Chapter 45
The refreshing yet pure mana that entered from the crown of her head began to caress and flow through every corner of her body.
Feeling as if she were being tickled by a feather, Asil burst into laughter,
“Pippiya!”
“Pippihaa!” (It tickles!)
“It’s because you’re not used to it. You’ll get the hang of it after a few tries.”
Arcian tightly embraced Asil to keep her from moving.
While giggling in his arms, Asil suddenly noticed something strange about her body.
First, her limbs began to lengthen.
Then, as her field of vision suddenly rose higher, her wings and tail vanished with a *pop*.
In their place, something long and flowing from her head draped over her back. Her once chubby yet agile body felt oddly heavier.
In the blink of an eye, Asil realized she had become something other than a baby dragon.
She had become human.
Stopping her laughter, she looked down at her hands and saw five small fingers, like maple leaves, instead of her fern-like front paws.
Curious, she examined the back of her hand and clenched and unclenched her fist.
Meanwhile, she fiddled with the cute dress Arcian had magically put on her, and her eyes widened in amazement when she saw the shoes on her feet.
‘Asil is wearing shoes!’
Reflexively, Asil tried to take a step forward.
But without her tail and wings, she couldn’t even manage a single step and toppled forward with a *thud*.
“Hwaaang!”
“Be careful.”
Arcian quickly caught Asil in his arms.
However, Asil’s attention was already elsewhere.
Touching her lips in surprise, she let out an exclamation.
“Wooow!”
Asil was speaking human words!
Though her tongue felt clumsy and she couldn’t move it freely, the fact that she was speaking human words instead of “Pippiya” was incredibly exciting and new!
Then, catching sight of her reflection in a full-length mirror nearby, her eyes widened once more.
Long black hair reaching her waist and pink eyes.
A doll-like human girl, wearing a pretty cherry-blossom-colored dress with matching pink shoes, was blinking back at her in the mirror.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Asil shouted,
“Asili has hair!!!”
It was her first sentence spoken in human language.
* * *
The joy of having hair was short-lived, as Asil soon reverted to her baby dragon form.
This was because she was still unskilled at controlling mana and couldn’t maintain her human form on her own.
“Our daughter takes after me, and even her human form is pretty.”
Nodding with satisfaction, Arcian infused her with mana a few more times.
Asil gradually grew accustomed to the sensation of humanization, switching back and forth between her human and baby dragon forms.
The biggest difference between her original form and her human form was the way she walked.
“Walking is hard…”
“Don’t put your center of gravity too far forward when you walk. Humans don’t have tails, so if you lean forward, you’ll fall.”
“Can’t I walk on all fours?”
“No, humans don’t walk on all fours.”
“Then can’t I fly in the sky?”
“Humans don’t have wings, so they can’t fly.”
“Hing…”
Though her appearance was human, her essence was still that of a baby dragon.
Asil clung to Arcian and diligently practiced walking.
“One, two, one, two… Now try walking without holding onto Daddy.”
“Uung. One, two, one, two… Hwaaaang!”
She nearly fell forward again, naturally shifting her weight forward, but Arsian quickly caught her.
He adjusted her disheveled clothes and spoke with utmost tenderness.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“Noo. Asili wants to practice humanization more!”
“If you overdo it on the first day, you might be too tired to do anything tomorrow. Don’t you want to see Daddy tomorrow too, Asil?”
“Hiing…”
Humanization practice was so much fun.
It was proof that Asil was no longer just a baby dragon. She wanted to do it all day long.
Asil lowered her head glumly.
But knowing she’d be even sadder if she couldn’t do anything tomorrow, she held back from begging further.
“We’ll do it tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that. Come to Daddy’s house every day and practice steadily, okay?”
“Ung.”
As she nodded slowly, Arcian gave a wide smile that didn’t quite match his usual image.
Being able to see his daughter every day after years apart was a joy beyond anything else.
On the other hand, Edenber, upon hearing this, was extremely displeased.
“You’re coming back here tomorrow too?”
Why on earth…
Did the black lizard, the sacred beast of Count Erzébet, appeal to her that much?
Was there some kind of connection because they were both lizards?
Even so, he couldn’t understand why she liked Count Erzébet so much.
Was she being coerced or threatened in some way?
He wanted to tell her to cut ties immediately, but he also wanted to grant Asil’s every wish.
Reluctantly, he ended up visiting the Erzébet household every day with Asil, like clocking in for work.
Arcian, naturally, did not welcome Edenber’s presence.
“That guy… I’ll never accept him as my son-in-law, not until dirt gets in my eyes.”
“There’s a flowerpot over there.”
“Wait, Asil. Don’t put dirt in Daddy’s eyes.”
Despite these twists and turns, Asil steadily practiced humanization with Arcian’s help.
Her progress in adapting to her human form was visible day by day.
How much time had passed?
One afternoon, when Asil had become quite accustomed to being human:
“One, two, one, two… Good job! You’re walking well now without holding onto Daddy.”
“Asili can walk from here to there all by herself now!”
*Thud thud thud!* Her running was quite impressive.
As a clever beastkin, Asil quickly learned to walk. Though she occasionally stumbled and fell.
Next, she learned how to use her hands.
Asil practiced using her fingers naturally by picking up and putting down a teacup, fork, and spoon that Arsian had summoned.
“Asili can’t use her front paws well.”
“They’re not front paws, they’re hands.”
“Asili can’t use her hands well. Can’t I just eat with my hands?”
“No, humans don’t eat with their bare hands.”
“Hing…”
Pouting, Asil puffed up her cheeks like a balloon.
Why was humanization so hard? Why were there so many things she couldn’t do?
Still, she diligently practiced as Arsian instructed.
Sometimes, she played around a bit.
“Look at this. Asili’s fingers got super long. Like sausages.”
“Daddy’s fingers are even longer than Asil’s.”
“Wooow!”
Asil’s eyes sparkled as she placed her maple-leaf-like hand against Arsian’s large one.
Even ordinary actions felt new and exciting in her human body.
Arcian looked at Asil with eyes full of love.
“Who did our daughter take after to be so smart?”
“Mommy.”
“….”
He suddenly became deeply depressed.
He was the one who helped her humanize, so why was Briana getting the praise?
Was this what they meant by the beastkin doing the work and the human taking the credit?
He hadn’t even been called “Daddy” yet.
While Arcian wallowed in his gloom, Asil fiddled with the scarf Edenber had tied around her neck.
‘I want to show off my human form to my husband too.’
She was curious about what he’d say if he knew she could become human.
“Can I show my husband that Asili became human?”
“No.”
Arcian, more serious than ever, firmly held both of Asil’s hands.
“We beastkin must never reveal our true nature to humans. Especially not to Duke Monlepe.”
“Why not?”
“Do you want to return to the forest, Asil?”
“Ung.”
“Then you mustn’t tell. If you do, he won’t let you go.”
Even in her baby dragon form, he had flirted with her and proposed marriage. If he found out she could humanize, he might hold her captive and never let her go anywhere.
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