“I’m glad you’re back, my Master.”
A knight standing guard at the main gate of the mansion saluted Athena.
For a moment, I felt as if he glared at me. It was probably just my delusion again.
I couldn’t muster the courage to face him, so I merely looked at the ground as I entered the mansion.
No way could I raise my head in front of the Dawn Knights.
Of course, it’s only natural. I had nearly put one of their members in a comatose state and forced his retirement. There was no way I could face them with pride.
As I walked further into the mansion, the more gazes were upon me, the more I started to suffocate.
There were countless maids and butlers waiting to greet us.
“Welcome, my Master. And Miss.”
Roselin welcomed us with a warm smile.
“You’ve worked hard, my Master. And Miss, I’m glad you’re safe.”
The head butler bowed his head to greet us.
And then…
“Miss…”
Alina looked at me with trembling eyes.
I couldn’t bring myself to greet her, turning away to avoid her gaze.
The wound she bore still tormented me.
Many others welcomed us too.
To be precise, they welcomed Athena.
“Mom, are you okay…?”
Mari, holding my hand, looked up at me with a worried expression.
I must have transmitted my own tremors to her through our clasped hands.
I suppressed the negative emotions threatening to spill out and smiled at Mari.
“Yes, I’m okay.”
I’m fine.
I’m totally unaffected.
After greeting the countless maids and butlers, I returned to the room that was painfully familiar.
Except this time…
“Mom’s room…?”
I wasn’t alone. I was with Mari.
Mari’s eyes widened as she looked around my room.
She was darting about as if it were her nest, shining with excitement.
After wandering around for a while, she plopped down onto the large bed.
“Mom and Mari’s bed!”
Mari hugged a pillow while beaming with joy, a sight that was absolutely heart-attack-inducing.
‘You… you’re just too cute….’
Someone once said that cuteness is the only definition and truth in this world. I couldn’t help but confirm that statement at that moment.
I forced down the smile trying to escape and sat beside Mari on the bed.
“Wouldn’t Athena give you a separate room? You could sleep there.”
“…..!”
This vast mansion was overflowing with rooms. They must have at least one room for a child.
Maybe there would even be a room that suited Mari’s taste.
But Mari’s face didn’t show any delight; instead, she looked at me in shock.
“Mommy… can’t sleep… together?”
“Uh…?”
Her aquamarine eyes began to tear up.
“Mari… alone… sniff…”
“M-Mari?!”
Seeing the lovable girl’s eyes begin to swell with tears sent my head into a spiral of confusion.
“Sniff… if Mommy doesn’t want me… I’ll sleep… alone…”
In that sorrowful whimper, I realized I had made a huge mistake.
I had forgotten.
Just how young Mari really was.
Athena had said that dragons don’t need parental figures, but any living being with feelings would feel loneliness.
Mari’s attachment to me was proof of that.
She must have wanted affection, yearning for me to look at her like that.
Moreover, Mari was merely a hatchling, newly born.
It was a time when love was essential.
I hadn’t considered how my suggestion to sleep separately would have affected her.
From Mari’s standpoint, it must have sounded like I didn’t want to sleep with her.
That’s why she was crying so sorrowfully.
‘I promised to take care of her, Hera.’
And yet, here I was, making this young girl cry.
I began to feel disgusted with myself.
I quickly scooped Mari up into my arms and wiped her tears with my fingers.
“No, Mari..! Mommy could never dislike you!”
“…But… separate room…”
“That’s because I was worried you might not like a small room. If you want, of course, I want to sleep together…!”
“I want to sleep with Mommy…”
Mari timidly murmured, her mouth moving.
“Then should we sleep together from now on?”
Her eyes widened in joy, and then she cheerfully hugged me with her little hands.
“I love you, Mommy!!”
“Ugh..!”
Mari in my arms was so unbelievably cute it should be illegal.
Is this what they call heart-fluttering moments? At this rate, I might end up having my heart explode one day.
…
“So, are you saying you’ll sleep together from now on?”
Athena looked at me with a frown.
Currently, Mari and I were unwinding after our tiring journey while enjoying dinner with Athena.
“Yes. Since Mari is still very young, I think it’s better for us to sleep together for a while.”
I decided that we would share a bed until Mari grew enough.
I wasn’t sure if dragons went through puberty, but surely we wouldn’t stop sharing the bed until then.
“No way.”
“What?”
Mari and I exclaimed in unison, taken aback.
“You’re being too overprotective, Hera. Dragons don’t need that.”
“B-but…”
“And if you spoil her too much, she’ll develop bad habits.”
Athena gently refused me with a hint of a reprimand.
I didn’t expect that response, and I glanced at Mari in confusion.
“…..”
Mari looked at Athena with icy, steady eyes.
Her blue eyes, which were once as clear as the sea, seemed frozen cold at that moment.
She stared at Athena for a long time before meeting my gaze.
“Mari… want to sleep with Mommy…”
The icy glint in her eyes instantly vanished, and she began to look at me like a drenched puppy after a rainstorm.
Seeing her adorable expression awakened an instinctual maternal feeling within me.
I smiled at Mari, wanting to assure her.
Just trust your Mommy, Mari.
Having decided to care for this young life, I would keep that commitment until the end.
With a determined expression, I gazed at Athena.
“I… I promised to take responsibility.”
“What?”
Athena seemed to be taken aback by my answer and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Though she’s a dragon, Mari is still very young.”
“….uh-huh.”
“Even if I’m not her real mom… I want to do what I can for her…”
Seeing Athena’s face, which seemed a bit irked, made me hesitate a little.
But after taking a deep breath, I managed to finish my sentence.
“S-so, please allow us to sleep together…”
“…..”
Athena shot me a glare as if she didn’t agree with me.
But then, as if something came to mind, she thought for a moment before smiling at me.
“Hera, do you see Mari as your daughter?”
“Uh… yes… I’m trying to think of it that way.”
“And that feeling will never change?”
In that moment, I didn’t quite understand Athena’s question.
For my feelings to change meant I wouldn’t see Mari as my daughter anymore, didn’t it?
If that were the case, I had no intention of doing so.
I couldn’t bear to be like my parents, who abandoned me.
I would never want to be a negligent human like them.
I gently ruffled Mari’s hair.
“Yes. My feelings will never change.”
“Then you’ll see her as your daughter for life?”
“….Yes.”
Athena stared at me for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. You can do as you wish, Hera.”
“R-really?!”
“Yes.”
With her easy consent, bright smiles bloomed on both mine and Mari’s faces.
“Thank you, Athena…!”
“But there’s a condition.”
“Huh?”
Athena was smiling with a somewhat sinister expression.
She leaned closer to me, whispering softly in my ear so that Mari couldn’t hear.
“From now on, every night after you put Mari to bed, come to my bedroom.”
“Uh… okay?”
Her words, so secretive, tickled my ears.
Maybe it was the way she spoke, but what she was asking sounded rather suggestive.
“Just an hour will do.”
“…Wh-what for…?”
Was there really a reason for her to ask me to come by at such an odd hour?
But Athena held a finger to her lips and shook her head, indicating it was a secret.
“You’ll find out tonight.”
Though filled with questions, I decided not to decline since there was no real reason to.
“Okay… I got it.”
An hour shouldn’t be too taxing on me if I go to sleep.
If I put Mari to bed early, it’d be fine.
Happy about our sleep arrangements, Mari buried her face in my belly, wearing a bright smile.
Feeling a sense of pride, I playfully pulled her chubby cheeks.
“Mmm… Mommy…”
Her adorable cheeks felt like sticky rice cakes, yet her cute smile remained bright on her face.
’..If she’s this happy, an hour is nothing…’
Just as I turned to express my gratitude to Athena again, a strange expression caught my eye.
“…Um… Athena?”
“Yes?”
“Are… you okay?… Your face looks a bit…?”
“I’m fine, Hera. Let’s finish our meal.”
She said that while picking up her cutlery again.
However, her face still hinted at an unsettling chill.
“……”
An insatiable smile reminiscent of a predator watching its prey.
I felt a tinge of tension watching her repeatedly lick her lips for some reason.
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