Chapter 7

By the time evening finally came, Yeon had licked his entire bowl of egg porridge clean before timidly mumbling,

“Kkiiiing…”

(Araniya… sowwy I was da only one who skipped twaining today.)

Oh, now you’re apologizing? You shamelessly ditched me earlier!

Aran shot him an exasperated look, but the moment she saw those innocent, round eyes, all her indignation melted away.

I-I’m definitely not letting it slide because he’s cute.

I’m the great Vermilion Bird. He’s just an ordinary baby dragon, that’s all. Hmph.

“Pip-pip.”

(As long as you know. It’s not like having you rolling around with me would’ve made training any easier.)

“Kkyuuung…”

(Sowwy. I just… couldn’t keep up with Min’s walking… and I wanted to be first just once too…)

Yeon’s babyish excuse suddenly made Aran realize something.

She’d heard Yeon had hatched only a single day after Min.

Yet Min had walked on the very day he hatched, run the next day, and by now had already developed enough to skim low over the ground.

Seriously? What kind of monster is that?

Aran was at least a different species. But for Yeon to lag that far behind his own twin…

There was no way he could be happy about it.

How could Aran not understand?

From the moment she’d been born in the Vermilion Bird Palace, she’d constantly been compared to her older cousins and neglected because she fell short.

“Pip.”

(Hey. Chin up.)

Aran bumped her tiny head against Yeon’s drooping shoulder.

As far as she remembered from the future, Eastern Lord Cheong Hwi had once been accompanied by an extraordinary ally—

The legendary dragon known as the Dragon of Ten Thousand Lives.

An exceptional being with the power to accelerate life itself.

And Aran had a feeling…

That dragon would be Min.

The kid was already extraordinary.

Which only made her feel even sorrier for Yeon.

He’d spend his entire life being compared to his gifted twin.

So at the very least, while Min wasn’t around, she decided she’d encourage Yeon and help him grow into a healthy dragon.

As for genius Min…

Everyone else would surely raise him just fine.

“Ppiak-ppiak.”

(Min’s an idiot anyway. In the end, smart people are the ones who rule the world.)

Maybe she’d used words that were too difficult.

Yeon tilted his head in confusion.

“Kking?”

(Going home?)

“Pipit.”

(No! Rule. Like your dad does.)

“Kkuung…”

(Rule… like Daddy… But he’s our daddy, not just yours. Oh… did you call him Mommy?)

You can’t even understand what I’m saying properly, and this is what you’re correcting?

As Aran stared at him speechlessly, Yeon looked down sadly.

“Kururuu… kkiing.”

(I heard someone say before… I’m the first slow dragon ever born into our family.)

When Cheong Min and Cheong Yeon had just hatched, the physician had indeed joked about it, assuming the babies couldn’t understand.

To be precise, he’d laughed,

“Well, well… never thought I’d live to see a Cheong family dragon that couldn’t walk after a whole day. Hahaha.”

But Aran hadn’t known that.

What her ears heard instead was something more like—

“Look at him. He still can’t even walk. What a disgrace to the Cheong family!”

Granted…

That interpretation came entirely from her own painful childhood experiences.

The imagined voices instantly made flames seem to blaze in her eyes.

“Ppyaaak?”

(Who dared say something like that?!)

Have we really only been together for a few days?

Have I already gotten attached?

“Ppiiiiiik!”

(What’s slow about you?! That Min brat still can’t even speak properly!)

It was all Yeon’s fault for being so unbelievably adorable.

Well…

Not just adorable.

Everything he did was adorable.

Especially…

That little droplet-shaped tail of his.

That was the biggest problem of all.

“Kkiing…?”

(Min… can talk a wittle now…?)

“Ppiiiiiit!”

(Is that seriously the important part?! From now on, you stick right beside me! If anyone locks you up, starves you, insults you, abandons you in a north-facing room, or leaves you baking under the scorching sun all day, you come tell me immediately! Immediately!)

She’d lost her supernatural powers.

She didn’t even have a human body.

Not a single proper wing feather had grown in yet.

Even so…

Aran still boasted loudly as if she could protect the whole world.

The oblivious baby dragon simply asked,

“Kkyuut?”

(A north room is bad?)

Actually, young dragons couldn’t regulate their body temperature well and needed to be kept somewhere cool.

But there was one thing even a hundred-year-old Vermilion Bird didn’t know—

How dragons were supposed to be raised.

“Pyaaak!”

(What did you say?! Where’s your room?! Take me there! Lead the way!)

Shouting that, Aran immediately waddled toward the door.

Just remembering her own miserable childhood in the Vermilion Bird Palace made her panic at the thought that Yeon might be suffering the same treatment.

The clueless Yeon hurried after her.

And So-rim, completely unable to understand the babies’ plotting, tilted her head in confusion and followed behind.

“Young Miss, Young Master. It’s almost bedtime. Where are you two going?”

Still fuming, Aran snapped,

“Pik!”

(None of your business!)

The babies didn’t make it very far.

After only a few steps, they stopped in the middle of the garden.

Aran’s legs trembled violently.

“Ppiik!?”

(Is it still far?!)

Ugh… my legs are shaking.

Even back when I was treated like trash in the Vermilion Bird Palace, I never had to walk this much…

Having rested during the afternoon, Yeon was feeling a bit better and nodded apologetically.

“Kururung…”

(Yeah… from here it’s really far…)

Come to think of it…

So-rim always carried Yeon here early every morning.

Does this little guy even know the way?

Growing suspicious, Aran stretched out her tiny wing and pointed in one direction.

“Pik?”

(It’s that way, right?)

Yeon answered more confidently than she’d expected.

“Kkiyung.”

(Yeah. But not there. That’s the twaining hall…)

See?

He’s only physically weak.

He’s actually smart.

Just then, So-rim finally realized what the two babies were trying to do.

She crouched down and asked,

“Huh? Little ones… don’t tell me you want to go to the nursery?”

“Pik!”

(That’s right! Since you’ve finally understood, hurry up and carry me!)

Aran nodded vigorously before proudly spreading both wings toward So-rim.

Yeon quickly copied her.

“Kkyut!”

(Yeah! Carry Yeon too! Tired!)

“Hng…”

Deeply moved, So-rim carefully picked up both babies, seating one in each arm.

“If you wanted to go to the nursery, you should’ve just told me earlier…”

“Ppiak.”

(As if you’d have understood.)

Naturally, So-rim had no idea what Aran had actually said.

Still touched by their “communication,” she happily headed toward the nursery.

As she strode along, the scenery around them gradually changed.

While Aran busily looked around the sprawling Azure Dragon Palace rushing past them, So-rim spoke again.

“I just hope Young Master Min is behaving himself. Just in case, you two should stay close in my arms.”

“Ppiyak.”

(Let’s get there first. Then I’ll decide what to do after I see what freezing dungeon they’ve locked that poor child in.)

Yeon tilted his head again.

“Kkyu?”

(Freezing dungeon?)

“Ppit.”

(I’m going to see how horribly cold and miserable a place they’ve abandoned you in.)

Actually…

Yeon liked cool places.

The infirmary had always felt too warm, almost suffocating.

But Aran looked so fierce that he didn’t dare say so.

Yeon was an exceptionally gentle, timid, and easily frightened dragon.

“Kkiyung…”

(Don’t be mad, Araniya…)

Unfortunately…

His answer only made Aran even angrier.

This poor, pitiful child!

He doesn’t even realize how badly he’s being treated!

Before she knew it, memories of her own childhood overlapped with Yeon’s situation.

…Sigh.

Still, what’s the point of getting angry at an innocent child?

Instead, Aran decided to gather more information.

“Ppiyak, ppi?”

(Yeon, do they usually lock you up?)

“Kkyut?!”

(Yeah? The door’s always closed!)

Of course…

The door was kept shut so Min wouldn’t barge in and accidentally hurt Yeon.

Though these days Min had already learned how to open doors.

Aran knew none of that.

Tiny flames burst from her beady eyes.

“Ppibi, ppi?”

(And do they leave you outside on blazing hot days too?)

“Krung.”

(Yeah. They say I need some sunlight.)

For any creature that didn’t live in a cave, getting sunlight was perfectly normal.

Yet somehow…

Everything Yeon said only reinforced Aran’s misunderstanding.

I’ve heard enough.

The tiny baby bird’s face hardened.

Judging from Cheong Woon and Hwi, they didn’t seem like the type to mistreat Yeon just because he developed more slowly.

Which meant…

It had to be the servants.

Those miserable wretches…!

“Ppiiyaak…”

(Well… this is awkward…)

At last, they arrived at the nursery.

Aran slowly rolled her black eyes around the room.