Chapter : 46
‘They said if you don’t do the stretching exercises, you won’t grow up to 8 meters.’
He didn’t think there was any real need to grow that much, but since it was a dragon’s goal, it was something worth being mindful of.
“Yes.”
He climbed up to the third floor and knocked on the door. As expected, there was no answer from the dragon.
Since Angela had given her permission, the boy carefully opened the door.
Inside the modest bedroom, on the bed—
Something had wrapped itself in blankets like a cocoon.
“Dragon?”
As he approached the bed, the dragon’s face peeked out, breathing softly in its sleep.
“Dragon, wake up. If you don’t do your stretching exercises, you won’t be able to achieve your long-term goals.”
Worried he might touch the dragon directly, he prodded the cocoon with a broom that was nearby.
“?”
The dragon’s brow furrowed more and more.
Maybe it was waking up? He set the broom aside, but suddenly the cocoon began trembling violently.
“P-please don’t hurt my mom…”
Chase’s eyes widened.
“P-please don’t hurt my dad either. My mom, my dad… they’re crying…”
The voice, choked with tears, was desperately pleading with someone.
Thud.
It was as if someone had struck him hard on the back of the head.
Chase’s mind went blank. He had no idea what to do.
Because he suddenly remembered the reason.
The reason he had chased the dragon for a whole month.
He wanted to know how a child who was “afraid of something,” just like his past self, could learn to smile.
‘But you…’
The child wasn’t free of the past at all.
“…Pull yourself together.”
His stiff eyes blinked at the warning he muttered to himself.
First, he had to free the dragon from the blanket. Maybe that would end the nightmare.
Chase clenched his trembling hand into a fist, then used the broom to flick away the cocooning blanket.
Finally, he managed to unfold it.
“Uugh, c-cold…”
But instead of relief, the dragon shivered, hugging its short arms tightly.
Was this the start of another nightmare?
“…Mom’s not moving. Dad, something’s wrong with Mom.”
The sobs that had been fading started up again.
“Mom’s just asleep. Lulu will wake her up.”
The dragon, forgetting its pain, kept muttering in a distracted voice, busy with something in its dream.
This went on for about five minutes.
“……”
Then the dragon’s little body went limp.
Chase swallowed hard. Instinct told him what had happened.
In the dream, the dragon’s mother had died.
“Dad, Lulu… hug me.”
And then it happened.
Tears rolled down the child’s round cheeks that usually only showed smiles.
Thud.
Chase’s heart began breaking again.
He had to hold that small body.
He knew better than anyone that a plea for help meant the child was in desperate need.
“Emma. At dawn… could you just leave the door unlocked for me? I want to escape from here.”
Suddenly, Chase’s memories resurfaced.
Emma.
His nanny, whose name alone had once reassured him. During experiments, when his seizures started, she was the one who tended to him again.
But…
“…I’m sorry, but if I’m caught, His Majesty will—”
“You don’t have to do anything else. Just don’t lock the door. That’s all.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Emma, Emma…!”
Emma wasn’t his protector. She was a loyal servant of the royal family.
In the end, Chase was locked alone in a cell, waiting endlessly for the door to open.
Forever. Forever—
Seeing Lulu overlap with his own past, he staggered toward the bed.
He reached out his hand—
“…If I touch, the spell will…”
He flinched, remembering what had happened when he touched the dragon before.
But—
“I’m not Emma.”
Chase shut his eyes tight and threw himself into the small arms.
Even if the ghosts of the past swallowed him again, he felt he could endure.
Because this time, he wasn’t alone—he was with someone.
Every step made a wet sound on the filthy brick floor.
Cold dampness. Dim light.
The rattle of chains with every movement.
Lulu blinked her frightened eyes.
Her mother dragon lay collapsed on the ground, drained of strength, her body darkened.
Even so, the hatchling curled in her arms trembled violently.
‘When Dad comes… he’ll wake Mom up.’
But hours passed, and Dad didn’t come.
“Dad, where are you?! Lulu’s scared! Dad, hug Lulu!”
Just then—
Thump-thump-thump.
Someone’s footsteps came running closer.
‘Dad?!’
Lulu stopped crying, eyes widening—but the shadow was not a winged dragon. It was the shape of a human.
‘C-could it be… a scary person!’
Turning her head, Lulu burrowed deeper into her mother’s embrace, shaking.
But then—
“Lulu.”
“…Lulu?”
A young, breathless voice called the baby dragon’s name.
Only Mom and Dad knew that name here.
“…Who are you?”
Curious, Lulu peeked out. A blond boy stood there.
“I begged Emma to leave the door open for me, so I snuck out.”
“…Huh?”
The boy casually opened the barred gate and sat down beside Lulu.
“So… stay with me.”
Lulu’s tail brushed against the boy’s leg.
It was such a small touch of warmth, but somehow, her trembling eased.
Did he notice?
“It’s less scary when there are two of us.”
He smiled faintly, gently stroking Lulu’s tail.
‘…Huh?’
But the baby dragon realized something.
That warm hand petting her—was trembling faintly, too.
“Hhup!”
That was when Lulu woke from the nightmare.
She blinked her round eyes and muttered to herself.
“…Strange dream.”
It was scary, but strange.
She had been in her unknown mother’s arms, waiting for her father—
‘But Chase came.’
Normally, Chase hated even holding Lulu’s hand.
Yet in the dream, the boy gently soothed her trembling.
As her mind cleared, Lulu turned, ready to tell her sister about the dream—then froze.
“…Huh?”
Something heavy was draped over her.
At first, she thought it was just a pile of blankets, but—
“Chase?!”
It wasn’t a blanket wrapped around her—it was Chase himself.
“W-what’s going on?! Chase, Cha~se!”
Panicked, Lulu wriggled and patted his shoulder.
But the boy didn’t stir, eyes shut, his cheek squished as if he had fainted.
“…Huh?!”
Then Lulu spotted something. Her mouth fell open.
On Chase’s pressed cheek were tear stains.
Deep, in multiple streaks—
As if he had been crying for a very long time!
“Did you have a scary dream?”
So… that’s why he held on to her?
“Hm.”
Well then, it was only natural to hug back!
“Chase, don’t cry.”
Though his body was heavy for her, Lulu managed to wrap her short arms around him.
“You can’t cry. No crying.”
Her little hand patted his back in a steady rhythm.
“The magic lady says kids who cry~ don’t get fried eggs~”
In the quiet bedroom, the baby’s humming spread softly.
Chase’s rough breathing calmed down.
The two children held each other until the last traces of tears disappeared.
A little while later—
“What—what is this! Chase, Lulu, what are you two doing?!”
Angela, worried because the children hadn’t come out, opened the bedroom door and nearly fainted.
The kids were bundled together in the blankets like one lump!
“Sis. Chase was crying and wouldn’t move.”
“What?”
But hearing Lulu’s words, Angela noticed something strange. She quickly lifted the boy and laid him properly on the bed.
His pulse was alarmingly fast.
“…Could it be a fever?”
“Chase, are you sick?”
“Looks like it. Lulu, can you bring a cup of cold water and a handkerchief?”
Startled at the mention of Chase being sick, the baby dragon rushed off to the kitchen without answering.
“Here! Handkerchief and cold water cup!”
“Thanks.”
Chase’s fever was severe.
‘I’ll cool him down, then ask Aselin if she has any good herbs.’
She laid the cold handkerchief on his forehead.
And as she moved to unbutton his shirt to help cool him down—
“…?”
For the first time, his bare arm was exposed.
It shimmered with golden light.
The spellwork on his body was being dissolved by the gold.
“Lulu, how long were you hugging Chase?”
“I don’t know. When I woke up, Chase was hugging Lulu and had fainted.”
“What kind of insane spell was cast that it dissolves this slowly?”
Panicked, Angela grabbed paper and pen, quickly sketching the remnants of the spell on his arm.
Then she rushed to the study, flipping through a book on black magic—
Until she suddenly froze on a page.
“No way. They used something like this… on a child?”
