Chapter 17: King of the Dragon Cave

The Lacquer White Wheel Palace stood on a high slope, with a towering dome-shaped building in front of it.

Bang!

Aemon didn't have time to redeem the card, so he jumped down from the wheel palace and stopped to gaze at the dragon's lair. He exclaimed, "Wow, it's so big!"

It was much larger than he had imagined.

The structure was far bigger than a typical noble's castle, more akin to a low mountain.

"Follow me quickly. I'll take you inside."

Rhaenyra regained her composure and looked much cheerier.

"Come on." Aemon followed her obediently.

Looking at the vast expanse of King's Landing, the Dragon's Den was the most iconic and enormous structure, aside from the Red Keep.

Aemon walked around, observing the surroundings and estimating the area.

As far as the eye could see, the Dragon's Den covered at least nine hectares.

"It's not as large as it looks, and it can't hold the dragon," Aemon thought to himself.

However, he didn't particularly like the building. Instead, he thought it was rather excessive.

Dragons were the rulers of the sky and earth. They were meant to live in Dragonstone's Dragon Mountain, not to be confined with their wings bound.

Boom!

The two of them climbed the steps, and the massive bronze doors of the dragon cave slowly creaked open.

A dozen dragon keepers, wearing gray linen clothes and holding bamboo sticks, emerged.

"Princess, Prince," one of them greeted.

An elderly draconian, with thinning hair, saluted and spoke in High Valyrian with a pure accent.

The dragon keepers were the people responsible for caring for and raising dragons within the dragon's lair. They were often of Valyrian descent, raised from childhood, and fiercely loyal to the royal family.

"Elder, I've brought him here to familiarize himself with the dragon's lair," Rhaenyra explained.

The old dragon keeper stared at Aemon for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yes, royal men should see dragons from a young age."

Rhaenyra forced a smile and walked into the lair.

Aemon realized that she had become unexpectedly unhappy and quickly thanked the old man. "Thank you for your hard work!"

He spoke fluently in High Valyrian, with no harsh accent, before following Rhaenyra closely.

As they entered the dragon's cave, the almost closed dome of the building appeared dimly lit, illuminated only by torches on the walls.

Rhaenyra walked ahead, still speaking in High Valyrian. "Would you like to see Syrax or Dreamfire first?"

Aemon struggled to keep up, his short legs working hard to match her pace.

There was no need to think much about it. The old man's earlier comment about "royal men" had irked Rhaenyra.

Despite trying to remain composed, she was still dealing with the sensitivity of her little brother's words.

Aemon responded casually, "Let's look at the dragon eggs first."

"Wait a moment, I'll tell the Dragon Hunter to bring them to us."

Rhaenyra's voice was calm, and she walked through the oval hall, as familiar to her as her own bedroom.

She didn't want to attend the name day celebration, so she had chosen a black outfit that was much more suited to the Targaryen temperament.

The pants wrapped around her straight legs, while the simple top and waist skirt subtly highlighted her figure.

Aemon glanced up and admired the gold-threaded dragon embroidery on the collar of her jacket and the delicate ruby necklace she wore around her neck.

Her style was understated yet exuded luxury.

"She's really rich. A rich woman." Aemon couldn't help but feel envious.

Looking at his own hands, he realized his wrists were bare, unlike her hands and neck, which were adorned with rare jewels.

Bang! Bang!

After a moment, the dragon keepers began bringing in large, furnace-like incubation vessels, placing them one by one in the main hall.

The elderly dragon keeper approached and spoke in a low voice, "Prince, all the inventory from the dragon cave is here."

"Thanks."

Aemon's eyes gleamed as he eagerly approached the vessels.

There were a total of sixteen incubation vessels, arranged in a four-by-four grid.

Rhaenyra frowned slightly and asked, "Don't you have a dragon egg?"

Aemon smiled as he lifted the cover of a black steel furnace.

Click!

Thick white smoke poured out as the red-hot charcoal crackled, revealing a green dragon egg resting within.

In an astonishing display, Aemon reached out and touched it.

"Discover items containing magic and obtain magic essence +3."

Rhaenyra quickly moved to stop him, exclaiming in surprise, "Aemon, you'll burn yourself!"

But when he turned his hand over, there was no trace of a burn, only some dust from the charcoal fire.

"Gods bless you!" The old dragon keeper's eyes widened in disbelief.

Targaryens were known to withstand high temperatures, but never had someone directly touched a dragon egg, which was as hot as burning charcoal.

"I'm fine, Rhaenyra."

Aemon shrugged innocently and shook his little hand, his nonchalance evident.

Rhaenyra was taken aback. "You're different, Aemon."

"Not really," Aemon lied, trying to downplay it.

Since he was young, he had discovered that he inherited two unique bloodline traits—Dream Walker and High Temperature Resistance.

His dreams were strange and often prophetic, though he couldn't rely on them much. However, his resistance to heat was remarkable.

After activating the Blood Vein Column yesterday, he seemed even more attuned to temperature—he didn't mind heat and was no longer uncomfortable in cold conditions.

"We should tell Daemon. He might be shocked."

Rhaenyra seemed to take a while to come to terms with this, growing increasingly disheartened.

"It's okay. He wouldn't care," Aemon responded casually, trying to comfort her.

Rhaenyra's mood sank as she realized how little her father's attention seemed to affect him.

After a few moments of speaking bitterly about their father, Aemon stopped worrying and focused on the task at hand.

"Discover items containing magical power, gaining +3 magic essence, +3, +3…"

The notification pinged sixteen times, confirming the results. All the dragon eggs had been tapped.

Aemon wasn't ready to stop yet, so he pulled up his gorgeous panel.

The number beside the golden funnel reached a satisfying total: [Magic Essence: 198]

It was a huge profit.

"King's Landing is great. The magic essence is really rising."

Aemon couldn't help but smile, his thoughts drifting to the dragon eggs in front of him.

Perhaps if he could… just take a few of these eggs, he'd have a fortune.

Suddenly, Aemon noticed the dragon keepers staring intently at the eggs. They would never allow him to take more than what was allowed.

He gave up on his plan and instead, held Rhaenyra's hand. "Let's go see the dragons."

The dragon eggs were fascinating, but the dragons themselves were far more imposing.

"Syrax or Dreamfire?"

Rhaenyra repeated the same question.

Aemon thought for a moment before replying firmly, "Dreamfire!"

Rhaenyra nodded in agreement, leading the way without any surprise.

"Let's go together."

The old dragon keeper's voice was solemn as he called upon a few younger keepers.

Dreamfire was the oldest and largest dragon in the cave, first owned by the "Queen of the East" Rhaenyra Targaryen—the elder sister of King Jaehaerys.

After the queen's death, Dreamfire had remained in the dragon cave, a dragon without an owner.

Over the years, its temperament had become increasingly volatile.

Aemon hopped along, completely unbothered by the situation, while the dragon keepers exchanged worried glances.

He pulled up the panel again, quickly checking the available cards.

[Constitution +1]: "Safe and harmless physical growth."

[Empty Hands]: "With a certain probability, you can turn someone else's pocket into your own."

[Golden-nosed Rat]: "A small rodent with a keen sense of smell and even sharper hearing."

The three cards shimmered brightly—one white, one green, and one blue.