I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15
Eria, lost in thought, lifted her head slightly and answered.
“I understand.”
After a brief curtsy, Eria left the office.
Luke, having glimpsed the report Eria had prepared from their conversation, approached and asked.
“Might I take a look at it?”
Luke handed the documents to him without a word.
As Ren’s eyes swept rapidly across the pages, they widened as though they might burst from his skull.
“This is… not the work of a child’s mind.”
The report was flawless—there wasn’t a flaw to be found, no matter how carefully one searched.
Watching Ren’s reaction, Luke gave a slow, reluctant nod.
“Not something a nine-year-old should be capable of.”
“Are you… concerned about the young lady?”
“Yes. It seems I’ve asked too much of her.”
Ren gazed at Luke with a heavy heart.
What Luke was thinking as he stared out the window at the fading sunset was painfully obvious.
‘He’s blaming himself again,’ Ren thought.
He seemed to brood over questions like whether things might have been better for the children if Serena had been here.
But Ren was certain that Luke was already doing everything in his power.
As both the Master of the Magic Tower and Duke of House Croiman, the duties he carried alone required more than twenty-four hours.
Filling the void left by the absent Duchess would be impossible, even with two bodies.
‘So I’ll have to do my part to bridge that gap,’ Ren resolved.
With that decision made, he reflected.
In the current circumstances, what was there that would allow Eria to grow like a child her own age?
What approach might the Duchess have suggested in a situation like this?
After a moment of deep contemplation, Ren’s face brightened with an idea.
“Your Grace, what if we held a tea party to welcome the young lady?”
“A tea party?”
At the Duke’s question, Ren elaborated.
“After all, the young lady does possess something… exceptional, doesn’t she?”
“What does that have to do with a tea party?”
“The young lady has keen powers of observation, and an equally delicate sensibility.”
“And?”
“Perhaps she interprets even your smallest requests as… tests.”
“……”
“I believe what she needs now is a sincere friend.”
At Ren’s persuasion, Luke nodded silently.
It was a compelling argument.
Just as he and Ren had found in each other, she too seemed to need someone who could offer genuine companionship without the weight of expectation.
“I’m uncertain who should host it.”
Since Serena’s death, House Croiman had not held a single tea party.
Luke was neither inclined toward social engagement nor the pursuit of company.
He routinely declined invitations except those from the Imperial Palace.
Yet he could not forever abstain from social gatherings.
Not when Eria’s debutante presentation would eventually come due.
“I suggest we proceed under the young lady’s name, while I handle the arrangements on my end.”
“What of the invitations?”
“The young lady is literate and can write, so there should be no difficulty.”
Luke nodded and gestured with his hand.
The stack of documents scattered across the desk flew at once and settled neatly into the shelves.
“Set those aside for now. First, let us discuss this matter.”
***
“I can’t believe it’s been so many years since House Croiman hosted a tea party!”
With Annie beside me in her excitement, I managed an awkward smile.
It was only a small gathering held by the family, yet it would be my first formal appearance before the nobility.
Annie laughed brightly as she retrieved my newly made dress and began to dress me in it.
But my own heart was not at ease.
I kept seeing Luke’s stern expression from when I’d brought him that report.
‘Did I make some terrible mistake that day?’
And suddenly—a tea party.
I can’t fathom Luke’s true intentions.
He’s even asked me to abandon my reports and scribble away in a diary about trivial things instead….
I didn’t ask him why he’s orchestrated all this.
But to me, it feels less like guidance and more like punishment.
To spend hours networking with people I’ve never met before.
The mere thought of it drains me completely.
……A tea party.
I’d never witnessed aristocratic culture firsthand with my own eyes.
Yet I’d once investigated it, thinking it might be useful information someday.
When I first learned of tea parties, I thought there was no more pointless affair in existence.
An event where hollow nobles observe empty etiquette and chatter endlessly about nothing of substance.
Normally it would unfold as a light social gathering, but this tea party will likely be quite different.
It’s the first such event held since the Duke’s wife died and I was adopted.
From the House’s perspective, every detail had to be perfect to prevent even the slightest whisper of scandal.
‘This is supposedly the largest tea party House Croiman has ever hosted.’
I glanced out at the garden beyond.
It was beautiful enough before, but now it gleamed as though gilded, resplendent and bright.
The most striking feature was the fountain positioned in the garden’s center.
From the fountain—carved simply yet intricately from white marble—gushed water so crystalline and clear it seemed to hold the very color of the sky.
‘……It is beautiful. Remarkably transparent and pure.’
According to Annie, that water is none other than the Empire’s most precious Holy Water.
It’s been specially arranged like this just for today.
Not that I wouldn’t mind the expense myself, but….
‘It’s not even my money anyway!’
If such ostentation can at least scatter some of the attention that might otherwise focus on me, then I’m grateful for it.
Ever since Luke sent out the invitations, rumor has it that the talk among the nobility has centered on me and this tea party happening today.
I’m told more people are attending than at any tea party held in recent years.
They’re saying it rivals Imperial Palace galas in scale.
‘Well, who would pass it up?’
A chance to see for the first time a street orphan who’s suddenly become the Duke’s daughter.
And the scrutiny directed at me will be equally intense.
I felt a flutter of nerves and bit gently at my lower lip.
Annie immediately cautioned me, tapping my lips lightly with her brush.
“You’ll ruin your makeup if you draw blood, miss. I know it’s frustrating, but please bear with it a little longer.”
“Understood.”
I watched blankly as Annie, having positioned me before the mirror, carefully selected colors and adorned my face.
From bathing to makeup, nearly two hours had passed by my reckoning, yet it showed no sign of ending.
I learned that day—through direct experience—that sitting still can drain you emotionally.
“Would you consider writing about what happens at today’s tea party in your diary, miss?”
Annie, aware that I’ve been struggling lately with what to write about, asked this while lightly brushing off the powder-dusted bristles.
I felt the soft bristles touch my cheekbones as I answered.
“You know, that’s a good point. The Duke would probably be pleased if I wrote about that subject, given how much he’s prepared.”
Upon hearing this, Annie fell silent in thought before speaking in a tone both firm and gentle.
“The Duke wouldn’t be pleased with a diary that feels like it was written for him. He’d want something written purely for yourself.”
“Is that so?”
I asked half-heartedly and closed my eyes.
That couldn’t possibly be true.
I’d never known an adult who refused affection from a kind child, whether it was genuine or performed.
Yet Annie spoke with absolute conviction.
“Yes. The Duke wants to know about your day—about the joy in your everyday life. Just as the Duchess used to.”
“You knew the Duchess?”
“……Yes. She was truly warm and beautiful.”
Annie’s voice trembled as she spoke, as though laden with memory.
Without her saying another word, her emotion seeped into me.
I felt something that transcended the loyalty and respect a servant bears for a master—a pure, unguarded affection.
I opened my eyes and looked at Annie.
She was smiling at me broadly, as she always did.
Yet somehow, that smile seemed painted on to me.
‘She misses her deeply.’
From my experience, for someone’s emotions to come through so vividly like this…….
Whether positive or negative.
That person’s emotions seemed extraordinarily intense.
Annie, who always laughed so brightly, was unsettled like this.
All at once, I found myself wondering what kind of person this duchess was.
“We’re almost finished, miss. Just a few touches to the jewelry and we’ll be done.”
Annie set down her brush as she spoke.
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror without expression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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