The Dragon Duke's Heir Contract novel · Chapter 12 of 24
Chapter 12: The Nest
"Come with me," said Valerian. "I want to show you something."
It was the second night after the dinner.
Ysolene had been pacing the bedchamber for an hour with her hand on her stomach.
He took a lantern and led her through the cellars, and down a spiral stair cut into the rock, and down another.
The air grew warm, and then warmer.
At the bottom stood an iron door twice her height.
He laid his palm on it, and the metal glowed and swung inward.
She walked in after him and stopped.
The room was a cavern as big as a cathedral.
The floor was gold.
It was not a floor of gold coins so much as a drift of them.
A sea of coin and goblets and chains lay piled in banks and hollows, shining under the lantern.
The whole vault smelled of warm metal and smoke.
"Valerian."
"My family has been collecting for eleven hundred years," he said. "Mostly because of habit."
"There's enough here to buy the kingdom."
"There is enough to buy it twice. I've never needed to touch it."
He walked slowly along one wall, and she followed.
The walls were hung with portraits.
Each one showed a woman, painted full length, in a long dark gown with her hand resting on her stomach.
There were nineteen of them.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of The Dragon Duke's Heir Contract are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 11 · All chapters · Chapter 13 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend