Chapter : 14
Inside the wardrobe was a sack made of old straw.
The problem was, that sack was huge enough for Rian to fit inside.
“…Gasp.”
Even Lulu’s already large eyes doubled in size.
Angela and Belix exchanged silent glances.
And immediately got to work.
“A straw sack in the wardrobe? I’ll take it out when we leave.”
“Thanks.”
Belix lightly lifted the sack.
“Since Rian isn’t here, I’ll be going now. Lulu, take care.”
“……”
Lulu, mouth wide open in a triangle shape, couldn’t say a word.
Judging by her flour-white furrowed brow twitching, it seemed she desperately wanted to resist.
But if she did, they’d have to reveal what was inside the sack, so she seemed conflicted.
“…Eek.”
The baby dragon, unable to do anything, ended up just following Belix’s retreating back.
A quiet tower.
Creak, creak.
Belix, carrying a sack as heavy as Rian’s weight, went down the stairs.
But the further down he went, the more he noticed the sack he carried was trembling.
Sigh.
He tried to pretend he didn’t know until the end.
Standing in front of the front door, Belix finally collapsed and set down the sack, opening it.
“Rian.”
Sure enough, it was Rian inside.
Rian must have really wanted to avoid being found, because he was still curled up tightly, huddled.
Belix calmly spoke to his younger brother who was not listening.
“Please, whatever else, don’t live in an orphanage. You have a family — me.”
“My family is my friends!”
Lulu and Angela, following behind, paused.
All that could be heard now were harsh breaths.
Rian glared at Belix with reddened eyes.
“…Honestly, what have you done for the past four years? You thought I was dead? Even so, you should have found me, dug to the end!”
Belix couldn’t say a word.
“You only want revenge for me? While you were wasting your time, I tried to survive however I could with those kids. How could you just abandon them and live with me? You don’t understand poverty at all!”
The boy, who had been holding it in, spilled everything all at once, his face miserable.
Not wanting to cry in front of Belix, he furrowed his brow and quickly turned his head.
“Why act like a big brother now? Why! Sob, sniff!”
But emotions already overflowed uncontrollably.
In the end, Rian broke down and cried with a twisted face.
At first, it was sobbing, then it became pitiful like a child.
Lulu, watching sadly, took a step forward, but—
“Uh, um, Lulu was thinking—”
“Shh.”
A gentle hand stopped Lulu.
“Quiet.”
It was Angela.
She was afraid Lulu might say something like a ticking time bomb.
She didn’t want the four-year-old’s unnecessary comment to worsen the mood here.
But—
“For Rian’s sake, I have to say something.”
The baby dragon summoned courage in this unnecessary situation, raising her eyebrows.
Then she spun around swiftly, evading Angela’s touch.
“Lulu was thinking!”
Lulu shouted bravely but no one looked at the child.
However—
“Then Rian won’t live in the orphanage but with us in the tower!”
At the word “tower,” everyone looked at Lulu.
“…If it’s the tower, does that mean you’ll live with Lulu?”
Hesitating, Rian stopped crying and asked.
“Yes! I will live with you! As the captain of the Black Lake, Lulu will live with Rian!”
At Lulu’s declaration, his black eyes slowly opened, his face much brighter.
Belix muttered, “If it’s with the princess, it’ll be safe…” showing he didn’t mind.
“Lulu, we have to live quietly, okay? Please…”
Of course, Angela, the tower’s owner, squeezed her eyes shut.
One more family member was added to the tower, which had only been inhabited by the baby dragon and the princess.
Of course, Angela’s opinion was not accepted during this process, but she was not so cold-hearted as to throw out a hurt young boy.
“…I’m sorry for the trouble, unintentionally. Please take good care of Rian while I’m gone.”
Belix left the forest with a dark expression.
Though the words “I’ll be back” sounded suspicious, Belix left quietly without even exchanging a proper goodbye with Rian.
Because of this,
Rian quickly got used to the unfamiliar life in the tower.
“Thank you for letting me stay in the tower! I will definitely repay this kindness someday!!”
The four years had aged the young boy too quickly.
Without being told, Rian woke up early and bowed suddenly to Angela, who was preparing breakfast.
“Why so stiff? Now that it’s come to this, just think of it as your home. Sleep in late, complain about meals like Lulu…”
“Princess, should I do the laundry here?”
“Lulu, you should grow up quickly.”
Angela, who was initially burdened, smiled at his active devotion.
“What’s ‘grow up’? Is growing up heavy?”
Of course, Lulu didn’t understand a thing.
He had just finished stretching exercises and came down the stairs.
Rian was over there doing laundry, and his sister was cooking.
“Enough. Don’t cause trouble.”
Even the sister who didn’t answer what “grow up” meant gently tapped Lulu’s nose without hurting it.
“…Hmmm?”
Lulu’s eyebrows furrowed oddly.
“Why am I a troublemaker? Lulu did his stretching exercises this morning.”
The once-quiet tower suddenly became lively again after a long time.
The eggs and vegetables Belix bought were quickly used up thanks to Rian and Lulu, who were in their growth phase.
“Hmm.”
Angela got an idea.
The last vegetables to be eaten—frosted green onions.
Instead of eating them, she decided to plant them in the soil!
Thus, a modest garden was made in the backyard of the tower.
Now, they had to water the garden—
“…Luckily, the baby dragon is playing.”
“Lulu, mission time!”
Pop.
Angela pulled Lulu, who was lying on the ground, up like a radish.
“Mission? For me?”
Lulu’s eyes sparkled as he was reading a fairy tale with Rian.
By the way, this baby dragon was unaware that Angela was assigning this mission just because she didn’t want to bother watering the plants.
“Yes. We made a garden in the tower’s backyard. If you water it, the frost green onions will grow healthy and strong.”
“What happens when they grow healthy and strong?”
“They’ll grow big so we can eat vegetable stir-fry every day.”
“!?”
“And how cool and kind would it be if a fire-breathing dragon waters the plants?”
“…Huh?”
The child’s mouth dropped open.
He was surely imagining a cool dragon spitting both water and fire from the sky.
“Okay, I’ll work really hard then!”
“Good. Go quickly.”
“Hi-yat! Good dragon going!”
As Lulu ran out of the tower holding a watering can in his tiny hands, Rian, who was reading the fairy tale with him, ran out too.
“Oh dear. How cute.”
Angela smiled softly at the adorable sight.
Although there was a small incident with Rian, it was resolved well, so things should be peaceful for a while.
“…Haahm. Hopefully we can take naps and live peacefully for a while?”
Yawning leisurely, Angela stretched and went into her room.
But she didn’t know.
She had made a huge mistake.
Mistake one:
Life isn’t really over until it’s over.
Mistake two:
Sometimes in life, just like in novels, when you say hopeful lines, the death flags reverse and bring troublesome situations.
“Wow. Did you make this? The green onions are twisted like swords?”
Lulu’s eyes were wide with wonder as he saw the garden for the first time in his four years.
Currently, three frost green onions were planted.
They were all leftovers, some even showing Lulu’s bite marks.
By the way, Angela had high expectations for this garden.
“Meat comes from hunting horned rabbits, eggs come from stealing blue-feathered ostrich eggs, and vegetables come from making a garden. I’m a genius after all.”
Angela thought she had heard this from her sister before.
But the problem was Angela hadn’t praised Lulu even once recently.
“Ung-ni only thinks about food and praising Rian these days.”
“Uuu…”
Lulu’s lips puckered like a duck.
