Seeing the little golden dragonling looking as though his hackles were about to rise, Riley quickly stepped in before the situation could spiral even further.
"Have you known for a while?"
Orien's expression tightened.
"Yes… We overheard it."
The admission came quietly, but before anyone could say anything, the little dragonling hurriedly continued as though trying to defend both himself and Liam at the same time.
"But we shouldn't get punished!" he blurted out. "It wasn't on purpose. We weren't trying to hear anything. W-we were just there… and then everyone started talking, and Liam even dragged me away because he thought we'd get caught!"
The more he explained, the more he rambled.
"And besides..." he mumbled, "...I would've figured it out eventually anyway."
Riley, somewhat surprised, tilted his head before deciding to keep talking while the little one was still open to a conversation.
"What made you think that?"
Orien hesitated before reluctantly answering.
