Chapter : 21
He tilted his head in confusion.
He couldn’t just abandon Lulu and run away.
‘What should I do?’
Just as frightened Lian was about to approach Angela, he heard the sound of a serious conversation near the tower entrance.
“Your Highness. The escape route has been secured. Once you’re ready, we should flee immediately.”
“Flee? Wait a second. Did you just say flee?”
“Yes. Is something wrong?”
“…It just occurred to me. Isn’t it unfair that our choice is simply to run away?”
“I don’t find it unfair.”
“This tower—we’ve cleaned and maintained it for a whole year, and now we’re just going to abandon it? We even marked Lulu’s growth progress on the wall.”
“Think of it as practicing minimalism.”
“And what about the frost onions and spinach that Lian planted in the back garden? We’re just going to abandon those too?”
“When you put it that way, I can understand your sorrow, Princess. But if it’s between pulling out Lian’s frost onions and pulling out the knights’ heads, I’d rather see the latter.”
“Duke, how many men can you handle alone?”
“That depends on Your Highness’s attack power.”
“Then how about this? Fifteen each, one-on-one ratio?”
Listening in secretly, Lian reflected on himself.
“Her Highness and Brother are holding such a serious discussion… while I was already ready to give up…”
He felt pathetic for thinking about calling the princess after just a few failed attempts.
“…Since it’s Her Highness’s order, I’ll see it through to the end.”
Encouraged by the adults’ nonsense, Lian carried the artifact deeper into the forest.
Meanwhile, as the forest fell into chaos…
A biting wind swept across the Black Lake.
“Lulu… I’ve done something terrible.”
Lulu pouted, lips shaped like a duck’s beak, and shook her head.
At her feet lay a blond-haired boy, collapsed on the ground.
And at the tip of his finger, a sentence was scrawled:
[The culprit is the dragon]
Yes.
Lulu had become the bad dragon.
Thirty minutes earlier.
At the Black Lake, the two children had been facing off.
‘Uwaahhh, my head’s spinning—!’
It felt like her big round eyes were rolling around in circles.
Lulu clutched her white hair with her tiny fern-like hands.
That boy wasn’t her friend.
Which meant he must be a villain who came with the knights.
But that wasn’t what kept Lulu on edge.
‘Why is he just standing there?’
The boy was unexpectedly far too quiet.
‘He knows Lulu is a dragon. Then he should be scared or hate me…’
Maybe she thought too hard.
Suddenly dizzy, the baby dragon stumbled backward.
“Ahhh… everything is a mystery…”
That was when—
A sudden thought flashed, and her eyes snapped open wide.
Could it be… he’s waiting for the boss villain to arrive?!
“…Oh-ho.”
Lulu’s lips curled upward.
‘So that’s what it is…!’
And so, the baby dragon came to her own conclusion.
“You’re a fox, aren’t you?!”
Yes.
The boy was a fox!
“Lulu knows everything! In fairy tales, foxes betray their friends and bully rabbits!”
“……”
“You snuck in among friends to give Lulu a fright, didn’t you?!”
“…Yes.”
“Eek! The doll talks back!”
Startled by the unexpected agreement, the little white-haired girl stumbled again.
But the boy wasn’t finished.
“You could call me a traitor. I came with the royal knights… and yet here I am.”
“What?!”
For some reason, he even called himself a traitor.
‘…Maybe he’s not a fox, but a tiger?’
Whatever he was, there was no doubt the boy was unusual.
“Dragon.”
“…Whaaat?!”
“I betrayed the knights and came here because I have a request for you.”
“…A request?”
Lulu’s brows shot up.
In fairy tales, villains didn’t ask.
Villains destroyed castles and hurt people to take what they wanted.
‘…But making a request is what good people do…’
“Hmm.”
Lulu thought hard, but she just couldn’t make sense of the situation.
So the answer was to refuse.
…But still!
‘What could the request beee…?’
Tilting her head, Lulu fiddled with her chin.
This baby dragon was dangerously curious.
Of course, she wouldn’t ask.
Because he was a villain.
“What is it?”
When Lulu asked, the boy answered as if he had been waiting.
“…My request is…”
Just as he seemed ready to say it plainly, he bent his knees.
“?”
With a question mark practically hanging over her head, Lulu watched as the boy knelt down politely before her, looking up with sincerity.
“Kill me.”
That was his request.
“…?”
Whiirrr—
The icy northern wind swept past the two children in stunned silence.
“…Lulu?”
“Yes.”
“You want Lulu to kill you, not the other way around?”
“Yes.”
“…Whaaat?!”
Clearly, these two needed a long conversation.
When lives are at stake, negotiation is a must.
The children sat on a rock near the lakeside for a serious talk.
Lulu and the boy were solemn.
But their tiny round heads, pressed close together, looked no more threatening than barnacles clinging to a rock.
“By the way, weren’t you supposed to kidnap Lulu?”
“Normally, yes. By the king’s order, I was supposed to abduct you.”
‘Hmph. So he really is a villain.’
Lulu touched her soft chin.
“Then why do you want to die? Lulu doesn’t trust easily without Sister’s word.”
“…Because I didn’t choose to become His Majesty’s dog. Even the knights who came with me are just hostages in the end.”
“But dogs are cute, though?”
Was he so tired of cuteness that he wanted to die?
Looking at his face, Lulu felt like she understood and nodded vigorously.
“Do you know what a Maltese is? Sister has a drawing of one. It’s really cute! Chase, are you a Maltese too?”
The boy steered the conversation back.
“…You could kill me. Dragons are said to be incredibly strong.”
“Huh?”
“So please kill me, Dragon.”
He looked utterly serious.
So much so that Lulu’s attempt to steer the topic toward cute Maltese dogs was completely derailed.
‘…Why would he want to go to heaven? Just hearing words like that makes Lulu scared.’
Her body trembled before she realized it.
—A warrior protects people. There is no such thing as a warrior who kills people. So I refuse.—
Turning her gaze away from the boy’s burning eyes, Lulu found courage.
She didn’t know what to do, but her Jewel had helped.
‘Right! I mustn’t do bad things!’
Clenching her tiny fists, Lulu raised her brows with determination.
“Lulu won’t do it. A good dragon never hurts people, no matter the reason.”
“Really?”
“Yep!”
As expected—Lulu was a good dragon!
Refusal was hard, but a true warrior always found the strength.
“Hmm, hmm.”
Pleased with herself, Lulu puffed her chest out proudly.
“…But you will end up killing me.”
“…Huh?”
A small voice carried by the wind.
Not catching it properly, Lulu just watched as the boy rose and walked toward the lakeshore.
‘Maybe he’s leaving since his business is done?’
But suddenly, the boy turned his head.
Deliberately, he picked up a branch and wrote something on the ground.
Then—
Thud.
“……”
He collapsed, pretending to be dead.
“…Wha…?”
When Lulu ran over to check, she found herself already cast as the villain.
[The culprit is the dragon]
“…Lulu, I’ve done something terrible.”
Her little mouth hung open in shock.
If anyone else saw this, they’d think Lulu was guilty of knocking the boy down, and they’d hate her again.
No, no!
“But Lulu didn’t do this…!”
Snapping back to her senses, Lulu shook her head furiously.
‘As expected, he’s a fox-like kid…’
She had nearly fallen for his acting.
But truly, the boy collapsing had nothing to do with her.
“If I just erase this…!”
If she erased the words, everything would be fine.
Summoning courage, Lulu tapped her little feet and tried to wipe the letters from the sandy ground.
But then—
The boy’s head, buried in the ground, rolled to the side.
“So you’re erasing the evidence, huh?”
“It’s not destroying evidence! Lulu didn’t do it!”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is what people think.”
“Eek!”
In her four short years of life—
She may have just met someone scarier than the knights.
‘R-revise the plan!’
Sweating nervously, Lulu hugged her Jewel and whispered.
“Jewel, what do we do…?”
