Chapter 8
Despite being a so-called elder of the family, he hadn’t shown even the tip of his nose despite the major incident that had befallen the household.
The news of Asil’s summoning should have been enough to make him come running on both feet.
The aide answered with utmost sincerity.
“He says he’ll come after finishing what he was doing.”
“Finishing, my foot. Doesn’t that guy have any sense of priorities?”
Genuinely irritated, Elcai fidgeted with the hilt of his sword.
“Tell him to set out immediately, no matter what he’s doing.”
“Piiyat!” (Grandpa!)
It was at that moment that a cute cry rang out.
Elcai and the aide’s gazes instinctively turned to the same spot.
Asil, with its eyes glaring fiercely and its front paws firmly planted on its hips, was looking up at Elcai.
In that instant, the aide understood why Elcai called Asil a “booger.”
She was just too small. To exaggerate a bit, dhe was small enough to be accidentally kicked by someone walking carelessly.
Asil snapped primly.
“Piiya pii piiya.” (You need to come with Asil for a bit.)
“Why.”
“Piiya.” (You’ll know if you follow.)
The aide’s mouth fell open in shock. “You’ll know if you follow”? What an audacious statement!
If anyone else had said that, Elcai would have drawn his sword on the spot.
But in front of Asil, he merely nodded.
“If you called me for no reason, you’re in for a scolding.”
Though his words carried a threatening tone, considering Elcai’s usual temperament, this was practically affectionate.
“You stay here.”
“Yes…”
The aide was dumbfounded, even as he watched.
How could someone change a person’s demeanor so drastically in such a short time?
“Piiya.” (Don’t go anywhere else.)
“Alright, you just hurry up and go. With those booger-sized legs of yours.”
“Piit!”
Offended by the “booger” remark, the baby dragon clung to Elcai’s pant leg like gum and toddled away, *patter patter patter*.
Her legs were so short that she wasn’t really walking on her own but rather hanging onto the pant leg as it went.
‘Man, she’s ridiculously cute…’
If I had a little lizard like that, I’d pamper it to no end.
The aide looked enviously at the glossy back of Asil’s head.
* * *
I succeeded in kidnapping Grandpa!
It was tough clinging to him the whole way to make sure he didn’t notice and run off.
As soon as Elcai and I returned to the room, the waiting rabbit slammed the door shut and locked it with a *bang*.
Now all that’s left is to give Grandpa a scolding! Asil giggled, *ppihahaha*.
Noticing that he’d been summoned for no reason, Elcai furrowed one eyebrow.
“If there’s no business, I’ll be going.”
“Piiya!” (No way!)
Asil, along with the rabbit, blocked the door. Though, being so small, it was completely ineffective.
Elcai replied curtly.
“Why.”
“Pii, piiya. Pii.” (W-Well, there’s something. Just sit here for now.)
If I told the truth, he might bolt right away.
Kidnapping one human was this hard—how did the dragon in the fairy tale manage to kidnap an entire king?
In a hurry, Asil patted her favorite white cushion with a *tap tap*.
The rabbit pushed Elcai’s leg with its whole body.
With a displeased expression, Elcai sat on the cushion, as if giving it one last chance.
“Is this good enough?”
“Pii.” (Just wait a sec.)
Though I’d kidnapped Grandpa, the problem was that I’d closed the book after reading only the part about humans being scared.
I couldn’t quite remember how the dragon in the fairy tale had scolded the humans.
After some thought, Asil climbed onto Elcai’s lap to make sure he couldn’t leave.
Then it quickly started searching for [The Black Dragon Who Became a Guardian. ]
Meanwhile, Elcai twitched one eyebrow at the tail swishing in front of him.
Why was it doing this on his lap when there was plenty of space around?
To top it off, the baby rabbit had claimed his other knee.
“Get down.”
As he tried to nudge Asil’s bottom downward, her black tail *smack* hit the back of his hand.
Elcai flinched for a moment.
What was this soft texture? He’d thought it would be hard, covered in scales, but it was anything but.
It was a softness beyond comparison to a wyvern’s hide, delicate like touching something made of feathers…
Asil, pressing Elcai’s hand down with her tail, puffed out her cheeks sulkily and turned to look at him.
“Piiya.” (I said wait.)
The moment he met those innocent pink eyes,
scenes unfolded in Elcai’s mind.
Asil walking side by side with him through a forest path. Asil playing ball with him under clear skies.
Asil singing cute *piiya piiya* songs.
Asil climbing a tree and dropping acorns to him.
Asil splashing coolly in a stream on a hot summer day—
By then, he was already mentally naming Asil’s granddaughters.
Suddenly, *ding-a-ling*, the sound of a bell rang out. Soon after, a tray piled with strawberries came in.
It was snack time.
In that moment, a brilliant idea struck Asil.
‘I’ll eat all the strawberries myself and not give any to Grandpa.’
It was a small revenge for when he’d told me to get off the table before.
To think he’d keep strawberries out of my reach after placing them in front of me—what a ferocious dragon!
To tease Elcai, Asil picked up a strawberry.
Opening her mouth with an *ahh* to eat it deliciously, it paused.
Something smelled slightly off about the strawberry, perhaps due to improper storage. It seemed edible, but something felt uneasy.
Asil recalled the words its kindergarten teacher had drilled into its ears:
“If you find strange food, ask an adult to eat it first.”
“Piiya.”
As taught, Asil offered the strawberry to Elcai.
To Elcai, who didn’t know the context, it looked like nothing more than Asil generously offering him the first strawberry.
Elcai narrowed his eyes.
‘This little girl…’
It’s trying to bribe me to look good.
Its insight in seeing me as a superior is commendable, but—this little one picked the wrong person.
He despised bribes. He’d been burned multiple times by those who offered gifts with impure motives.
‘But a strawberry is too trivial to count as a bribe.’
After some thought, he ate the strawberry Asil offered.
“It’s fine.”
“Pii!”
Only then did Asil eat the strawberries with relief, *nom nom*, completely forgetting its original purpose.
☆☆☆☆
Chapter 2
Meanwhile,
Viante, who had been summoned to the ducal castle by Elcai, was grinding his teeth.
“What does it matter to me that Edenber summoned some weakling monster!”
He had only learned after Asil’s summoning that Edenber had been preparing to summon an ancient creature.
Though he had eyes and ears planted in the ducal house, that cunning young brat had hidden it so well.
If he’d known earlier, he would have sabotaged it long ago.
He’d hoped the monster would bite the dust, but judging by the constant summons, it seemed regrettably fine.
Considering it was so weak it had even been attacked, that said it all.
“If it can’t even be raised as a divine beast, they should just kill it. Why call me?”
He was currently in the capital.
He had come to build connections to help him ascend to the dukedom.
But with his father summoning him every other day, he couldn’t get anything done properly.
“Surely he’s not planning to make that thing a divine beast, is he?”
“It doesn’t seem so.”
His aide, who had been monitoring the ducal castle’s movements since Asil’s summoning, replied.
“However, it’s said to have spewed a huge flame during the attack, so they’re keeping an eye on it for now. And this is just a rumor, but—”
He lowered his voice.
“There’s talk that it broke an orichalcum door with its bare hands—”
“Nonsense.”
Before he could finish, Viante cut him off with a scowl.
“Orichalcum doesn’t get a scratch even from an explosion, and what? Broken with bare hands?”
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BY ANNA 💓
