Chapter 86: If anyone is her favorite property, it’s me
Caspian’s chest puffed out, a strange, choked sound vibrating in his throat. He looked down at his own clawed hands, then at Hana’s small, unyielding frame in the white dress and tactical harness.
A massive, fiercely proud heat suddenly rushed through his core, entirely replacing his anger.
To a dragon king, being claimed as an item would’ve been an insult and he would’ve incinerated the speaker, but when it’s Hana, claiming him as an item of value wasn’t an insult—it was the ultimate validation of his worth.
He had no idea why but he was devoted to the max and he had no complaints.
"I belong... to you," Caspian repeated, the words rolling off his tongue like a sacred oath.
He glared over at Raiden, his voice dropping into a deep, booming rumble of sheer superiority.
"You heard her, rat. I am her primary asset. Her personal vanguard. You are just a secondary supply unit."
"Oh, please! You’re an oversized furnace!" Raiden snapped back, though his face was flushing a deep, brilliant crimson beneath his pink hair.
He quickly pulled out his hand-mirror, checking his jawline to mask the sudden, erratic fluttering of his heart, before snapping it shut and throwing a sharp glare at the dragon.
"If anyone is her favorite property, it’s me. I’m the one who handles the psychological defense. You’re just a heavy-lifter."
"Shut up, both of you. You’re causing acoustic interference," Hana ordered without looking up.
Both of them instantly fell silent, though they continued to glare at one another over her head, their tails twitching with unspoken territorial warnings.
Hana ignored the heavy tension behind her, completely focused on the rolling code on her screen.
The quadcopter’s wide-angle lens was currently sweeping past the flatlands, mapping the elevation changes and thermal signatures of the dense undergrowth.
A tiny green icon suddenly flared on the top right corner of her display, accompanied by a soft, mechanical chime from her system.
> [INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE: PERIMETER SCANNING 85% COMPLETE]
> [LABOR COMPLIANCE: OPTIMAL]
> Note: Subjugation through logic achieves 40% higher efficiency than physical force. Keep your robots under tight regular maintenance and keep your mates satisfied.
Well, I’m already doing the best I can to make them satisfied. She thought, subtly glancing over her shoulder and then looking back at her system window.
She couldn’t see herself cuddling them and being all lovey dovey with them. They might earn her points, but they might also not earn her points and it was a bit... cringy.
Anyway, she would just keep at it. Maybe if she gets a little more fond of them, she can treat them kinder. For now, they were still just valuable assets and a means to farm karmic points.
The blue screen on the tablet flickered as the automated tracking system adjusted its focus.
On the split-feed, Kulu launched himself back into the air from the den’s ledge. His massive crimson wings cut a clean line through the sky as he turned around, heading right back toward the Whispering Ravine to assist with the final haul.
"Kulu is on his way back," Hana announced, tapping the screen to confirm the trajectory. "Caspian, get ready to move the remaining crates from the inner vault. Once he lands, I want the rest of the heavy mechanical components lifted and taken back"
"Understood," Caspian rumbled. The dragon king didn’t offer a single complaint this time.
His chest was still puffed out from her earlier statement, his tail swaying with a slow, heavy rhythm that practically radiated smug satisfaction toward the fox.
Raiden, meanwhile, seemed to have taken the fact that Hana said he belonged to her personally.
Realizing Hana was going to be more busy and wouldn’t be able to take a single break, he had quietly disappeared down toward the shallow streams at the base of the Divide to whip her something to snack on.
I’m the one who cares for Hana the most, he delightedly told himself.
He didn’t care what Hana had to say about the others. Even if they all belonged to her, he would very much like to delude himself that he holds a special place.
He could never see himself as inferior, even if he did not have powerful wins or deadly tails. His beauty was plenty enough to get him the best spot in her heart.
And he was going to keep trying until she realized it and acknowledged him as the favorite.
By the time the secondary drones had reached 90% completion on the topographical layout, Raiden came back.
He was carrying three plump, silver-scaled mountain fish skewered on a clean wooden stick, his pink tails swishing with an insufferable amount of pride.
"Lizard King, make yourself useful, will you?" Raiden purred, stopping right in front of Caspian and gesturing to the raw fish. "Give these a quick flash. Not too charred—Hana likes the texture firm."
Caspian glared down at the fox, but a quick glance at Hana’s flat expression made him swallow his retort. He let out a controlled spark of orange flame from his jaws, perfectly roasting the fish in a matter of seconds until the skin was crisp and bubbling.
"Here you go, love," Raiden said, presenting the fishes to Hana with a dramatic bow. "A proper meal for the master of the Peak. You can’t run on an empty stomach."
Hana looked at the fish and then at Raiden smiling at her. Well, she had been so busy she forgot she’d need food to function better, so once she smelled the roasted fish, she immediately got hungry.
"Thanks," She took the skewer and ate the roasted fish while keeping her eyes glued to the master manifest, using her free hand to input the final storage codes for the Boar-kin.
The fish was actually perfectly cooked, the smoky flavor giving her a much-needed boost as the grueling day finally began to wind down.
By the time she finished, the sun was dipping low below the jagged horizon, painting the sky in deep streaks of burnt orange and violet.
"Alright, that’s the last of the medical tiers accounted for," Hana muttered, setting the empty wooden spit aside and wiping her hands. "Kulu just touched down again. Caspian, grab the secondary power modules. Let’s finish this—"
But she got interrupted by the sound of incoming personnel.
