fiction
The Buried Heir Returned Before the Dragon, but the Woman Who Truly Saved Him Had Never Worn a Crown. / Chapter 20 / 20

Chapter 20 - The Heir of the Earth

As evening fell over the Blue Ridge Mountains, the crowds left the park, and a serene, golden quiet blanketed the estate.

Nathaniel, Clara, and Lyra sat together on the upper balcony of Wycliffe Manor, watching the stars begin to flicker in the clear night sky. Charles and Eleanor sat nearby on the porch, enjoying the quiet mountain breeze, drinking tea from simple porcelain cups.

Aurelius stretched his giant wings, taking off from the cliff face and soaring gracefully into the dusk sky. His bronze scales caught the last rays of the setting sun, glowing like a living constellation against the darkening blue.

Lyra pointed up at the sky, her eyes wide with wonder. "Look, Daddy! Aurelius is dancing!"

"He’s free, sweetheart," Nathaniel said, lifting his daughter onto his lap. "Just like all of us."

Clara leaned her head against Nathaniel’s shoulder, holding his hand. Her gold-and-amber wedding ring glittered softly in the starlight.

"Do you ever miss the quiet life in Richmond?" Clara asked playfully, looking up into his dark eyes. "Scrubbing pots and eating cold soup?"

Nathaniel chuckled, his arm tightening around her. "I don't miss the cold soup. But I’ll tell you a secret, Clara."

"What’s that?"

"The best day of my life wasn't the day the dragon bowed to me in court," Nathaniel whispered, his voice full of deep, abiding love. "It was the day five years ago when a woman with a brave heart and no crown found me shivering in the woods and taught me that I was human."

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High above them, Aurelius let out a long, melodious roar—a sound that was no longer a summons to judgment or a cry of battle, but a song of peace that echoed across the valley, guarding the home of the heir who had traded a crown for a soul.

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