96 Someone will dare?

Long Cheng blinked multiple times before he looked at his mate amusedly as he heard what she had said. 

Not just the fact that the question had popped up so casually from her but also the way Lu Meili acted afterwards, like it was not something to be worried about. 

After spoke, Lu Meili stood up slowly like a cat that was stretching her limbs. She still had her back facing them when she started massaging her neck, then rotating her head to exercise it. 

If his mate just woke up at that moment, after all the commotion and noise from the inmates. So what had caused her to wake up? 

"Meili, you were sleeping?" Long Cheng asked his voice laced with disbelief. He waited for her response, but like before, Lu Meili did not respond verbally even though she was facing them already. 

The only acknowledgement that he got from her  was her brief nod and smile. 

'That is enough…' Long Cheng smiled back, grateful for the small gesture. He was smiling widely as if his face was going to split because of it. 

Even though he felt terrible  for being ignored earlier, after all the things that he had said, Long Cheng was still glad to know that his mate was not fazed by anything and she seemed to be alright and inside her prison cell. 

Lu Meili looked too comfortable for her own good, not that Long Cheng was complaining, but it was not good for her while they were at a disadvantage during the trial. 

With that realization, Long Cheng looked at his uncle with worry because he was concerned that if the king was upset about Lu Meili's actions he would probably be considering to not help at all. 

Despite the commotion earlier, Long Cheng was happy to see his uncle sparing time to visit the prison to see his mate. 

Long Kael expression was as unreadable as always. However, Long Cheng could see that his uncle was thinking deeply about his mate that made him anxious. 

"Unc-" Long Cheng immediately halted when Long Kael coughed lightly. "I mean Your Majesty... She was not feeling well earlier after all the magic that she had used in the Thunder Forest. That is the case, right, Meili?" Long Cheng said coming up with the most believable and logical explanation as he looked at his mate urging her to agree. 

Lu Meili hummed cooperatively before giving them a nod. She then tilted her head while looking at them with confusion, "It is not night time yet. What does the king want from me?" She asked, looking at the two royal dragon shifters in front of her through the transparent wall of her prison cell.

"Of course he is interested in adding you to his harem!" A voice interrupted from behind them. It was none other than Prisoner 177.

"Someone will dare?" Lu Meili asked mocking with a chilling smile on her face. She was looking at Long Cheng as if he was the one who had the harem. 

Lu Meili did not even bother looking at Prisoner 177, who was still inside his dark cell. All her attention was on her mate, which was not the usual case. 

Because of her current action that indicated evident jealousy, Long Cheng laughed loudly and stepped closer to the transparent wall before he murmured, "I will never dare." He said quite proudly of himself. There was a point in his life that he considered the idea, but thankfully his uncle was a great example of harems gone wrong. 

"That will be the case for my uncle too. He will not be able to take it if ever I die in pain." Long Cheng added jokingly, "That is also the reason why he is here to help you." 

"Help her?! I want help too!" Prisoner 177 interrupted. This time he was seen clearly by everyone as he crawled on the floor towards the better view of his cell.  

Long Cheng growled annoyingly while the rest, even Lu Meili and the dragon shifted their gaze to the one who was causing the unneeded interruption. 

"Shut up! Guards! Punish him!" Long Cheng demanded and the guards followed immediately. 

As soon as the guards activated the punishment control of the cells, they saw the magical strikes of thunder that started hitting prisoner 177 from all the direction of his cell.  

"Fvck! Can you do something different?!" Prisoner 177 said mockingly, his voice laced with pain, but still managed to look at Lu Meili from the floor as he said, "Oy! Woman! See what they are doing? Don't trust these stinky royalties!" 

Lu Meili raised a brow amusedly, "I do not." She said with indifference that made Prisoner 177 laughed loudly through his pain. 

Surprisingly, the rest of the prisoners that we're able to hear it also laughed and like what they had done earlier when Long Kael arrived, they started to tap their cages and cause irritating noises. 

Growl! 

Long Kael growled loudly before pointing at Prisoner 177, "Double his punishment!" He commanded and the guards immediately followed.

After he said that, the other prisoners hollered angrily that made Long Kael almost snap bloody. 

"There would be no food for all of them for a year!" He added. 

It would have been easier to kill the other prisoners or torture them with no food for more than he has mentioned, so they learned how to submit, but he had decided against it due to the rules and regulations that were around. 

In his mind, they won't have a lot of energy left to continue causing disturbance and would shut up eventually. 

With the punishment of food, at least it would have made things more comfortable for the Prison officers to control them. 

After all, dragon shifters have a great appetite, and it would be painful to be hungry for an extended time. 

Lu Meili snorted suddenly, "Dragon King, you are too kind to your prisoners." She said over the loud noises that were continuing. 

"Am I?" Long Kael asked with interest. His eyes narrowed at Lu Meili that made the other's think that he was a ticking time bomb that would snap if the wrong choice of word was uttered even by accident. 

"Meili, my uncle is just doing what is right. Punishing by lack of food would be enough to keep them alive." Long Cheng explained. He was getting the feeling that he was between two storms that may collide and cause massive casualties. 

'Mate, we need my uncle's help. Do not offend him…' Long Cheng looked at Lu Meili with this thought as he shook his head discreetly to stop her from further speaking or trying to refute what he had said. 

"Keep them alive?" Lu Meili clarified, "Why? Just decide on their death date and keep it a secret for fun." She said suggestively.  "There's also this unique technology from the Mercenary Planet that forces someone to have a chip inside their brain that is interesting to try."

Lu Meili was so into her thoughts that she failed to realize that the prisoners that were causing the noises suddenly got silent...

***

Author's Note:

From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much!