âIf Noona doesnât want to, thereâs nothing I can do about itâŠâŠ. I have never washed by myself in my entire life, so I will try to wash by myself.â
ââŠâŠâ
âWhat if foam gets into my eyesâŠâŠ.â
If this went on, Duke Hart would see her as a heartless noona to her cousin.
âAlright. Iâll help you wash up.â
Nelia couldnât help but comply. Only then did the gloomy shadow from his face and was replaced by a bright smile.
âThank you, Noona!â
âExpress your gratitude to the duke, not me. After all, heâs the one who installed the solar stones.â
Zenu said while immediately averting his eyes at the duke.
âThank you, Your Grace!â
Duke Hart smiled and replied, âItâs my pleasure.â but she found it strange that the corner of his flexibly raised mouth looked somehow rigid.
But it was like that for a moment, because then, the duke replied with a more natural smile, just like usual.
âIâm glad you like the solar stones.â
Nelia was thankful to Janet for today.
He constantly talked to her during the dinner, and Duke Hart didnât seem to notice her unusual condition.
Upon entering the room, the sense of innocence that the child had was immediately erased from Zenuit when he spoke to her.
âIt turns out pretending to be a child is also quite a nuisance.â
âSo who told you to do that?â
âNo one. But this appearance isnât that bad because people offer a lot of sweets to me.â
âWho?â
âThe butler and servants of this house.â
The workers in this mansion were so awkward that she thought they were robots at first, but it turned out they could also change upon seeing a cute face.
Everyone seemed to have fallen for this wicked dragon.
âSuch a sad lookistâŠâŠ.â
âSo thatâs settled, Nelia. Letâs go and wash me.â
âYou can wash up by yourself. Youâre not even a real kid.â
Zenuit immediately turned into a small dragon right at that moment.
âIâm not asking you to wash me up as a kid, but in this appearance. Itâs difficult to wash myself clean in this appearance.â
Neliaâs eyes directed at Zenuitâs short arm.
âIt surely isâŠâŠ..â
With such short arms, he wouldnât be able to reach around his wings.
Nelia lifted Zenuit as if picking up a lump.
âAll right.â
After getting into the bathroom and filling the bathtub with water, Nelia threw Zenuit into it.
Zenuit, who got into the bathtub and got caught off guard, struggling in the water.
âHow could you push me into the water all of a sudden like that!â
Nelia spoke with an indifferent expression.
âOh, Iâm sorry. My hand just slipped.â
Actually, it was a small act of revenge for causing her trouble, but Zenuit wouldnât know that anyway.
Even so, Zenuit, who quickly adapted to it, was flapping his small wings, probably liking the feeling of warm water on his body.
âItâs been a long time since I took a bath.â
âCome to think of itâŠâŠ. Youâve been asleep for thousands of years.â
Tsk, that means he hasnât washed for thousands of yearsâŠâŠ
When Nelia spoke while stepping a little further away from Zenuit, he hastily explained.
âEven so, I donât get dirty like humans!â âDespite that, I donât get dirty like humans!â
âThereâs no such thing.â
âThere is, IâŠâŠ.â
Zenuit cried out confidently, then muttering at the end of his remark.
âYou?â
ââŠâŠ.Iâm the subordinate of the Great Sigrid.â
âI know it.â
Itâs not that difficult to say things that everyone knows about.
âSo you donât need to wash up?â
âItâs indeed sanitary, but I have to wash up because it feels different.â
What is he saying?
Nelia thought, unable to understand the dragon and picked up the hamper in the bathroom.
âIâm going to wash you now.â
Nelia filled the hamper with water and poured it over Zenuitâs head.
Zenuit thrashed around at the sudden drop of water, but he didnât seem to hate it.
Nelia mixed the towel with bubble soap and tried hard to wipe Zenuitâs scales.
âYouâre doing a decent job at wiping me.â
She felt as if bathing a reptile pet, which wasnât a natural thing to do.
However, as he said, he already seemed clean because he was a mysterious creature referred to as a dragon.
What this creature called a dragon really isâŠâŠâŠ
At the same time, Nellia recalled Carlos again. At the same time, Carlos creeped up on Neliaâs mind again.
âWhen he becomes a dragon, the worries Iâm having right now are very trivial.â
Nelia sighed quietly when Zenuit asked.
âYou looked unsettled on the way back, is something the matter?â
ââŠâŠHow did you know?â
Nelia thought it was unexpected that Zenuit was quite aware of it.
âIâm the subordinate of Sigrid, the Great Gray Dragon! Itâs not about knowing humanâs mind or such. Tell me anything.â
Nelia wondered if she could tell others what happened today, but the one she faced was the dragon.
Well, it didnât matter.
Nelia opened up her mouth to speak while pouring water on Zenuitâs back.
âI think I made a mistakeâŠâŠ..â
âHow many people out there who donât make mistakes?â
âWellâŠâŠ Thatâs kinda true. Someone who made a mistake is quite an incredible person.â
Zenuit said as if he was dumbfounded.
âEven they treat a great dragon like me as a frivolous animal, how can human beings be scary?â
âItâs not like thatâŠâŠ. Itâs because Iâm afraid that someone else will get hurt, not because of me.â
Another sigh came from Neliaâs mouth.
âDonât worry. Isnât it going to be okay if you handle it properly?â
WellâŠâŠ. As he said, she should contact Griff and ask him about the side effects, and if there were actually problems, they could fix it, but the truth was sheâs still anxious.
When the stiff expression still displayed on Neliaâs face, Zenuit said with his short arms folded.
âIâll tell you a special secret because you seemed sullen.â
âWhat is it?â
âItâs regarding Sigrid.â
SigridâŠâŠ. Was once the greatest God in the world.
âHe, who has the power to rule the world, once committed a mistake.â
âSigrid made a mistakeâŠâŠ..?â
âYes. Sigrid regretted the mistake until the moment he closed his eyes.â
Nelia tilted her head.
âWhat kind of mistakeâŠâŠ. Is that?â
âItâsâŠâŠ.â
Zenuit hesitated as if he was about to say something great.
But he flapped his wings, making the water splashed everywhere.
âItâs a secret!â
Just as quick as his little wings flapped, Neliaâs clothes got wet in no time because of the splashing water.
Nelia laughed ridiculously at her wet clothes.
Seeing that, Zenuit put his hands on the waist and pulled his chest as if he just did something great.
âHow do you feel now?â
Nelia noddedâŠâŠ. And then pushed Zenuit into the water again.
âAGH! What are you doing?!â
âIf you played a game, you should have predicted it.â
âIâm just messing around because you seem weak!â
âIâm just also messing around.â
Nelia and Zenuitâs grumble in the bathroom didnât stop for a while.
***
Perhaps due to Zenuitâs clumsy effort to comfort her about today, her anxiety had decreased a little after getting out of the bathroom.
âAlright, letâs contact Griff first, and talk to Carlos if thereâs really any side effect.â
Then, on the very next day, she wrote a letter to Pharmacist Griff regarding the side effects of the medicine, and he replied that he didnât think so.
Although it was through a letter, she could feel him leaping up in anger through the writing.
She wanted time to pass quickly so that she could talk to Carlos about this, but he hasnât contacted her for days since that day.
She didnât know how he would contact her, so she searched through the mailbox every day.
âItâs the same today.â
Nelia sighed and turned around where Duke Hart was standing.
âNelia, Iâm thinking of dropping by the library today. Are you in?â
Today happened to be weekend.
âRight. Iâd better go out than just heaving a sigh in the corner.â
The weather was nice, so she thought it would be nice to go to the library and take a walk around there.
âSounds great.â
Duke Hart spoke with a smile again to respond to Nelia.
âAlright, then Iâll request the carriage to be preparedâŠâŠ.â
âNoona, itâs the weekend. Where are you heading to today?â
Zenuit appeared and stood in front of Nelia, covering the sight of Duke Hart.
âIâm going to the library.â
âI wanna go, too!â
Nelia has already predicted this kind of situation. Zenuit would try to follow her around marvelously.
She would leave him in the mansion when he appeared as human, and he would follow her to work at the Imperial Palace when in his dragon form.
Nelia concealed the thought of wanting to be apart from Zenuit today and asked him sweetly.
âYou would be bored going to the library, wouldnât it be better to play with Ton in the mansion instead?â
âIâd rather stay with Nelia Noona!â
Ton, who was standing beside him, mumbled with a noticeably sad face, âRightâŠâŠ Youâd naturally rather be with Noona.â but the innocent-looking dragon didnât seem to pay any attention.
âAlright, Nelia. Thereâs a park near the library, so it would be nice to go for a walk there with Zenuit.â
When the duke added, Nelia had no choice but to comply.
âThereâs nothing I can doâŠâŠ.â
Nelia had to go out with Zenuit that day.
***
When Zenuit arrived at the library, he read the book more quietly than she thought.
However, Nelia hastily took the book away because one book he had to choose has a difficult title.
Nelia checked if Duke Hart was concentrating on reading before whispering to Zenuit.
âIf a child read such a book, what would the duke think about you?â
âThen do you want me to read a fairy tale?â
âFairy tale books are really fun, too.â
Nelia pulled out an illustration book that looked like a fairy tale book and handed it to Zenuit.
âRead this.â
The illustration book just happened to have a gray dragon drawn on it. It seemed to be a book that unraveled Sigridâs myth using pictures.
âAlthough Zenuit doesnât appear in the story, you can recall about Sigrid in the past by reading this.â
Only after Zenuit was handed an illustration book that Nelia opened the book she had been reading since earlier.
Right after that moment, Duke Hart called out to her so she had to close it again.
âNelia, is something the matter?â
âNothing, why?â
âIt seems that youâve been talking to Zenuit seriously earlier.â
The duke obviously seemed to be immersed in reading the book earlier, but it turned out that she and Zenuit must have been more noisy than she thought.
Nelia searched for an appropriate excuse.
âOhâŠâŠ I had to coax Zenu a little because he said that the library was boring.â
Duke Hart stared at Zenuit.
His silent gaze felt somewhat burdening, it made Nelia wonder if the duke had any doubts about Zenuit.
Regardless how many times Duke Hart has acted like a pushover for matters related to her, he might not be fond of Zenuit who appeared out of nowhere.
âBecause thereâs one more dependent guest in the houseâŠâŠ.â
On top of that, kids needed a lot of care.
With focusing on solving the curse these days, he might find it even more annoying.
Even now, when she talked to Zenuit, he seemed to have been distracted by the noise they made.
Nelia looked at the duke and spoke with a sullen voice.
âIâm sorry, Your Grace. You must have been bothered by Zenuit, right?â
The duke smiled and shook his head.
âNo, if itâs Neliaâs familyâŠâŠ. I will also treat them as my own.â
But, is something the matter? His smile felt somewhat rigid.
When Neliaâs expression barely changed, the duke continued.
âI told you, Nelia. I wasnât bothered by anything. Please take good care of Zenu.â
Nelia felt guilty for Duke Hartâs kind answer, but was inwardly relieved.
Even if she told that reckless dragon to return to the dragon form, he wouldnât listen to her, and she would have to rack her brains if the duke looked at Zenu with a glint of discomfort.
âThank you, Your Grace.â
Nelia grabbed the dukeâs hand.
The duke looked down at their hands. He finally had that usual soft smile on his face.
But then, Zenuitâs head popped out of the bookshelf while calling for Nelia.
âNoona, take out the book up there for me.â
ââŠâŠSure thing!â
Nelia took off Duke Hartâs hand out of surprise and hurriedly went to Zenuit, who was on the other side of the bookshelf.
So, Nelia wasnât aware.
About what kind of expression the duke had on his face.