Looking around the palace, Sehun watched fascinated, nodding as Baekhyun explained things to him. He had expected Draco palace to be different from how he saw the exterior, but the truth was, it was very similar to the palace back in Ilda and now he realized his mother had done a lot of changes to the palace he grew up in. She must have wanted it to look like the palace she was familiar with and Sehun would say she had done a good job in doing so. They came to a stop in front of a door and Baekhyun turned around to face him.
"This was Aunt Artemis room, she had lived here before she left." "Artemis who?" Sehun asked a bit confused. "Your mother of course." Baekhyun told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "My mother's name wasn't Artemis, she was Yura– Oh Yura." "Oh that was her first name, the one our grandparents used to call her when she was born but as she grew, she began to change and look more and more like goddess Artemis and her parents decided to change her name to Artemis. And that was her real name because never in history had anyone looked so much like the goddess until your mother was born. Many even believed her to be the goddess' incarnation and many even worshipped her. Like literally worshipped her." Sehun blinked several times as he allowed the information to sink in. Sehun didn't know anything about the goddess Artemis, she wasn't popular from where he came from– none of the Goddesses were. The people of Ilda solely worship Auriel, so he didn't even know what she looked like. Now his cousin was telling him that his mother wasn't only the queen and the goddess look alike but she was also considered a goddess herself by many. "So basically there are many who consider you a demigod." Talking a shaky breath, Sehun shook his head. "I am no demigod but an ordinary man" Baekhyun let out a breathy chuckle. "You're no ordinary Sehun. You're a dragon Lord." "You still haven't told me what a dragon Lord meant." "It means–" Baekhyun drawled, glancing briefly at his father who was standing quietly behind Sehun. "You're the only man capable of controlling every dragon in existence. You can bond with more than one dragon if you wish it, unlike us who could only rely on our bonded dragon. You're incredible Sehun, I thought Arkan must have told this. Greater dragons don't bow to anyone not even their peers but they bowed to you, they listen to you and will follow your every command. While people like myself only have the privilege to command a greater dragon forty times for the whole of our lives, you my dear cousin could command any dragon be it lesser or greater for the rest of your life." He explained. Sehun felt his heart pounded against his rib cage as his mind wandered back to the first time he met Arkan. He remembered the way the dragon had bowed at him, how he had looked at Sehun like he being in his presence was the greatest honor to Arkan. His heart pounded even more at the realization that Baekhyun was actually telling the truth as he also remembered the similar look Pàshiu had gazed him with. By the Angel! The dragon had also bowed at him and Sehun didn't think much of it until now. "H-how how did you know I am the dragon Lord?" He asked after a moment. "The last dragon Lord was goddess Artemis's great grandchild. He had prophecied that the next dragon Lord would be born the year you were born." "I wasn't the only one born that year, there were plenty of others." Baekhyun nodded. "True!" He agreed " but it is vastly known that only Royal Draco bloodline could become a dragon Lord."  "What if I am not the only draco blood–" "Sehun you are the only one, Pàshiu knew the day and time you were born. From what I was told all the dragons had bowed and refused to respond to anyone for the entire day. It was later that Pàshiu announced a new dragon Lord had been born from our queen. It was how we came to know of your existence." "I– i still don't understand" "Pàshiu had never bowed to me or even the late queen, but the moment I saw her bowed to you; I was sure more than ever that you're the dragon Lord. If you don't believe me why don't you try commanding her or any other dragon not just Blink." "What if they just followed my orders because I am the prince– heir to the throne of Dracoland?" It was scary to realize he had such magnificent power to control creatures that were believed to be demigods. If it had been just lesser dragons, Sehun might not find it as scary. But suddenly coming to realize he was some kind of superior being with so much responsibility didn't sit well with him. "Why me?" He asked swirling around to look at his uncle. "It could be anyone, but why me?" Apollo gave him a tender smile and gently reached a hand to his face. "it is the will of the Goddesses. We shouldn't question it but accept it." "I am not even a believer of these Goddesses you speak of, I have my own deity that i worship and and you're telling me to believe in another?" Apollo took several measured breaths. His face seemed intent on reaching the color of his hair. "No one is asking you to change who you chose to worship. All Goddesses are equal in my eyes. I do not worship Gaea or Auriel but I have faith in them. You do not have to have faith in any deity but Auriel. But accept who you are and the blessings bestowed upon on by any deity."  He was silent for a while, thinking over what Apollo had just said. The truth was, Sehun was never a religious man but he had believed in Auriel for all his life. He guessed believing in more deities would not change anything. He took a deep breath and nodded. Apollo smiled at him and took a step back. "Come! There are things I want to show you." Baekhyun said and he took Sehun's hand, leading him into the room. The room was big, with a huge bed settled in the middle, it had a lot of paintings and tapestries hanging on the walls. His eyes only linger on them for a moment before something else caught his attention. There were several bows, with designs Sehun had never seen before. Most of them had marquetry designs of vines or running animals, which took Sehun by surprise; he hadn’t thought such a delicate art was one the Dracolanders would be interested in, but the level of detail was stunning. He resisted the urge to his fingers over the nearest lid. “I know you're an archer.” Baekhyung pulled a leather quiver from one box, and held it out to Sehun, who arranged it over his shoulder out of habit and tightened the strap. It was sturdy, but the leather was already worn and comfortable.Then came the bow, and Sehun had to hold in a small gasp of delight." It only proves you're your mother's son." The wood was beautifully grained and supple, obviously polished and carved with care. The grip was perfectly smooth and fit well into his hand, and when he held it up, he was delighted to find that it was as lightweight as it was durable. It was as beautiful as any piece from the royal arsenal had ever been, and he couldn’t help holding it up and length, even unstrung, to test the weight. “This is...phenomenal. Did you make this?” he asked, voice low in awe. Baekhyun laughed, and waved his hand. “No, no, that was definitely your mother. She was an archer just like you, this one she made herself." It didn't come as a surprise to know his mother was an archer, it only explained why he have great love for bows and arrows. Though he had never seen his mother used those but he knew she was great with them.  Sehun was still duly impressed, and when Baekhyun handed him a bowstring, he quickly looped it over one end of the bow, and used his leg as leverage to get it strung. It was a magnificent weapon, the hand that had crafted it clearly pure and true. He tested the weight of it, drawing the string back empty, and found that the supple wood bent to his pull easily, but had innate strength enough that it would fire a clean shot. "By the Angel, this is truly incredible." He looked up to see his cousin smiling at him. "You should keep it then." "What? No i– i shouldn't it's–" "It's alright, I am sure your mother would want you to have it." Sehun thought about his mother, closing his eyes for a brief moment, he could see her smiling at him and at that moment he knew he was going to keep them. "My father told me you mother was the best archer, she had started at young age and their parents were very impressed." "Do you know why she left?" He opened his eyes as he asked. "I do." Baekhyun told him. "From what my father told me: Aunt Artemis was hunting when she came upon your father. It was love at first sight for both of them and she saved his life from a beast and stayed with him for days until he was healed. Both didn't know they're the monarchs of a neighboring kingdom at first. And when she came back from the hunt a few days later, she told her brother about meeting the man of her dreams and also informed him that your father had asked her to come with him that he would wait for her at the same spot they met the next day, your father said he would understand if she did not wish to leave with him but he said he would wait for two days and if she didn't show up within those two days he would understand she rejected him and he would go back to his country ." Sehun rested his weight on the table nearby as he allowed the information to sink in. "So she just left after that?" Baekhyun shook his head. "No, she didn't at first, she stayed and continued with her duties as queen for another couple of years until she couldn't take it anymore and one day she left a long letter, leaving the responsibility of the kingdom to my father with an apology for following her heart." Sehun took a deep breath, so his mother was a romantic. "And she never sent missives?"  "She did once, a year after she left, it was a short one though, telling her brother she was pregnant and happy and that was enough for my father. He wanted his sister to be happy." Baekhyun said. "My father tried to rule the kingdom after he knew she might not come back but he couldn't do it or more like the people refused to accept him until I decided to take the reins." "How did you know she died?" "She was the Queen Sehun, even though she was not a dragon Lord– Lady, there was still the bond between her and the dragons. Just like how they felt when you were born, they also felt it when the Queen died." Sehun closed his eyes once again, picturing his mother's face and reminiscing all those moments he saw his parents spent together. He guessed he could understand why she left her kingdom for Love. She really did loved his father and Sehun knew his father also loved her like no one else. "Thank you for telling me about my mother." He opened his eyes and saw Baekhyun making gestures with his hand. He was facing the window with a bit of concentration and Sehun mirrored his posture, slightly turning to see what he was doing.  His breath got caught up in his throat when he realized Baekhyun