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'You must save them, all of them.'

Itzae's commission from so many years ago was still fresh in Calix's mind.

Why not hold back, they ask?

Because his destiny was to save.

This continent.

These people.

Everything and everyone.

As many of them as he could.

It was a burden far too heavy for any mortal human to carry alone, but that's what made him who he was.

A man who shouldered what no man could shoulder.

Calix smirked to himself, thinking of Keliyah's sleeping figure that he'd left in his tent, while the disgruntled first and third generals wrapped up the meeting.

And now he had his dragon too. There was nothing that could stop him.

"So.. we will proceed forward as planned," the First General sighed, reaching to fold up the map.

"No."

Once again, all eyes in the tent turned uneasily to the emperor.

"We will proceed forward at twice the planned pace," Calix corrected.

He held up a hand to silence the groans spreading through the circle.

"After all, it has become more urgent, hasn't it? To subdue the erratic child sitting on Mevani's throne."

It was during meetings such as this that Calix desperately missed Ira and Thane.

Though they didn't always agree with his decisions, they understood his vision. Unlike the power-hungry men surrounding him now, his two right-hand men realized the higher and divine purpose.

"It seems the emperor's bloodthirst has no bounds!!"

Calix overheard the Third General's complaining as he strode away from the meeting tent.

"You," he turned to the faithful little colonel adorning his side, "I need you to pass a message to the Third General for me."

Colonel Senf gulped. "What is it, Sire?"

"Tell him his voice irritates me," Calix instructed. "He should whisper only from now on, lest I mistake him for a bothersome bug and crush him."

The colonel's face instantly dropped into the suppressed shocked expression that Calix had grown so fond of lately.

"R-right away, Sire."

In addition to the emperor's strategy, it seemed his subordinates had also taken issue with his new attendant. Of course, nobody dared approach the underling chosen directly by the Dragon Emperor, but they did whatever they could to harass Keliyah whenever there was an opening.

"Shall I go clean them, Your Majesty?" Colonel Senf questioned one morning as Calix eyed Keliyah's boots sitting just outside the tent.

Discovering his attendant's boots filled with mud first thing in the morning had become part of his daily routine.

Calix clicked his tongue.

"You'd think my attendant would start leaving them inside the tent at night by now."

"Such a disrespectful thing!" the colonel gasped. "To dirty the emperor's tent with shoes?!"

"Hmmm.." Calix mused. "I suppose my obedient little pet wouldn't consider that option then."

It was cute, almost, to picture Keliyah cleaning her shoes every single morning, too afraid to even tell him about it, much less ask to leave her shoes inside the tent.

"Shall I bring those responsible for this for Your Majesty to.. uh.. speak with?" Colonel Senf offered nervously.

"...No," Calix declined, turning away from the muddy boots. "It's better this way."

He knew when he assigned her as his attendant that she would be alienated from the rest of the soldiers. Little tricks like this would only push her further away from them and closer to him.

She'll come to me, Calix smirked to himself. Eventually, she'll have no choice but to come to me.

But Keliyah didn't come to him.

After days of isolating and estranging her from everyone except for himself, there was still one foolish soldier who continued to approach her.

They were together, walking into camp.

Keliyah and that Pandreian man.

Water dripped from every part of their clothes, and Keliyah held her boots in her hands. It was clear they'd just returned from the river.

The blood in Calix's veins suddenly became boiling hot.

Had that boy touched her?

When they were playing in the water, did he brush against her? Did he try to steady her when she slipped clumsily on the wet rocks?

After seeing Keliyah's drenched body, had that boy been reminded of the night he came to retrieve her from her bath? Did he dare to picture her shivering figure, covered with nothing but wet undergarments?

Even now, hardly a gap lay between their shoulders, and the boy's yellow eyes were stuck to her.

Did this man dare to covet a woman who had already been marked by the Dragon Emperor?

"You're the only one," Calix snarled as the two emerged from the trees. "The only one brave enough to approach what belongs to the emperor."

"Kel is a person," the ignorant Pandreian soldier dared speak up, glancing at the girl Calix had pulled into his arms, "not a possession."

Possession? Ha.

Calix snorted.

What did it matter whether she was a person or a possession? Either way, she belonged to him. She was born for him.

No other thought occupied his mind as he dragged Keliyah back to his tent.

She was his. Itzae searched for her and raised her to become his.

And out of all the people who didn't seem to realize that, the one that bothered Calix the most was Keliyah herself.

She had splashed around gleefully with some useless kid, as if she had no idea that she belonged to the emperor.

As if leaving him or staying by his side was entirely her choice.

He hadn't been clear enough.

The times he pleaded for her to stay with him. The times he caressed her soft pink lips with his.

She still didn't know.

Calix would have to teach her again. Teach her who she belonged to.