Chapter : 27
‘Jewel, please!’
With the jewel’s power, wings suddenly sprouted from Lulu’s back—pop!
“Ah-choo!”
Then, when she sneezed fire onto a fallen tree, flames spread—and the knights’ jaws dropped wide open.
“Wh-what the hell?!”
“Fire! That kid just breathed fire!”
“She’s a dragon!”
Confronted with a dragon right before their eyes, the knights seemed more than a little shaken.
“…Wng? Hiiing…”
Seeing the knights retreat from her, Lulu lowered her head sadly. Her round eyes started to wobble with tears, and just as Angela rushed to smooth things over—
“…Warm fire melts the cold… it melts colds away too…”
Suddenly, a tiny singing voice came from Lulu’s lips.
When she lifted her head again, determination shone in her face.
“It even thaws frozen meat—!”
That’s right.
Lulu had grown stronger.
Because behind Lulu, her friends were always there to protect her.
“The baby salamander melts the cold, melts away colds, a kind little friend, the baby salamander!”
Still singing, Lulu stomped one little foot forward toward the knights.
“Uncles, don’t you know this song?!”
And she shook her clenched fists furiously in protest.
“……”
The knights froze, cowed by the spirit of a child not even a quarter their size.
An awkward silence lingered.
“I know that song.”
“Huh?”
“The village children said there was a kind baby salamander around here. Turns out it was you, Lulu.”
Uncle Del pushed past the knights and stepped toward Lulu.
“Melts the cold and colds? Sounds like your fire’s all-purpose, huh?”
He suddenly bent down, warming his hands by her little flames, and grinned.
“Hey, what are you lot doing just standing there? Only fools in the north think catching a cold is better than fearing fire!”
“Wh-what? Who said we were afraid of fire? We were just startled, that’s all!”
“Ahem… Lulu, sorry we didn’t know the song. We’ll remember it now.”
“…But it really is warm.”
The knights hurried over at last, stretching their hands toward the flames.
Lulu gazed at them silently.
In her big, round eyes reflected the sight of knights crowding happily around her fire.
‘…The knights don’t hate Lulu anymore!’
Her plump cheeks lifted into a smile.
Scooting closer, Lulu plopped down beside Del.
“Uncle, my friends said… if you sit by Lulu’s fire, your cold gets better.”
“Is that so? So dragon fire’s… all-purpose, huh?”
“All… purs?”
“All-purpose means it’s good for this, good for that—good for everything.”
“Ohhh… all-puurs?”
“Ha! This kid’s way of talking cracks me up. Hahaha!”
“Hahaha, it really does!”
Laughter bloomed all around.
‘Why are they laughing?’
Confused, Lulu still ended up giggling along with them.
“Aha-ha-ha-ha!”
“Lulu, look here.”
At that moment, Del pulled something out of his pocket.
“Huh?”
What first caught her eyes was the sparkle.
Beads with a sweet, caramel-brown sheen were strung together in the shape of a flower.
It was a flower-shaped hair tie.
‘So pretty…’
It wasn’t a real gemstone, but to Lulu’s eyes, it glittered brighter than any jewel.
“Want this? I bet it’d look great tying your hair into two pigtails.”
“Tying Lulu’s hair into flowers?! Gasp!”
Startled, Lulu grabbed her twin braids with her tiny hands.
‘That would be sooo pretty!’
A dragon always welcomed anything that sparkled. But a question popped into her head.
‘…Why does a knight uncle carry around a hair tie?’
His head was cropped short like a well-trimmed lawn. There was nothing to tie.
“But… whose is this?”
After all, if it belonged to someone, she’d have to give it up. That’s what a good dragon would do.
Del’s smile faltered, just slightly.
“Well… I didn’t carry it because it was pretty or anything… Anyway, it suits you. Keep it. Hahaha!”
“Reaally? Okaay, thank youuu!”
She didn’t understand a word of that, but Lulu bowed her head.
‘You might fool others, but you can’t fool Hero Lulu… Ah.’
Her ruby eyes stared searchingly at Del, then shifted back to the sparkling hair tie.
“Shiiiny… sparkly~”
Alas, the little dragon’s attention span wasn’t long. Soon, she was humming happily, entranced by the glitter.
The next day.
‘The knight uncles are in that room?’
Humming to herself, Lulu skipped toward the knights—then froze in shock.
“Please execute us!”
“Please execute us!”
With a heavy thud, Del and the other knights dropped to their knees before Angela.
The meeting that Lulu had interrupted yesterday had resumed.
“No matter what excuses we have, it’s true that we broke our oath of loyalty!”
In the emergency atmosphere, Lulu hurriedly darted behind Velix’s legs to hide.
‘B-but Rian said meetings are where everyone gathers and cheers each other on!’
Originally, Lulu wasn’t supposed to attend.
But worried she might cause trouble, her sister had let her tag along anyway.
‘So I just wanted to cheer and play along with Uncle Del!’
Her wide eyes wavered with a mix of fear and injustice. Her small hands trembled as they clutched Velix’s trousers.
‘But hiding isn’t what a hero does…!’
Summoning her courage again, Lulu looked up at her sister.
Angela’s face was terrifyingly stern. But as always, she didn’t shout—instead, she quickly cut to the heart of things.
“So… His Majesty the King took your families hostage and forced you to stay silent. That’s why he brought you into the Royal Knights, isn’t it?”
“…Ugh, yes.”
In short, that was the plight of the Third Knight Order.
Before the queen’s supposed “accidental” death, the king had kidnapped their families to gag them.
That wasn’t enough—he threatened that if they betrayed him, their families would be the first to die.
“…Then why didn’t you tell me right away? Did you not trust me?”
Angela sighed, and the knights’ fists trembled against the floor.
“Of course, it’s also my fault for not seeing your situation sooner.”
“…What?”
“Knights’ loyalty is only as strong as the master they serve. When my mother and I lost standing, it was only natural that those below us faltered too.”
“B-but…”
“Enough tears. What matters now is not blame, but figuring out how to get your families back.”
Her words drew a solemn silence.
Because it was true.
Even if they understood each other now, that wouldn’t magically bring their imprisoned families back.
Just then—
—Little Hero, check the storybook. A new tale has begun.
The jewel hanging from Lulu’s neck whispered to her.
‘…Huh? A new story?’
At this timing?
Glancing at the adults, Lulu clutched Jewel tight.
Maybe the storybook would give her a reward.
‘…And maybe it’ll show a way to help the knights?’
“…Uncle…”
Her tiny hand tugged on the hem of Velix’s trousers. He looked down at her, arms still folded.
“What.”
“Lulu needs the bathroom.”
“…Ah.”
For the first time, his stoic face twisted faintly.
Casting a glance at Angela, he judged this wasn’t the moment to object, and asked instead:
“Just take you to the bathroom door, right?”
“Yeees.”
“Come.”
He lifted her up and carried her down the stairs.
Of course, Lulu didn’t actually go to the bathroom.
“Emergency! Emeeergency!”
Making a big fuss, Lulu scrambled down the steps and whipped out the storybook.
The knight waited dutifully outside the closed door. She’d fibbed that the basement bathroom was the most comfortable.
‘…If I take too long, he’ll think Lulu’s a terrible pooper…!’
Being a pooper was fine, but being a terrible pooper was embarrassing.
Even little dragons had their pride.
Hastily, Lulu opened the storybook.
Just as Jewel had said, a new chapter unfolded.
<Chapter 1: Baby Dragon Isn’t Scary!>
Make friends with people (8/00)
A powerful supporter has joined!
To live up to the faith of your supporter, the Baby Dragon has grown one step stronger.
“Grown…?! The dot’s gone, and now it’s an eight!”
Surely the one who changed the dot into an eight… was Uncle Del.
After all, he’d sung for her and even given her a gift.
“So when you open your heart honestly… you make a friend.”
Gaining this realization, Lulu nodded firmly.
