BDBF 03

After finishing the meal, it was time to wait for the colorful desserts.

While fiddling with Hale’s fingers—which were much bigger than mine—I noticed his unusually long nails.

Then I saw the back of his hand too. If you didn’t look carefully, you’d miss it, but tiny diamond-shaped patterns were engraved all over it, almost like snake scales.

That’s when I remembered this was a dragon family.

So I asked the thing I’d been curious about.

A question I couldn’t ask a week ago because all I could do back then was babble.

“Abba.”

“Mm?”

“Abba, are you really a dragon?”

“Hm?”

When I tilted my head back, Hale’s face appeared upside down.

Even upside down, I could tell exactly what expression he was making.

Complete shock.

I didn’t stop there and kept firing questions at him.

“What color are you?”

“……”

“Can you fly in the sky? Do you breathe fire?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Hale just stared blankly at me before letting out a deflating laugh.

He turned my head back forward, but when I twisted around again to look at him, he was covering his eyes with one hand.

His body was trembling too—actually, it was his shoulders shaking up and down.

“…Why you laughing?”

“…Se, Senika.”

The way he said my name sounded like he was desperately holding back laughter.

…Why?! It’s a perfectly valid question! Of course I’m curious! I’ve never seen a dragon before!

“Ahem. It seems Rita still hasn’t explained it to you yet. The Yvienne family is a White Dragon family.”

“White dwagon? White color?”

“That’s right. And we can only fly when we’re in dragon form. Our clan mainly uses wind magic.”

This was seriously insane!

I never imagined I’d get to see dragons in my lifetime!

And not only that—I’d even been born as a dragon’s daughter!

My previous life had been… honestly, pretty pitiful no matter how I thought about it, but I never imagined I’d get compensated for it like this.

Even though I wasn’t the dragon myself, I suddenly started getting excited anyway.

“I wanna fly too!”

“No.”

“Why?”

“……”

Hale’s expression suddenly darkened.

Why? Did I ask something I shouldn’t have—

…Ah. Right.

I was born human in a dragon family. Of course I couldn’t fly.

Just because I was born into a dragon clan didn’t mean I’d automatically be able to.

Ah, come to think of it… was it really okay that a human like me was born from a dragon egg?

Normally… wouldn’t people suspect someone swapped the egg or something…?

Wait.

More importantly… can humans even hatch from eggs in the first place?

Questions instantly started multiplying one after another until they completely filled my head.

I shut my eyes and shook my head quickly.

Let’s save the complicated thoughts for later.

There was no need to think about all this right now.

Once the meal ended, I’d just be trapped in my room again anyway, so I could think about it then.

Instead, I decided to ease Hale’s worries—because honestly, my question might’ve made his thoughts even more complicated than mine.

“Mm, then give me ride later!”

“…What did you just ask for?”

“I can’t fly, so Abba can carry me!”

“Gasp!”

The moment I repeated myself, Rita made a horrified sound while Hale’s expression turned strangely subtle.

I immediately got nervous.

Was letting someone ride on a dragon’s back some huge taboo or something?

Did I ask for something incredibly rude?

If that was the case… this was bad.

I couldn’t exactly take back words I’d already said.

My eyes darted between Hale and Rita before lowering to the floor.

Then suddenly, a warm hand landed on my head.

I lifted my head and looked at Hale.

He was smiling with crescent-shaped eyes.

If I wasn’t mistaken… was that expression pride?

What was that?

It was the warmest expression I had ever seen in my life.

“Senika.”

“…Mm.”

“There’s no reason it can’t happen. So when you get a little older… shall we think about it then?”

“…Really?”

Hale nodded.

I couldn’t hide my happiness.

But I felt like I shouldn’t get too excited, so I tightly pressed my lips together—

though I couldn’t hide the corners of my mouth lifting like I was about to soar into the sky.

My steps felt lighter on the way back to my room.

Maybe because I got what I wanted?

Well, okay, it wasn’t fully confirmed yet but—

No, it basically was confirmed!

“Ahem, ahem!”

We had just climbed about half a floor of stairs.

I’d vaguely sensed someone coming down from above earlier, but I didn’t expect to run into them directly.

It was someone I’d never seen before, but thanks to his curly silver hair, I could tell the middle-aged man belonged to the White Dragon clan.

But his gaze was really…

Cold.

I instantly got the feeling he didn’t like me.

And honestly, this animal instinct of mine had never once been wrong.

Not in this life, nor the previous one.

“It’s been a while, Elder.”

Rita naturally greeted the man and stepped in front of me, shielding me from view.

I grabbed onto Rita’s clothes and peeked out with one eye to look at him again.

The sharp gaze was still fixed on me, so I quickly hid again.

“So she’s still alive.”

“The Lord has already made his decision.”

“Tch. To retreat like this…”

“Elder Rict, if you say one more thing here, I’ll report it directly to the Lord.”

At Rita’s warning, the elder called Rict let out a short hum.

“Rita, you’re clever, but unfortunately you inherited only the Lord’s worst traits.”

“You are aware that statement insults the Lord, correct?”

“Then report me if you wish. Being expelled from this family wouldn’t be so terrible anyway.”

As if Rita’s warning meant absolutely nothing, the elder walked right past us.

Even in the brief moment he passed by me, Rict kept staring with a deeply displeased look.

My body trembled on its own.

That elder was undoubtedly cold-blooded.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“Mm…”

I wasn’t alright at all.

It felt disgusting.

Getting looked at like that for absolutely no reason.

At least give me a reason before glaring at me like that.

Still, there was no need to show Rita how upset I was.

The person I was angry at was Elder Rict, not her.

The whole walk back to the room passed in silence.

Even after entering, neither of us spoke.

I couldn’t easily bring it up, while Rita seemed deeply lost in thought about something.

At this point, I was starting to understand why Rita wouldn’t let me leave the room.

Judging by that elder’s reaction…

The people living in this mansion—

No, the White Dragons—

didn’t seem very fond of me.

I understood why.

The only egg had produced not a noble White Dragon, but a human-looking child.

“Haa…”

Still, understanding it didn’t make it fair.

It’s not like I chose to be born here.

Did that really justify openly hating me like this?

Honestly, showing dislike toward a child like that didn’t feel very adult-like.

Especially for someone who was supposedly an elder of the family.

Shouldn’t someone in such a position know how to hide their emotions better?

Ah, whatever.

Even if I kept thinking about it, their ugly stares wouldn’t magically become kinder.

By now, the sky outside the window had turned completely dark.

Meaning it was bedtime.

After eating the snack I earned by acting cute toward Rita, brushing my teeth, and crawling into the warm blankets—

“Ritta, bye-bye.”

“Sweet dreams, Miss.”

If only I hadn’t met that elder earlier, it would’ve been a perfect day—

Knock knock—

Just as Rita was about to turn off the lights, someone visited my room.

The moment Rita opened the door and I saw the familiar face, I shot upright in bed.

“Abba!”

How much time had even passed since we separated?

Yet Hale already felt like someone I missed.

“You’re still awake.”

I saw Rita quietly closing the door behind him as she left.

Looks like she intended to leave father and daughter alone together.

Hale walked over and sat at the edge of my bed.

Then he poked my cheek with his finger.

“You’re even paler than before.”

“Rita scrubbed me squeaky clean!”

As I answered while squishing my plump cheeks, Hale smiled gently.

I wished he’d always show only that smile to me.

If someday he ever got angry at me…

I felt like I’d be really hurt.

I quickly pushed away the useless thoughts and snuggled tightly against his arm.

“What’s this, what’s this? Why you come?”

“I came to see your sleeping face.”

Ah, I see.

So he came to watch me sleep, but got surprised because I was still awake.

Well… what can you do?

I’m not exactly a good little child who sleeps early.

Still, since we live in the same house, surely there’ll be chances later, right?

Don’t be too disappointed, Father.

“I couldn’t see your sleeping face, but I was thinking of making another promise.”

“Pwomise? What?”

“Senika, once we find a teacher, you’ll begin pheromone lessons. If you listen well and grow a little older than now… how about we go look around outside the mansion together?”

“Whoa! Sounds good!”

Without even asking what pheromone lessons were, I immediately accepted.

I wanted to go outside the mansion so, so badly.

Sure, exploring this enormous estate sounded nice too, but seeing the outside world sounded way better.

In my previous life, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d left the Imperial Palace.

The only times I went out were when I secretly snuck away from my nanny because I wanted to create systems that would help the empire’s people.

Anyway, I was incredibly curious about the outside world of this place.

Especially since dragons—something I never imagined could exist—lived here.

Since I’d been born human and the people in the mansion all walked around in human form too…

that probably meant humans existed in this world as well.

I wanted to know how ordinary people lived.

Even after dying and being reborn, maybe my instinct to live for others remained unchanged.

And honestly—

I don’t hate that part of myself.

I actually like it.

“Abba, can you tell me little bit about outside?”

“It’s very late. You should sleep.”

“But I’m curious…”

“There will be many chances to hear about it later. So for today, let’s sleep now, Senika.”

“Mmm…”

The gentle voice soothing me was sweet.

The hand patting the blanket over my stomach was warm.

When was the last time someone touched me with such warmth?

I couldn’t even remember.

Maybe there had never been such a memory to begin with.

In the dark room, I stared at Hale’s silver hair—the only thing illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window—

then slowly closed my eyes.

It wasn’t some huge wish.

I just hoped these peaceful days would continue forever.