Chapter : 34
At that moment.
Del took out the tracking artifact from his pocket and hurriedly began searching for his daughter.
The arrow, which had been pointing straight ahead all this time, suddenly veered to the left.
It seemed to be a room used as both a pantry and a kitchen.
“Should I just pretend I don’t know and go in…?”
Del’s heart raced as he stepped toward the pantry.
“The restroom is this way!”
One of the staff, smiling cheerfully, pointed in the opposite direction.
Damn it.
“Oh, haha. I see! Thanks!”
Del muttered a curse under his breath and headed for the restroom.
Still, if the pantry emptied, he could check immediately.
Leaning against the restroom wall, he crossed his arms and hoped the area would become quiet.
However…
“Wow—! So many cookies!”
“Pick whatever you want to eat.”
For some reason, a familiar child’s voice echoed.
“…Lulu? Why is Lulu over there?”
One challenge after another.
Del scratched his neck anxiously and had to wait…
Unaware that Del was hiding in the restroom, Lulu looked at the island table with Chase.
Colorful cookies decorated in red, brown, and purple were laid out.
Sniff sniff.
Her nostrils flared instinctively.
Lulu opened her eyes wide.
“Oh, here they come.”
Things that looked far more delicious than fried eggs…!
Tiny feet stepped back with delight at the sweet aroma.
For reference, this baby dragon’s senses were sharper than a normal human’s.
Until now, the only sweet things she’d tasted were sugar in fried eggs and butter cookies from Lian.
“I want strawberry, almond, blueberry, mango, and orange cookies…”
At that moment, Chase quickly placed his order.
“Huh?”
Not wanting to be outdone, Lulu tiptoed to mimic Chase.
“Lulu too—strawberry, almond, blue… um?”
“They can hear everything—!”
Lulu’s head whipped toward the source of the sound.
“Huh, I definitely heard something.”
Expecting something, there was only a slightly open door behind her—nothing more.
“Why?”
Chase asked, and Lulu, who had been staring behind her for a long moment, shook her head.
“Nothing!”
Yes. Right now, her focus had to be on the delicious cookies.
Taking a deep breath to savor the aroma, Lulu suddenly spun her head toward the door.
“Gotcha!”
There it was.
Sure enough, something had been there.
A hand that had tried to sneak out from behind the tilted door had quickly retracted.
“What is it? Could it be a villain!?”
Lulu’s eyebrows rose, realizing it was time for the hero’s action.
As the baby dragon waddled toward the door and checked behind it…
Inside the shadowy space, something trembled.
Messy long brown hair, a pale hand clutching a cookie jar, and a body curled up like an egg.
She was a teenage girl—older than Lulu but younger than Angela.
Startled by the sound, the girl covered her face.
Then, she slowly lowered her hands and mouthed something:
“Please pretend you don’t know.”
“Huh…?”
Lulu tilted her head at the unexpected situation.
“…She’s not a villain?”
Indeed.
A true villain would be big, frightening, and loud.
But this girl was small, round-faced, and didn’t even make a sound.
“…If she’s not a villain… is she just a scared person?”
Hmm?
Still, Lulu was curious.
Everyone here seemed kind, so why was the girl so frightened?
Her little mind spun, and then…
“…Because of her hair?!”
A light bulb went off in Lulu’s head.
“I get it! She’s nervous because her hair is blocking her view!”
Smart me—full marks!
Lulu offered one of the daisy hair ties she was wearing to the girl and mouthed:
“Fix your hair!”
“…?”
As the girl reached for the hair tie, suddenly a magical sigil burned golden on her wrist.
“Eek!”
The girl screamed in surprise.
Lulu was equally startled.
“Ah!”
Startled by the girl’s scream, Lulu stumbled backward and fell on her rear.
More than the pain, a sense of unease surged.
“Lulu. You caused a scene!”
Indeed.
Lulu had really caused trouble.
“…Wait, what are you doing there!”
A harsh voice came from behind, sending a cold sweat down her scalp.
“Heh… hehng…”
Trembling, she turned to see a staff member scolding the girl with a red face.
“I-I… I just… went into the kitchen for a moment…”
The flustered girl tried to hide the cookie jar in her arms, but the staff member was faster.
“Did you just steal cookies?”
“No, I—I mean…”
“We fed you, let you hide here, let you eat, pampered you, and now you’re a little thief?!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Huh? Why is he acting like that?!”
Lulu’s big eyes trembled at the fierce scolding.
The staff had always been kind to her. So why this sudden aggression?
“Hic.”
She wanted to do something, but her body froze like stone; she couldn’t even move her fingers.
At that moment, someone tugged at her sleeve.
“This isn’t our business. Step back.”
It was Chase.
He gently touched only her sleeve so she wouldn’t get caught, replying calmly as if it were nothing serious.
As if he’d seen many people being scolded.
His hand already held a basket of cookies.
From his nod toward the door, he seemed to signal it was time to leave…
“…But.”
Lulu couldn’t bring herself to move.
Seeing the frightened girl reminded her of a sudden memory.
“Waaaah! Waaaah!”
This wasn’t the scene of Lulu crying alone in the forest.
“Just let the child go, and we’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t touch the child.”
And beside Lulu was someone—not the girl, but someone who clearly cared for her.
Yes.
Lulu realized…
“Stop it, mister!”
The crying girl and a strange memory overlapped, and startled, Lulu shouted.
“She’s scared! Scaring others is bad!”
“…Dragon, Lulu.”
Chase, alarmed, released his hold on her sleeve.
“Why does the dragon look like that?”
Tears glistened in her wide, innocent eyes. Her hands shook, frightened—almost like she was frightened of herself.
“…Why is the dragon making that face?”
Just like she had been scared in the royal palace…
“Hey, hey. Why are you suddenly angry? I’m not angry at you, okay?”
The staff member, flustered by the escalation, tried to calm Lulu while turning his attention elsewhere.
He seemed to want to move the girl somewhere safe and handle the guest first.
“You! Go somewhere out of sight, right now. Get out!”
“I’m really sorry!”
Daisy, regaining her composure, jumped to her feet to leave.
“Don’t go, Ungni!”
Suddenly, a tiny hand grasped her wrist.
It was so small it could barely hold her thumb, but the urgency mixed with tears made it impossible to pull away.
“Stay put until the adults come.”
“……”
“A kind adult will come to save you, Ungni.”
Under the glaring gaze of the staff member, her ruby-colored eyes, brimming with tears, were fixed on Daisy.
Daisy had never thought of herself as young.
Yet the child’s gaze made her seem tiny and fragile.
Yes.
She was only fifteen.
“…But…”
Daisy hesitated.
She couldn’t tell the child that no kind adult existed.
After all, even her father had ignored the royal family and her mother to become a royal knight.
“…Hey, kid. I’m really sorry for shouting. I didn’t expect someone to be hiding behind the door, and it really surprised me.”
The staff member knelt with a kind smile, trying to soothe the child.
“Did you pick a cookie you liked? Shall we go back to the lounge? We have candy too…”
As he carefully reached to hold the child’s hand…
Thunk.
“Why do you keep shouting and touching without permission? Don’t you know it scares people?”
A boy suddenly appeared and lightly tapped the man’s hand.
It didn’t hurt because he was a child, but his gaze was so cold it made one flinch.
