REFDL 27

When the dragon spoke for the first time, he didn’t show it, but Kaelus was shocked.

He called it a ‘translator’.

‘……That means.’

It meant the dragon possessed enough intelligence and cognitive ability for a translator to function.

The moment Kaelus thought it, he rationalized it without any basis.

‘The smarter Pensilta have the intelligence of a seven-year-old.’

But he knew.

None of those Pensilta individuals could communicate like this just because someone put a translator on them.

So then, could this near-miraculous occurrence simply be dismissed as a ‘mutation’?

“…If we don’t dismiss it, what else can we do?”

His hesitant fingertips, like when he first opened the cage, touched the small creature’s brow.

Purrr.

A pleasant sound rang out sound, like a cat purring. Kaelus, who had paused, slid his fingertips downward.

He tickled his chin, then slowly stroked from the back down to the tail.

It was soft and smooth. Somewhere between velvet and silk.

It was a familiar sensation.

……It was also a feeling he had forgotten for over five years.

“……!!”

Kaelus pulled his hand away and looked down at his palm.

A moment later.

The man clenched his fist and lifted the dragon up.

His hand, which had instinctively reached for the scruff of his neck, quietly changed direction and moved toward his belly. He scooping him up, the dragon naturally curled up and settled onto his palm.

“……”

Kaelus carefully laid the small creature onto the velvet bed inside the cage.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he left the bedroom.

* * *

Time passed.

A month flew by in an instant.

Early winter. Tortan’s birthday was approaching.

* * *

Tap tap!

“Lo-Lord Dragon, please stop right there!”

[I’m not Lord Dragon. I’m Yuram.]

“……Lord Yuram! Please stop there.”

[I’ve already stopped. Just now.]

“If I get closer, you’ll run again!”

[I won’t.]

“Eh, really?”

Yeah. I’ll run even if you don’t get close.

Thud thud thud!

“Lord Yuram!”

I quickly crossed a corridor as wide as a training ground. Servants who had heard my footsteps in advance quickly stepped aside. They feared I might not see them and step on them.

Those holding well-wrung towels or fragrant curtains giggled behind the laundry.

The distance between me and my personal attendant, Donon, grew wider.

Donon yelled for anyone to catch me, but… everyone just pretended to try. No one stepped forward actively.

During my first escape attempt, the entire mansion employees panicked and rushed to catch me. They trembled and cried while desperately blocking my path, even after I bit their fingers or necks (just pretending, just pretending!).

Now, they react as if a puppy were passing by.

They know I’ll never leave the mansion.

A month passed.

The night of the nightmare passed like a dream. When I woke, I was inside a cage. …Kaelus had moved me there.

At first I was so shocked I almost passed out, but surprisingly, he acted as if that night itself had never happened.

…It was definitely a relief. But what was this?

This strange feeling, somewhere between odd and betrayal.

Well… I suppose it’s best to think of it as a good thing.

After all, the improved living conditions had continued ever since.

Paperwork addict… Kaelus assigned me a personal attendant the very next day.

‘Ah, hello! I’m Do-Do-Donon, and I’ll be serving Lord Dragon starting today!’

[Do-do-donon?]

‘Ah, y-you can talk… you can talk…!’

[Nice to meet you, Do-do-donon. I’m Yuram.]

And he gave me permission to roam anywhere in the mansion as long as I was with the attendant.

‘He’ll let you know where you shouldn’t go.’

I explored every corner of the mansion with Donon. As expected, the mansion was ridiculously huge. Maybe it felt even bigger because my body had shrunk.

It doesn’t matter.

In fact, a small body was definitely better suited for living in this mansion than a big one!

“Good day, Lord Yuram?”

[Hello.]

“You’re full of energy again today. How adorable…”

[Yeah. Thanks.]

It was easy to become friendly with the servants too.

Probably because I’m cute!

Babies are always cute. The same went for the Kremlis dragon, covered in all sorts of descriptive terms.

I don’t like that my wings have degenerated, leaving me stuck with walking buy…

That was a price worth paying.

“The training ground is dangerous!”

That’s true.

More accurately, it was dangerous in this form. It wasn’t just my appearance that had become childlike; my dragon’s armor, my scales, had also softened like they were when I was younger.

If it had been a month ago, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near it before Donon even said that.

“Lord Yuram!”

One month.

It was enough time for small things to change.

* * *

Clang!

Clang-clang!

Clang!

The clanging of swords echoed even from afar.

“Huh? It’s Lord Yuram.”

“You’re here?”

“You look adorable today too…”

One new fact I learned while staying at the mansion.

This place was a duke’s residence. In other words, Kaelus was a duke.

Honestly, it wasn’t that surprising.

How should I put it? It felt almost obvious…

Yeah. If that guy isn’t a duke, who else would be?

Anyway.

Being a duke, he had knights attached to his house.

Among them were six dragon knights.

Nitan said.

‘It’s not uncommon for a great noble house to have dragon knights. But usually just one. At most two.’

At some point, he started speaking politely to me. I didn’t know why. I just accepted it.

[Dragons. He hates them. Why so many?]

‘……Because they’re necessary.’

[Dragons. So many?]

Nitan nodded.

‘Indeed, the number of dragon knights held by the Irelion family is exceptional. It wasn’t just His Majesty turning a blind eye, he fully supported it. The power of the Irelion family is also His Majesty’s power… Hmm. But is there anywhere you find uncomfortable to stay?’

His change of subject bothered me, but since I’d been wanting to go outside the mansion, I went along with the shift.

“Lord Yuram…!”

Grab!

[Yeah. Hello.]

All the knights at the training grounds greeted me, but some were especially delighted to see me. They were the dragon knights I mentioned earlier.

The woman who grabbed me and lifted me up was one of them. I couldn’t quite recall her name. She was particularly fond of me and hugged me every time we met.

[This is suffocating…!]

“Ah. My apologies. I just couldn’t help myself, you’re so adorable.”

“Yes. You’re breathtakingly adorable today too. If you’d grant me the honor of capturing your likeness in a portrait……”

“I’m also curious about your true form, Lord Yuram. It must be majestic and splendid, right? When will you show us……”

Boom!

The deafening boom drew the knights’ gazes to one spot.

“Gahh…!”

The sword whirled and shot skyward.

It struck the gargoyle statue crouched atop the castle wall.

Crash!

Two of its four legs snapped, and another cracked.

Rubble and stone fragments rained down.

“……”

“……”

…And he did that on purpose, not even with aura, but with a deliberately dulled iron sword.

“Gah. Ugh.”

The knight, both palms torn, knelt on one knee. Before him stood a stone-faced Kaelus. For some reason, his entire being radiated displeasure as he looked this way.

“……”

The woman quietly set me down on the floor. The other dragon knights also pretended to be busy and slowly drifted away.

Only then did Kaelus turn his gaze to the opponent he had just defeated.

“My apologies. My hand was too heavy.”

“Ah, no need to apologize.”

“Go get yourself treated.”

“Yes……”

The knight fled to the infirmary without looking back.

Kaelus instructed the butler approaching with a towel and water.

“Have the statue repaired. It looks fine now, but there’s significant damage. It might fall apart if something goes wrong.”

“Yes.”

I hurried over to the man putting away the sword.

Kaelus asked without even looking at me.

“What did you break this time?”

[I didn’t break anything.]

“Three porcelain pieces. Seven glass panes. One music box. One chandelier. One statue.”

[…….]

“That’s what you’ve destroyed in the past month.”

…You counted them all individually?

[Duke. You’re being petty.]

“Pwahah!!”

“Ahem. Oh, the weather’s lovely today.”

“Yes, you’re right. Perfect weather for training.”

“…….”

Kaelus glared at the knights, then sighed and grabbed the back of my neck.

Kyak.

Let go.

“Donon.”

“Yes. Yes! Your Grace……!”

Donon, who had been pacing anxiously at the entrance to the training grounds, unable to bring himself to follow inside, ran over.

Kaelus handed me over to Donon’s arms. The veins in his temples bulged, yet his touch was careful.

This too was a change over the past month.

……Could someone like this really kill me just because I didn’t have whatever a vessel was supposed to be?

Hmm. Probably not.

I grinned inwardly while outwardly gathering my front and back legs to look pitiful.

Doing this at twenty-something made my spine curl up from embarrassment, but it was fine.

Because right now, I’m a cute little Kremlis cub!

“…….”

‘…….’

I lifted the front paw resting on my chest to cover my face.

My red scales were already glowing as if they might burst into flames.

“……Take him away.”

“……Yes.”