Chapter 37

“Chae-a brought this!”

Chae-a, holding a frisbee larger than her own face, beamed brightly as she held it up to its owner.

“Eh, eh? Thanks.”

The frisbee’s owner seemed flustered by such an enthusiastic Chae-a and looked around nervously.

As I watched, fearing this might become a public nuisance, Chae-a suddenly leaned in, pushing her head forward while shouting something.

“Chae-a too…!”

“Huh?”

“Here!”

Chae-a was clearly asking for a head pat, but the woman, perhaps unnerved by an unfamiliar child suddenly shoving her head forward, could only give an awkward smile without moving.

This made Chae-a start looking unsure, fidgeting before finally flopping onto the ground, whimpering.

“Chae-a wants her head patted too…”

Surprisingly, I stared at Chae-a. Normally, she would shyly hide whenever strangers approached, yet today she boldly came forward asking for a head pat.

‘Something must have changed in her mindset? Or is there something special about this person?’

Though unclear, I decided to consider it a positive change. As I moved to pick up Chae-a…

“Ahhh, so that’s what you wanted?”

The woman finally started patting Chae-a’s head gently. With a bright smile, Chae-a then bowed deeply like me and said “Thank you very much!” before turning to Han Arin and me with shining eyes, presenting the frisbee again.

“Chae-a brought it!”

“Huh?”

“Chae-a can bring things well! Right, Mung-mung!?”

“Bark!”

Apparently, she’d already befriended the dog nearby. Watching their cute interaction made me giggle slightly when Han Arin stepped in, apologizing sheepishly to the frisbee’s owner.

“What should we do about this? We’ll return the frisbee right away.”

“No, it’s fine. I have plenty at home… This one is yours as a gift! But could I possibly get a signature?”

“Yes.”

Han Arin skillfully took out a pen and signed the new frisbee the owner had handed over. Watching this, I thought it looked pretty cool.

Suddenly, Han Arin playfully grinned, placing the frisbee on my head while saying,

“Ta-da, angel ring complete.”

“Huh?”

Not quite understanding, but unwilling to drop the frisbee from my head, I froze in place. Han Arin then pulled out her phone, telling us to pose.

“Ha-eun and Chae-a, do a V pose! V!”

“What’s a V? Chae-a can do B though.”

“A V is where you raise just your index and middle fingers.”

Trying hard, Chae-a managed to lift only her middle finger due to difficulty extending her index finger. Seeing this, Han Arin burst into laughter.

“You need to raise the second finger too.”

“Hmm…”

Struggling with her index finger, Chae-a eventually used her other hand to forcibly extend it, creating a perfect V shape. Impressed, Han Arin turned to me, encouraging me to do the same.

Not too experienced but not difficult either, I managed it easily, causing Chae-a to exclaim,

“Ha-eun is amazing!”

Feeling both shy and happy from Chae-a’s compliment, I smiled bashfully. Suddenly, the camera shutter clicked.

Apparently, they’d captured my smiling face. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I fumbled around until accidentally dropping the frisbee.

“Ah!”

Quickly picking it up, Chae-a looked up at me with hopeful eyes. After a moment of thought, I carefully patted her head. Patting her for some time, Chae-a then decided to share the joy, throwing the frisbee forward and declaring,

“Chae-a will do it too! Chae-a also wants to praise Ha-eun!”

“Alright, understood.”

Even though it felt a little embarrassing, for Chae-a’s sake, this wasn’t too hard. Thinking this, I returned the frisbee and Chae-a immediately hugged me, saying,

“Ha-eun is amazing!”

Receiving compliments from Chae-a made me feel incredibly happy. Watching her tail wag faster, I tried to calm myself down before deciding to continue playing frisbee with her.

“How about I throw next?”

“Yes!”

Nodding eagerly, Chae-a watched as I threw the frisbee with all my strength…

Only for it to land barely further than a light toss.

Confused, I blinked, but Chae-a didn’t seem to care about the distance, rushing forward to catch it and proudly announcing,

“I caught it!”

Her proud expression was unbearably adorable, making me chuckle involuntarily.

*

Throwing the frisbee turned out to be more fun and exhausting than expected. Normally, I wouldn’t tire even after running all day, but after just three hours of frisbee, I was completely drained.

‘Still, it was super fun.’

Thinking it had been this enjoyable since Lair-making (3 hours ago), I felt satisfied when Han Arin tidied my hair and asked,

“Ha-eun, in a few days, we might have to meet the Dragon Elders. Is that okay?”

“Mew!”

“Good. If any dragons bother or mistreat you, you must tell me, alright?”

Han Arin extended her pinky finger, signaling to make a promise. Trying to match her, I extended mine, but…

‘Too short…’

Due to my excessively short fingers, instead of hooking, it ended up dangling off hers. Watching this, I resolved to practice lengthening my fingers at night when Chae-a suddenly latched onto me, raising both arms high and declaring,

“Chae-a is strong, so I’ll protect Ha-eun!”

Apparently reacting to the earlier mention of being mistreated, Chae-a offered to protect me. Feeling grateful, I vigorously patted her head.

* * * * *

Originally, dragons were highly self-centered and arrogant, but due to severe low birth rates leading to dwindling dragon numbers, over time they shifted towards harmony and cherishing each other.

Thus, whereas previously most dragons proclaimed that only pure-blood dragons were true dragons, over time those voices diminished until…

All dragons now united in pleading for any hatchlings to be born.

Of course, merely pleading didn’t produce results, and the long absence of new hatchlings left the dragons in despair.

‘To solve this, countless strategies were proposed.’

However, unlike humans, dragon hatchlings required immense luck to be born, making their situation hopeless despite their efforts.

Just as everyone despaired over the lack of new hatchlings…

‘Ha-eun appeared.’

Cute, kind, beautiful, intelligent, and diligent Ha-eun suddenly arrived, truly as if “dropped from the sky.”

Initially, everyone was shocked, unsure how to react, but as time passed and they regained their senses…

—

Dragon General Chat Group

(Perseus) – I bought Ha-eun food, gave her crystals, and patted her head ｈｈ.

(Retna) – ? Broke? Why are you getting all these good things?

(Helia) – Photo photo photo please show photo photo photo!!! Let us see Ha-eun!!!

(Isilli) – Everyone, please calm down.

(Helia) – HowHowHow can we calm down?!

(Isilli) – If you keep acting like this, I’ll show Ha-eun the chats you’ve been sending.

(Helia) – SorrySorrySorry.

—

Though their conversation seemed childish for beings who had lived over a thousand years, surprisingly, they’d been chatting like this even a thousand years ago, making it familiar to Perseus.

Regardless, feeling victorious (?), Perseus smiled, put down his phone, and calmly looked ahead.

In a conference room extravagantly decorated to flaunt absolute power, fit for an emperor…

Amongst the gathered ancient dragons, even the weakest could destroy the world if unleashed.

Slowly opening his mouth, Perseus began.

“Please stop sending messages asking when Ha-eun will arrive in the morning, elders.”

His cold statement caused sighs throughout the hall. Normally, these beings of overwhelming power would find worldly issues trivial, evoking mere curiosity, but…

The news of Ha-eun’s delay genuinely saddened even them.

“Damn old men… err, elders. It’s just that grown-ups miss their granddaughter… Tsk tsk.”

“When I was young, if grandpa wanted to see me, I’d teleport from far away…”

“Perseus? I changed your diapers, and now you’re treating your aunt like this?”

Subjectively and objectively, Perseus was no longer a child, but the elders were so ancient that he couldn’t find a proper retort. Thus, he simply nodded along half-heartedly, trying to end the conversation quickly when…

The primal dragon Philip asked him a question.

“Child, have you found those responsible for the experiment?”

An unofficial statement implying dragons had nothing to do with the experiment, and a firm warning to punish those involved. To which Perseus responded matter-of-factly.

“Yes. I’ve found them.”

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