I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 20

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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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Episode 20
Edward’s reaction was far from composed—that much was certain.
‘……But perhaps this very candor is my opening.’
Of everything I’d seen from him until now, this moment felt the most genuine.
“What made you think that?”
I posed the question lightly, and Edward smiled—a crooked, rueful thing.
He worried his lower lip between his teeth.
After a pause, as though gathering his thoughts, he spoke slowly.
“I watched everything you did at the tea party.”
“The incident with Miss Harrison?”
“Yes. But you didn’t just sit there and take it.”
“I’m not the type to enjoy being trampled on.”
“Yet with Father, you play the innocent child.”
“That performance suits me better.”
“You mean keeping Father’s favor?”
“Yes.”
Edward let out a hollow laugh.
His hand trembled faintly as he lifted the fresh cup of tea.
His eyes had lost their usual sharpness—hollow now, almost vacant.
His breathing, ordinarily controlled, quickened by imperceptible degrees.
Edward was visibly anxious.
He was fighting hard not to show it.
“You’d do better not to strain so hard.”
……
“It won’t change anything, no matter how much you try.”
Edward’s gaze dropped.
Whether he was gnawing the inside of his mouth, I couldn’t say.
But his lips twitched every so often.
I watched him and took a sip of my tea.
The warm bitterness of black tea spread through my body.
Then I cast my line.
“Isn’t it harder not to feel at ease right now?”
“……What?”
“You’re right. There are certainly things that won’t change, no matter the effort.”
But I was someone who had once crossed that boundary.
For me, at least, nothing was absolutely immutable.
Until now.
“But when you know something won’t change—and yet want it to—the heart moves faster than reason.”
……
“Even knowing the odds are stacked against you.”
Edward said nothing.
Yet he showed no sign of dismissing or evading this conversation.
I waited for the confusion in his expression to settle, even slightly.
Then I continued, my voice steady.
“I’m uncomfortable around you. There’s something we have in common.”
“I doubt that.”
“We’re both scrambling, striving harder than anyone, desperate to hide what we are.”
Edward’s brow furrowed sharply, his chin propped on his hand.
Tap-tap—
His fingers drummed the table, the rhythm accelerating, then slowing, then accelerating again.
I pressed on with words I didn’t want to speak.
“That’s why I’m most at ease now. Neither of us is hiding.”
I meant it.
At least more than the Edward who had concealed himself at the tea party.
This version—aggressive, but truthful—was easier for me to face.
“Perhaps.”
Edward deliberated for a long moment before finally offering that single word.
Then he began to study me with an intensity that felt almost palpable.
“……Maybe.”
Maybe. Perhaps.
Just two words—consent, or something like it.
That was enough.
“Thank you for agreeing to be my tutor.”
“…….”
“I know you don’t care for me much, but I trust that you take your responsibilities seriously.”
There was no avoiding tedious sparring with someone like that.
But it was exhausting work—draining on the mind and spirit.
Though he likely felt the same way.
“When we’re alone, let’s just be comfortable with each other.”
It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Not when he had to think of everyone else every waking moment.
He fumbled with his lips, searching for words.
“……Fine, then.”
He forced out those few words with difficulty, then simply left without so much as a farewell.
Really.
Just like Theodore.
The similarity in how he answered made me laugh despite myself.
***
After finishing my conversation with Edward, the sun was already sinking low on the horizon.
So much had happened in a single day that my body felt drained.
Theodore spilling tea on Harrison.
Edward suddenly becoming my tutor during dinner.
‘Which of these should I write in my diary……’
After deliberating, I decided on the latter.
Luke would probably be happier to hear that Edward and I were growing closer.
With that thought settled, I entered my room.
Annie was waiting there with my nightclothes already prepared.
“You’re late?”
“No, miss. Let’s get you changed and rested.”
I began changing into the clothes she helped me with.
‘That’s right—I promised Kai I’d spend this evening together.’
We’d agreed to spend time together tonight without fail.
“Annie, I’m planning to go to Kai’s room this evening.”
“I heard about it while you were doing your makeup. No matter what I said, you were absolutely determined to sleep together.”
……Did I really say that?
Embarrassment made me scratch my cheek lightly.
There was an unmistakable warmth in Annie’s eyes as she watched me with that knowing look.
As I gazed back at her, a ticklish feeling spread through me.
The awkwardness was too much; I turned my head away abruptly.
“……I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It caused quite a stir at first, but even the servants have come to accept it now.”
“They have?”
“Yes, completely! They say you two are precious siblings who can’t live without each other.”
Siblings.
I’d heard it many times, and it didn’t feel wrong.
I’d often thought it would be nice to have a cute little brother like Kai.
“All done.”
Annie showed me my reflection in the full-length mirror.
It was a white one-piece pajama with cute frills as the accent.
“What do you think? I bought it recently—isn’t it adorable!”
“……Hmm.”
‘I’m not sure about it.’
I didn’t say so out of consideration for Annie’s enthusiasm.
All-white clothing always made me reluctant to wear it.
Memories of the Research Institute surfaced.
“Thank you. I’ll head over now.”
“I’ll just tidy up and retire then. Sleep well, miss!”
“Yes, see you tomorrow.”
I hurried out with a quick goodbye and made my way to the adjacent room.
Knock, knock—
I’d barely knocked before the door swung open as if she’d been waiting.
She’d heard everything I’d said in my room.
Dragon’s Senses are sharp, after all.
“Aria.”
Kai greeted me with a faint smile.
“Your outfit is pretty.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Much better than before.”
Better than the nightgown I used to wear, I suppose.
I didn’t quite agree, but I nodded along anyway.
Kai grasped the door handle and pressed his body against the wall.
It made it easy for me to slip into his room.
The room’s layout and furniture arrangement were broadly similar to mine.
The most striking difference was the color palette.
Unlike my room, which was filled with bright colors like pink and sky blue,
this one was mostly grayscale.
“What were you doing in here?”
I changed the subject lightly, and Kai trotted over to the bed.
He picked up a book that had been lying on top of it.
The Founding Chronicles of the Senatra Empire.
It was a thick volume—several hundred pages by the look of it—with a somewhat cryptic cover.
……This seems difficult for Kai to be reading right now.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was in the Library.”
When did he go to the Library?
Must have wandered around and stumbled upon it.
‘……I’ve been so caught up in party preparations lately, haven’t I been neglecting Kai?’
While I was reflecting, Kai settled onto the bed.
He opened the book and flipped through various pages.
I sat silently beside him and watched.
“Look at this.”
Where Kai pointed, a massive dragon was drawn, breathing fire from its mouth.
Beneath it, an explanation about the dragon was written in very small letters, densely packed.
“The Evil Dragon Diya…….”
‘Yes, I remember it vaguely.’
During several cycles of my repeated Regression, I’d suspended my escape and spent time reviewing all the records in the Research Institute.
It was around then that I’d gathered information about the Evil Dragon Diya.
I’d dismissed it as unimportant to my escape and moved on.
But one thing had left an impression—that the evil dragon had appeared roughly twenty years ago.
From what I remembered, the Research Institute’s records had begun around that very time.
‘There’s no way this could be unrelated.’
While I was lost in thought, Kai broke the silence with a question.
“Could it be my family?”
“Hm?”
Kai poked at the dragon in the picture repeatedly.
His violet eyes, studying the image intently, looked darker and more turbid than usual.
I smiled lightly and gently took the book away.
“No. Look—this dragon is described as blue. Kai is black.”
I showed him the section with specific physical descriptions.
Kai tilted his head.
But something still seemed to bother him.
“……Every time a dragon appeared, so many people died.”
Kai spoke flatly, but his eyes began to tremble more and more intensely.
“All dragons are supposed to be ferocious and cruel creatures.”
“……That’s just what the person who wrote this thinks.”
“Maybe I could hurt Aria too, someday…….”
“Kai.”
I closed the book, set it aside, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
His body flinched and stiffened.
“……Sniffle.”
Kai hiccupped.

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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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