Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 120

CHAPTER 110 PART 2

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Ridge Estate Treasure Room – 2:47 PM

Marcus Steel stood before a wall of paintings, his dragon senses detecting the unusual spiritual energy emanating from each canvas. The treasure room-reserved for the Ridge Family’s most valuable and historically significant possessions-contained artwork spanning centuries. But these particular paintings shared a common feature: they all depicted the same indistinct figure.

A man whose face remained deliberately obscured, standing in different historical contexts. One showed him in ancient Chinese robes overlooking mountains. Another placed him in medieval European armor. A third depicted him in 1920s American clothing standing before the construction of the Hoover Dam.

“Master,” Cosmo said quietly, examining a painting that showed the figure during World War II. “These are all—”

“Me,” Marcus confirmed. “Or interpretations of me across different eras. The Ridge Family has been collecting them for generations without fully understanding what they’re documenting.”

He reached out, his finger hovering millimeters from a canvas showing the Dragon King overlooking ancient battlefields. “Immortality has its costs, Cosmo. You live long enough, you become legend. Live longer still, you become myth. And eventually, you become nothing but indistinct figures in old paintings that people display without comprehending.”

“Do you remember all of it?” Cosmo asked. “All those eras?”

“Fragments,” Marcus admitted. “My memory damage three years ago destroyed much of my historical recall. I remember techniques, power, essential knowledge. But centuries of personal experience? Gone or so fragmented they might as well be dreams.”.

Before Cosmo could respond, the treasure room doors burst open.

Finnian Ridge strode in with six followers flanking him, his expression carrying vindictive satisfaction mixed with curiosity. His eyes immediately locked onto Cosmo-assessing her beauty with the entitled gaze of someone accustomed to taking whatever caught his interest.

“So,” Finnian said, his voice dripping with false pleasantry, “you’re the guests who felt entitled to beat my family’s security unconscious and demand entry without invitation.”

Marcus turned slowly, his dragon eyes assessing Finnian with perfect clarity. Spoiled. Arrogant. Untested. The kind of heir who’d inherited power without earning it, status without justifying it, confidence without the ability to back it up.

“I’m Finnian Ridge,” the young man continued when neither Marcus nor Cosmo immediately responded, “Only grandson of the Ridge Family patriarch, Sole male heir to this estate and everything it represents. And I’ve been given the responsibility of… hosting you temporarily.”

The word “hosting” carried barely concealed mockery.

“You know what proper guests do when meeting their host?” Finnian walked to an ornate side table where a tea service had been prepared by servants. “They show respect Deference. They serve tea to demonstrate humility and gratitude for the host’s generosity.”

He picked up the teapot, holding it out toward Marcus with exaggerated casualness. “So. Serve me tea. Both of you. On your knees would be appropriate, given how you entered my family’s property.”

Marcus’s expression didn’t change. His dragon aura, carefully suppressed, pulsed once with contempt so

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profound it made the room’s temperature seem to drop.

“No,” Marcus said simply.

Finnian’s cronies erupted with indignant protests:

“You dare refuse?!”

“Do you know who you’re speaking to?!”

“The Ridge Family will—”

“Actually,” Finnian interrupted, his eyes still fixed on Cosmo, “I have a better idea. The woman can serve me. She looks like she’d be good at… serving.”

His smile turned predatory. “In fact, I think I’ll keep her. A beautiful woman who knows her place-that’s valuable. Once she understands that attacking Ridge security was a mistake, once she learns proper obedience, she’ll make an excellent… companion.”

Derek Walsh laughed. “Young Master Finnian, you have excellent taste! The man clearly isn’t worth keeping- kick him out. But the woman? Definitely worth training.”

Cosmo’s hand moved toward her concealed weapons, but Marcus raised a finger fractionally-a signal to wait.

“Well?” Finnian demanded, picking up the teacup and holding it out toward Cosmo. “Pour. Now. Consider it your first lesson in serving your new master properly.”

Cosmo looked at Marcus, her expression carefully neutral but her eyes asking a clear question: May I?

Marcus’s dragon aura pulsed once-agreement.

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