BDBF 02

But why… wasn’t he reacting at all?

It felt like we’d been staring at each other for at least two minutes.

Honestly, it was a little scary that he showed no reaction, but I had no intention of looking away. The moment I looked away first, it felt like my life would be over. And that absolutely could not happen!

So instead, I widened my eyes even more and glared back. Though, realistically, how intimidating could a baby’s glare even look?

“Rita.”

The man who was my father in this life, who had been silently staring at me, finally called out to Rita with a faint smile on his lips.

“Yes, my lord.”

“‘Senika’ would suit her well.”

“…Pardon?”

“Make sure you remember the child’s name.”

My father gently pulled his finger from my grasp, lightly tapped my cheek a couple of times, and left.

For a moment I blanked out at what had just happened, but I quickly snapped back to reality because Rita suddenly hugged me tightly.

“My lady…! You finally have a name now!”

“Uuung?” (“Why’s that important?”)

“The fact that the lord gave you a name means he has acknowledged you as the heir of the Ivienne family!”

Rita was so excited that she spun around the room while holding me in her arms.

Unlike her, I was honestly shocked.

So I really hadn’t had a name until now? That basically meant I’d almost been kicked out of this house for real!

If I wanted to keep living here for a long time, I’d better get on the good side of my father—the handsome head of the household!

Squeak squeak—

I didn’t realize it before, but dragons apparently grow pretty fast.

Just a week ago, I couldn’t talk or walk. But now I could wobble around a little and even speak. Not fluently, of course.

“Ritaa.”

“No.”

“I wanna go outsiiide.”

“I said no.”

“Whyyy!”

“Because it’s still dangerous.”

There were so many things I wanted to argue back with, but since I still didn’t have many teeth and my tongue muscles weren’t fully developed yet, speaking properly was hard.

So the more stubborn I got, the more frustrated I became. Still, I couldn’t give up.

I puffed out my cheeks and sat down with my back turned to Rita. It was my body-language version of “I’m upset.”

Ugh. What’s the point of finally being able to walk if I can’t even leave the room?

Aside from sleeping, I spent every moment with Rita, so avoiding her watchful eyes was nearly impossible.

Seriously, why won’t they let me out of this room? I won’t fall over anymore! I even promised I wouldn’t run around dangerously, so why don’t they trust me?

Okay, sure… I may have broken that promise a few times.

But still, this is basically imprisonment! I’m a child who’s supposed to carry the future on my shoulders!

With unwavering determination, I stood up again.

Squeak squeak squeak squeak—

I dashed toward the door with quick little steps.

“Se. Ni. Ka. Miss.”

But thanks to these squeaky shoes, Rita noticed me every single time.

Look at her now—hands on her hips, emphasizing every syllable of my name.

In the end, today’s escape attempt failed too.

I drooped my shoulders dramatically, pretending to look pitiful. If I did that, Rita would probably give me extra snacks again.

I had just finished making that brilliant plan and was about to put it into action when—

“My lady, your wish is finally coming true.”

“Wish?”

“Yes. Tonight, you’ll be eating in the dining room instead of here.”

“Really? I getta leave this room today?”

Squeak squeak squeak squeak—

I bounced in place excitedly. The noisy squeaking of my shoes filled the room, but nobody seemed bothered by it.

And so, I spent the entire afternoon waiting for dinner.

Ironically, waiting only made time move slower.

“My lady, you absolutely must not let go of my hand until we arrive!”

“Okaaay!”

“I’ll say it again—the mansion is like a maze. If you let go of my hand, you’ll get lost.”

“I knooow!”

I swear she’d repeated that a hundred times already. I wasn’t going to let go, so she could stop worrying!

Only after gripping my hand tightly, as if she never intended to release it, did Rita finally open the door.

The hallway outside looked familiar. I’d often seen glimpses of it through the crack whenever the door opened and closed.

“Ritaa, fasterrr!”

“You’ll fall if you rush.”

Even though Rita was already walking slowly because of my clumsy steps, I still felt impatient and kept urging her on. But she only smiled and didn’t speed up.

Eventually, we reached a staircase.

From the looks of it, we were heading downstairs, and from a child’s perspective, there were way too many steps.

Sneaking a glance at Rita, I could tell she wanted to carry me down.

But absolutely not! I needed to show my independent side!

So I bravely took the lead and started descending the stairs myself, carefully taking one step at a time.

I didn’t know what floor my room had been on, but we went down two whole floors.

…When we go back later, I’m definitely asking to be carried. These weak little legs are not built for this.

“We’re here.”

“Mhm! But are just the two of us eating here?”

“No. You’ll be dining with the lord.”

“With Daddy?”

Huh?

What’s with this sudden meeting?

I thought he’d forgotten all about me since I hadn’t seen him for so long.

My father—Hale Ivienne, head of the White Dragon family.

As soon as I learned how to speak, the first thing I asked Rita was his name.

I could call him “Dad” out loud, sure, but until I got used to him really being my father, I planned to call him by name whenever I was alone.

After collecting my thoughts, I nodded casually as if I understood, and Rita slowly opened the door.

The first thing I saw was an enormous, extravagant chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Woooow…”

I unconsciously froze, mesmerized by it.

It sparkled so beautifully.

If Rita hadn’t whispered my name, I probably would’ve stood there staring forever.

Shaking my head to snap out of it, I walked toward Hale, who sat at the head of the table.

“She’s grown a lot.”

“They say she’s about three or four years old by human standards now.”

“She’s still very small.”

“At this rate, she’ll grow quickly from now on.”

“She should.”

He murmured those words while watching me walk toward him.

Ugh. If I heard one more comment about being small, I felt like I’d develop a complex.

Ignoring him as best I could, I walked to what I assumed was my seat and stopped.

The problem was…

The chair was too tall.

Seriously? No consideration for children at all!

“Senika, do you want to eat with Daddy?”

“….”

Hale spoke teasingly while I stood there staring blankly instead of sitting down.

He obviously knew perfectly well why I couldn’t sit.

I was certain he’d intentionally left out a smaller chair because he knew my height.

“If you don’t want to, you can eat over there instead.”

When I only glared at the chair without answering, he added that.

Maybe those words became the trigger, because before I knew it, my lips had puffed out into a pout.

It was because I’d been hurt by the fact that he disappeared for a whole week.

“…Why didn’t you come?”

“Hm?”

“Why didn’t you come see me all week?”

I bit my lower lip and looked at Hale instead of the chair.

I couldn’t read anything from the eyes looking down at me.

As expected of the head of a great family.

I’d learned painfully in my previous life that people at the top of a group were difficult to deal with—especially when they were family.

In my past life, my father had been the emperor of an empire.

In this life, Hale was the head of a powerful family.

Fortunately, this one seemed a little gentler.

Still, both men held the same kind of position.

Naturally, their personalities had to be similar too…

And in my previous life, whenever I acted spoiled like this, my father would scold me.

“A princess of the empire shouldn’t behave so childishly,” he’d say.

So surely my father in this life wouldn’t be much differ—

“Senika, come here.”

My head, which had gradually lowered, snapped back up.

This wasn’t the reaction I expected at all.

“Hurry.”

Even though I stared at him in confusion, Hale urged me closer.

Maybe he was just hiding it well, but…

I was shocked that he hadn’t yelled at me for acting spoiled.

He really was different.

Far too different from the father I remembered.

It felt like the locks on a box buried deep in my heart were slowly coming undone.

That’s right.

I’m his daughter.

A daughter should be allowed to act spoiled with her dad sometimes.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to create the family I never had in my previous life. To receive the love I’d never gotten before.

I immediately ran toward Hale.

He lightly lifted me up and sat me on his lap.

Then he gently stroked my platinum-blonde hair that reached my shoulders and asked,

“Were you upset?”

“…No.”

“I was very busy. I’m sorry.”

…If he apologized this easily, then I couldn’t keep sulking anymore.

Knowing how difficult his position was made it impossible for me to stay upset.

“…Okay.”

“I’ll come see you once every day.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“You don’t hafta push yourself…”

“I’m not pushing myself.”

“…Then pinky promise.”

I twisted halfway around to face him and held out my hand with only my pinky extended.

Hale’s gaze dropped to my tiny finger before returning to me.

Soon, a pinky several times larger and longer than mine wrapped around it.

“You reeeally promised!”

“Yes. Since we promised, shall we eat now?”

“Yeah!”

I turned back around.

A fork holding a piece of meat was suddenly presented in front of me.

The meat was fully cooked through, without a trace of pink.

Just a week ago, all I’d had was formula with no texture whatsoever.

Now, thanks to my tiny new teeth, I could chew meat.

Yes!

This was the taste I’d been waiting for!

No matter how much you eat it, meat never gets old!

“It’s yummy!”

“Eat as much as you like.”

When I ate in my room, I had to feed myself, but eating with Hale was easier since he brought the food directly to my mouth.

Ah, but…

Wasn’t I the only one eating here?

Hale had to be hungry too.

I pushed away the next forkful of meat approaching me.

Then I grabbed a fork about three times bigger than my own.

I stabbed a piece of meat and tried to feed Hale back…

“…Blood?”

“That one is mine.”

Hale pushed the plate farther away, out of my reach.

“There’s too much blood. You gotta cook it before eating!”

“Daddy is fine eating it like this.”

…Really?

Hale soothed me while putting the piece of meat I’d rejected back into my mouth.

As I chewed thoughtfully, another thought crossed my mind.

For some reason, the longer I lived as a child, the more childish my thinking seemed to become too…