I'll Stop Regressing and Raise a Baby Dragon - Chapter 30

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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 30
After the wax seal had completely dried.
I slipped the Yellow Envelope from my pocket and opened the door in secret.
Past midnight, the Corridor lay shrouded in darkness.
‘I mustn’t be discovered.’
Not until I’d handed the envelope to the person Kael had named.
Edward moved with careful steps.
Creak, creak—
Each time the aging wooden floorboards groaned beneath his feet,
his heart hammered against his ribs.
As he descended the stairs and made for the Entrance Hall,
“Brother?”
“——!”
An unexpected voice came from behind him.
“——Theodore.”
Edward steadied his breathing and slipped the envelope casually under his arm.
He turned to face Theodore.
Theodore was dressed entirely in white—from collar to cuff.
So brilliant a white it nearly hurt to look at.
Theodore rubbed his sleepy eyes as if he’d only just woken.
Then, without bothering to cover his mouth, he let out an enormous yawn.
“Haah— Brother, what are you doing down here?”
“——And you?”
“I woke up needing the bathroom rather urgently.”
As he spoke, Theodore broke into a smile.
A high, piercing laugh rang out—Keh-keh-keh—
a sound sharp and strange, like glass being scraped clean.
Edward had never heard anything like it in his life.
The unnerving laugh sent ice down his spine, and Edward swallowed hard.
‘What on earth is so funny?’
He wanted to ask, but his mouth wouldn’t obey.
“Brother.”
Theodore’s laughter cut off abruptly, his expression turning grave.
“——Yes, Theodore.”
Edward replied, his entire body coiled tight.
In a blink, Theodore had closed the distance between them.
“That document.”
Snap—
Theodore snatched the Yellow Envelope away.
Edward lunged desperately for the corner of the envelope.
But Theodore’s grip was far too strong;
it slipped from his fingers like water.
Theodore hummed as he turned away.
A melody drifted forth—one he’d heard before.
‘That’s it——. I remember now.’
The last time he’d seen Kael, the sickening song he’d sung.
That very song.
Humming still, Theodore walked away,
tearing the Wax Seal from the Yellow Envelope.
‘Theodore. Theodore!’
Edward tried to cry out, but no sound came.
Though the song made his skin crawl and he wanted to cover his ears,
his hands wouldn’t obey him;
and though he willed himself forward toward Theodore,
his feet remained rooted to the floor.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
Terror bloomed in him—a body no longer his own, moving against his will.
“You were going to sell her off, then.”
Theodore discarded the envelope and read the Letter, his voice soft.
“Our youngest.”
‘That’s not it.’
Even though I knew Theodore was right, of course.
Right now, this moment terrified me so much that a threadbare excuse tumbled out instead.
“You’re right. In a situation like yours, it could have happened.”
Each time Theodore turned a page, he flicked what he’d read onto the floor—whoosh, whoosh.
Letters and photographs scattered across the ground with soft thuds.
“It’s shameful. Me, this worthless brother, as Croiman’s Heir.”
“…….”
“If I’d known it would come to this, I should have just become the Heir myself.”
I’m sorry, Theodore.
“Why did I have to sacrifice so much for someone like this?”
If I hadn’t existed, you wouldn’t have had to make that choice at all.
“Why did I even step forward and agree to that cursed Sealing?”
No one ever forced you into that choice.
“This whole Succession Competition thing… I should have ignored it.”
This position meant nothing to me.
I should have set aside my ambitions and yielded to you.
“Isn’t that right?”
As Theodore dropped the last sheet of paper, he turned to face me.
In that instant, his figure transformed into Aria in her white dress.
“……!”
Edward’s eyes snapped open in shock.
Kael appeared behind her, seizing both her arms with his hands.
Aria cried out, her face drained of color in terror.
“Edward, brother!”
“Gasp—!”
With a sharp cry, Edward bolted upright in bed.
“Hah, gasp—”
‘A dream. It was just a dream?’
Edward looked around him.
A quiet room, empty of anyone.
Himself in the center of the bed, dressed in sleep clothes.
Watching his hands tremble, slicked with cold sweat.
Suddenly, he remembered the Yellow Envelope.
‘……I can’t.’
The Yellow Envelope he’d finally handed over last night.
“Aria.”
I have to save her.
“Aria.”
I need to go now, before midnight arrives—
“Aria!”
I have to tell her.
Everything I’ve kept silent about all this time.
Crash!
The moment he left the bed, his legs gave way and he stumbled forward.
Sharp, stabbing pain erupted across his body in an instant.
But he didn’t hesitate—he forced himself up and yanked the door open.
‘One floor down, a secluded room at the far corner.’
He ran frantically, fell, got up again.
And kept running.
Through the dark corridor from his dream, he pressed on.
He reached her door.
“Gasp… hah.”
He could barely breathe.
His hand toward the doorknob trembled uncontrollably, seized by panic.
What if, when he opened this door,
he would witness that terrible scene from his nightmare in person?
“…….”
Open it.
I have to open it.
Repeating it to himself over and over, Edward squeezed his eyes shut.
Creak—
The door swung open slowly with a prolonged sound.
Edward opened his eyes to slits, peering into the darkness of the room.
Between the open windows, the Pink Curtain fluttered in the breeze.
A chill wind swept through, cooling the fever that burned in his body.
Moonlight flooded the room, making everything clearly visible.
Yet the bed itself remained out of sight from where he stood.
“……Aria.”
He called her name in barely a whisper.
One step.
Another step.
Edward moved slowly into the room.
“……Young master?”
Aria sat perfectly sound on the edge of the bed.
“Why have you come here, young master?”
She even asked in a tone of complete composure.
“……Ah—”
Faced with her unbothered presence,
pain suddenly shot through every injured part of his body.
As Edward collapsed onto the floor, Aria gasped in alarm and rose to her feet.
“Young master, are you all right?”
She rushed toward him and froze in shock.
‘What is this—why are there so many bruises all over his body?’
Did Kael come here instead of going after me?
“Aria, run.”
“What?”
“Run, now!”
Edward’s shout came out ragged, his body trembling with tension.
“……Ah, I see.”
So that’s what this was.
‘He got frightened and came running here.’
“It’s all right, young master. Kael didn’t come here.”
“……What?”
At the sound of that name, Edward’s eyes widened in shock as he looked up at her.
Aria sat down beside him on the floor to meet his gaze.
She smiled radiantly as she spoke.
“He’s already gone to the Duke to be dealt with.”
How was that possible?
How did Aria know that fact?
“Ah……”
Am I dreaming again?
Edward murmured, his gaze distant and unfocused.
“Would you like me to tell you whether you’re dreaming or not?”
When Aria asked cheerfully, Edward nodded like a man entranced.
She pressed lightly on a bruise on his arm.
“Ow……!”
Edward’s face contorted in pain, and he jerked his arm away.
“Not a dream, is it?”
Aria opened her hand that had just poked him, waving it lightly in a playful greeting.
Edward turned his head away, having nearly lost his temper at her bright smile.
“So you’re really all right? You……”
“Of course. You know how strong the Duke is, young master.”
He knew.
He knew far too well.
He’d admired it so much, yearned to be like him.
Desired it with a greed that could never be satisfied.
“……Aria.”
“What is it?”
“You’re right.”
“What is it?”
“I wanted to change what I lacked, so I let my heart take precedence over reason.”
Even though I knew it wouldn’t work…….
Edward spoke quietly, his voice tinged with regret.
Aria, who had been listening attentively to his words, tilted her head.
‘When did I ever say something like that?’
Then, a conversation from the depths of memory surfaced softly.
‘Once you know something but still want it to change, your heart moves ahead of reason.’
‘…….’
‘Even knowing the odds of failure are inevitably higher.’
“……Ah, you mean what we said during our first real conversation? In the Dining Hall?”
“Surely you haven’t forgotten?”
Edward’s expression turned incredulous.
Those words had stayed with me because they mattered.
Even as I doubted myself constantly.
I held onto a contradictory hope — that someday I would be able to use Magic.
Perhaps that’s why.
Like clothes soaked through by fine rain.
Those words had come to me as comfort, seeping into my heart.
‘Thanks to those words, I was able to be honest in front of Aria…….’
Yet the person in question seemed to have no particular thoughts about it.
“Of course not, I remember it all.”
There was something oddly strained about her smile as she spoke, though perhaps that was merely her imagination.
“Fine, then.”
If that’s how you feel, then that’s how it must be.
“……Anyway. How did you know Kael would come here?”
“Oh, that?”
Aria smiled meaningfully and slowly opened her mouth.
***
One day earlier, in the Office of the Croiman estate.

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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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