Star Child's Parenting Diary - Chapter 4

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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 4
Chapter 2. The Dragon of the Imperial Palace (1)
“If you’re satisfied, perhaps you could finish your work now.”
“Of course. But before that, I’d like to have a word with you.”
“I’m busy.”
“It’s important.”
The Emperor’s voice dropped suddenly.
Ethan recognized that he wasn’t joking, and handed the bell to Aspe.
“Wait outside.”
Then he coldly ushered them out of the room.
“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Aspe, suddenly finding himself ejected from the reception room, settled the bell back in his arms.
“Let’s have a look around while we wait, little princess.”
Berdia glanced sideways at Aspe’s face as he spoke to her.
The haze clinging to his features had grown thicker than before.
[Something is continuously tainting the Imperial Palace’s Ether.]
“Mm.”
Berdia hurriedly stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth and tugged gently at Aspe’s collar.
“Nom nom.”
“What, bread? There isn’t any left.”
“Aww.”
At Aspe’s response, Berdia’s shoulders sagged with disappointment.
After a moment’s thought, she began walking toward the end of the corridor.
“Shall we go to the dining hall and see what we can find to eat?”
“Mm.”
Berdia nodded at once and swung her legs eagerly.
“Should I put you down?”
“Mm.”
“Then just hold my hand.”
Aspe set Berdia on the floor, and the moment her shoes touched the corridor beneath her—
Grrrrowl.
A sharp, resonant growl echoed from somewhere, and the ground trembled faintly beneath her feet.
At this eerily unfamiliar sound, Berdia’s shoulders tensed.
But Aspe seemed accustomed to such things.
“Oh, did that startle you?”
“Mm.”
Berdia pointed down at the ground beneath her feet with one small finger.
The sound had clearly come from below.
Moreover, from the moment that sound reached her, a fierce energy had been pricking at Berdia’s senses.
[That’s right, little star.]
As the sharp, keen energy intensified, the darkness around them deepened.
[Something is emitting a powerful Ether.]
It was surely the source of this black taint.
This isn’t good.
Berdia yanked urgently at Aspe’s hand.
“Mm!”
‘Someone’s growling down there!’
Unable to understand Berdia’s meaning, Aspe tried to comfort the child.
“It’s all right. The building won’t collapse.”
Grrrrowwwl.
As if to mock his reassurance, the cry came again—louder this time, and clearer.
More piercing than before.
“……Ow.”
It was a wail.
The one bearing the tainted Ether was crying out for help.
It was in pain.
The suffering was so great that Berdia’s own heart grew uneasy.
“Berdia!”
“Berdia? What’s that?”
[Are you going to check what’s emitting the Ether?]
“Roar!”
[Yes, let’s go.]
Berdia nodded briskly and released Aspe’s hand.
“What? Where are you going alone?”
Aspe lunged after Berdia, who had let go and was already scampering down the corridor at full speed.
[Don’t follow, human.]
The spirit’s fingers swept gently through the air.
Aspe’s feet suddenly stuck fast to the floor.
“What’s happening? Ow!”
He flailed his arms in panic, lost his balance, and tumbled backward onto his rear.
But his feet remained glued to the ground.
“Blast! Is anyone there?”
Guards patrolling nearby caught sight of the commotion and rushed over.
The spirit waved a hand at the guards who tried to seize Berdia.
“Aaah!”
“What are you—you idiots! Ow!”
Their shoulders stuck together instantly, and the tangled mass of them collapsed to the floor.
[I didn’t mean to knock them over. My apologies, humans.]
The spirit grimaced as it watched them tumble across the ground, offering a perfunctory apology.
Meanwhile, Berdia glided past them without hindrance.
[Other humans will only be troublesome. Let me help you, little star.]
Pink mist gathered beneath Berdia’s feet as the child ran.
The mist formed a thin, bubble-like membrane that enclosed the child’s body.
“Whee!”
Berdia’s body lifted into the air.
Delighted by the strange sensation of weightlessness, the child let out a small cry of joy.
“There!”
Berdia pointed in the direction where the sharp, tingling Ether felt strongest.
As the spirit carried the child that way, a staircase descending into darkness came into view.
The Tainted Ether was seeping through a door located at the bottom of those stairs.
A low, rumbling growl echoed up.
[……Such suffering.]
A cry—something between a whimper and a snarl—issued from below.
Berdia urged the spirit forward.
“Hurry! Please!”
[Little star, are you truly certain? The Corruption is quite strong.]
“Yes!”
Berdia’s resolve did not waver.
Instead, a fierce urgency flooded through the child—the need to help, to act now.
[Perhaps…….]
“Down!”
Berdia slid down the stairs and reached out, grasping the door handle.
Click. The moment the child’s hand touched it, the heavy lock released smoothly, and no one remained to stop the child.
Berdia stepped onto the ground floor and ventured boldly into the darkness.
The door swung shut behind Berdia with a heavy thud, and silence pressed down like a suffocating weight.
“Ayay?”
A deep, rumbling growl.
In that instant, two blue points blazed in the darkness, then erupted into flames.
“Gah!”
Startled by the sudden gust, Berdia squeezed both eyes shut.
Mottled blue fire roiled and filled the chamber, then spiraled into a massive vortex that engulfed the child.
Just before the Tainted Ether consumed the child completely——
[Little star!]
The spirit rushed to Berdia’s side and moved to shield the child.
[Reveal yourself, you keeper of this twisted Ether!]
The spirit’s voice rang out with commanding fury.
Its rippling, pale-pink hair stood on end, and its pupils vanished beneath pure white eyes that gleamed with an otherworldly light.
Long, slender fingers worked desperately to redirect the surging flow of Ether.
[I am Berdia of the 12 Zodiac. I am the spirit who guards the Silver Star and abundance!]
Then came Berdia’s own declaration, rising from behind the spirit.
“Help! Help me!”
‘I’m a baby star! I came to help you!’
Within the vicious spiral’s current, Berdia took one more step forward.
The rushing flow of Ether scattered like mist, dissipating into nothing.
Berdia’s violet eyes blazed luminous white.
The Ether that had churned uneasily with tainted energy slowly settled.
Soon, a peace like still water descended.
[……You lived.]
A voice emerged—low, wounded, like a stricken beast.
Berdia moved toward the source of the sound.
Slowly blinking blue eyes watched the approaching child with unwavering intensity.
[Now I can breathe easier.]
The voice’s owner exhaled.
[My mind is clear.]
He lit the lantern hanging on the wall for Berdia’s sake.
Blue flame kindled at the candle’s wick, and beneath its dancing light, he finally revealed himself.
Scales once lustrous with silver had lost their sheen, now mottled and dull; his massive frame lay coiled, drawn tight.
Sharp talons and protruding fangs.
[A living Dragon survived.]
[I’m startled myself. I thought the Star Lineage had been annihilated.]
The Dragon glanced at the spirit and lowered himself to the ground.
Berdia gazed quietly at the Dragon, who rested his chin on his limp foreleg, then slowly drew near.
And placed a hand upon the talon larger than her own body.
“Ow, no.”
Don’t hurt.
Hoo…
When Berdia blew her warm breath across the massive talon, the Dragon let out a thin, rumbling laugh.
[Nothing but a scrap of life, this child.]
[This one is Berdia. The last bloodline of the great Astega.]
[I’m relieved.]
The Dragon, who had regarded Berdia with warm eyes, blinked slowly.
[And yet troubled.]
[What is your name?]
Instead of answering, the Dragon closed his eyes and turned his head away.
[Star-child. Better that you and your guardian leave this place. I don’t know when I’ll lose control again.]
He gave the gentle order of dismissal, but Berdia did not retreat.
“Ow.”
You’re hurting. Let me help.
The spirit, resonating with the child’s will, asked in her stead.
[Why are you trapped here?]
[By my own choice. I’ve been tainted by ‘those ones.’ This life persists only because I cannot die. You should leave now.]
[The baby star wishes to aid you. Surely you know—this child possesses the power to help you.]
Berdia nodded and thrust out her round belly with unflinching confidence.
“Mm!”
‘Trust in me!’—the declaration of a child’s absolute certainty.
Yet the Dragon remained unmoved, refusing their aid.
[I have lived too long. I desire only rest.]
His lowered eyes had dimmed to shadow.
He appeared terribly weary.
[This child could purify the tainted Ether. But what then?]
The Dragon understood at once.
That Berdia had never truly wielded her own power before.

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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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