Swish-Swish-
The soft moonlight seeping in through the window illuminated Hera’s face, making it even whiter.
Hera, soundly asleep, breathed steadily.
Once again, her sleeping form was extraordinarily beautiful.
I lowered my head and looked at it.
A blue lizard was sleeping with its head nestled against Hera.
For some reason, it made me feel annoyed.
Hera had named it Mari, but I didn’t want to get attached to it.
“I know you’re not sleeping.”
Yet my voice received no reply, and silence hung in the room for a while.
Just as I began to think I might have to wake it up myself…
“…..”
The lizard slowly opened its blue eyes.
There was an utterly calm aura in its gaze as it looked back at me.
“Come out with me.”
As expected, this lizard seemed not just cute.
Whoosh-
With a whoosh, blue mana began to envelop the lizard.
Then, after a brief moment of strong wind swirling around…
The blue mana dissipated, revealing a mysterious-looking young girl with sky-blue hair and ocean-like blue eyes.
“..What’s the reason?”
The girl asked with a perpetually bored expression.
Her gaze was completely different than when she was with Hera.
“So you were a girl. Should I call that fortunate or not…”
I muttered while looking at her figure.
Dragons. What exactly are they?
Masters of magic. Beings nearly omnipotent.
They could wield magic capable of causing natural disasters without any effort, and all knowledge related to mana was supposedly innate from birth.
Even as a hatchling, she should be able to use polymorph magic.
“What’s the reason?”
The girl’s gaze remained calm, as if she were impatiently asking for my point.
“How come you’re acting innocent in front of Hera when you seem so gloomy here?”
“…..”
“Well, I don’t really want to chat with you for long either. Let’s get to the point.”
“…..”
“Tell me why you’re hanging out with Hera.”
The girl tilted her head in question at my words.
“Why should I?”
“Well, it depends on your answer.”
I gave her a sly smile and continued.
“I have to decide whether to kill you or not.”
“…You..”
Her gaze turned cold.
At that moment, the mana surrounding us trembled violently, weighing down on me like an anchor.
“HaHa. Oh, sweetheart. You wanna fight me?”
“…..”
But with a simple gesture of my hand, the pressure lightened again.
Even if she’s a dragon, she was still just a hatchling, and she had a long way to go before being my opponent.
And deep down, she knew that better than anyone.
“Just to be clear, this is only if I think you’re a threat to Hera.”
I chuckled at the girl glaring at me with scrunched-up eyes as if annoyed.
I had wondered since I first saw that hatchling…
Why was she showing affection towards Hera?
Could a dragon really fall for mere charms? That just sounds ridiculous.
It’s like saying the Demon King was subdued by a passing farmer.
There had to be some reason why she followed Hera.
For some reason, I felt like I might have an inkling of what that reason could be.
“Not going to say anything? I’m not particularly known for my patience.”
I pushed the girl again, who remained silent.
After a long pause, she finally opened her mouth.
“Mom. Soul. White.”
It seemed her language skills weren’t fully developed yet; she only stated subjects.
“What?”
“I can see souls. Yours is black.”
She continued, pointing at herself.
“All human souls are murky. But Mom’s soul is white. So I like her.”
‘Can she really see the colors of souls?’
If that’s true…
There’s some truth to what that hatchling said.
I have never seen someone as pure as Hera; her soul must glow white.
And if my soul has a color, it’s probably darker than anyone else’s.
Most humans probably have similar shades.
So, instinctually, everyone is enchanted by Hera.
Does that mean this hatchling was also captivated by her purity?
“Is that it?”
“….”
The girl hesitated, mumbling, clearly struggling to answer.
After a while of fidgeting, she finally spoke up.
“…And.. Mommy… is pretty…”
“……”
The girl said with a blush, twisting her body shyly.
It seemed a dragon’s instinct to like beautiful things might actually hold some truth.
I’ve heard that their nests are filled with all kinds of shiny jewels.
But more than that…
“Why do you keep calling her Mom?”
It bothered me to hear her say that Hera was her mom.
Dragons don’t have parents.
The hatchling, however, looked at me with wide eyes, as if I were saying something strange.
“Mom is… Mom!”
“Don’t be silly. That stuff doesn’t exist for dragons.”
“Mom trained me. So she’s my mom.”
“….”
I gazed at the girl with an incredulous expression.
Could she really think she was tamed by Hera?
‘…It might actually be better that she thinks of Hera as a mom.’
At least she wouldn’t harbor romantic feelings towards her.
Thinking it over, it seemed preferable to feel like a mother to Hera than to crave her.
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
The girl looked at me with eyes filled with a desire to return to Hera as soon as possible.
I sighed deeply and spoke to the hatchling.
“Just act like that most of the time. Get rid of your wings.”
The girl looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Why?”
“If people find out you’re a dragon, there will be chaos everywhere. Then, Hera would be in big trouble.”
The girl’s eyes widened in alarm at the thought of Hera being in trouble.
She then eagerly nodded her little head in agreement.
“Okay. I got it.”
Seeing how much she cared about Hera, I felt reassured she wouldn’t cause any trouble.
In fact, she would likely stay right by Hera’s side, protecting her.
I realized when that damn Succubus kidnapped Hera…
I wasn’t enough to protect her on my own.
But with a dragon around, I could probably feel a bit safer.
As long as what she wanted was a parent-child relationship, I wouldn’t mind.
If she wanted Hera’s body, I would never allow it.
Only I am allowed to hold Hera.
So, this lessened the need for concern.
…..
*
When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
A girl I had never seen before was sleeping snugly in my arms.
However, after a moment, I quickly recognized that the girl was Mari.
As I heard Athena’s words, it seemed it would be best for Mari to walk around in human form due to various potential issues that could arise if she showed her true self.
‘Trouble is inevitable…’
An ordinary human tamed a legendary being like a dragon.
If word got out, there would surely be chaos everywhere.
In the worst-case scenario, I might draw the attention of the Demon King.
If that were to happen, both Mari and I could be in danger.
Considering all that, it made sense for her to go around in her polymorphed state.
“I love you, Mommy!”
Mari exclaimed, rubbing her face against my leg with a bright smile.
Sometimes, such displays of affection felt overwhelming.
Especially being called ‘Mom.’ It was a title I had never experienced before.
I’d never had a child; I hadn’t even been in a relationship.
Yet the reason I accepted her as my daughter…
Normally, I would have rejected her if that were the case.
But I understood too well the longing for a parent’s love from a child.
Because I once desperately sought my parents’ affection.
Though I had been abandoned and lived a lonely life, I still had those cherished memories of them looking at me kindly.
Perhaps that’s why I’m so fixated on the concept of family.
‘…I should treat Mari well…’
Of course, she wasn’t my real daughter, but I didn’t want her to go through the same harsh experiences I had.
I had no experience raising a child, but I figured I could provide care and love.
Moreover, having such an adorable daughter didn’t seem bad at all.
“…Ready, Hera?”
After observing Mari with a suspicious expression for a while, Athena sighed and spoke to me.
We were preparing to return to the mansion again.
Though “preparing” meant just packing a few belongings, it was all there was to it.
“Yes…”
As I replied, Athena gestured for me to come close into her embrace.
When Mari, who was tightly clinging to my leg, came closer to Athena, golden mana began to slowly envelop us.
After a moment, Athena snapped her fingers, and a flash of white light blinked in front of me.
I covered my eyes briefly, and when I opened them again, a different scenery entered my view.
It was an all-too-familiar sight.
“Here we are, Hera.”
“….Yeah… It is.”
It was a sight I recognized well, but one I didn’t particularly want to see.
And thus, I returned once more to Athena’s Mansion.
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