Claimed by the Dragon King

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Forbidden Taste

POV: Kaizen

Absurd. Compared to everything I had experienced as the Dragon King, this entire situation was utterly ridiculous. I paced back and forth inside my own room while my heavy cape swept against the smooth black floor. My face had grown hot from sheer irritation. My internal temperature was rising solely out of annoyance.

A mortal. A loud, stubborn, and utterly disrespectful woman from the human world was currently causing chaos inside my palace, and I had no idea how she had gotten hold of my children. She even had the audacity to call me Kaizito, an infuriating nickname Grumblewick used for me, and she had introduced herself to me as the Queen of Bread. The nerve of that woman! No one, not even the highest rulers of the Dragon Realm dared to speak to me with such insolence.

But what truly made my blood boil was the fact that my own flesh and blood were pulling away from me. The royal heirs, Vharkan and Lumi, the twins whom that very woman had named had chosen a stranger over their own father. My jaw clenched as I remembered the way she had rolled her eyes at me without the slightest trace of fear. Her audacity was unbelievable. I had never encountered anyone like her, especially when I was standing right in front of them. She looked at me as though I were the one who did not belong here.

A soft knock suddenly interrupted my pacing.

“Come in,” I declared.

The wooden door opened, and Grumblewick stepped inside.

My eyes immediately landed on what he was holding. He wore a broad smile. It was that same wide, knowing grin that always managed to get on my nerves.

“My dear Kaizito,” he said, even though the unmistakable glint of mischief in his eyes was impossible to miss, “I brought you some bread.”

He placed the tray on top of the table and carefully removed the cover. There it was, the thing my children had eaten, the strange food prepared by that mortal woman. It was a round piece of bread, still giving off a faint warmth, sitting before me.

Damn it. I could smell it. It was the exact scent that had caused my royal chefs to drool earlier.

“You can leave the trash there, Grumblewick,” I ordered, keeping my expression stiff and emotionless, “I need to examine whether this food contains any harmful elements that could endanger my children.”

Grumblewick stared at me as though he did not believe a single word I had said, “Of course, Your Majesty,” he replied, letting out a quiet laugh before bowing slightly, “For the safety of the entire kingdom, I suppose. I shall leave you to your investigation.” He put an emphasis on the word, investigation.

My eyes narrowed at the old man as he slowly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Finally, I was alone.

I am terribly mad. I couldn’t even hold my own children, hug them and kiss them. They run away and get annoyed.

I focused my attention on the bread sitting on the plate. I stared at it carefully. This is ridiculous. Dragons were the highest form of predators. We survived on raw meat, the essence of fire, and the magical fruits of our land. My children should have been eating the flesh of wild beasts to strengthen their scales, not chewing on cooked human flour. f**k. That was insane. Both Vharkan and Lumi had stopped crying the moment they tasted it. They smiled happily and ate until their tiny stomachs were round and full. Slowly, I reached out and picked up the bread. It was incredibly soft, yielding easily beneath the pressure of my fingers. Its texture was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I brought it closer to my nose and inhaled. The aroma was dangerously intoxicating. I had never smelled anything like it.

Perhaps this was what that woman had been feeding my children to win their affection. Maybe that was why they had become so attached to her.

I had never truly understood it since taking the throne.

Just one small bite for examination. Just a small bite, strictly for quality control, I reasoned with myself.

I tore the bread apart. A small cloud of steam escaped, carrying with it an even stronger scent of milk and sugar. I hesitated for several seconds before finally taking a small bite. My children had not died after eating it earlier. Perhaps I would not die either.

I paused.

The texture was soft and pillowy on the inside, with a slight, satisfying crunch on the crust. The sweetness blended perfectly with a hint of salt, melting across my tongue in a way none of my dragon chefs had ever managed to achieve. It was delicious. It was magnificent. Before I realized what I was doing, I took another bite, larger than the first, and then another. The warmth of the food traveled down my throat, calming the anger and tension I constantly carried.

I could not deny how delicious it was. That mortal woman truly knew what she was doing, but that was still not enough to earn my trust. For a brief moment, I completely forgot my pride. I was simply enjoying the taste of the best thing I had ever eaten in my entire life.

“Tastes like mortal garbage, doesn’t it, my dear king?”

I froze.

That sudden voice startled me so badly that I nearly choked on the bread. I quickly swallowed and coughed to clear my throat before sharply turning toward the corner of my room. Standing near the door, holding the old cane I am moments away from smashing over his head, is none other than Grumblewick. He had never left the room. He had used his magic to hide himself from my sight and watch everything I had done.

“Grumblewick!” I roared, my face burning with anger and humiliation.

A hot flare of blue fire flickered at the tips of my fingers, “What is the meaning of this? How dare you hide yourself and spy on me?!”

“Oh, calm yourself, Kaizito,” Grumblewick said without the slightest sign of fear as he stepped toward the center of the room. His grin was so wide it looked as though it might reach the back of his head.

His shoulders trembled slightly as he struggled to contain his laughter, “I merely wanted to make sure there were no harmful ingredients in the bread that might slowly poison our heirs.”

“But judging by how quickly you devoured it, it seems the only danger is your sudden fondness for mortal food.”

“Shut up!” I snapped, quickly brushing the remaining crumbs from my clothes.

I was merely analyzing the composition of the food. It is my duty to ensure the safety of the heirs. At least, that was what I told myself.

“Of course, of course. Naturally, you had to taste the bread that brought those adorable little ones back to life,” Grumblewick said, nodding mockingly as he repeatedly tapped the tip of his staff against the floor.

“Your particular method of ensuring their safety apparently required you to eat every last crumb. Your dedication to the kingdom’s safety is truly admirable, Kaizito.”

“One more word, and I will have you thrown onto the frozen peaks of the mountains,” I threatened, though the heat and redness on my face refused to disappear.

Grumblewick laughed, but his expression gradually became more serious.

“You can deny it again and again, Kaizen, but the truth is clear. That woman, Gift, possesses something that has been missing from this palace for a very long time. She brought life back into the nursery and made the children happy. We cannot keep denying the fact that she cared for the twins and raised them with love.”

I turned away from him and stared out the large window overlooking the glowing forest of dragons.

The sky was a deep shade of violet, illuminated by rivers of light flowing downward. It was a beautiful and powerful kingdom, but it was also cold and ruthless.

“She is a mortal, Grumblewick,” I said quietly, my voice returning to its usual cold and emotionless tone.

“She does not belong in this place. Her world is weak, and everything about it is temporary. Besides, none of us know her, and even now, I do not know how much truth there is in what she says. Only Seraphina can tell us the truth, why the eggs ended up with that woman and why my queen disappeared!” I shot Grumblewick a sharp glare.

“Perhaps,” Grumblewick replied as he walked toward the door, “but she is the only mother your children recognize now. And if I am not mistaken, she may also be the only person capable of handling the temper of this kingdom’s bravest king.”

Before I could turn around and snarl at him, the old man had already left the room. His quiet laughter echoed through the corridor before the door slowly closed. What the hell is so damn funny about this?

I looked at the empty plate resting on top of my table. Only a few blue-tinted crumbs remained. I pinched a small crumb between my fingers, staring at it.

Gift.

That woman was a massive headache. Gift was a nuisance. She was loud, disrespectful, and full of sarcasm. But when I thought about how peacefully my children had slept after eating her food, I knew I could not send her back to the dungeon just yet.

She might have won this round with her bread, but she was still under my palace’s roof and under my rules. I would watch her every move.

I would wait for Seraphina to return so I could finally learn the whole truth.

And she, only she is the only one I would believe.