Chapter 89

At this moment, the child who had only just managed to say his name tilted his head.

Looking at his dazed, innocent face, I smiled.

"Please take care of me from now on."

While watching the young dragon Ekyon, I noticed that the child was trembling slightly.

"…Oh, are you cold?"

Turning my head, I saw that a cold wind was still coming in through the open window.

Come to think of it, reptiles were sensitive to the cold.

Strictly speaking, dragons… did they belong to the reptile category? Large lizards?

Thinking that the original dragon would have been amazed, I closed the window and returned with a neatly folded blanket from one corner of the room.

"When will Dad come in?"

Strangely enough, it was a beautiful blue, just like Ekyon's hair.

Ekyon, with the blanket on his head, blinked, not understanding what was happening.

"Are you cold? Just cover yourself with this for now. You can lie down on the bed and cover yourself with the blanket if you want. It's okay to take a nap too."

"Are you cold?"

"Yes. You were shivering just now because you were cold."

When I put the blanket over his shoulders, the trembling stopped.

"Is it warm? This is for you, young Duke of Dragons."

"…Is it warm?"

"Yes. This is warm. It's yours."

"Mine."

"Yes, it's yours."

Turning my gaze, I could see the first light of dawn coloring the horizon beyond the window.

Looking at the brightening sky, I frowned slightly.

'Is Dad going to be late?'

* * *

Sunrise.

Just as the morning sun was rising, the area near the city gates of the dragon city looked busy even in the early morning.

The city where the revered Duke of Dragons lived.

Due to the upcoming festival, many carriages were coming and going, but since yesterday, almost no carriages were entering the city, only leaving.

Although it was early to leave the city, the appearance of carriages heading out was not unusual.

After all, the dragon festival had been canceled.

This news had been conveyed to the knights guarding the city and soon became known throughout the empire.

For the merfolk living in the dragon city, who all admired and revered the Duke of Dragons, it was not just disappointing but also worrying.

"Who is this carriage I've never seen before?"

"Ah, you must be from the innermost part of the mainland, Aquasiadel. The whale family, right? The most powerful and famous family of aquatic animals."

"Ah."

Amid the general gloom, the carriage from Aquasiadel passed through the city gates without any issues.

It was added to the list of departing guests, and since the time to leave the dragon castle had already been shared, there was no problem.

"The fish are leaving the dragon castle; that's a good thing."

"Well, that's true. They don't fit in the dragon city."

"Hey, you guys are lucky you didn't say that in front of them. Haven't you heard about what happened in the dragon castle's dining room? The mighty polar bear couldn't even last a second before being thrown out!"

The knights exchanged some mocking stories and then left.

Thus, the carriage of the Aquasiadel family went far away without any interference.

The knights were unaware that inside the carriage was the Duke of Dragons, whom they revered so much but knew nothing about.

Rumble. Bang!

The city gates closed.

And two weeks later, a massive explosion occurred at the Duke of Dragons' castle.

* * *

"Master, are you really not going to tell me? What did you do?"

Belus was busy observing from inside the carriage.

Two days ago, they set off for Aquasiadel.

It was now late afternoon.

"You'll know in time."

"Why won't you tell me? How many days have I been asking this? How many days? How long do I have to wait before you tell me?"

"Well… if everything goes as planned, it should be about two weeks, or a week at the earliest, but it's unlikely to be that quick."

"Ugh, it's not like you're trying to be mysterious."

Something had subtly changed. Belus felt this.

Belus' intuition had rarely been wrong.

'The feeling that something has changed in the relationship between the two is not an illusion.'

But what could have changed in just a few days?

In fact, on the day Pierre brought the Duke of Dragons to the accommodation, he had already taken measures near Belus' room.

Thus, Belus did not know what had happened outside his room.

As expected, the cause of this strange phenomenon was…

'That one.'

At the end of Belus' line of sight was Ekyon, deeply hooded in a robe.

He was holding a bright blue blanket tightly, as if afraid someone might take it away.

'Who is that?'

For days, he had been in that state and hardly spoke.

"Calypso Aquasiadel."

This was clearly the cause of the subtle tension between Calypso and Pierre.

"When are you going to explain?"

Calypso's chattering voice suddenly stopped, like a record being abruptly cut off.

Calypso's blue eyes turned to Belus.

Calypso thought,

'Finally, the inevitable has come.'

For Belus, a few days was quite a long time to wait.

In fact, Calypso was secretly surprised.

She thought he would have started nagging, but he had held back until now.

Thanks to this, they were quite far from the dragon city.

"Dad, let me explain to Belus."

"An explanation won't be enough? It would be good for you to remember that what you did was crazier than you think."

"…I know whale bones are tough, but please don't hit me too hard."