I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 25

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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 25
Just to be sure, I stepped closer and checked again.
‘That distinctive pattern on the ballpoint pen clip…… it’s too identical.’
There was no doubt about it.
It was the same ballpoint pen that every researcher carried.
The one they’d carelessly jabbed at me and the children with.
“…….”
My heart hammered against my ribs as though it might burst.
The mere sight of it churned my stomach, so I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘Get a grip. There’s no guarantee that pen was exclusive to the Research Laboratory.’
It could just as easily bear some company’s trademark.
I’d reasoned with myself clearly, head-on, that I needed to suspect everything to the very end.
Yet even as my mind insisted on that cold logic, my body refused to obey.
My breath came shallow and fast, the world tilting before my eyes.
‘It’s all over and done with, and here I am, acting like an idiot…….’
“Eria?”
“…….”
“Eria.”
Kai placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle shake.
I flinched at the unfamiliar touch and immediately brushed his hand away.
Our eyes met.
Kai’s gaze held both bewilderment and a flicker of hurt.
“……I’m sorry.”
“What’s wrong? You look like you’re in pain. Are you all right?”
All right.
That single word should have been enough.
But it caught in my throat, refusing to pass.
“Eria. What’s the matter?”
“……It’s nothing.”
I forced this smile, praying it would seem natural enough.
Then I took a slow step forward.
And immediately my legs gave way, nearly sending me sprawling.
“Eria!”
Kai cried out in alarm and caught me before I fell.
“……!”
The attention of two people who had been talking in the distance swung toward us.
Through my blurring vision, I saw Edward rushing toward me.
And then my memory cut out.
***
“……Mmm.”
When I came to, I was lying in my own bed.
Flicker-flicker—
I opened and closed my eyes, trying to make sense of things.
“Oh my, Miss Eria!”
“Eria!”
Annie’s startled cry rang out, and several figures came into focus above me.
Annie beside me, sniffling and gazing down with worry etched across her face.
Kai, his eyes rimmed red, managing a smile of relief.
Edward and Theodore, both looking oddly unsettled for reasons I couldn’t name.
“……Why are you all here?”
I forced my heavy body upright and asked them.
“You collapsed, and you think we’d just wander off for entertainment?” Theodore grumbled, pressing a steaming teacup into my hands.
“It’s cocoa. Have some.”
“……Thank you.”
The cocoa I sipped, blowing gently across its surface, was the most delicious thing I’d tasted in recent memory.
“It’s, um, delicious.”
My voice faltered mid-sentence, my throat tightening, but I pushed through to the end and managed a smile.
The moment everyone saw that, their expressions darkened further.
Even at a glance, their faces read only concern.
Plainly worried faces, all of them.
‘…… This is awkward.’
Really, there was nothing to worry about, but everyone was fussing far too much.
Edward sighed softly and spoke.
“Thankfully, the doctor was still here at the time.”
“That’s true…… Wait, be careful! You almost spilled it all!”
Theodore caught the cup before it could fall, his tone sharp with admonishment.
“…… That person is a doctor?”
The moment I asked carefully, both brothers tilted their heads in unison.
“That person?”
“The one you were talking with earlier, Edward.”
“Ah, you saw him. Yes, he’s my attending physician.”
Edward nodded.
‘My attending physician?’
Certainly, the man seemed like someone I’d never seen before.
Even sifting through my memories, there was no researcher with that face.
If he was my attending physician, there must have been visits before I came here.
If I’d been scheduling appointments with him all this time…….
‘…… Does that ballpoint pen have any special significance?’
It might not be exclusive to the Research Laboratory—just happen to have that design.
Deciding I should probe it once, I broached the subject slowly.
“…… What did the doctor say?”
“Nothing particularly wrong—just that it was a sudden shock, he said.”
“Nothing else mentioned?”
“Well, he asked if there’s anything stressing me lately? Said I seem mentally exhausted.”
Edward finished speaking and let out a heavy sigh.
“He said he’d stay and observe your condition until you woke up.”
“…… Is he here now?”
“Yes. He had urgent business, but he canceled it.”
Theodore, listening to the exchange, suddenly shot to his feet.
“Since you’re awake now, Eria, I’ll go fetch him.”
“No.”
The answer came without a moment’s hesitation.
Everyone except Kai wore an expression of bewilderment.
“Don’t worry, he’s a good person.”
“Don’t meet with him.”
Annie and Kai spoke contradictory things at once, then looked at each other.
‘…… This is chaos.’
There were too many people here right now.
“I’m sorry, but could everyone except Edward step out for a moment?”
Edward pointed to himself as if asking whether I’d really called on him.
I nodded immediately.
Annie had already withdrawn to the back.
But Kai remained standing there as if nothing had happened.
“…… I made you cocoa, though.”
Theodore, wavering, finally managed to say that much.
“I’m really grateful. But there’s just something I need to discuss privately.”
“Tch…… You two have gotten awfully close, haven’t you?”
That’s not really the case.
Since I only awkwardly smiled, Theodore pouted his lips.
“Fine, fine. Now hurry up and get better.”
“Don’t worry. I’m barely in pain right now.”
“Sure, the person who collapsed must be in excellent health.”
I have no idea how long he plans to keep up this mixture of sarcasm and concern.
Either way, once he’d said what he came to say, Theodore walked toward the door.
The moment he left, Annie rose after offering proper farewells.
Finally, Kai, who remained, drew closer.
He took hold of my fingertips lightly.
As if the slightest pressure might cause some terrible harm.
As if handling something fragile and precious.
……
Where our hands touched, a tingling sensation spread through my fingertips.
My nose stung and my eyes burned hot.
I didn’t need to think hard to understand.
During those moments I’d kept my eyes closed, I could feel how Kai had waited for me—and with what kind of heart.
How weighty that carefully conveyed sentiment truly was.
‘……This is dangerous.’
The situation now was the same as during the Theodore incident.
These weren’t entirely my emotions—they were Kai’s.
I’d always sensed I could attune easily to others’ feelings, but……
‘This hurts more than it did with Theodore.’
As if someone were squeezing my heart with tremendous force.
It became difficult to breathe.
……Once this matter settles somewhat.
I’d have to ask Luke or Edward about it.
I suspect this is the influence of the Beast Tamer ability.
Without that explanation, I couldn’t make sense of this unfamiliar sensation.
“Eria. I’ll wait for you.”
Kai spoke matter-of-factly and then smiled.
It was an oddly difficult smile to see.
When I forced myself to smile back, Kai released my hand.
He rose slowly and walked toward the door.
The moment Kai left the room, Edward spoke.
“So, youngest.”
He stepped forward from where he’d been leaning quietly against the wall, watching us.
He sat in the chair beside the bed and crossed his legs.
“Do you have something you want to ask me?”
“…….”
I tried to push down the tangled emotions I couldn’t sort through, reaching for whatever was in my hand and drinking from it.
It was Theodore’s cocoa, still warm.
“……Tell me about that doctor.”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“Everything you know about him.”
“Everything, is it.”
Edward rested his chin in his hand, thinking for a moment.
“His name is Marlon Kael. He’s forty-one. He majored in medicine and magical studies at the Academy, and he’s my personal physician.”
“How long has he been your physician?”
“Since shortly after I was born.”
So they’d known each other for that long?
“Do you receive regular health examinations?”
Edward’s expression grew subtle at the question.
It was hard to tell if it twisted or if he was smiling.
“You could say that.”
From his lips, after a moment’s hesitation, came an evasive answer.
In any case, we had some kind of contract between us, so he did respond.
But it was absolutely not an eager or willing response.
“What specific tests are you undergoing?”
“Do you really need to know that?”
“Yes.”
“I’d prefer to keep quiet about it.”
“…….”
I felt uneasy.
This suspicious incident—whatever it was……
It felt like it had to be connected to Edward’s core secret.
Would it be all right to dig deeper?
“……Edward.”
“Why…… Huh? Wait, who—”
Edward startled at the unfamiliar form of address, stammering.
Ignoring his agitation, I spoke clearly.
“Tell me. I need to know.”
“You’re being strangely stubborn about this—why on earth—”
“That person seems to be connected to the Research Laboratory.”

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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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