I Became a Mother of Three

Episode 13

 

I’m exhausted.

These were the words Dylan repeated the most as he looked after his nephews over the past few days.

He really didn’t know how to communicate with these guys who have been in the world for a little over 3 months now.

No, to be precise, his words were understood, but they were not listened to.¹Every mischievous child do so, sire •́⁠ ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠,⁠•̀

It was a very unfamiliar and absurd situation for Dylan, who had reigned over hundreds if not thousands of people throughout his life.

“Lia, please stop moving!”

Dylan was struggling to tie the ribbon on Lia’s tail.

Except for Lia, Resen and Poi had already finished wearing their hats, as it wasn’t enough to just tie ribbons on their tails.

Erina smiled proudly as she looked at the cute faces of the two dragons, then looked to the side and sighed.

Lia was hitting her tail on the ground here and there to avoid her uncle, and Dylan had a frozen look on his face, not knowing what to do.

She wanted to wait for Dylan to figure it out if possible, but she had a set schedule today.

“Lia, come here. I will do it.”

These were the words that saved the two dragons, uncle and nephew.

Lia quickly fell into Erina’s arms.

“Pu, bubua!”

‘I hate uncle! Erina do it!’

A line rose on Dylan’s forehead as he understood Lia’s words.

If it wasn’t for Erina, he would have gone and hit that petty brat butt.

“Why is Lia, who is usually good every day, so annoyed today, huh? Now, let off the steam, turn around and show me your tail.”

Erina, who could not understand the dragon’s words, gently comforted Lia with her skillful hands.

As Erina’s soft fingers gently scratched her chin, Lia said, ‘Byaaa,’ let out a satisfied cry and stuck out her tail.

“Ah, really.”

No one paid attention to Dylan’s furrowed eyebrows.

In an instant, the four dragons and one human, including Lia, who finished dressing up, left the house.

It was a nice day today so they decided to go on a picnic.

Dylan pronounced the word ‘picnic’ for the first time in his life.

It was a suggestion that normally, he wouldn’t have even snorted, but he quietly followed Erina’s words.

It was a little annoying, but to the human woman, he had to be seen as ‘an uncle who loves his nephew so much and misses his older brother.’ That way, there would be no problem in him taking the dragons.

That thought became more solid over the course of a few days.

If Erina told them to, wouldn’t these guys trust her enough to jump up from their sleep and come look for mushrooms?

Just today, the guys who didn’t even responded after Dylan had asked them to go on a picnic were acting excited when Erina was the one who asked them to go on one, even wearing hats that didn’t suit them.

Dylan looked at his nephews, who were wearing lace bonnet hats.

The combination of their face with shiny eyes and the light lace did not match well.

He wanted to laugh at them to his heart’s content, but his throat tightened as he met Erina’s eyes.

That human woman had bought them in the city especially herself.

They matched his nephews’ colors too.

He wondered if Erina knew that he almost gone crazy taking care of those three all by himself while she was buying them.

Dylan shook his head, trying to erase the memory, because it was too difficult to even think about.

He never wanted to be left alone with those guys again.

“Where are we going for our picnic today?”

Dylan asked, casually taking the luggage Erina was carrying.

Erina thought that this Dragon was indeed polite and kind, and bowed her head slightly to express her gratitude.

“If we go a little further this way, there’s a lake. It was frozen solid because of winter. But these days, when the sun is shining, there will be some flowers blooming and new shoots coming out, so I think it would be a good place for kids to play.”

The dragons flapped their wings in anticipation at Erina’s explanation.

Naturally, Dylan, who lived in the Sylvian Empire with a mild climate all year round, wasn’t very interested.

There was never a day when flowers were not in bloom in the garden of his mansion, and even then, a professional caretaker was diligent in making sure not a single weed grew.

He also saw all kinds of pretty, shiny, and gorgeous things throughout his life. He was not at the age to enjoy flowers now.

However……

“I see, after hearing what Miss Erina said, I’m really looking forward to it. I’m also curious to see if there are any other new flowers different from the empire’s that I live in.”

He said with a smile.

Erina, who was momentarily dazed by that bright and pretty smile, quickly came to her senses and asked.

“Hey, haven’t you seen many flowers before?”

Dylan’s eyes widened at Erina’s serious expression. He couldn’t understand why she was reacting that way to his words.

“Yes…..?”

“No, you’re expecting too much. The kids are happy because it’s the first time they see something like that since they were born, but it seems like, Dylan too, is getting excited just like the kids.”

Erina finished what she wanted to say, glancing at Dylan’s expression.

Honestly, she never imagined that the kids’ uncle, an adult dragon, would show such a bright smile during a flower-viewing picnic like this one.

She thought he’d be a little indifferent.

Erina’s prediction was right. Dylan was not only indifferent to the flower-viewing picnic, he was also not even interested. He was just saying it to try to impress the human woman.

He didn’t know the other person would say that out loud.

Dylan coughed loudly, feeling like he had exaggerated too much.

“Yes. Since I am out a lot, I haven’t had time to enjoy little things like this. Now, I think I want to enjoy it with my nephews.”

“Ah, ah! I see! Of course, now you can enjoy it together as a family!”

Erina comforted Dylan, whose shoulders seemed to be slumping.

The baby dragons in her arms were beeping and squeaking, warning her not to be fooled by their uncle, but their cries did not reach the adult world.

“Thank you for always understanding. Oh, is that the lake over there?”

“Yes! That’s right, fortunately, it seems like there are a lot of flowers starting to bloom!”

Erina walked quickly towards the lake.

As she got closer to the lake, she could feel the pink petals swaying gently in the cool breeze.

“It bloomed beautifully this year too!”

Erina let out an exclamation of admiration as she looked at the flowering trees surrounding the lake.

Until last year, she was living a leisurely life with her grandmother, but now she was living with dragons.

People’s affairs were truly unpredictable.

Erina stood in front of a particularly large tree among the flowering trees, closed her eyes and prayed.

It was her grandmother’s favorite tree when she was alive, and it was also the tree they spent time under every year.

Without even knowing what Erina was doing, the dragons blindly followed Erina, closing their eyes tightly and folding their short arms.

“Kya ka, ka ku.”

“bapo babi.”

“Ma mo, meme”

The dragons even muttered something to themselves.

Erina, who had been quietly listening to the dragons with her eyes closed, eventually couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“You guys, do you even know what I’m doing that you are following me?”

Erina’s clear laughter spread across the lakeside.

The dragons tilted their heads and then laughed along with Erina.

‘Hello, Grandma.’

‘Please get along well with our mom and dad.’

‘We will protect Erina well.’

Dylan, the only one who knew both the human and the dragon languages and could hear them, just stood behind them and watched quietly.

It was a strange feeling to know that his nephews already knew about their parents’ deaths and that they accepted it so calmly.

Dylan had decided to make some corrections to his perception of his nephews as being nothing more than a bunch of troublemakers.

They were slightly pitiful.

However, he had no intention of telling the human woman what his nephews had said. If their bond grew any stronger, it would only cause him a headache later on.

Dylan pretended not to hear anything and walked away.

“Wow, this is here too. It’s a tree that can be found on every street in the Sylvian Empire.”

Erina, who had been looking at the trees for a while, heard him from behind and turned her head at his voice.

“Does the Empire have this tree too?”

“Yes, especially in the capital, they are planted along the roads, so that in the spring, everything turns pink.”

Dylan smiled faintly.

That’s a look of longing for the empire, Erina thought.

“Hey, Mr. Dylan.”

“Yes?”

“I will help you as much as I can. So that, you could take the children and go to the empire quickly. Even if you are a dragon, it must be difficult to sleep in the forest every time.”

Erina looked at Dylan with a worried face.

But contrary to her worries, Dylan was sleeping soundly every evening in his plush bed in the mansion in the empire.

Of course, he had no intention of telling her this fact either.

“Thank you for your kind words. I hope the kids will feel comfortable with me soon.”

Dylan’s gaze turned to his nephews, who were in Erina’s arms, looking glum.

The dragons turned their heads away with a groan, even though they knew he was watching them.

At this rate, it seemed like they would never become close friends in their entire lives.

At this point, Dylan was overcome by an overwhelming urge to take them by force, whether the cried for three days and nights or not.

There was also the irresponsible thought that he shouldn’t be the one to hear the sound of children crying.

 

***

 

TL Note:

Dylan is a dragon through and through…

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