I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 21

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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 21
The sudden embrace startled me.
I ran a gentle hand down his back, trying to soothe him.
‘Hmm, this isn’t working as well as I’d hoped.’
Each time I stroked downward, another hiccup escaped him.
Patting rhythmically didn’t help either.
“Want some water?”
Kai shook his head.
His coarse, short hair brushed against my ear with each movement.
The tickle made me pull my face away slightly.
Hating the distance, Kai leaned in closer and hugged me tighter.
“Kai, wait—”
I tried to push him back gently, but his center of gravity was already lost.
We both tumbled onto the bed together.
‘……That was close.’
I’d nearly smashed my head on the book I’d left lying on the mattress.
Kai, now on top of me, grabbed the book and hurled it further away.
Thump—
The book, perched precariously on the bed’s edge, finally fell to the floor.
I hope that didn’t tear it.
Worried for no good reason, I glanced toward where the book had fallen.
“Eria.”
“Yes, Kai? Are you all right?”
I turned my head quickly to look at him.
His hiccups had stopped.
A faint blush colored both his cheeks.
Perhaps the hiccups had been particularly intense.
The skin around his eyes looked redder and damper than usual.
‘……How pitiful.’
Without thinking, I reached up and gently touched the corner of his right eye.
At my touch, his eyes squeezed shut.
I felt oddly disappointed.
There was something enigmatic in the light of Kai’s irises—I could gaze into them endlessly without ever tiring.
“Kai, will you look at me?”
I asked gently, and Kai slowly opened his closed eyes.
“Are you worried you might hurt me?”
“…….”
Tears welled up in those beautiful eyes of his.
His lips moved slightly.
It seemed he was saying he was frightened.
That just imagining it terrified him.
“You’re not wrong about that, Kai.”
I cupped his cheek in my palm.
The cheek pressed against my hand was burning hot.
“Dragons do possess tremendous power.”
“…….”
“But that also means you can protect me from dangerous people, doesn’t it?”
Kai’s eyes widened as he listened.
He’d never considered it from that angle before.
His innocent yet honest response made me laugh despite myself.
“You said the lessons with the Duke aren’t fun and they’re difficult, didn’t you?”
“……Yes.”
“I think they probably aren’t easy.”
“Mm…….”
“But only by going through them can you learn to fully control your own strength.”
Kai didn’t respond.
He seemed lost in thought.
Whenever our eyes met, I smiled at him warmly.
I hoped this conversation wouldn’t weigh too heavily on his heart.
Kai already carried an unwanted burden of responsibility as it was.
“I’ll study hard.”
Kai, who had been hesitating for so long, finally spoke the words.
Then, as if he’d spent all his energy on that confession, he collapsed beside me onto the bed.
“Let’s move up a bit before you lie down.”
Kai obediently followed my suggestion.
We shared a single pillow, our heads resting on it, facing each other.
“By the way, when did you start going to the Library?”
“Every day for the past week.”
“Every day for a week?”
That often?
“Eria’s always busy. She’s always writing something.”
……
“I couldn’t read what Eria was writing, so when I said I wanted to, someone showed me the Library.”
“Who?”
“That person with Glasses like this.”
Kai pressed his thumb and index finger together in a circle and held them up to his eyes.
‘He must mean Len.’
“Did you teach yourself to read?”
“No. That person taught me.”
It seemed he’d been reading books in stolen moments whenever he was alone.
Dragons have a reputation for being wise and intelligent creatures.
Since Kai was a Dragon, his learning ability was remarkably fast.
‘Still, I didn’t think he’d be able to understand such difficult books in just a week.’
I’d assumed his progress this time around would be slower.
After all, I hadn’t been glued to his side teaching him the way I had before.
But that didn’t particularly worry me.
I’d decided from the start that teaching Kai wasn’t urgent.
For now, helping him adjust to this place came first.
‘Still, he always spoke in simple words whenever I was around.’
Something about that touched me.
“Let me know if you find any interesting books.”
“Are you going to read them with me?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like that!”
Kai answered brightly, breaking into a wide smile.
It was such a beautiful smile that just watching it lifted my spirits.
As we talked about the books Kai had read, neither of us noticed when we drifted quietly off to sleep.
***
A few days later.
The time came for my first lesson with Edward.
I arrived at his room ten minutes early and waited for him.
Bang—
The door swung open the moment the hour struck, and Edward entered.
Wearing a light smile, he glanced around the room.
The instant he confirmed I was alone, his smile vanished.
‘Looking at that expressionless face, he does bear some resemblance to Luke.’
Edward seemed softer and gentler compared to Theodore or Luke.
But with his expression hardened like that, his whole appearance shifted.
He exhaled softly.
Edward let out a quiet sigh
and dropped the thick books he’d been carrying onto the desk with a heavy thud.
Then he undid one or two buttons on the sleeve cuffs of his neatly pressed shirt.
“So that’s how you prefer to dress when no one’s watching.”
He didn’t offer any particular response.
Edward tousled his carefully groomed hair carelessly.
Moving with a weary, sagging gait, he collapsed onto the sofa across from me.
His face looked slightly more irritable than usual.
Yet he didn’t seem to be in a particularly good mood.
But unlike his typical demeanor, nothing felt forced or awkward.
“You don’t seem like the type to worry about formality.”
“It’s quite pleasant, actually.”
I answered with a smile and crossed my legs.
‘Ah, this is comfortable. So comfortable.’
There really is nothing better than not having to worry about others’ eyes.
Taking the opportunity, I relaxed my stiffly upright back against the sofa.
“……Does a nine-year-old even know how to sit like that?”
Edward muttered to himself with an exasperated expression.
He glanced sideways at me.
Then he leaned his body forward, resting his elbow on the sofa’s armrest and propping his chin in his hand.
‘So this young master also wanted to let loose a bit, it seems.’
Honestly, the situation was rather amusing.
But I held back from laughing outright, lest it spark an argument.
“Let me get to the point.”
He broached the subject in an indifferent tone.
“I had no intention of teaching you anything.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
What is he saying now?
“You simply looked like there was nothing worth teaching.”
“There are many things I don’t know.”
“I’m sure there are. You’re only nine, after all.”
Then why did he arrange this meeting in the first place?
To pick a quarrel?
“Ha. Yes, well, I was hoping you might teach me quite a lot nonetheless.”
“Since I’m your temporary tutor, I can explain things if you ask.”
Edward stared into empty space for a moment, then closed his eyes.
“But there’s no need for you to receive etiquette instruction right now.”
“Why not?”
“If you became any more ‘noble’ in appearance, people would dislike you for it.”
“…….”
“After the Tea Party, people believe you’re a well-meaning Commoner child with some shortcomings.”
“……Did I really seem that foolish?”
“You acted it deliberately, didn’t you?”
“…….”
“Show your true self only to those Young Noble Ladies who insulted you.”
He had a point there.
But hearing it from someone else’s lips made the feeling somewhat strange.
He wrinkled his brow slightly and continued.
“So just stay as you are. Right now, you actually seem untainted by the world, which wins you favor.”
So he’s been paying attention to my reputation.
“Understood. Thank you for the advice.”
At my words of gratitude, Edward’s expression tightened slightly.
Perhaps he found such sincerity uncomfortable.
His eyes flickered away, and his ears appeared redder than usual.
‘Must be my imagination.’
There’s no way that young master would feel embarrassed.
“You do grasp things quickly, at least.”
Edward tossed out the remark almost carelessly, then sipped his tea.
“Young Master.”
He looked at me with eyes asking why I’d called him.
“If there’s really nothing to teach me, why did you agree to be my tutor?”
“I don’t have enough information about you.”
“You could simply ask if you’re curious.”
“I’m also keeping an eye on you, incidentally.”
Why would he need to keep watch over me?
This is absurd.
“Though I was told there’s no need to be cautious about you at all, I can’t be completely reassured.”
“By Theodore?”
“……So you call him that even when we’re alone?”
“It’s best that way, isn’t it? If it becomes natural to my tongue, I won’t slip up.”
“When did the two of you become so familiar?”
Edward smiled for the first time, a thin, deliberate smile.
It didn’t seem to come from any genuine pleasure.
If anything, it was the smile of someone who found himself at a loss—exasperated, perhaps.
He fell into thought, absently stirring his tea with a teaspoon, round and round.
After dropping a few sugar cubes into the cup and stirring again, he finally spoke.
“So it doesn’t matter to you whether I’m found out or not, calling me ‘young master’ like that?”

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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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