Chapter 5

The officiating officer stepped forward nervously with a tray holding a translucent white jade bowl and a sharp silver dagger.

The kinship testing ritual using blood was both sacred and brutal within the Dragon Clan. It required drawing a drop of vital blood from the infant’s chest and a drop of blood from the fingertip of the suspected progenitor. The blood drops were then dripped into a jade bowl crafted from ancient ice jade. If the blood drops blended, the child was recognized to be the progenitor's offspring. Otherwise, the two were deemed to be unrelated.

In my previous life, I had stood here, watching helplessly as Inigo's chest was brutally stabbed. I was powerless to do anything as his heart-wrenching cries echoed through the coliseum.

This time, I won't let my child suffer that way again.

As the officiating officer approached, I stopped him sternly. "Wait a minute."

All eyes locked onto me. Devlin barked impatiently, "What trick are you trying to pull this time?"

I ignored him and spoke directly to the officer. "My son is newly born and weak. He can't withstand the effect of the blade. I'll do it myself."

Then, to everyone's astonishment, I pressed my fingers together and converged a sliver of golden dragon energy at my fingertips that was as sharp as a needle’s point. Holding Inigo close, I leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Inigo, don’t be afraid. It’ll only take a moment.”

Carefully, I directed my dragon energy to gently pierce a spot on Inigo's chest.

A drop of blood, deep crimson but tinged with a faint azure glow, welled up.

Inigo's body trembled slightly, and tears welled up in his obsidian eyes, but he didn't cry. He seemed to understand his mother was fighting for him.

My heart ached terribly but I swiftly transferred that drop of blood into the jade bowl.

That drop of blood glided to the bottom of bowl, its subtle azure hue gleaming faintly.

"You may proceed," I declared to everyone.

Devlin gave a scornful snort and pointed at one of the blue-green dragons kneeling below. "You! Come up!"

That blue-green dragon's face turned red with humiliation, but he didn't dare disobey. He rose and climbed onto the platform. The officiating officer stepped forward, pricked his fingertip with the silver dagger, and a drop of blood fell into the jade bowl.

Everyone held their breath. The drop of blood in the jade bowl remained separated from Inigo's, like two distinct beads rolling around on their separate paths at the bottom of the bowl.

There was clearly no sign of blending.

Devlin's face darkened a shade. "Next!" he barked.

Another blue-green dragon stepped forward, but his blood also did not blend with Inigo's.

"Next!" Devlin ordered.

"Next!" he ordered again.

Time ticked by as the kneeling blue-green dragons were tested individually and then dismissed unharmed.

The drop of azure-tinged red blood sat alone in the jade bowl, stubbornly refusing to blend with any of the other blood drops.

The mood in the coliseum shifted. From the initial gleeful mocking, it morphed into a strange tension, and finally into uneasy suspicion.

The murmurs died down as everyone realized something was not right.

If the child wasn't connected to any of these blue-green dragons, then...

Every single blue-green dragon was tested. Without exception, not a single drop of blood blended.

A strained silence hung over the platform. The elders exchanged awkward looks. They could see the shock and panic in their compatriots' eyes.

No words could describe Devlin's expression right now. It was a mix of shock, rage, and a trace of panic he unknowingly revealed.

He stared hard at the jade bowl as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Impossible… This can't be…" he muttered repeatedly.

I stared at him icily as he tumbled from the lofty height of an arrogant judge to a lowly, laughingstock caught in a bind.

"Your Highness, every single blue-green dragon has been tested." My reminder reverberated crisply across the eerily silent coliseum.

My eyes swept over the crowd below, lingering on the blue-green dragons who could finally stop kneeling. Nevertheless, the traces of humiliation and anger remained on their faces.

Then I turned to Devlin. "Now, shouldn't you tell me whose son Inigo is?"

Devlin reeled from my question and almost lost his balance

"You..." He jabbed a finger at me. His lips were quivering, but he couldn't get a single word out.

The situation had completely spiraled out of his control.

A hushed uproar rippled through the audience, but this time, the tide had turned entirely.

"None of them? Not even one?" one asked in disbelief.

"Could it be... Crown Prince Consort had genuinely been unjustly accused?" another speculated.

"But… this blue-green dragon child…" someone else asked.

One after another, the spectators cast skeptical looks in Devlin's direction.

He could feel keenly every glare that pierced his pride and dignity mercilessly, like a thousand needles.

He suddenly spun around and stared intently at Inigo in my arms. A glint of madness flashed briefly in his eyes.