They Wanted Me to Serve My Sister, So I Joined the Northern Dragon King Chapter 08
On the day of the public hearing, the gallery of the Central Dragon Court was packed with lords and knights from across the
realm.
The moment I walked in, my father slammed the family warrant on the table.
“Elaia, you are my daughter! Your bloodline and your power were cultivated by the Rayne family. You have no right to defect!”
My mother reached for me, eyes red.
“Come home with me. We raised you for eighteen years. Even if we played favorites sometimes, you can’t treat your own parents like enemies.”
My brother scoffed.
“The Starfrost Tower, domain, and training resources you have now should be turned over to the family for redistribution.”
Cecilia clutched my Heartscale pendant, her voice faint.
“I’ve already forgiven you for running away during the investiture. Just come back, and we’ll still be a family.”
Lorne stood with them.
“Elaia, stop making a scene. We’re still bonding next year. I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”
I looked at them and laughed.
“Since you all claim you treated us the same, let’s start from the winter hunt when I was nine.”
The first evidence crystal rose to the center of the court.
In the recording, my father ordered me to lure the snow wolves away alone. My mother urged me to protect Cecilia, who couldn’t be allowed to come away scratched or scarred.
I survived three days in an ice cave, swallowing snow to stay alive, before they came back for me.
My father’s face went rigid.
“It was an emergency. Someone had to lead the wolves away.”
“So you chose me.”
My mother rushed to defend herself. “You’ve always been stronger than Cecilia. She’s so timid. Of course we had to let you bear a little more.”
“She’s timid, so she deserves protection. I’m strong, so I deserve to be thrown away.”
flooked at her
“So that’s what equal treatment looks like to you.”
I activated the second crystal
Page after page of ledgers unfolded, detailing domains, mines, elixirs, guards, and coming of age gifts
Cecilia had received three dragon crystal mines, the Third Knight Squadron, premium activation elixirs, and a golden griffin.
I had received a barren copper mine, a bottle of impurity laden elixir, and a tattered cloak thrown in tree with the grittin purchase
Their so called equal split had only ever existed in words.
The ledgers kept turning.
After Cecilia’s name, every entry listed exact quantities.
After mine, only three phrases appeared: “to be issued later,” “allocation deferred,” and “held in trust by the family.”
They hadn’t occasionally forgotten me. At every single allocation, they had deliberately chosen her.
My father’s face flushed red.
“She can transform, and she’s going to marry Lord Vale. Of course the resources should go to the one who can actually use them!
“Do you really not know why I couldn’t transform?”
The third crystal lit up.
Nine years of blood bank records spread across the entire wall.
[Frost essence blood drawn once per month. Total: one hundred and eight extractions.]
Vane presented my diagnostic report before the court.
“Elaia was not born with a blocked dragon core. The damage was caused by prolonged consumption of contaminated elixirs and repeated extraction of her essence blood.
“If that frost blood had actually merged into Cecilia’s array during the investiture, Elaia would have lost the ability to transform forever at best, or died on the spot at worst.”
My mother’s lips began to tremble.
“We didn’t know it was that serious. We just wanted the sisters to help each other.”
“Help each other?
“Cecilia took my essence blood one hundred and eight times. What did she ever give me in return?”
Cecilia shook her head, crying.
“I didn’t know the blood was hurting you. If it bothers you, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Then start by returning what was never yours.”
My gaze fell on the Heartscale pendant at her neck.
She immediately covered it with her hand and shrank behind our mother.
I had the fourth crystal project the complete accounting.
The Rayne family’s total expenditure on my food, lodging, clothing, and elixirs over eighteen years came to 3,860 gold coins.
More than half of those so-called elixirs had been the substandard concoctions that damaged my core.
One hundred and eight draws of essence blood, valued at the Court’s minimum rate, came to 43,200 gold coins
Add the domain revenues, mineral rights, and coming of age resources diverted to Cecilia, and the total they had taken from me came to 55,200 gold coins.
After deducting the so-called cost of raising me, the Rayne family still owed me 51,340 gold coins
The gallery went silent, then erupted in murmurs no one could suppress.
My father stared at the figures, unable to look away.
My brother had gone pale.
I picked up the last contract
“And this is what Lorne meant when he promised to take care of me: an attendant contract.”
The terms stated clearly that I would have no private quarters and no right to train. I would be required to obey Cecilia’s every
demand.
The chief judge read two pages and tossed the contract back at Lorne.
“You turned the woman you intended to bond with into another woman’s lifelong servant, and you dare call that protection?”
Lorne hung his head. He had nothing left to say.
My father tried to speak again, but the chief judge cut him off.
“A child’s bloodline does not belong to her parents. The Rayne family had no authority to consent to blood extractions on Elaia’s behalf, and no authority to transfer her resources to Cecilia.
“This is not a family matter. This is nine years of exploitation and harm.”
The ruling came swiftly.
I was granted full separation from the Rayne family. The blood relation between us would no longer carry any rights or obligations.
The Rayne family’s mines and assets would be seized and auctioned, with priority given to repaying the 51,340 gold coins they
owed me.
My father was stripped of his lordship for authorizing the prolonged extraction of essence blood. My mother, as the one who
carried it out, was remanded for criminal trial.
Lorne, for enabling the use of my blood in the transformation array, was stripped of both his Sworn Knight and Black Dragon Knight titles, effective immediately.
My father lunged forward to seize the ruling, but the court guards pressed him back into his seat.
My brother stared at the asset seizure terms. For the first time, he did not accuse me of being unreasonable.
My mother kept repeating, “We are your birth parents.”
But this time, no one used those words to demand I back down.
I walked up to Cecilia.
She instinctively shielded her chest.
I didn’t give her a chance to pull away. I took back the Heartscale pendant.
“This was my grandmother’s.”
I clasped it back around my neck.
“I can let go of the mines, the gold, even the affection you took from me. But this was never yours.”
I turned and walked out of the courtroom.
This time, no one had the right to order me back.
