Chapter 82
“He is a monster.”
“Yeah! But he’s cute. Are monsters usually this cute?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Ceres firmly shook her head and let out a short sigh.
She had planned to pass it on to Chaian if Kainel absolutely refused, but after seeing Yulia’s face, that option was off the table too.
Just how attached had she gotten in that short amount of time? Yulia’s eyes were full of warmth.
“What’s his name?”
“…Freeloader.”
“That’s not a name.”
[Pu!]
At Yulia’s words, the black dragon nodded fiercely and even flew up to perch on her head.
“Can I name him?”
“Do what you want.”
Seeing Yulia’s bright smile, Ceres let out a soft laugh too.
‘Well… maybe it’s a good thing?’
At least they were living together now—better than having her hate it.
[Bu-oo! Bu!]
“Stop chewing on that.”
Just when it seemed like he was playing well with Yulia, he flew back and started playing with Ceres’s hair again.
Ceres suppressed him with just two fingers and sighed inwardly.
‘But still…’
Are you really a dragon?
“It seems the Ellsia Count’s Estate… has completely slipped out of our hands.”
“Looks that way.”
A greenhouse full of pure white flowers.
Prince Alex de Devrica, seated by the sunlit window, answered dully without shifting his gaze from the outside.
“We invested in it for quite a long time. It’s disappointing.”
“Indeed.”
The man watering the flowers in one corner of the greenhouse also avoided looking at Alex.
A man who looked to be in his early thirties.
His long black hair, flowing down to his waist like ink, left a strong impression.
“She was called Ceres, right?”
“……”
Only then did Prince Alex’s gaze turn from the window toward the man.
The man, however, continued watering the flowers, showing no distraction.
“It’s really strange, isn’t it? We worked so hard for so long and still couldn’t find it. But she found it so easily.”
“You mean the ring?”
“Yes. I thought the head of house’s ring wasn’t something just anyone could find.”
“So, did you investigate?”
“There was nothing special. Just very ordinary… no, so ordinary she was unremarkable.”
“That’s quite different from what I saw.”
“Exactly.”
The man put down the watering can, plucked a white flower, and walked toward Alex.
“She’s lost her memory.”
“…Her memory?”
For the first time, Alex reacted.
He hadn’t heard that from his older brother, Chaian. Did even he not know?
“Apparently, her personality has changed a lot because of it.”
“She lost her memory, huh.”
Alex turned his gaze back out the window, lost in thought.
They had only met a few times. Each time was brief.
So it wasn’t enough to judge clearly, but… Ceres was certainly different from anyone he’d ever met.
‘Is it because she lost her memory?’
Is that why she’s fearless?
It made sense when it came to his brother, the Tower Master and a prince—but even in front of the Duke of Persia, she remained completely composed.
Far from being nervous, she actually seemed rather comfortable.
She didn’t seem to care at all about status, whether prince or duke.
Swoosh.
“……”
Lost in thought, Alex had to raise his gaze when a hand gently touched his chin.
The lips of the man who had approached formed a soft smile.
“It seems the medicine is about to run out.”
Only after their eyes met did the man take a step back again.
He picked up a small glass vial placed on a shelf along the wall.
Whoosh!
In that moment, black smoke flowed out and enveloped the pure white flower in the man’s hand. The spotless white flower instantly turned black.
The man held the blackened flower to the mouth of the vial.
Slrrrk.
Like melting ice, the blackened flower melted away and was absorbed straight into the vial.
“Here you go.”
Alex silently stared at the black liquid inside the bottle for a while before accepting it and carefully placing it inside his coat.
“There’s no problem with the plan?”
At Alex’s question, the man’s lips curved once more in a bright smile.
“Indeed. The reason we tried to take over the Ellsia family was to prevent the awakening of the Spirit King of Fire.”
That’s why they drove a wedge between the previous head and his disciple, Creel.
To keep the new head of the Ellsia Count’s Estate from acquiring the ring—in other words, from acquiring the Spirit King of Fire.
The disciple tried to poison his teacher, and the teacher, who sensed it, died without revealing the ring’s whereabouts. What a perfect plan!
Everything had gone smoothly thanks to the idiocy of Creel Ellsia…
“We just have to accelerate the plan.”
Before the new head learns to wield the Spirit King of Fire properly.
“How?”
“Wider, and more deeply. So He can arrive sooner.”
“……”
Alex’s face turned indifferent again.
His gaze returned to the window, as if to say, Handle that yourself.
“By the way, have you searched for that thing?”
“The black egg?”
“Yes.”
As if he were proud of Alex for remembering, the man gave him a gentle look.
“It’s not in the Magic Tower. My brother said he hasn’t seen anything like it either.”
“Hmm, if it’s not in the Ellsia family or the Magic Tower… then there’s only one place left.”
The man clicked his tongue with regret. The one remaining place was far from easy.
“What is that egg, anyway?”
At Alex’s question, the man let out a soft laugh.
“I don’t know in detail either. Only that He desires it.”
***
“Sis! Sis!”
“…?”
It was a rare holiday, and Ceres had been enjoying a long, lazy sleep when the urgent voice woke her.
“Sis! Come quick!”
“What is it?”
“Hurry, hurry!”
Seeing the child stamping her feet, Ceres followed behind Yulia without even brushing her messy hair.
The place they arrived at was the kitchen.
“Look at that.”
“…What is that cream blob?”
Why is a cream blob moving?
A small creature was sitting sprawled across the kitchen counter, covered in cream, munching on something.
“That’s Kkamang.”
Kkamang.
That was the name Yulia had given the black dragon.
It was also the day Ceres realized her little sister’s naming sense rivaled Kainel’s.
“Is he eating the cake?”
“Yeah! That cake was supposed to be our snack today, but he’s devouring it.”
Even as Yulia and Ceres talked, Kkamang continued feasting.
He was practically buried in a cake bigger than his whole body, devouring it like there was no tomorrow.
How is that tiny body fitting all that in?
“Didn’t he refuse to eat anything until yesterday?”
“Yeah, he said he didn’t want any of it… But when I left the cake I was going to eat nearby, he showed interest. I gave him a bit just in case, and now look at him.”
They had tried feeding him meat, vegetables, fruit—he ignored it all. Even Ceres had been worried.
‘But still…’
He’s eating cake?
Watching the little black creature gobbling up cake, tail and wings wiggling happily, Ceres was stunned.
Then Yulia clung to her arm and started grumbling.
“But he doesn’t eat every cake. He won’t even look at the ones our chef made.”
“Could’ve fooled me. He’s eating like it’s life or death.”
“That one’s special! The fancy cake you brought home yesterday as a gift.”
“Oh.”
Del, Kainel’s aide, would often stop Ceres on her way home and give her all kinds of things.
‘I bought too much again, you see.’
‘Why do you always do this? He barely eats anything.’
‘Indeed. I wonder that myself, every time.’
Most of the cake Del gave her ended up with Yulia anyway.
Well, sometimes Antonion and she had some, too.
“Wow, he finished it all.”
Having devoured every last crumb on the plate, Kkamang flopped over onto his back.
[Bu-oooo~ Puu~]
Maybe because his belly was full? From his mouth came a blissful sound, higher-pitched than usual, full of happiness.
—
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