TGBAP 20

“Yeah?”

“What’s a hatchling?”

Lucian kept thinking about the words Ria had said—hatchling, revelry, and so on. He just hadn’t gotten the timing to ask until now.

“Our dragons have an average lifespan of about 1,500 years.”

“1,500 years?”

He’d thought even Ria living 300 years was unimaginably long, but a dragon’s lifespan was even beyond imagination.

“Usually, around 300 years, you’re divided into hatchling and adult dragon. In other words, you don’t become an adult until you’re past 300.”

“Then you’re 295, so you’re not an adult yet?”

“Hmph! Five years passes in the blink of an eye, so I’m practically a semi-adult dragon now!”

“I want to become an adult soon. When I’m an adult, I’ll travel the world with Ria.”

“Wake up from your dream. How are you going to bring Ria around? She’s bound to the mansion and can’t move an inch.”

“Somehow! If I become a strong person, I can make Ria free too, right? Then hyung should travel with us too.”

Kaiser twitched, then huffed and turned his head away.

“Why would I spend my first revelry with you two?”

“What’s revelry?”

“What do you even know?”

Even at Kaiser’s fed-up look, Lucian didn’t take much damage. He’d been receiving that look since he was little, so he’d become numb to it.

“Ria said since I’m young, I have no choice but to not know a lot. She said if I don’t know, I can learn. So tell me! What’s revelry?”

The harmless way he chattered without any sense of being hurt made Kaiser answer obediently in the end.

“Dragons live for a very long time, so they get bored. So to relieve boredom, they seep in among humans or other races. Living there under a new identity while hiding that you’re a dragon—that’s called revelry.”

“Why do you hide that you’re a dragon? If people know you’re a dragon, they’ll like it.”

“Lucian, not everyone is like you. There are a lot of rotten humans in this world. Those guys try to get their hands on dragons no matter what. That’s why dragons don’t like humans much. There’s not a single good thing that comes from getting involved.”

“But if you do ‘revelry,’ you live with people.”

“I told you. You do it while hiding your identity. And it’s just a pastime, so you can do it or not do it. There are even guys who enjoy revelry for hundreds of years.”

Kaiser stopped short, then checked if anyone was around and whispered to Lucian.

“This is a secret, but among the northern nobles, there’s one dragon.”

“Really?”

“Shh. It’s a secret. That guy is so ill-mannered that he doesn’t like people knowing his identity. And among humans, it seems to be a pretty famous house. He’s a strange one—he’s kept that house going for nearly 200 years.”

“Then is that dragon noble the head of the house the whole time?”

“No, not that. It seems he’s keeping his identity hidden while making his vassals do the work. What’s weird is, he hates humans to an extreme, but he lives closer to humans than any dragon. Isn’t that strange?”

“But hyung is close with me! You like humans, right?”

At the absurd confidence, Kaiser momentarily lost his words.

If another human said that, he would’ve gotten angry, but because it was Lucian, he didn’t get angry—if anything, it was cute.

“Ugh?”

Kaiser, without realizing it, grabbed Lucian’s cheek. At the addictive softness, Kaiser grabbed the other cheek too and fiddled with them.

Lucian squeezed his eyes shut and went ughhh-

“Waaah! Hyung, that hurts!”

“You little brat, what a little demon. You look like a plain little kid on the outside—what on earth is inside you?”

When Kaiser let go, both of Lucian’s cheeks reddened. It looked like he was blushing, and it made Kaiser laugh.

“I don’t have any humans I’m close with.”

If anything, he’s closer to hating them. If they don’t know their place and act up in front of him, he’d kill them on the spot.

“Then what about me?”

Kaiser folded his arms and looked down at him. He looks like a white rabbit, of all things.

“You’re the exception! You’re Ria’s groom!”

“Hehe, then I’m a special person?”

“How does that follow?”

“Because it’s how I feel!”

“Crafty little brat…….”

When Kaiser pressed down on Lucian’s hat, Lucian flailed, going eek! Kaiser stopped laughing and matched Lucian’s eye level, speaking seriously.

“If you meet another dragon, you can’t do that, okay?”

It was the first seriousness he’d seen, so Lucian rolled his eyes around.

“Dragons dislike humans more than you think. No—calling it disgust wouldn’t be wrong.”

Even though they can live 1,500 years, the oldest dragon in history lived to 1,354. As humans gradually evolved, dragons’ lifespans grew shorter.

In the past, dragons were objects of admiration and respect, but now they’re closer to prey.

For a human who can’t even live sixty years to try to hunt them—how could dragons like humans?

‘And it got even worse around 300 years ago.’

He doesn’t know exactly what happened. It was before he was born, and he only heard bits and pieces from his parents.

A dragon strong enough to be put forward as the next leader among red dragons went with humans, and then one day vanished without a trace.

He wonders why they got so furious over someone simply vanishing, but for a dragon to disappear without a trace means two things.

First, death.

Second, sealing.

‘Kaiser, never trust humans. Humans are ungrateful, shameless bastards who will stab you in the back.’

He recalled his mother, crying and pouring out her anger one day.

His mother said that dragon was her beloved older brother.

He too, under his parents’ influence, is closer to the side that hates humans.

‘Well, I don’t need to tell him this much.’

In life, it’s unlikely Lucian will ever meet another dragon besides him.

Kaiser fixed Lucian’s hat again and entered the village with him.

* * *

“Waaah…….”

“Look at your mouth. A fly’s gonna get in.”

“There are so many people. And it’s huge!”

The place the two arrived at was a village about a thirty-minute walk from the mansion.

Since the mansion is on a forested hillside behind the palace wall, on a small hill, the village was also located along the mountain’s skirt.

Lotrin Village, where people who couldn’t afford to live in the central district mostly reside.

Even though it was on the outskirts away from the central district, it boasted no less liveliness and scale.

Lucian had never wandered outside the cold palace and the mansion in all his life. So he didn’t even know there were this many different kinds of people in the world.

When Lucian kept moving wherever his eyes went, unable to come to his senses at all, Kaiser grabbed his shoulder.

“Did you forget we came to run errands?”

“Ah, right.”

Thanks to Kaiser, Lucian didn’t forget his duty.

Lucian carefully unfolded the memo he pulled out from his chest, then checked the shopping list.

“……Spices, my clothes, shoes, and a wooden sword!”

“Are you learning swordsmanship?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“How would I not. It says ‘wooden sword’ right here. Looks like there wasn’t a sword you could use in the mansion.”

Kaiser was amazing, inferring everything without being told even once. When Lucian looked at him with sparkling eyes, Kaiser’s mouth twitched.

“Khmm! Let’s buy ingredients first.”

“Yeah! ……But where do we go?”

“You’re something else.”

For Lucian, who was new to the village and market, Kaiser personally held his hand and went around here and there.

First they bought all kinds of ingredients Ria ordered at the market. Since there was more than expected, Kaiser stored the purchased ingredients in his pocket space.

“Okay, now we just need your clothes and shoes, and the sword, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s see…… where should we go.”

Kaiser looked around. He’s a dragon who doesn’t even spare a glance for most gold and jewels—there’s no way there’d be clothes to his liking here. Especially not the shabby clothes sold at street stalls.

Seeing the rough fabric and plain clothes, Kaiser made a sour face.

“Hyung, this is cheap. Let’s buy this.”

“Oh my, what a cute little customer. Did you come with your older brother?”

When the auntie at the stall asked warmly, Lucian flinched and hid behind Kaiser. To her, it only looked like a child who’s shy around strangers.

The auntie smiled warmly and lifted her head.

“What a cute kid. Young master…….”

The auntie unknowingly shut her mouth. The pressure coming from Kaiser was no joke.

Not just the atmosphere—just standing there, he radiated noble bearing.

Not only that, the clothes he wore and his accessories were all precious things commoners couldn’t touch, and his hands and skin were so fine it looked like he’d never once done hard labor.

She realized instinctively: that man isn’t a commoner.

The auntie lowered her head, hands trembling, wondering if she’d made some kind of mistake.

“You.”

“Y-yes…… w-why, sir?”

“Where’s the most expensive clothing shop here.”

“How much of a price range are you asking for?”

The auntie, who had been tentatively lifting her head, saw Kaiser glare coldly and lowered her head again.

“Th-there are no clothing shops for noble sirs in this village. They’re all in the central district. But if you’re looking for the best clothing shop in this village…….”

The auntie pointed outside the market, toward a fairly well-paved street.

“If you go to ‘Verang’ with the green sign on that street, that would be it.”

“Hmm, I see. Let’s go, brat.”

“Uh…….”

Lucian looked back and forth between Kaiser striding away and the auntie, then bowed to the auntie and followed behind Kaiser.

Only after Kaiser was far away did the auntie let out a relieved sigh.

“Goodness, to think I’d see a noble sir come to a place like this.”

Seeing how he treats the child well, he doesn’t seem like a bad person. Could he be a guardian?

Separate from how scary it was, his looks were incredible, so the auntie craned her neck and peeked at Kaiser. He had already left the market and gone into another street.

“We’re going there?”

Before long, Lucian and Kaiser arrived at ‘Verang.’ You could tell at a glance it was different from the clothes sold at the market.

But it looked like it would be expensive too. Sure enough, the prices on the displayed clothes started at sixty silver.

Lucian fiddled with the three gold in his hand.

“Hyung, I don’t think this money will be enough?”

“I know.”

“You know and you’re still buying here? I want to buy those.”

When Lucian tried to go back to the market, Kaiser grabbed the back of his neck and dragged him into the shop.

“Stop talking back and come. I’ll buy it for you.”

Lucian blinked.

Ding-a-ling—

“Welcome!”

The clerk sprang up from her seat and greeted them. She smiled her usual business smile, then hesitated at Kaiser and Lucian’s unusual presence.

Then she looked at Kaiser’s clothes and started calculating in her head.

This is a big catch!

“Are you looking for a specific design, sir?”

“Bring out some clothes for this brat to wear.”

“Yes! Please wait a moment!”

Boss! Boss!

While the clerk went to call the owner, Kaiser plopped down on the sofa set to one side, and Lucian, watching people’s eyes, carefully sat beside him.

Even though there was plenty of empty space, seeing him stick close right beside him, Kaiser narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you so timid? Is this your first time in a place like this?”

“……Yeah. There are too many people.”

At first, there was so much to see that it was only fascinating, but as time passed, the crowds became a little scary.

More precisely, unpleasant old memories crept up.

The place Lucian lived before coming to the mansion was the cold palace. It was a place with only five servants. And around the tiny palace he lived in, high walls were stacked up, completely cutting it off from the outside.

Then, people suddenly poured in because they were holding the spirit marriage ceremony, and amidst unfamiliar people, Lucian was sent off to the ghost mansion in a daze.

Now, the ghost mansion is a thousand, ten thousand times better than living in the cold palace, but that doesn’t make those memories good too.

Not knowing the circumstances, Kaiser just thought Lucian was strange.

“This isn’t even that many. You said you want to travel. In big cities there are way more people than this.”

Lucian flinched. When he sneakily looked at Kaiser, Kaiser lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Where did the brat who boasted he’d travel with Ria go?”

“I-I’ll definitely travel! I’m not scared of people!”

Lucian put strength into his eyes and watched the people walking around on the street. In his own way, he was trying to overcome people.