Chapter 540: Dragons and Whales
At this moment, all the outsiders in the royal court had left, leaving the space to the three remaining parties.
Upon reopening her eyes, Raphael emitted a slight steam, but after taking a few deep breaths, she raised her gaze towards Jasmine not far away and spoke to her,
“Jasmine, Fisher was actually here at the Dragon Court looking for me. He shouldn’t have known you were here; otherwise, he wouldn’t have followed me this far until something happened. The surprise I told you about was actually to introduce you to him, my husband. After all, even though we both knew who we were waiting for, we didn’t know each other’s specific identities. But I didn’t expect that you already knew him, and the person we were waiting for is the same.”
“I… I know, Raphael. I didn’t realize that the surprise you mentioned was him; I thought…”
Jasmine pursed her lips. Now that the few outsiders who were bickering were gone, the whole situation was slowly becoming clearer.
At this moment, facing someone who knew Fisher earlier, had a marital relationship with him, cared deeply for him, and was also her best sister, Jasmine actually felt at a disadvantage emotionally.
In fact, neither side felt competitive at this moment; after all, years of feelings couldn’t just evaporate in an instant.
Let alone that they were still in the stage of clarifying issues and conflicts; even if Jasmine was certain she wouldn’t really fall out with Raphael later.
She couldn’t do that; she didn’t want to hurt Raphael, didn’t want to create conflict with her, yet she didn’t want to let go.
“Alright, since that’s the case. Jasmine, I want to know how you and Fisher met, how he left Nali, and how you ended up separating and coming to the Dragon Court. Can you tell me about that?”
“Well, I… um…”
Compared to the bickering back-and-forth between Fashir and Keshil, Raphael’s questions were evidently more direct and to the point.
At this moment, her words were calm, as if devoid of emotion, like a queen listening to a report from a subordinate.
Jasmine didn’t realize that Raphael’s unintentional pressure was continuously squeezing her space for resistance.
In public, Raphael had always been the true master of the Dragon Court. If you were to count it, even though Jasmine had helped the Dragon Court with many things over the years, in the end, she was just a guest from underwater.
In private, Raphael was the partner with a deeper connection to Fisher, far from being comparable to Jasmine, who was once merely Fisher’s student.
Both parties were weak, each weaker than the other.
In terms of momentum, Jasmine was at a disadvantage first, especially since she wasn’t good with words and had rarely appeared in public over the years, relying entirely on Raphael to promote the image of the priestess.
This led to the perception that Raphael’s inquiries were merely meant to sort out and clarify things, whereas for Jasmine, it felt more like the original partner questioning the mistress about her history with her husband.
“When… when I…”
It was at this moment that Fisher, who had remained silent, finally spoke. He interrupted Jasmine’s words and said,
“Raphael, let me speak; I remember more clearly.”
Both Raphael and Jasmine turned to him. Raphael’s green eyes flashed with a hint of silent blame, while Jasmine couldn’t read his expression but instinctively let out a sigh of relief, as if she could momentarily escape the situation psychologically.
Fisher had previously not spoken; the primary reason was that Raphael, the main party, had not expressed a single attitude, clearly still in a state of bewilderment, and all the previous words were from Fashir and Keshil to Jasmine.
Their opinions were not important at all; even if they were from Raphael’s perspective, it wouldn’t help, because what mattered was how Raphael thought, not how they thought.
Thus, Fisher had been silently thinking rapidly amidst the chaotic silence to compensate for the helplessness brought about by the sudden collision.
The first thing to determine was that he could no longer avoid the issue as he had before.
He couldn’t tell Raphael, “Jasmine is just a student I know,” as he had done when introducing Renee to Elizabeth or Elizabeth to Alagina.
That was merely a temporary measure to ease conflicts. But where could it be dragged on indefinitely? If they had to face it one day, today would be that moment.
“When I left the Southern Continent and returned to Saint Nali, I…”
Through Fisher’s narration, he shared how he and Jasmine met, how he got caught up in Elizabeth’s power struggle, how he fought alongside her to kill the pioneer Blake, how Elizabeth wanted to kill Jasmine to bring him back to the Golden Palace, and how they finally made a promise to meet again after their separation.
“So, the book mentioned earlier about you and that Nali Empress is true?”
But after Raphael finished listening, the first question she uttered was this.
Compared to the unwitting inquiries she made when talking to Jasmine, Raphael’s tone softened slightly, but only slightly, because when mentioning the “Nali Empress,” her gaze was rather unyielding.
Even Fisher hadn’t expected her to temporarily shift away from the topic of Jasmine and go in another direction.
Looking at the strange colors flashing in her green eyes, Fisher did not shy away but simply said,
“Yes, what he said is true.”
“…”
Raphael pursed her lips, her expression neutral, but the tail behind her dangerously twisted at an angle, bowing like a hunting snake. She continued to ask,
“So you refused that Elizabeth because of Jasmine, right?”
“Yes, but not entirely.”
Upon hearing the first part, Raphael’s tail paused slightly, but afterward, it seemed to spring to life a bit,
“At that time, Elizabeth wanted to kill her for her power grab plans. She had killed and plotted against many, including me. I wanted to save Jasmine, and I didn’t want to lose my freedom; refusing Elizabeth was the inevitable choice.
“Then, Jasmine and I separated over the Southern Ocean, but before we separated, we made a promise to meet again. Later, I didn’t know she came ashore again or that she arrived at the Dragon Court.”
Mentioning Elizabeth cast a deeper shadow over Jasmine.
Raphael shook her scales slightly; she may have received many answers and insights from Fisher’s words just now.
For example, regarding Elizabeth, according to Fisher’s statements and the book, Elizabeth was Fisher’s first love he parted from during his youth, seemingly without any follow-up, especially since she had previously put out a bounty for him. However, upon closer examination, if that woman were so resolute and cruel, Raphael believed Fisher couldn’t have escaped Saint Nali.
Elizabeth must have had lingering feelings for Fisher, even now, as Raphael had never heard of the Empress having a prince or anything similar, and she was already thirty-four years old this year.
As for Jasmine, Raphael could also sense that ambiguous feeling.
That kiss they shared, the promise they made, all indicated this.
Thinking of this, and considering any potential connections Fisher might have with other women, Raphael felt her anger boiling, nearly wanting to tear off the roof.
But she didn’t do that.
She simply took several deep breaths, ultimately appearing calm as she looked at Fisher and finally asked him,
“So, it means that Fisher, you and Jasmine are just in a student-teacher relationship. It just so happens that when you came to the Dragon Court to find me, you encountered Jasmine here, right?”
Raphael seemed to completely overlook Fisher’s previous description, relegating the relationship between Fisher and Jasmine to that of “teacher and student,” rigidly determining everything.
She hadn’t truly changed, yet she had changed a lot.
She no longer wore all her emotions on her face; all her feelings and purposes were now hidden under a gaze as deep as a serene pool.
Fisher was her Suitable Tail Partner, and he was here to find her, unrelated to Jasmine.
This was not only a confirmation of Fisher: as long as he said “indeed,” she would treat other women as nonexistent, allowing her to eliminate everything outside coherently; it was also a deterrent for soft Jasmine: you are merely his student, while I am a partner with a marital connection, so you need to position yourself correctly.
Your status is not legitimate, and it would be better to withdraw soon, sister.
The shadows behind her loomed like a massive dragon blocking the sun, imposing pressure on Jasmine, who was already retreating in momentum, preventing her from lifting her head.
Under her indisputable questioning, Fisher once again entered rapid thought.
It was certain that he could not simply admit to it.
Even if today Jasmine admitted it to avoid disaster, what about afterward? Even if he shamelessly told everyone, “She is a friend, a student, a superior, and a stranger,” what about Renee?
If he said Renee was “just a friend,” and she heard it, he would be done for in a minute.
He had promised her something, but—
Just as Fisher was facing Raphael, who was staring straight at him, and racking his brain to think quickly, unexpectedly, Jasmine, who had been silent beside them, suddenly trembled her lips and spoke to Raphael,
“No, it’s not just a teacher-student relationship; it’s love between a man and a woman. Even though I don’t know what Fisher thinks specifically, this is how I feel.”
Raphael turned to look at Jasmine, and after hesitating for a moment, Jasmine defiantly returned her gaze.
It seemed that not only had Raphael changed, but Jasmine had as well.
Now, the contradiction that Fisher had painstakingly tried to shift had returned between them.
Raphael’s face displayed no particular expression; she merely asked Jasmine,
“Love… Jasmine, when you met Fisher, did you know of my existence?”
Still a question of precedence, which Jasmine couldn’t refute,
“I… I don’t know.”
“He never mentioned me to you?”
“No, but… Raphael, you never mentioned Fisher to me or the Dragon Court either.”
Raphael paused slightly. A hint of gloom flashed in her eyes, and even her words weakened,
“Because the Dragon Court couldn’t accept him; that is something I can’t decide, I—”
Jasmine pressed her lips together, then hesitantly spoke,
“Then can Nali accept you? Can Elizabeth accept you?
“Clearly, I am in a teacher-student relationship with Fisher, but even that led to me being hunted by Elizabeth. The whole Saint Nali knows about Elizabeth and Fisher’s relationship, but no one dares to speak out, fearing to anger Elizabeth. How could he possibly reveal you? Just because Raphael needs to manage the Dragon Court, does he have to abandon his homeland?
“Long before Fisher met you, Raphael, he was already acquainted with Elizabeth. If you had known about Elizabeth back then, would you have given up? If you could do it, then I could too.”
Indeed, was the issue of racial identity something only she faced?
Did Fisher not need to consider this?
Right now, Fisher indeed didn’t have to consider it, but how about when he was still in Saint Nali?
If others discovered that a gentleman closely related to the Eldest Princess was involved with a lowly dragon race from the Southern Continent, what kind of pressure would he face then?
Moreover, even if Raphael didn’t know about Elizabeth, she had learned another name on her journey: “Renee.”
She remembered the garments of the other woman still in the carriage Fisher had left for her, embodying such intimacy, as if treating her like the mistress. This made her unhappy, so she directly burned the woman’s clothes.
Even if she questioned herself, even if she learned of Renee or Elizabeth’s existence, would she give up?
A thousand thoughts crossed her mind, and Raphael’s obscure gaze inadvertently landed on Fisher. After hesitating for a moment, she turned her head and firmly spoke to Jasmine,
“But Jasmine, I have decided to take Fisher to meet my mother today. And if one day I win in war or perish, I will announce his identity to my kin and enemies, declaring to everyone that Fisher is my Suitable Tail Partner.”
“If Fisher needs a human wedding, then I will wear a human wedding dress; if he needs the witness of the dragon race, I will unconditionally seek my mother’s approval and my kin’s recognition.”
“Because I am the Queen of the Dragon Court, and I started this journey with Fisher. Thus, whether it is bones or crowns, this result is destined, and no one can stop it.”
“Not even you, Jasmine.”
Raphael’s words remained restrained and calm, and there was no sign of raising tension.
But for some reason, Jasmine felt as though she had returned to that day when she entered the underground ruins with Raphael to meet Fei.
Only now, Raphael was not beside her but sitting across from her.
It was that massive, fiery dragon.
(End of Chapter)
