The dragon's harem

Arad crawled beneath the bottom rail; one meter of space was enough for him to crawl through, and the door wasn't that wide, no, wait, isn't the right word, it wasn't that deep.

The door was about a hundred and fifty meters tall, fifty meters wide, and about three meters deep, enough for him to crawl full underneath. The scale of everything was quite terrifying and fascinating at the same time. Is this how a cockroach sees the world? Arad didn't know, but he was sure it's close.

Almost immediately after Arad looked out, he faced the first hurdle, or should he say the first two hurdles? The two guards standing at each side of the door won't be easy to sneak past.

Arad looked around. A few hundred meters to the right was a large table with a pristine emerald-green vase above it. From what he could see, the vase had a whole garden planted, full of trees and running water. He couldn't see the water, but he could hear its murmur.

For a moment, he considered dropping the vase down with gravity magic and then using that chance to sneak past... but then, what if the security system caught him using magic?

Arad didn't want to risk it, so he had to think of another way. He had one obvious option: Void Presence was an option, but he would preferably leave that for later.

He has a more fun option.

The door clicked, and it slowly opened. Arad crawled as fast as he could to keep up with it and looked up; Tyal was standing there. He could see beneath her dress. But he didn't care; it was time to move.

The two guards weren't there to protect them; they were there to keep an eye on them. They might trust Tyal, but not Arad and the rest. How could they not trust him? Arad is the most gentle, honest, and safe person in the world to be around. He would never try to snoop around their castle in the middle of the night, never, won't ever happen.

Tyal glared at the guards, then sighed, "How long are you two going to stand around here?"

"Your highness, we're here just in case anything happens at night." The man replied with a stern face. He then knocked on the ground with the butt of his long spear. "You can count on us."

The woman at his side nodded, "Until morning, we're staying until the morning."

"You're both dismissed." She waved her hand and was about to close the door. "Don't stand at my door."

The man frowned, "I'm sorry, your highness, but I can't leave my post."

She froze, glared at him with a frown, and then glared at the woman. "Take this idiot and leave."

The woman looked at Tyal, puzzled, and her head tilted a bit. "Sorry, but we can't leave."

Tyal sighed, "No wonder you two never got promoted past being mere guards." She grabbed the woman by the hand, "Fine then. You're coming inside. And you, leave, or I'll kill you right where you stand."

As Tyal pulled the woman inside. She seemed to finally realise something. Her face burned red and she shook her wrist from Tyal's hand. She jumped outside and gave her a deep bow. "I'm sorry, your highness. We'll be leaving at once." She then grabbed the man and bolted away.

On their way, the man glared at her. "What are you doing? You're disobeying orders."

The woman glared at him. "You're dumber than a stone. Let's go before I change jobs from a guard to a consort. We can stand at the end of the hallway, it'll be just fine."

Tyal glared at them, then glanced at the door's bottom rail; Arad was already gone.

By the time she went inside, Arad was already past the hallway's corner. He is an adult now, and his scales are fully grown. He is now a full-fledged lizard.

Arad's whole body was now as gray as the stone he was walking on, his scales could change color at will like that of a camelion or an octopus. It wasn't a magical ability but a purely natural one, meaning it won't trigger any magical defenses.

Soon he reached the end of the hallway. A massive door blocked his path. He was now hiding behind another large vase. This one had a titanic tree on it that looked at least several centuries old.

No guards were standing at the door, but Arad could see it was locked. He needs the key... no, he doesn't need it. It didn't take him more than a few seconds to crawl beneath the door to the other side. It helps a lot to be a little cockroach.

Now, he was in the office quarter where the king and the nobles worked, ruling over the kingdom. Arad felt a bit off walking inside: it reminded him of the mountain of paperwork he still has to finish in Alina.

But now Arad faced another huge problem. The offices were locked behind doors where he couldn't crawl beneath. The space he used was now just around a quarter of a meter. He can't crawl through it anymore. What's more, the doors were enchanted with magic to detect life, the whole door frame.

"Let's start from the left." He approached one of the doors. He wanted to use size magic, but that would trigger the castle's security system, so he had to think of another way to get through the doors.

He can't activate magic, but he might be able to deactivate it.

Arad approached the door and studied the enchantments on it for a few seconds. It was complicated, the life detection magic is installed on the frame, and the magic detection system is spread through the whole castle. He can't pass one without activating the other and alerting the whole castle.

"This would stop anyone... but it won't stop Nothing, would it?" He looked at Zephyr and she sighed, "Damn it... I hate doing this."

He opened his mouth, and she crawled inside. Soon, he swallowed her whole. Since he can't use magic to pull her into his stomach, that was the only way she could hide.

Arad approached the door, grabbed onto the tiny imperfections in the wood, and started climbing.