Side Story 1

Side Story 1: How to discipline my child? The difficulties of proper parenting.

“So, what did you realize?”

“That life… is easy if you just give up.”

“Then why do you look like that?”

“Because… I just can’t bring myself to give up on my child…”

Spring had arrived without fail. With this, the Tusca royal family, which had once stood at the crossroads of destruction, was hosting its fifth spring picnic since the eve of the final Nest wedding that had been tantamount to the gates of hell opening. It seemed that they had finally escaped the shadow of disaster, and the nation’s atmosphere was completely refreshed. Pure excitement floated everywhere like pollen.

It was a clear morning approaching noon.

A refreshing tempo of string music flowed over the walls of the manor, which had been specially prepared exclusively for the King, the Queen, and their close aides. At that moment, a woman’s lively, uproarious laughter bubbled up from afar like champagne. With a fading voice, Count Owin rubbed his face with his hands just as a toy arrow adorned with premium pheasant feathers flew like lightning and stuck thwack to the side of his head.

“Thanks a lot, Adel.”

His head must have been pierced hundreds of times by now. He wasn’t even surprised anymore. The thirty-one-year-old unmarried father, Count Rochshan Owin, pulled the arrowhead off with a devastated expression and threw it to the ground.

“With this, you’ve nearly assassinated your father for 99 consecutive days.”

She must have thought it was a compliment. From afar, the little assassin with pitch-black curly hair reaching down to her hips, Adelheid E. Owin, responded by elegantly lifting her skirt in a curtsy. Seeing this, Rochshan put on a deeply aggrieved face, as if telling the King to look at her, and continued his tattling to his nominal in-law with a heightened tone.

“Did you see that, Your Majesty? She’s completely clueless when it comes to reading the room. Just like a certain someone!”

“Well… the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”

“Then shouldn’t she at least resemble me by half…? Adel! Tell the Crown Prince next to you once more. The practice target is in the completely opposite direction!”

Wow, look at him making sure to instruct her in the rhetoric of evasion, shifting the blame by implying ‘it’s because you taught her wrong,’ even at a time like this. A true noble indeed. King Philip, sitting somewhat crookedly on a folding picnic chair, scoffed inwardly. Anyway, parents with their first child were all like this. Always making a fuss.

“No matter how precious my daughter is, I have to say it. Adel is a bit strange.”

“Ah, sure, sure.”

At exactly four years old, kids do seem like aliens, of course. At that age, they naturally try their hardest to finish off their parents.

Having raised no less than six children, Philip had played the role of the children’s villain or monster, collapsing and dying with an ‘Ughhh’ easily thousands of times. He responded to Rochshan’s impending complaints with a great deal of apparent sincerity. His inner thoughts, however, were: Jeez. Making a huge fuss over nothing…

“So, speaking of which. They say daughters inherit their father’s intelligence; what do you think?”

“Huh?”

“It really seems like Adel is the spitting image of that other idiot, not me. You might not know this, but that bastard only barely mastered the alphabet when he was twenty-four…”

“Huuuh?”

At this point, doesn’t he just want to beat up ‘that bastard’ no matter what?

He’s asking with the answer already decided. Dumbfounded, Philip tapped the cigarette he was smoking into the ashtray. Letting the time-honored complaints of a married man—about whether the daughter resembles him or the other—go in one ear and out the other, he cast his gaze far away. Where his eyes stopped, his eldest son and Crown Prince, Dietrich, and Adelheid were chatting like affectionate siblings while playing archery. The scene looked like a masterpiece painting.

Adelheid.

The precious, beloved daughter born between a father who became human and a father who ceased to be human did not know what kind of chaos had been overcome for her miraculous birth. In truth, even while watching the living, breathing child, Philip was still half in disbelief. That Kyle Blackburn, that cursed, crazy reptilian bastard got such a pretty daughter…? Is this really a plausible reality?

Seeing how terribly bitter the tobacco leaves tasted, it wasn’t a dream.

Philip’s bitter smile deepened.

Having once been forced to participate in his youngest brother Kyle Blackburn’s vicious Nest capture plan as punishment for ruining his love, Philip honestly hadn’t known things would work out this well. To be even more frank, he thought it was incredibly fortunate that the girl born the following year had all her hands, feet, eyes, nose, and mouth intact. How relieved he had been that no horns or tail were visible.

Adelheid E. Owin was born human. She inherited her mother’s—Count Owin’s—brilliant jewel eyes, but she hadn’t contracted the bizarre desert bloodline curse passed down from her grandmother. Adel was just a pretty and perfectly normal child.

He said that alone would be enough.

Philip stared blankly at the constantly complaining Rochshan Owin.

Five years ago, Rochshan had accepted the fact that he was truly pregnant much more easily than expected.

The problem came after. The forgetfulness herb Philip had supposedly prepared was a dried-up, bluffing strategy from the start, and Rochshan, extremely furious that that bastard Kyle had held even the child’s life hostage to test his love, ruthlessly beat his slave.

Then, terrified that the child might go wrong and not be born, he practically stopped eating and drinking, secluding himself in the corner of his room until right before the birth. Realizing his atrocities too late, Kyle Blackburn also withered away alongside Rochshan.

It was truly a relief that Adelheid Owin was born safely.

So where exactly had the man gone who was so moved that his finally born daughter had all ten fingers intact, who cried tears of overwhelming joy at the everyday reality where no one died a sudden death even when he whispered how much he loved her into her small ears until she was sick of it?

It seemed this Count, clumsy at parenting, had yet to realize that the reason young children wander around causing absurd messes is usually to attract their parents’ attention. Affection deficiency. The cause of the symptoms was clear and simple.

“What on earth is the problem?”

That damn greed. Suddenly becoming the director of a parenting counseling center, Philip pulled out a new cigarette from his pack and put it in his mouth.

“So what if she has no sense of direction. What does it matter if she lacks a little tact? It won’t stop her from making a living.”

“My God, are you going to keep saying such carefree things? Huh? How is she going to survive in this harsh noble society being so naive and thoughtlessly innocent? It’s obvious she’ll be taken advantage of and mocked the moment she steps into the social circles!”

“If you’re that worried, just don’t send her into the social circles.” “Excuse me?”

Don’t you realize that cute kid only acts like a clueless oddball exclusively around you, you pseudo-intellectual? You’re being strung along and you don’t even know it. Tsk tsk. Clicking his tongue pointedly, Philip questioned the blonde Count, whose eyes were wide open.

“You said you didn’t care about the continuation of the family anyway. Didn’t you say you’d grow old and die a bachelor, and then have Kyle Blackburn buried alive in the same coffin? Ah, you also said our country has too many useless nobles. You said it wouldn’t be bad if a Count’s family like yours went to ruin.”

“……”

“Where did that enlightened person go who said he’d return all his wealth to society after his death?”

“Ah, that.”

“That?”

“…That was nonsense I babbled back when I thought I wouldn’t live long because of the desert curse.”

Feeling awkward, Rochshan Owin pouted his lips. Ugh. This is why a guy who knows too much about your past is harmful.

Philip scoffed at seeing him back down.

“You were at the forefront shouting to abolish the title inheritance system, pushing for meritocracy and performance-based systems.”

“Ahem.”

“Why, did having a child change your mind? Guess you feel like you’ve just stepped out of the outhouse. You must want to pass down not only your wealth but also the glorious thousand-year tradition of the title to Adel, right? You probably want to hand her the title of the first female Count in the history of Tusca too?”

So it came back to the issue of giving up.

He had put on the tragedy of the century—saying he’d hold onto this one love, that if he was going to be left he’d rather the guy take his confession and die, that he’d never let go even if the whole nation died—but now that life was a bit more livable, he was starting to get greedy about this and that again. Philip clicked his tongue again. Even after fully awakening as a Nest, he still can’t throw away his human habits…

“Hmph. A King who has such a smart and outstanding son would never understand this worry.”

No, maybe it was only natural for the mate of that black dragon to be greedy. Annoyed, Rochshan glared at the King, who was babbling carefree remarks. It meant: Do you, who have a child with enough ability and charisma to easily found his own kingdom even if you threw him out of the country with just a dagger, know the anxious feeling of putting a lacking child near the water?

“No. Even an heir succeeding an outstanding King like me to lead a peaceful nation has his own worries and concerns.”

At the envious look, Philip shrugged his shoulders.

His gaze landed on Crown Prince Dietrich again. The gently smiling Crown Prince with dark hair tinged with ultramarine.

Philip, who was both father and mother, already knew the madness inherent in that twenty-two-year-old young man. Where would the bloodline go? In the end, that kid was also of the bloodline of a selfish opportunist who had barely bypassed the dragon’s lineage. It was a good thing the genetics of the loyal and rigid knight Vizak were mixed in by half. At least the gloomy and twisted nature unique to the royal direct line was somewhat masked.

“It’s a big problem that he resembles me in some ways.”

“Oh my. That’s a rather serious issue.”

What did you say, punk?

This time, it was Philip’s turn to glare. Just then. Thwack, the sound of an arrow accurately piercing the target was heard again.

The eyes of the two fathers turned toward the low hill in the middle of the manor. Thwack, thwack. This time, arrows with proper arrowheads struck the dead center of the target three times in a row. Having hit the arrowhead of the first arrow she fired, an excited Adel started jumping up and down, and Dietrich, who was clapping next to her, lifted the little lady high into the air to let her play airplane.

“What part of Adel are you so worried about anyway?”

At that level, wasn’t she in the realm of a divine archer?

Archery is a martial art that requires quick thinking and intense concentration. It is an area that a clumsy fool could never reach. Just looking at that showed the child was exceptionally clever, yet he was worrying unnecessarily that she would become prey in social circles.

“Adel is a complete troublemaker!”

Yet, in the eyes of Rochshan, who had completely lost all objectivity, she only looked terribly precarious.

“She has no caution. Not a single day goes by without her getting hurt. I’d be relieved if she was just clumsy. You wouldn’t believe how half-hearted she is with her studies… I’m sorry to my family, but I’ve never seen such a fool in my life! She only just mastered basic arithmetic, she composes terrible poetry, she still messes up the alphabetical order, she hasn’t even begun intermediate mathematics, and she forgets the names of our few relatives every single day…!”

“Ah, take a breath while you speak.”

‘My child must be different from others.’ He could practically see the image of an overbearing noblewoman fiercely managing her child overlapping with Rochshan. My ears are ringing. Philip, picking at one ear, flicked the cigarette that had burned down to the filter and scoffed.

“That’s a very different story from what I know. I heard Adel recently competed in and won a youth mathematics competition. When she came to play at the ball last week, she read a fairy tale book so fluently that all the noble children playing with her fell fast asleep. I heard she rejected all the boys who fell head over heels and started following her around since then.”

In short, contrary to Rochshan’s fussing, Adelheid E. Owin, the only daughter of the Owin family, was already widely rumored in high society to be a brilliant talent and a coveted bride. Despite the fatal flaw of her mother’s identity and origin being ambiguous.

“That’s because our Adel has high standards. She wouldn’t just hang out with any little kid. She takes after me in her tastes.”

Look at him. When did he ever babble ‘It’s a big problem because my kid is lacking’? Look at him turning up his nose to brag about his kid so quickly. Philip shook his head back and forth. Ah, those tastes. So she wasn’t stupid, she was pretending to be stupid, and doing it so cleverly as not to get caught—that was his taste. There was a person who immediately came to mind. Kyle Blackburn.

There had never been a monster who used a dragon’s power as cleverly as that guy.

Using his Dragon Speech and secret-eating abilities, the guy gave Philip five concubines who knew how to stay silent, and by exploiting the restriction of the Nest, he wrote a script over 13 years to dramatically reveal the secret of the Owin family’s patricide, forced it onto the stage, and succeeded. He was truly a relentless, atrocious, and rare genius.

That genius focused all his outstanding strategic mind solely on winning his first love. Any other achievements were of no concern to him. It was enough to frustrate just one person, and as long as he could receive additional affection and care from that person, he was satisfied. He was willing to be treated like a retarded idiot for the rest of his life and love it. So what would the kid see and learn? Like father, like daughter.

“Rochshan, you already know. That sly side of Adel is the spitting image of that idiot.”

“……”

Hit the nail on the head by Philip’s subsequent words, the Count pouted his lips.

“Doting fool.”

Looking at it now, he hadn’t come to complain; he came to brag about his daughter. Feeling ridiculous at his shallow intentions, the King gave him a side-glance and was about to deliver the final blow.

“Waaaaah…!”

A sudden burst of crying was heard from afar. It was Adel.

The child, who had been playing well, had tripped on the hill and was crying loudly. Rochshan instinctively jumped up with a startled face.

“F-Fath… Count Owiin!”

The child who couldn’t comfortably call her father “Father” was weeping sorrowfully. That is exactly the problem. Having seen all the messes of four boys and two girls, including twins, Philip let out a deep sigh.

“Adel, what’s wrong?!”

“I tripped, hic, over a stone… waaah.”

“What? What on earth is the manor caretaker doing here? Not managing the stones dangerously like this? Stop crying, Adel. I’ll summon the manager and really give him…”

At the tears of his only daughter, Rochshan displayed the very epitome of a parent who spoils their child. Falling for it completely, not knowing that a child of that age is the world’s biggest liar. Philip looked at Rochshan, who had run over in a flash to pull Adel up, with the most pathetic expression in the world. It was an artificially created garden inside the palace from the start. What stone? There was no way there would be even a single pebble.

The child’s fake crying soon subsided in her father’s embrace.

Adel was tightly gripping the vest of her father—or mother—Rochshan’s top with her small hands. Philip immediately grasped the little kid’s feelings. That little lady terribly hated Rochshan taking his eyes off her for even a moment. So, to get that attention back, she deliberately misstepped and even fell down thud. She was a very cute attention-seeker.

“Crown Prince, what were you doing right next to her when the kid fell?”

There was no way he knew the reality. The father, whose vision had narrowed strictly because his only daughter was so precious, took his irritation out on Dietrich for no reason and returned to the table carrying the child. The archery game ended just like that.

“You’re not bleeding. Adel, does it hurt anywhere else? Should I call the royal physician?”

Haha, look at this? Whether Philip’s scoffing at the arrogant behavior of a mere Count casually mentioning the King’s medical staff pierced the sky or not, Rochshan only cared about his daughter’s condition. Then, toward the restless man, the pretty child with pitch-black curly hair down to her waist clamped her lips shut and shook her head vigorously.

“Don’t hold it in for no reason, okay?”

Hold what in? The little thing obviously used a breakfall and fell well. As Philip continued to chuckle and sip his low-alcohol wine, Rochshan, glaring at him as if he found it detestable, gently coaxed Adel in his arms again.

“Adel, want something sweet?”

“Yeah.”

A prompt baby-talk response followed this offer. As if waiting for this, Rochshan shouted toward the manor’s entrance.

“Kyle!”

He was calling for his exclusive slave, who couldn’t escape playing the role of a servant and then some wherever he went.

“You said you were going to the kitchen; where have you been?”

“I have just returned.”

It was then. The talked-about ‘idiot’ finally made his appearance. It was Kyle Blackburn.

The subject of all sorts of suspicious rumors and the only man of slave status in the country appeared, carrying plates of banquet dishes filling both forearms. He even had the extra liquor bottles the King ordered securely hooked on his fingers. Behind the slave, whose neck had grown thicker and whose physique had improved over the past five years, numerous fans clustered around the manor entrance, peeking at his back.

“You, don’t tell me.”

The tall man, who exuded an oddly intimidating charm simply by keeping his mouth shut, was wearing a waist apron. Most of all, as Rochshan was horrified by the fashion, Kyle immediately relieved his anxiety.

“I didn’t grab a ladle. I didn’t touch the cooking ingredients.”

His wings had melted away, and his horns had fallen off.

He could never manifest in his dragon form again, nor use the authority that held and shook the fate of a nation. Instead, a beating heart formed inside his empty ribcage, making him the human he had so desired to be. Now, Kyle Blackburn wasn’t just pretending; he had become a common man who truly smiled, cried, fell asleep, and sometimes got exhausted like a person. However, even though he became human, he still lacked something: a ruined sense of taste.

Look at that.

It was so dreadful that even Adel couldn’t help but roll her eyes anxiously. Understandably so. She wouldn’t be able to forget the taste of that atrocious apple pie. It was Adel’s birthday last year. Everyone invited to the Count’s eldest grandchild’s birthday party, including Vizak and Philip, still shuddered, unable to forget the taste of that pie from hell. From that day on, an unspoken rule was added to the Owin family: ‘No romanticizing cooking for the daughter.’ Naturally, Kyle Blackburn was the only one left sulking.

Soon, the eyes of the black-haired father and daughter met.

In that moment, Adelheid Owin realized instantly. She couldn’t fool this large-framed slave.

Rochshan Owin’s public behavior of openly playing the doting fool was quite surprising, but the fact that Kyle Blackburn usually took on the role of the strict father was also astonishing. However, the other father, who usually didn’t overlook his bright eldest daughter’s cute tantrums, intended to turn a blind eye this time.

You have to (can) do anything to be loved.

It was the ironclad rule of a slave. Thus, Kyle and Adel agreed to take the same side through an exchange of glances. Having gained Kyle’s support, the child quickly put on a tearful face again.

“Kyyyyyyle…”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“It huuuuurts.”

“Then I must blow on it to make it better.”

Wow, he’s really become a person.

Had that bastard Kyle become a father capable of delivering such cringe-worthy lines? Philip clicked his tongue.

That wasn’t the end.

The unbelievable spectacle continued.

A slave of lowly status dared to naturally take a seat right next to the Count. Rochshan, who in the past would have slapped his face asking how he dared to sit together, naturally handed over his precious only daughter to him without a word. Adel’s chubby arms smoothly wrapped around Kyle’s neck. Anyone looking would see the image of a married couple and their child. Yet, Rochshan didn’t seem to mind at all.

Giving up. Or, complete submission. It’s the first time seeing both look so comfortable. Philip marveled. He was caught off guard just like that. The story about Rochshan’s daughter resumed immediately.

“I don’t know who our Adel takes after to be so fragile. She gets hurt and sick so often. Last time, she freaked out in the middle of the night, and the whole house was turned upside down.”

“Hah.”

“Right. I heard the merchant group dominating the East Sea brought in some expensive restorative medicine this time? They’ll offer it to the royal palace first, right? Please give some to me, Your Majesty. Don’t be cheap and keep it all to yourself… Adel, want some chocolate? I heard it’s raw chocolate made by a master craftsman. It’s a dessert the palace is cheaply monopolizing.”

“Hey, I don’t get to eat it often either; what’s wrong with you?”

“Did you hear that, Adel? It’s a precious dessert our almighty and generous Majesty absolutely refuses to bestow upon us. He’s very narrow-minded, isn’t he? I tried throwing tantrums when I was young too, but I was rejected every time.”

Seeing him grumble while pretending not to hear, Rochshan must have definitely recovered all his childhood memories.

“Ah, I get it, so take all the chocolate they made, all of it.”

“Really?”

“I’ll tell the master craftsman to pack it up immediately.”

The King, who had suddenly almost become the pettiest uncle in the world, waved his hands defensively. Take it all, take it. Then, he stared intently at the blonde Count who remained suspiciously unaging.

Rochshan Owin didn’t take in a camouflage wife like King Philip had. Despite that, he proudly presented an infant of unknown maternity as his heir. The problem was that it was too glaringly obvious who the child, with jet-black hair and sharp features, took after.

She looks exactly like that man. And she inherited her sparkling eyes from the Count. Did you know? The Count secluded himself for exactly half a year. There’s that rumor too. Long ago, the black dragon… the first King… Disgusting. Isn’t it a cursed bloodline? She might be a monster.

Five years ago, the first and last Black Dragon Festival went straight to the dogs. Everyone agreed they had incurred the wrath of the miserably deceased first King. Furthermore, the black dragon’s reputation, which had almost been packaged as that of the romantic of the century, plummeted back to the bottom. Everyone without exception spat on the broken statue of the dragon, and Count Owin, who fell under suspicion of not only sodomy but also male pregnancy and childbirth, gained a new nickname.

The whore Count who hooked up with that gloomy slave bastard.

“Do you really not know?”

“Excuse me?”

“The reason your precious daughter acts so peculiarly. There’s a problem with your parenting style.”

Finally, unable to hold back, Philip brought it up bluntly. Then, the eyes of the two men, who had been pouring all their attention into Adel, flew straight to the King. Damn handsome bastards. Feeling newly jealous over his lost youth, Philip began to mock them even more explicitly.

“You catch and beat up everyone spreading scandals. Yet you don’t deny the scandal itself.”

“……”

“You pour all sorts of affection on the child, but you don’t readily allow her to call you father.”

It was a pointed remark, like digging in with a knife. Rochshan’s eyebrows twitched. Seeing him flare up, Philip’s smile grew crooked.

Yes, well, he understood being cautious out of fear that the child might hear harsh words and be harmed. That must be why he refused to answer the persistent questions about whether she was his biological child or adopted to the very end. At the very least, he probably wanted to keep a distance to save Adel from the disgrace of being the daughter of a sodomizing whore. Yet, he also perfectly understood the desire not to insert someone else as a camouflage in the perfect triangular family relationship. The stubbornness of not wanting to deny his relationship with his miraculously joined partner, even if he was cursed as a prostitute.

However, such parental anguish was absolutely not a free pass to hurt the child.

How long do you plan to avoid it? Philip scolded the only couple that had been formed on the eve of the final Nest wedding.

“Then whose tune is this smart little lady supposed to dance to? She must be confused.”

“……”

“Be grateful she’s only gone this cutely astray.”

Rochshan became speechless, as if the chatter from earlier had been a lie. The vitality in his brightly sparkling green eyes vanished completely. So, firing up on behalf of the discouraged man, it was the black slave. Adjusting Adel, who was holding her breath and burying her head, in his arms, Kyle bared his teeth.

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting acting like you know every—”

Smack. But before he could finish his sentence, a plate of shortcake was smashed into his face. The culprit was his master, Count Rochshan. The Nest, whom the former black dragon served like the heavens, quietly showed his annoyance.

“No matter how close we are as brothers, you shouldn’t use vulgar language. The child is listening.”

So is it okay to use such reckless violence between a couple?

Pfft, Dietrich, who was sitting next to Philip watching the situation unfold, couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. It was then. Adel, who was being held in Kyle’s arms, peeked her head out. The young lady, who acted neat like Rochshan, dodged the fresh cream sliding down the slave’s chin and shouted.

“Kyle, your nose is bleeding!”

“What? You weakling.”

“This is domestic violence. Domestic violence!”

“My God, Adel! No, it’s not. Where on earth did you learn such a terrible word?!”

“The Count to our house’s slave… Mmph.”

“Shh. If anyone hears, they’ll really misunderstand!”

Startled by Adel’s provocative accusation, Rochshan quickly covered his daughter’s cute lips with his palm. Meanwhile, Kyle’s nose was dripping blood continuously. Crown Prince Dietrich, who as the future king knew the entire series of events related to the black dragon, handed him a handkerchief with trembling hands. He was laughing uproariously at Kyle, who greeted him half-heartedly. Truly, he had never seen such a funny noble couple.

“You. You’ve really become a complete idiot.”

Was this really the non-human entity that almost became an evil god of disaster out of madness for love? This guy who was flustered because he couldn’t even stop a nosebleed? This guy who couldn’t smash the heads of the street thugs cursing at his partner as his temper would dictate, and just took rotten eggs if he went out on the streets?

Clicking his tongue, Philip suddenly recalled the miserable end of the previous dragon he had witnessed long ago. It intersected with the present of Kyle Blackburn, who became human by crunching and eating the bones of the patricide instead of his Nest. Both were equally wretched and miserable.

“I am an idiot, but.”

He calmed down after tasting the cake. Kyle Blackburn, who had politely lowered his gaze toward his half-brother and the nation’s top figure, completely covered the ears of Adel, who had her eyes wide open.

“Still, there’s one thing I’m better at than your husband.”

Then he glared at his older brother with his pitch-black pupils again. You have a better point than Vizak? When Philip scoffed and raised an eyebrow.

“My cock is bigger.”

Pfft. Tea sprayed out from both sides of Philip.

“I’m much better in bed.”

A vulgar boast followed. Without letting go of Adel, who was curious and trying to listen in, Kyle Blackburn proudly lifted his chin.

“You whimpering? That’s nothing. Our Rochshan still every night these days…”

“Hey, stop! Please just shut up, just…”

Ah, I want to bury my face in a puddle of water. He had come to brag about his daughter and complain, not to have his bedroom affairs exposed. Rochshan Owin, whose cheeks burned bright red like a carrot, interrupted Kyle’s bragging and bellowed. The only reason he didn’t stab him with the fork he held in his fist was because they were in front of his daughter Adel. In reality, this too was one of the many things the Count had to give up on. That bastard’s vulgar tongue that could never be disciplined.

“Ah, is that why there’s no news of a second child yet?”

This is hilarious. Are they doing a comedy skit today? Enjoying the sight of Rochshan not knowing what to do, Philip threw a sly question. Kyle immediately fired back. He had been trained to death on this one thing.

“One well-raised daughter…”

It was then. Rochshan, who had been blankly staring at the sky and then the grass, cut in.

“We’re planning to have one soon. A second child.”

It was a shocking declaration that undeniably surprised everyone present. The one who seemed most surprised was Kyle Blackburn, and the one who was happiest was Adelheid Owin. Prying Kyle’s hands away, the child’s green eyes shone brilliantly as she asked excitedly.

“Really?! I’m getting a younger sibling?!”

She hadn’t forgotten the memories from inside her mother’s womb. She was a child who had been anxious, wavering in the confusion before birth and the ambiguous establishment of relationships after birth. She couldn’t help but jump for joy at the announcement of a sibling. What better way was there to confirm the solid bond of her parents acting as her fence than this?

“So please legalize same-sex marriage and declare it constitutional.”

“Are the Count and Kyle going to formally get married?!”

Adelheid, who cheered like a scream, looked like she was almost out of breath. The young lady, with a rosy flush on her cheeks, chirped brightly like a spring swallow.

“Then can I call you Father and Dad now…?!”

“I’m Father. Wouldn’t ‘Mister’ be enough for this guy?”

“No. I’m going to call him Dad. Daddy Kyle, Daddyyyy!”

“Did you see that, Your Majesty. The kid wants it this much.”

Rochshan, who cowardly put the child forward as a weapon, stood up from his chair, grabbed the hem of the jumping Adel’s skirt like the end of a balloon, and shamelessly demanded of the King.

“I don’t know or care about national sentiment or backlash; just do it.”

“No, Count Owin! So abruptly like this.”

“If you don’t…”

Rochshan Owin, lowering the end of his sentence insidiously, hugged his struggling daughter, pulled his chair, and sat closely next to the Crown Prince.

“I will stick with the Crown Prince.”

“Pardon?”

“His Highness Dietrich, you’ve lived as the Crown Prince for a long time. Aren’t you tired of it? Isn’t it about time you ascend to the throne?”

“Ah, well, that’s true.”

Dietrich, who had suddenly become the head of the rebel army just like that, rolled his eyes once and gave Rochshan a refreshing handshake.

“Yes, I will implement different policies from my father. The wind of liberalization is already blowing in foreign countries, after all. Wouldn’t Tusca also need a fresh change? Actually, I was just thinking that the propaganda beautifying the Black Dragon myth was a desperate measure like peeing on freezing feet. It’s tacky.”

“Right? I knew it.”

It was then. Clatter, the sound of a chair dragging was heard again. This time, Kyle Blackburn had stuck closely next to the Crown Prince.

“You bastards dare to openly plot a rebellion right in front of me before I even have dirt in my eyes…?”

Appalled, Philip threw one last wet blanket on his united son and his brother’s family.

“She’s of Kyle’s bloodline. What will you do if, by a one-in-a-million chance, a black dragon is born again?”

At the sharp point of whether they could be certain the black dragon’s curse had completely disappeared, the moment a crack was about to form on the faces of the Count and the slave, Adel raised her small palm high and answered confidently.

“It’s okay!”

“……?”

“It’s okay even if my sibling is a dragon. I will love them a lot. I’ll teach them how to love, how to be kind. Just like Dad, just like Father.”

Colorful light scattered blindingly in her eyes overflowing with conviction. Adel pulled Rochshan and Kyle’s arms, one on each side, and hugged them tightly. She scrunched her face as if she had tasted a very sour fruit, then smiled brightly.

“Like this!”

“Pfft.”

At that moment, among the dumbfounded adults, Dietrich, the very person who had secretly told Adelheid the black dragon tales, burst into laughter again.

“Adel’s solution is clear. Embrace the dragon instead of rejecting it? That might just be the right answer. The disgraced ghost of the first King might even lift the curse and run away.”

The Crown Prince gently grasped the little lady’s hand with respect and admiration. A feather-light kiss softly landed on the young skin. Adel did not act shy but haughtily accepted his reverence. The future female Count did not stop there and brought up a very audacious topic.

“Crown Prince.”

“Yeah?”

“When I grow up, I am going to marry you, Crown Prince!”

As soon as the incredibly confident declaration of the next-generation Queen ended, Adel’s parents swiftly pulled her hand away from the Crown Prince.

“Absolutely,”

“Not!”

At the Count couple’s firm resolution to never marry their precious only daughter into the Bright-Ash family, Dietrich completely bent over and started laughing.

“Ah, why are you two being like this. Got it, Adel. Then I guess I’ll have to wait without aging a bit until you’re all grown up.”

With the black dragon gone, Dietrich, who had now become the human with the most outstanding magical power currently in existence, smiled brightly. It was a smile announcing the split of the once united rebel army.

“Ah.”

Ignoring Rochshan and Kyle, who had immediately raised their forks and knives at the Crown Prince, Philip languidly placed a new cigarette between his lips.

“What. You guys were thinking properly even without me nagging you.”

The King of Tusca smiled in relief. Exhaling a long drag of smoke, the King blessed Count Owin and his slave.