a carved wooden phoenix from the markets of Solmire.

It was simple, the wood smoothed by the oils of a child’s hands, its wings painted a vibrant, defiant red.

He had carried it across deserts and mountains, a small piece of home for a mother who burned.

Caelen smiled, a genuine one this time. "She’ll be so happy to get a gift from you, Rael. No one can stay angry at a gift like that."

They continued their search, their footsteps echoing through the grand galleries. They encountered Aldric, whose face was as impassive as the walls he served.

"His Majesty’s guest," Aldric said with a shallow bow. "If you are seeking Lady Eris, I am afraid she has retired to her chambers to prepare for the evening. She is not to be disturbed."

Caelen felt the defeat settle into his marrow. "I see." He looked down at Rael, whose face had fallen once more. "It’s alright, Rael. We’ll see her at dinner. I promise."

As they turned to head back to the guest wing, the atmosphere of the corridor shifted. It wasn’t a gradual change; it was a sudden, violent plummet in temperature. The air didn’t just turn cold; it turned predatory.

From the far end of the long gallery, a figure approached.

Vetra, the Regent Empress.

She moved with a terrifying grace, her heavy fur robes trailing behind her like the wake of a ghost ship. As she drew closer, the frost on the walls thickened, spreading in jagged, crystalline patterns. The light in the corridor seemed to dim, swallowed by the sheer weight of her presence.

Rael shivered violently, his small hand gripping Caelen’s so hard his knuckles turned white. "Father," he whimpered, "it’s too cold."

Suddenly, a soft, golden light pulsed from the boy’s wrist. The charmed bracelet Eris had given him before leaving... a piece of her own essence bound in gold... flared to life.

Simultaneously, the spark of fire magic Rael had inherited from his mother hummed beneath his skin.

A faint, shimmering barrier of warmth flickered into existence around the boy, a golden shield warding off the sinister, unnatural chill radiating from the approaching woman.

Caelen stepped forward, pulling Rael to his chest, his other hand instinctively dropping to the hilt of his sword. He knew Vetra. He remembered her from his youth, back when he and Soren had been companions, before the weight of crowns and the heat of Eris had come between them. He knew she was a viper wrapped in silk.

Vetra stopped a few paces away, her eyes... cold and colorless as frozen water... landing first on Caelen, then drifting down to the child hiding behind him.

"King Caelen," she said, her voice a polished blade of ice. "I heard of your coronation and your... marriage. My congratulations. It is rare to see a man so resilient."

She tilted her head, a slow, poisonous smile spreading across her lips. "You and Soren must have reached quite a level of friendship, I suppose. For you to allow him to marry Eris... it speaks of a very modern sort of understanding. Or perhaps a very ancient sort of weakness."

The insult hit Caelen like a physical blow. She was calling him a cuckold, a fool, a man who had handed his wife to another because he was too small to hold her.

Caelen didn’t flinch. He drew himself up to his full height, the authority of Solmire’s sun settling into his shoulders. "Your Grace," he replied, his voice level and hard.

"The diplomacy of the south is built on many things. One of them is the knowledge of when to speak and when to keep a civil tongue. I would hate for your hospitality to be marred by a lack of the latter."

Vetra let out a soft, dry chuckle. "You’ve grown, Caelen. You were a flickering candle as an adolescent following in Soren’s shadow. Now, you have grown older... and perhaps a bit bolder. It is almost a compliment." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I take it as one," Caelen said shortly. "Now, if you’ll excuse us, my son is cold."

He moved to pass her, but Vetra’s gaze locked onto Rael. The boy tried to hide, burying his face in the crook of Caelen’s neck, but the Regent Empress’s eyes were like hooks.

"The boy," she whispered, and for the first time, there was a flicker of genuine interest in her expression.

"Not only does he have his mother’s white hair, but her beautifully painted gold eyes. He is truly his mother’s son."

Rael let out a small, muffled sob of discomfort. His magic flared again, a tiny tendril of fire curling out from the protective barrier and lashing toward Vetra like a cornered animal. It didn’t touch her, but the air hissed as the heat met her frost.

Vetra’s smile widened, but it never reached her eyes. It was the smile of a predator that had finally found the scent of blood.

"A little dragon in the ice," she murmured.

Caelen didn’t wait for another word. He adjusted Rael in his arms, feeling the boy’s heart racing against his chest, and walked past her with a stiff formality. He didn’t look back until they had turned the corner and the oppressive weight of her magic had faded.

Left alone in the center of the freezing gallery, Vetra watched the space where they had been. The frost on the walls continued to grow, jagged and hungry, as she stood in the silence, her mind already spinning the gold of the child’s eyes into the web of her next move.