The child continued to wail. Eleonoraâs mind turned blank; she had never seen him cry like that before.
The child will not stop crying!
âAre you the one who abandoned the child?â
At a loss, Eleonora could not comprehend nor respond to the manâs inquiry.
âWhy are you crying? Did this man hurt you? Did you do something bad?â
âExcuse me.â
Eleonora snapped back to reality as the strangerâs stern voice echoed in her ears. Her eyes scanned the man before her whom, in an instant, she recognized.
A tall man with black hair, glared at her with his rare violet eyes. He wore a uniform with a gold brooch, carried by official Laurent investigators, on his breast pocket.
But the witch couldnât care less for this manâs outstanding appearance. What bothered her was his formidable character.
âKyle Leonard?â
âItâs an honor to be remembered, Lady.â
The man put his hand inside the uniform, pulling out a small notebook and pen, and spoke professionally. âYou havenât answered my question yet.â
âWhat question?â
âI asked if you abandoned him.â
âI did not! In fact, I was trying to return him to his guardian.â The witch protested. However, Leonard seemed to doubt her.
âIs that so. But the child didnât say that. â
âWhat?â
The child, sniffing with his face buried in Leonardâs shoulder, raised his head. Then he shouted, voice cracked from crying.
âDonât throw me away!â
âHuh?â
âIâm not going to drink milk. Iâm not going to put a blanket onâŚI wonât bother you. Donât send me to that scary man!â
Not until yesterday, youâve only been babbling, and youâre talking now? Although the pronunciation was slightly off, it was understandable.
Eleonora was becoming alarmed at the dragonâs growth, which was exceptionally fast, and the consequences she might have to endure in the future.
âWhat is the Ladyâ relationship with this child if not a guardian?â
âNothing. I swear!â
However, the man simply turned a deaf ear to the witchâs plea. Â And the little dragon ran to Eleonora, clasping his arms around her neck.
âMasterâŚâ
Silence.
The man echoed the child, frowning at the witch. âMaster?â
In an instant, tension grew palpably as misconceptions rose, worsening the situation. Eleonora was engulfed with hopelessness.
âWhat is he talking about now? No, Sir Leonard, this is not my child. I first saw him six days ago, and no matter how hard I tried to send him back to his guardian, he always comes backâŚâ
âChild abandonment.â
âWhat? Me?â
In utter despair, the witch continued to spout excuses. Leonard was now looking at her as if she were a scumbag, his eyes filled with scorn.
âAlso, I suspect child abuse. It wasnât enough for you to abandon your child; you even commanded a three-year-old to call you master. Itâs beyond absurd.â
âI didnât make him do it!â
The man didnât budge one bit. âAs soon as you left him in the butcherâs house, the owner immediately left for the capital as if he had waited. Is that a coincidence?â
âItâs because his guardian is in the capital?â
âDo you have any proof?â
Eleonora was speechless. Meanwhile, Leonard wrote something in his pocketbook, completely ignoring the witchâs excuses.
âYou must write a statement, Lady.â
At the moment, she was already filled with dread, fearing whatever he wrote down against her.
âIn addition, the Lady is currently on the list of suspects in the famous Lorent case, the mysterious disappearance of the dragon egg. Please cooperate.â
What? I wonder how worse this situation could get.
One, the dragon child I tried so many times to dispose of has made his way back to me. Two, I have a Laurent investigator on my tail, accusing me of stealing the dragonâs egg.
I am going to be cornered into a thief!
Kyle Leonard snapped his pocketbook close and then stated his verdict.
âI also want to inform you that the Lady has already had enough criminal record and that the warrant was issued beforehand with the permission of Emperor Laurent.â
âHuh?â
Not only did I become a thief, but this man seems to be already convinced that I was the culprit!
âI will have to ask you to accompany me, Lady.â
âNo, I will not!â
âLady, I do not want to exert force upon handling this matter.â
Leonard stretched out his arm to the witch.
If I want to save myself, I have no choice but to rely on this magical power.
âBlanket!â
In an instant, a blanket flew out of the living room and wrapped itself around the investigatorâs body.
What?!
The witch banged her head on his chest, causing both of them to stumble. A groan escaped their lips.
The blanket had covered Eleonora too.
Perplexed by the mishap, she froze. Then, she squirmed, trying to get herself out of the blanket which tightly fastened itself around them. Before she knew, she felt her body decline.
They were falling.
Eleonora shut her eyes, expecting a sharp pain to pierce her. A concussion isnât clearly what I was expecting to have so early in the morning.
ââŚ..â
Thud.
There was no excruciating pain.
Huh?
Eleonora opened her eyes slightly to glimpse at her surrounding. Instead, she came across the chest of a man.
ââŚ..â
ââŚ.will you continue to do this?â
Everything was a complete mess. The witchâs eyes were twirling. She moved her fingers, which swayed like a dead bean sprout.
The magic had already vanished from the blanket, but Eleonora could still not move.
Oh, I feel dizzy.
Plus, if I raise my head now, I would be greeted with a pair of eyes shooting daggers at me.
With her face buried in the black uniform, Eleonora recollected the events which created chaos in her house.
I was in the living room. Baby dragon. And the one who came to arrest meâŚ.
âYou can move now, Lady.â
âŚAnd the male protagonist who, currently, seems very displeased with me.
Regaining her senses, Eleonora hastily lifted her body and Leonard followed suit.
I ended up in a situation I never even imagined since I got sucked into this world.
A pair of violet eyes, needless to say, glared at the witch.
ââŚâŚ.â
ââŚâŚ.â
On the sixth day after I unknowingly picked up the protagonistâs baby dragon, I tried to remove it from my life. I thought it was a success. Little did I know I had put myself in an unfortunate situation.
âI forgot that I should be armed at all times when dealing with you. The Lady never surrenders without a fightâŚLady?
Eleonora had lost enough strength to keep her wobbling knees firm and eventually slipped. Expecting another crash, she felt an arm grab her by the waist.
âAre you alright?â
The witch could only quiver like a paper doll. âHypertension.â
And Iâm currently in a state of shock. In this situation where our faces are only inches apart.
Mustering all the strength she has left, Eleonora pulled herself off of him slowly. âAs I get older, my body is not the same as beforeâŚI donât have the energy to beat other people anymore. â
With narrowing eyes, Leonard watched her every action.
Meanwhile, Eleonora took more than three steps away from him. At her back, the curtains hanging from the ceiling flew into the air and twisted themselves.
âI actually just want to sleep more now.â
âWhat do you mean?â
There was a reason why Eleonora forced this man into her house. This house, where she knows all the magical commands, is in itself a great weapon and a prison. At this moment, the blanket had already crept behind Leonard without a sound.
âI meanâŚ.â
The witch snapped her fingers.
â I donât allow such scary objects in my house, Sir Leonard.â
ââŚâŚ!â
âA gun, a gun, a gun, something like that.â
The blanket swooped the investigator in an instant.