Villain Awakening: Rising to the Strongest Dragon God-Chapter 53: Welcome to Valeroy

Castor led the procession through his own gates like a prisoner escorting his executioner.

His back was rigid, shoulders tight and every few minutes he glanced back at Auryn—checking if the prince was still there, still real, still coming to his castle despite every instinct in him screaming this was madness.

The fifty soldiers rode in formation with the miners they’d picked up on the way. These were his men, his territory. His family’s authority for two hundred years. But right now, none of that seemed to matter.

Auryn had won at council, claimed his northern district and now rode toward ’Valir Keep’ like he owned it already or maybe he did.

Appearing ahead was the city of Valeroy, obvious by it’s imposing walls, thirty feet high from ground level. With dragon-carved wards that ran along the battlements, symbols he recognized from Uruk but alas smaller and less intricate.

The road beneath their horses shifted from packed dirt to cobblestone immediately. Civilization announcing itself through engineered work of stone.

Horns blared as the guards snapped to attention. Recognizing Castor’s banner. Then they saw the familiar crest of royalty behind him. Most knew who Auryn was but why he was here was where their confusion began.

Even while they proceeded, what struck Auryn was the sheer scale of the Valeroy’s interior. The streets were wide enough for three carts to pass without slowing.

The buildings rising three, sometimes four stories with timber upper floors on stone foundations.

It was construction work that spoke of builders who knew their craft and had generations to perfect it. It was every architect’s wet dream.

Thousands of people filled the streets. Merchants calling prices. Soldiers in disciplined patrols. Commoners hauling goods, driving carts, living their lives with a flow that came from order maintained across centuries.

This is what two centuries of Valir governance built? Quite Interesting... he thought.

Auryn couldn’t help but compare it with Aurelia. His province was a scattered layout with frontier feeling.

Valeroy on the other hand was a civilization rooted so deep that political agreements alone had no hope of uprooting it.

Even within this vast city, the church spire dominated everything. It rose above every other structure in the city, bell tower reaching toward the sky like it was trying to pierce through the heavens.

Dragon statues flanked the entrances—massive stone statues with wings spread and eyes that seemed to track movement on the street below.

It was different from Uruk. In the capital, dragons ruled every corner. Statues, banners, architecture—all of it screamed supremacy that couldn’t be challenged.

Here,the church shared that space. Dragon imagery still dominated but priests stood on church steps speaking to gathered crowds and people listened.

They actually listened, not out of fear or obligation but genuine faith. Faith built around dragons and propangaded by the church.

Lyra leaned closer from behind. "The church holds more power here than in Aurelia."

"Than in Uruk too." Auryn watched a priest blessing a merchant’s cart.

"Faith shares authority with dragons."

"Is that a problem?" Lyra arched a brow.

"Depends whose faith they have," Auryn shrugged.

Market stalls lined the main road. Merchants selling grain, tools, cloth. Everyday goods that kept a city running.

People stopped to watch the procession pass. Some bowed their heads when they recognized Castor. Others whispered seeing the rather elusive third prince of the empire in the open.

The further they went, the higher the road climbed. Castle ahead, positioned on elevated ground so it could oversee everything below.

"Valir Keep" wasn’t a palace. It was a fortress. Spotting thick walls built to withstand siege. Banners flying that had flown for two hundred years without interruption until now.

Castor rode ahead and glanced back once. His face was unreadable but tension was visible with his squeeze on his reins.

Auryn followed. Lyra sat behind him, silently observing everything. The gates of the Keep opened, granting them entry.

The gates opened and they entered the keep.

Just as they entered. The image of Eva Valir came to light. She’d waited in the courtyard with three commanders. Wearing simple but well-made clothes, hair pulled back with elegance, her stance carried a controlled mastery of mannerism.

What she lacked in female extravagance tied to nobility. She had in authority that came from managing a household and province while her husband fought wars.

She curtsied after Auryn dismounted.

"Third Prince Auryn. Princess Allyrae. House Valir welcomes you."

The commanders followed in her example like a hive mind, bowing in unison.

"Lady Eva. Thank you," Auryn responded with a kind tone even as Lyra nodded in acknowledgement.

Eva’s eyes combed his body, noticing the aftermath of Ashen grove in the form of dirt, blood and dark circles underneath his eyes.

"My lord... chambers have been prepared for your arrival. Please, do well to refresh yourself."

Castor approached before Auryn could respond. Whispering, he asked.

"The miners who survived. What should be done with them?"

Auryn looked at the five men still with Borin. They’d seen things that would probably haunt them for years and that wasn’t even all of them.

Auryn shrugged off Castor then turned to Borin, "Escort the miners back to Aurelia, see they’re cared for and compensated."

The dwarf nodded once. He didn’t need to ask questions.

Auryn turned back to Castor who resigned himself to the side after cursing underneath his breath.

"Your men can retrieve the bodies from Ashen Grove. Bury them properly."

Castor’s jaw tightened as he nodded. "It will be done."

Eva’s gaze flicked briefly toward the entrance. "My children wished to... see the...Lord,"

Three figures stood in the entrance hall’s shadow. A boy about twelve, watched with wide nervous eyes. Castor’s living son Daren.

A girl holding a book against her chest with green eyes that studied Auryn with open curiosity. She was Claudia.

And there was Cara, a smaller girl peeking from behind her sister’s skirt.

Auryn simply nodded in their direction. A gentle acknowledgement on his part.

Eva gestured toward the keep’s interior. "Your chambers are in the eastern wing."

Suddenly two maids appeared and showed them to their chambers.

The guest room looked comfortable. Valir banners on the walls, bed large enough for five, window overlooking the city below.

Servants brought water for washing and set out clean clothes for the visitors.

Lyra sat on the bed’s edge watching as Auryn who was already stripped, wash up.

Her silver hair was tied back but strands had come loose during the ride. She looked as exhausted as he felt but her amber eyes were sharp.

"Let me see."

He paused. "See what?"

"Your chest. Where the arrow hit."

He turned and she stood, crossed to him, fingers finding the spot where Castor’s arrow had pierced him days ago.

There was nothing there. Just smooth skin with no scars.

Her hand pressed flat against his ribs. This was her excuse to touch him even more. She recalled this was healed already—just wanted the contact. Seeing him stripped had her red in all the wrong places.

"Everything’s gone." Her fingers traced patterns across his chest and stomach where training scars should have been.

"You’re..."

"Different." He finished for her.

She looked up and met his eyes. "Are you really okay?"

The question was simple but the weight behind it wasn’t. She’d watched him suffer at Verdant Springs and staying where madness prevailed in Ashen groove.

"I’m here," he said.

"That’s not what I asked."

He cupped her hand with his.

"I’m okay, really" he lied.

She didn’t look entirely convinced but she would rather he rested. They both needed rest at this point.

Auryn moved to the bed and lay down. Lyra joined him after washing up.

Their bond was the only constant even now when they were literally in enemy territory.

His eyes closed then his instincts flared. He activated Territorial awareness, hoping to get a full view of the general structure of the castle.

But the capabilities of his new ability stopped at the castle walls and couldn’t penetrate. It felt like trying to push through solid stone instead of empty air.

It doesn’t work here. Auryn thought even as his eyes opened.

The realization settled in him. The northern district was his. Aurelia was his. Places he’d claimed physically and spiritually, where his authority was recognized and everything there answered to him.

Valir Keep still belonged to Castor. And through him, to Vaedon. Centuries of their rule soaked into these stones. Their authority unchallenged.

I’m in enemy territory. No matter how polite the welcome.

The thought should have made him worried or maybe it did, but exhaustion was stronger than caution.

He closed his eyes again. Lyra’s breathing had already slowed. Sleep taking her first and Auryn followed duly.

Hours later, the setting sun alongside a knock woke them both.

"Your highness," a servant’s voice came from outside the room.

"Lady Eva gracefully requests your presence for dinner."

Auryn sat up slowly. His body and mind felt better after rest.

After a few minutes, Lyra was finally done dressing much to Auryn’s draining patience.

They walked out of the room toward the Great Hall together. A string of servants guided them through corridors lit by oil lamps.

The smell of ivory incense tied closely to two centuries of Valir legacy that lived in these walls.

Auryn scoffed, hand tight on Lyra’s waist.

Time to see what that legacy looks like up close.