Draco stretched his wings across the storm-ripped skies of Dragon Raja's Earth. His path was already chosen.
"If I'm going to ascend," he rumbled, eyes glinting with twin suns, "then I'll start with one of the Kings. Not just any… but her."
The name came with a fondness that surprised him. He had seen her once before — not in this world, but in stories and screens. A dragoness who walked among humans in the shape of a woman.
Xia Mi.
Jörmungandr, the hidden half of the Lord of Earth and Mountain.
And now, she was exactly where he could find her: at Cassell College, wearing the skin of a human girl, learning humanity's secrets so she might one day bring about their fall.
Lightning cracked as Draco folded himself into a form that could walk unnoticed — his colossal body condensing until he stood in a tall, broad-shouldered frame, a storm of silver hair and violet-gold eyes that glowed like embers behind crystal lenses. His aura still bled power, but muted, like thunder rolling beyond the horizon.
Cassell College bustled with its usual rhythm — students, hybrids, hunters. But in a quiet courtyard, beneath the drifting shade of cherry blossoms, she sat.
Long dark hair, eyes carrying serpentine sharpness even in their softness, her smile as delicate as a blade hidden in silk.
Draco saw her at once. And Xia Mi — Jörmungandr — saw him.
Her posture stilled. For an instant, her disguise felt flimsy, like paper before fire. She wasn't looking at a hybrid. She wasn't looking at a Dragon King rival. She was staring at something above all of them.
"You…" she whispered, her voice low, cautious. "You are not one of us.
Draco smiled, slow and sure. "Sharp as expected. Then you already know why I'm here."
Her golden eyes flickered with tension. " what To strip me of my freedom? To chain me, like my father once tried?"
"No." He stepped closer, his presence making the air hum, the cherry blossoms trembling around them. "To claim you. As my subordinate… and as my mate."
For a moment, Xia Mi laughed softly, bitterly. "You're bold. Do you think I would surrender so easily?"
But even as she spoke, her dragon blood betrayed her. Her heart raced, not with fear, but with recognition. She could feel it — he was not bluffing. His power eclipsed hers so completely that resistance was meaningless.
Draco's smile deepened, not cruel, but absolute. "I don't need to think. I know."
Silence stretched, broken only by the wind. Then, at last, Xia Mi lowered her gaze. The dragons in her bowed, quiet but undeniable.
"…Then I submit."
Draco's storm-lit eyes softened, satisfied. He reached out, tilting her chin so her gaze met his once more.
"Good," he said, voice rumbling like distant thunder. "One King down… and the first of my queens."