Chapter 83
Chapter 83
The children, without anyone to stop them and seemingly very pleased with what they had made themselves, devoured the tart in the blink of an eye.
“This is really delicious!”
“Yeah! Next time, let’s make a tart with the beetles Lia caught!”
“Then, um, can we put mushrooms in the tart too?”
Lia’s love for beetles and Poi’s love for mushrooms were so intense that they were willing to change the tart’s ingredients for them.
Erina, imagining a tart topped with beetles and mushrooms, quickly shook the thought from her mind as she started to feel nauseous. Meanwhile, Resen and Lia were arguing about how to pronounce ‘tart.’
The children, full from their snack, soon fell asleep. As if on cue, Dylan and Mitzu, who had just returned from meeting the Emperor, arrived back at the estate.
“You’re back?”
“Yes, nothing unusual happened, right? Are you feeling okay?”
Dylan was still worried about Erina’s condition from that morning’s motion sickness, even though she had recovered quite a while ago.
He is still worried… how sweet of him.
Erina smiled and assured Dylan she was fine.
“Oh! It’s not anything serious, but I do have something to tell you.”
“Hm?”
Dylan raised an eyebrow at her words.
“Someone came from the princess’s palace earlier. She wants us to come tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow…?”
“Yes! I thought it would take a while since Her Highness has been unwell, but she called for us right away. I’m sharing this with you since you also know the request she gave me.”
Erina whispered with a small wink. She spoke as if she were sharing a great secret, but it was nothing major.
Dylan played along with her tone and put on a surprised face.
“Oh my! Her Highness has already summoned you?”
“She has, really!”
Erina nodded enthusiastically.
“Are all the things for the princess prepared?”
“Of course! I prepped everything right on the spot each time I gathered it!”
“That’s a relief. Your level of preparedness never disappoints, Miss Erina.”
Dylan smiled with a squint of his eyes.
Feeling shy at the compliment, Erina twisted a strand of her brown hair. Dylan’s praise always made her heart flutter.
“So, will you be going to the princess’s palace with the children tomorrow?”
“Yes! They heard Her Highness was sick and wanted to visit her.”
Resen, who wanted to make her medicine, Lia, who said she’d blow on her wounds, and Poi, who almost cried—each was filled with concern for the princess. Erina smiled at their warm hearts.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be joining you for the visit.”
“What…?”
Thinking it was obvious Dylan would go with them, Erina looked at him in surprise.
Dylan smiled awkwardly at her round eyes.
He had stirred up the Emperor’s temper today. If word got out that he visited the princess tomorrow, who knew what excuse the Emperor might find to call him in again?
Dylan, dreading the hassle, shook his head.
“The truth is, I had a disagreement with the Emperor today. I think it’s best if I stay out of sight for a while.”
He downplayed it as a small spat between acquaintances. But Erina’s heart pounded with fear when she heard it.
He… had a disagreement with His Majesty the Emperor?!
My god, how can he be so calm after that?!
Recalling the Emperor’s fierce presence during the banquet, Erina looked at Dylan with deep concern. Meanwhile, Dylan was simply thinking,
‘It’s not because of fear, it’s just gross dealing with crap.’
“Are… are you really okay? What if His Majesty punishes you out of anger?!”
“Huh…?”
“I mean, judging by his personality…”
Unable to say ‘he’s awful,’ Erina just waved her fingers in the air. Dylan understood exactly what she meant and winked in agreement. Her concern was silly and adorable.
Worried the Emperor might hurt him—he found it so cute. That’s why he didn’t correct her. Instead, he carefully adjusted his facial expression to appear more fragile and pitiful.
“Yes, because of that, I think I’ll have to be a bit more careful for now.”
“Yes, I agree!”
Unaware she was being reeled in, Erina focused intently. In her mind floated the image of a kind, gentle dragon being oppressed by a tyrannical emperor.
“So please be careful at the palace tomorrow too. I’m worried the Emperor might target you as well.”
“Don’t worry! His Majesty is way too busy to even notice me dropping by.”
“That would be best.”
Dylan, seeing how close Erina had gotten, held back a smile. He bit his lip to avoid grinning, then subtly leaned his head toward her shoulder.
Erina, seeing nothing strange in the natural motion, didn’t suspect a thing.
Watching her, Dylan leaned just a bit more. Finally, he managed to rest against her shoulder and shivered with satisfaction.
“You must’ve had a really rough day, Dylan.”
Erina completely misunderstood the situation and gently stroked his hair as she would with the children.
It must’ve been stressful just having a disagreement with the Emperor.
Dylan, lulled by her soft touch, closed his eyes.
D***, this is too good. So the kids get to feel like this all the time? I’m jealous.
He couldn’t hide his envy of his nephews and niece. If he could, he’d shrink himself and stay snuggled in Erina’s arms like the children.
It was a very perverse thought for a full-grown dragon who had taken on a human-sized form centuries ago.
“But I do mean it when I say I want to help you, Erina. So please tell me everything once you’re back from the princess’s palace.”
“Of course! There’s no one else I can talk to about this… well, not a person, I mean… not even a dragon!”
As she corrected herself, Dylan couldn’t hold back his laughter and sat up, his gloom entirely gone.
“Now that I’ve spoken to you, I feel so much lighter. Next time I see the Emperor, I’ll try not to clash with him.”
“Yes, yes! But that doesn’t mean you should give in to his unfairness or apologize for things you didn’t do! If it’s unreasonable, you have to fight back!”
Erina clenched her fists. Dylan realized the Emperor had now fully taken the role of a final boss in Erina’s mind.
That hadn’t been his intention, but now that she was forming a negative image of the Emperor… it felt strangely satisfying.
He clenched his fist like her and moved away as the children, waking from their nap, began to call for Erina.
***
“Ehh?!” “Ehh?!”
Just as he moved away, a duet of exclamations rang out from behind.
Dylan turned with a completely different expression than when he was with Erina.
Behind him stood Mitzu and Hael, both wearing disapproving looks, as if they’d witnessed something disturbing.
They seemed thoroughly disgusted by Dylan’s act.
“Lord Dylan, have you gone mad?”
“…Mad?”
Mitzu put a hand on Dylan’s forehead to check his sanity. Hael sparked slightly, as if inspecting whether a curse surrounded Dylan.
“So annoying. Get lost.”
Dylan swatted them away like flies.
Used to this treatment, the two dragons clung to him anyway and let out a barrage of words.
“No, Lord Dylan! I must’ve been hallucinating! I swear I saw someone who looked exactly like you cuddling up to a human woman and rubbing his head on her shoulder! I must’ve been dreaming while standing!”
“Same!!”
Neither made the slightest effort to hide their twitching grins as they enthusiastically teased Dylan.
