I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 28

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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 28
“Kael… Kael…….”
Edward’s head burned as though consumed by flames.
Had there been some strange substance in the pen he’d been holding?
Or was it the shock and fury of Kael’s betrayal that made him feel this way……?
“Young master. Surely you’re not a fool.”
Kael steadied him as though nothing were amiss.
He seemed unmoved by Edward’s feeble resistance.
Edward pushed with what strength remained and leaned against the wall.
Breathing hard, he rubbed his shoulders and arms raw.
The places where their bodies had touched felt filthy enough to crawl.
“What you said… ‘that thing’…….”
Edward paused mid-sentence.
His tongue and lips refused to obey him.
Suppressing the uncanny sensation, he forced the words out.
“It’s Aeria, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Did you know she’s a runaway slave?”
“You’re lying…….”
Kael’s eyes widened at Edward’s assured denial.
“Ah, how much do you know, then?”
Edward stared at him, lips pressed shut.
Kael shrugged.
“Seems someone’s already been running her mouth.”
With a deep sigh, Kael looked up at the empty air and swept his hair back.
“That foolish thing, after all.”
“……Madman.”
Kael turned his gaze toward Edward, speaking half to himself.
His tone carried genuine admiration.
“I didn’t know you could speak that way.”
Edward immediately abandoned the conversation and fell into deep thought.
‘Is it an anesthetic, or a drug?’
He considered the source of the substance for a moment.
But he concluded there was little point worrying about it now.
“You’ve pursued perfection obsessively since childhood, haven’t you?”
‘A few more steps and I’ll reach the entrance hall.’
“I nearly went mad watching! Ha ha.”
‘There’s a servant’s bell somewhere nearby…….’
“Will you abandon your goal of becoming the perfect heir?”
Edward moved forward slowly, gripping the wall for support.
He didn’t want to hear what Kael had to say.
Neither physically nor mentally was he in any state to listen.
“Young master.”
‘Of all days—the day Father departs on his journey——’
“If you take that thing’s side, Croymann will fall.”
“……!”
Edward spun around to face Kael at once.
Only then did Kael nod, satisfied.
“You know it yourself—you are Croymann’s future.”
This time he jabbed Edward repeatedly with his bare finger.
“A man who can’t even use Magic.”
“…….”
“You wouldn’t want this shameful truth exposed across the entire Empire, would you?”
His mouth tasted bitter.
Edward squeezed his eyes shut.
In that moment, the tangle of thoughts swelling within him collapsed into a single thread.
In the end, it’s all my fault.
That sentence he pressed to his heart once at the end of every day.
‘If only I had never existed in this house.’
If cousin Theodore had been Croymann’s heir instead.
If he hadn’t forsaken Magic and taken up the sword.
Because of me…….
Theodore wouldn’t have sealed his own Mana.
If that were the case, he surely would have saved Aeria.
Theodore is the most righteous person I’ve ever known.
“……Say it. Properly.”
With every word that tumbled from his lips,
a thick nausea rose in his throat.
“As expected…… I knew you’d react this way, Young Master.”
Kael murmured softly.
“I want ‘that.’ The foolish rabbit pretending to be a fox.”
“Take Aeria, and do what——”
“A rabbit belongs in its hutch…….”
“…….”
“Ah, and that little lizard beside her too.”
Edward fell silent.
His bowed head had never felt heavier.
“Ha-ha-ha…… ha-ha-ha!”
Kael, sensing the tacit consent, let out a grotesque laugh.
Revolted by that chilling sound, Edward wanted to cover his ears.
But he didn’t act on the impulse.
He had no right to.
***
After wrestling with my thoughts all day,
I’d organized the best options available and made my decision.
Now it was time to act.
The problem was,
“Edward’s locked himself in his room…….”
Tomorrow was supposed to be the final confrontation.
There was a mountain of things to discuss, and suddenly he’s caught a cold?
‘Well, I didn’t entirely expect otherwise.’
Still, let me try that method first.
“Kai.”
The moment my thoughts came together, I called to Kai, who was sitting beside me on the sofa.
“Hmm?”
Kai tilted his face against the sofa cushion and smiled brightly.
He was already watching me, having turned to face my direction.
‘……His eyes are so bright!’
Looking at that face, the words I needed to say wouldn’t come easily.
“Um, so…….”
Had he been waiting for me to speak first?
Would he be disappointed if I got straight to the point?
“……What were you doing?”
“Looking at Aeria.”
Should I really call that doing something?
“……Really?”
“Yeah!”
Why, exactly?
I barely managed to stop myself from asking.
‘I feel a bit sorry, actually.’
After all, it’s my fault for neglecting Kai for so long.
With everything keeping me so busy lately, I hadn’t even been able to spend time with him.
Yet he’d sought me out in my room, wanting to be together.
“Sorry. You must have been bored because of me.”
“Not at all.”
……So just staring intently at something isn’t boring? That’s an unusual hobby.
“Aeria, are you finished with your work?”
Kai moved closer and sat beside me as he asked.
“There’s still a bit left.”
“Is the work difficult?”
“A little.”
Kai pressed his temples and tilted his head slightly.
“Do you need my help?”
“How did you know?”
Instead of answering, Kai let out a soft laugh.
He touched the tip of my nose lightly as he spoke.
“You called me while you were worrying about something.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Embarrassed, I brushed lightly at my nose where he’d touched it.
Was it so obvious that I only reached out when I needed something?
“…Next time I’ll call you even if I don’t need help.”
“That’s fine too, or you can just ask me for help as much as you want.”
Kai placed his hand gently over mine.
A cool sensation brushed across my fingertips, raising pleasant goosebumps.
“Thank you.”
I smiled faintly and offered my gratitude before moving to the main point.
“Anyway, there’s something I wanted to ask you about Edward.”
“Edward?”
The moment I mentioned his name, Kai’s eyes clouded over.
He withdrew his hand and asked with a cold expression.
“You want to ask me about him?”
…His reaction was less favorable than I’d expected.
‘No. Once I actually explain, he’ll listen.’
He might not have liked Edward or Theodore, but
he’d never refused any request I’d made of him so far.
Pushing down my unease, I nodded several times.
I even scooted close to sit beside him.
Seeing this, Kai raised his eyebrows sharply.
This was the first time I’d asked him for something with such urgency, and he seemed taken aback.
Kai blinked rapidly, his eyes darting back and forth.
Then he suddenly turned his gaze away.
‘He disliked me this much?’
Had he sulked this badly from being left alone all this time?
Was that why, now that I’d suddenly brought up Edward, he was like this?
“Kai.”
He didn’t answer even when I called his name.
“It’s something only you can do.”
He wouldn’t listen even when I hurried to explain the reason.
Finally, I got up from the sofa and moved to meet his gaze.
Seeing this, Kai flinched in surprise, trembling slightly and closing his eyes.
“Kai.”
I grabbed his slightly puffy cheeks firmly with both hands.
The soft sensation filled my palms, and Kai’s eyes opened involuntarily.
“…Aeria.”
His speech slurred as his lips were pressed together.
I loosened my grip and gently caressed his cheeks.
“I just need to ask you a few questions.”
I lowered my hands and firmly grasped both of his, pulling him slightly toward me.
“Okay? Please.”
Our eyes met.
A flush bloomed quickly across those soft, pliant cheeks.
Kai exhaled softly, then finally nodded.
***
A quiet office.
Luke sat amid stacks of documents as tall as a man.
He sipped at the piping hot tea held in his mouth.
‘It’s been a while since I worked at Croymann House.’
It was a place I hadn’t set foot in since Aeria arrived.
I’d been forced to live sleepless nights chasing the trail of the illegal research facility.
‘But thanks to that, I was able to nearly conclude the investigation.’
“The problem is…”
The laboratory he’d barely managed to locate had already been dismantled, leaving no substantial evidence behind.
‘Of course—if Aeria escaped after that, they’d have no choice but to fear information leaking out.’
He would have to piece together her next movements from the barest threads of evidence.
Tick, tick—
Lost in thought to the steady rhythm of the clock, he sat in silence.
Bang!
The door burst open and crashed against the wall, and Aeria came rushing in.
“Your Grace! It seems the young master is under a curse right now!”

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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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