Chapter 154: Episode 153: Touring the Manor [2] [Unedited]

Rue hated the word savior.

She sat frozen on the padded wooden stool. She stared at the large canvas resting on the easel in front of her. The girl in the painting looked so brave. She stood tall in a dark, scary forest. Sunlight poured down on her silver hair like a glowing golden crown. She held a baby wrapped in soft blankets, looking like a fierce queen who just conquered the whole world.

It was a beautiful piece of art. The colors were rich and bright. Zale clearly put a lot of hard work into every brushstroke.

But it didn’t look like the real Rue.

The real Rue felt tired. Her bones still ached from giving birth a month ago. She wore a simple wool dress that hitched up slightly around her knees. Her silver hair was messy and tangled from the rough dragon flight. She didn’t feel like a glowing queen. She felt like a regular girl playing dress up in a very dangerous place. The bright pink eyes in the painting stared back at her with fierce confidence. Rue couldn’t match that heavy stare. She looked down at her own lap. She rubbed her thumbs together fast. Her hands felt clammy.

Zale didn’t notice her shrinking down on the stool. The merman just kept smiling at his own work. He was so proud of it. He picked up a small white cloth from the wooden table. He wiped a smudge of blue paint off his pale fingers.

"Tanith came to visit us a few weeks ago," Zale said happily. His voice was bright and melodic. It bounced off the glass windows. "She told us the Southern King finally stopped fighting every single pack in the swamps. She said Axel actually stayed in one place instead of running through the freezing snow all year. And Drax..."

Zale shot a quick, teasing grin at his older brother standing near the door.

"Drax finally left his lonely mountain peak. All because of you."

Rue swallowed a tight lump in her throat. The fresh water she drank earlier suddenly sat like a heavy rock in her stomach. She forced the corners of her mouth to tilt up. She tried to give the merman a polite smile.

"They just needed a home," Rue mumbled softly. She picked at a loose thread on her dress, trying to ground herself.

"No, it is way more than that," Zale insisted. He stepped closer to the wooden easel. He looked at the painted silver hair with pure awe. "Our bloodline is dying, Rue. You know that, right? The royal beasts are fading away. The magic is drying up fast. We haven’t had new cubs in our family for decades. The females always die, or they run away because we are too wild and rough. We honestly thought we would just fade into dust inside these old castles. We thought we would be the very last generation."

Zale turned his bright sea-green eyes to her. They were full of pure, innocent hope. The heavy look in his eyes made Rue want to run away.

"Onyx has been so angry for years," Zale whispered, his smile turning a bit sad. "Axel was always running away from his duties. Drax locked himself in the dark. We were broken. But then you showed up."

Zale took a step closer to her. His voice grew softer, but it carried a massive weight.

Zale blurts out that Tanith told them Rue is here to save their dying bloodline.

"You survived the panther’s bite. You survived the freezing cold. You carried a predator cub and lived to tell the tale. Tanith said you are here to save us. You are going to save our dying bloodline and bring the magic back."

The words hit her chest like a physical punch.

Save them. Save a dying bloodline.

Rue feels a sharp spike of annoyance and imposter syndrome. It flared up in her throat, mixing right away with a deep, heavy dread. The imposter syndrome wrapped around her lungs like a tight corset, making it very hard to breathe. She wasn’t a savior. She was just Rue. She was a regular human soul from a normal world.

She remembered her past life back in New York. She used to eat stale pretzels on dirty city sidewalks. She used to cry alone when the nurses poked her thin arms with cold needles. She couldn’t even save herself back then. She died in a sterile hospital bed while machines beeped in the background. The baby system just dropped her here by accident. She didn’t earn any special powers. She just had a soft rabbit body and a lot of dumb luck.

She didn’t know how to save a magical world. She barely knew how to change Seika’s diapers without Knox helping her.

Her chest tightened painfully. The bright, sunny art gallery suddenly felt very small. The rich smell of oil paint and crushed berries made her head spin. She felt dizzy. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck. She tried to focus on the grain of the wood on her stool. She tried to count her breaths. In and out. But the air felt too thin.

She wanted to shrink down into a tiny white rabbit and hide under the padded wooden stool. She wanted to burrow into the floor and disappear.

But Zale looked so happy. He looked at her like she was a living, breathing miracle. She couldn’t crush his hope. She didn’t want to be mean to him. He was being so nice, sharing his beautiful art with her.

She forces a tight smile, nodding along while her chest tightens.

"I am just doing my best," she lied softly.

She doesn’t want to be a magical prophecy; she just wants to be a person. She didn’t want the fate of an ancient species resting on her sore back. She just wanted to be a normal girl holding her baby. She wanted to go back to the new stone house and watch Theron play with his wooden blocks. This grand castle and these heavy expectations were just too much for her.

Drax stood silently by the door.

He didn’t look at the beautiful painting. He didn’t care about the art. He hated the word savior just as much as she did. He only looked at Rue.

His dark dragon eyes caught every single detail. He saw the way her knuckles turned bone white as she gripped her wool dress. He saw the fake smile that didn’t reach her bright pink eyes. He saw her shoulders stiffen. His sharp ears heard her heartbeat drumming a frantic, panicked rhythm against her ribs. She sounded like a trapped bird beating its wings against a cage.

Drax knew her better than anyone else. He knew she hated loud expectations. He knew she felt fragile inside, even when she acted brave. He didn’t need to ask her what was wrong. He didn’t need a system prompt to tell him his mate was drowning in anxiety. He just acted.

He pushed his broad shoulders off the stone wall. His heavy leather boots thumped loudly against the floorboards. The sharp sound broke Zale’s hopeful speech right in half.

Drax walked straight up to Rue. He stepped smoothly between her and the heavy painting, blocking her view of the painted savior. He cut off Zale’s bright, expectant stare.

He reached down and gently grabbed her shaking hand. He pulled her up from the wooden stool. His warm, rough palm grounded her instantly. The dizzy feeling faded the moment his skin touched hers. She let out a shaky breath, leaning her weight against his side.

"Zale talks too much," Drax said smoothly. He didn’t sound mad. He just sounded firm, shutting the conversation down. "She is tired of standing in this dusty tower."

Zale blinked. The merman looked a little confused by the sudden interruption. He lowered his paint brush. "Oh. I am sorry. I can show her the warm pond now? The water is very relaxing."

"Later," Drax answered flatly.

He wrapped his thick arm securely around Rue’s waist. He pulled her flush against his solid side, claiming her.

Drax notices her stiff posture and pulls her away from the chatty merman. "Let me show you my room."