I Became a Mother of Three

Episode 15

 

Knock knock.

The next day, as usual, Dylan knocked on Erina’s door.

A few days ago, he went in without saying anything and got scolded. Since then, he had been knocking on the door without fail.

How long had it been since he knocked?

There was a loud bang from inside, and then the door flew open.

Dylan, surprised by the momentum, took a step back.

What kind of trouble did his nephews do to be so desperate to come out like?

Just the thought of it made his head spin.

He was not confident that he would be able to handle this on his own anymore, so should he just take them next time instead of today…?

Just when Dylan was internally having all sorts of worries…

“Mr. Dylan!!”

The door opened wide once more, and Erina’s face popped out. Then, he was caught by the colar.

“Ugh?!”

Dylan instinctively tried to shake off the sudden touch, but he quickly gathered his bearings.

He knocked well today, he really couldn’t figure out why he was grabbed by the collar.

Dylan looked at Erina with surprised eyes.

“Excuse me, Miss Erina?”

“The kids…!”

Erina’s hand, which was holding his collar, was trembling.

Was she angry?

Dylan looked at Erina with an embarrassed expression.

“What kind of accident did the kids get into again? I’ll apologize on their behalf….”

“No, no! The kids are sick!!”

Erina screamed loudly.

“Sick? The kids…?”

Dylan’s head tilted to one side, his expression one of incomprehension.

“There’s no way that’s true?”

Even though the children were sick, the man’s reaction was very calm.

Erina, who was upset by this, tightened her hold of his collar.

“No, I’m telling you, they are sick! They have a high fever and can’t open their eyes!!”

Dylan, who had been quietly listening to Erina, asked.

“All three?”

“Yes, yes, yes. None of the three can even get up!”

Erina cried as she thought about the dragons that had been lying around since morning.

Dylan smiled slightly, as if he could guess something from her tearful face and urgent answer.

He gently removed the hand that was still holding him by the collar and led her away.

“First, let me check if what I thought was correct.”

“Yes, yes!”

Erina followed Dylan with wide eyes.

As she said, inside the house, the dragons were all crouching and groaning softly.

Even by looking from far, it was clear that the dragons were having a hard time.

“Resen, Lia, Poi.”

Erina spoke to each dragon while petting them one by one, but there was not even a small response from them.

Hic, finally, tears fell from Erina’s eyes.

The sight of Erina sniffling and crying was really funny…

Dylan quickly shook off the thoughts that had come to his mind and patted Erina on the back to comfort her.

“Don’t worry too much, the babies aren’t sick, they’re just shedding their scales.”

“Shedding……what?”

Erina’s face became like, “What on earth are you talking about?”

She didn’t like him behaving like it was nothing serious when these kids, who were fine until yesterday, were crying in pain like this.

But still, she felt relieved because he said it was nothing serious, so she had mixed feelings inside.

Dylan also swallowed hard as he watched his nephews shed their scales earlier than expected.

Why did they have to shed their scales when he was just about to take them today?

It seemed like they were eating and sleeping so well at the human woman’s house that their molting also happened sooner than expected.

Dylan shook his head as he looked at his nephews’ plump bellies.

“Excuse me, could you explain to me what shedding is?”

She asked the question as if to say why she was the only one who didn’t know this.

Dylan felt sorry for her and sat Erina down on the dining chair.

Erina seemed to be still concerned about the dragons suffering.

Even while sitting on the chair, her gaze kept turning towards the baby dragons.

Dylan knocked on the table to get Erina’s attention and began to speak.

“Dragons go through several molts as they grow, unlike humans who grow naturally from birth until they reach adulthood.”

Erina looked at Dylan as if telling him to continue talking.

“My nephews are probably going through their first molt right now. It’s not like dragons can just catch a cold or get sick.”

“Ha, but Resen had a stomachache last time after eating uncooked meat. Are they sure they are okay? What if they’re really sick?”

Dylan’s eyebrows furrowed at Erina’s rebuttal.

If he really got a stomachache after eating raw meat, then he should be embarrassed to even go out and say he was a dragon.

“It wasn’t because he ate undercooked meat, but because he ate too much that he had indigestion. He is not weak enough to be in pain from undercooked meat.”

Dylan’s confidently answered.

Oh, the kids did eat a lot. Erina nodded vigorously without realizing it.

“Oh, I see. Then is it okay to just leave them like that? How many days does it take for the shedding to finish?”

“Well, it was so long ago that I don’t remember, but I never heard that someone died while shedding, so they should be okay.”

Dylan smiled faintly.

He thought he answered very sincerely.

He told her even the smallest details that other dragons and people wouldn’t have even answered if she had asked them.

This was because he remembered that she was a human who knew nothing about dragons and that she had been taking care of his nephews all this time.

However…

“Oh, no! Mr. Dylan? How can you say something so irresponsible? You are their blood relative and the sole guardian of these children!”

“Yes…?”

Erina slammed the table down with a bang! And got angry at Dylan.

Dylan tilted his head, not understanding which part of his speech the human woman was upset about.

What was a very irresponsible thing to say?

Whether Dylan was confused or not, Erina was furious.

“If the kids get sick and have a fever because of their molting, you should give them medicine or call a doctor and take them to the hospital! Isn’t there a doctor who specializes in dragons?!”

At Erina’s words, Dylan let out an uncontrollable laugh, “Hahaha!”

Of course, it goes without saying that Erina got even more excited because of that laughter.

“Mr. Dylan? What did I say that made you laugh so hard? Is this funny for you?”

Erina asked ominously, clenching her jaw.

Dylan, who realized his mistake, hurriedly changed his expression, but Erina was already as hurt as she could be.

She wondered if he was serious about his responsibility towards the children.

She wondered if he liked the kids.

Even now, she was starting to have doubts again about whether he was really their uncle.

“No, no! It’s not funny……!”

Dylan quickly waved his hand. He emphasized that it was just a misunderstanding, but it didn’t work.

Dylan, who was receiving Erina’s sharp glare, let out a small sigh.

“In fact, human medicine and treatment are useless for dragons. So there is no need for a professional doctor. They usually just heal themselves.”

Erina, who had somewhat relaxed her gaze at Dylan’s excuse, asked again.

“So is it really okay to leave them like that?”

“Yes, of course. Really. I’m telling you seriously that they are fine, don’t get me wrong.”

Only after Dylan told her several times that they were okay did Erina breathe a sigh of relief.

Even though it was a process of growth, she still didn’t understand why he was so indifferent when his nephews were sick.

I probably shouldn’t always apply human terms to him.

Even as she thought about that, she couldn’t help but get angry.

“Okay, I’ll take Mr. Dylan’s word for it as you probably know more about kids than I do.”

Dylan smiled with his eyes to reassure Erina.

But he thought to himself.

He won’t be able to take them to the empire today.

He clicked his tongue briefly, secretly, at the human woman.

He didn’t know when the shedding would end, and he didn’t even know what side effects would occur if they were forcibly moved during the process.

“Then could you look after the kids for a bit? I’ll go out for a little while.”

“Yes, I understand. Have a nice trip.”

Dylan, who had followed Erina as she left, politely opened the door for her.

Erina lowered her head and quickly walked into the forest.

Dylan looked puzzled as he watched Erina’s back quickly moving away.

Where was she going after worrying so much about the kids?

Dylan turned around after looking at Erina’s back, or more precisely, her flowing blonde hair, once more.

She told him to watch the kids, so he should.

He looked at his nephews who were squirming while occupying the human woman’s bed.

Then he kept looking at them.

Well, he didn’t think they would die.

“You annoying guys, just finish this off quickly.”

The three dragons flinched at his small grumble, but that was it.

It was clear that they didn’t have the strength to talk back to him like before. Dylan crossed his arms as he watched his nephews still groaning.

Then, with a bored expression, he tapped his foot.

With no human woman chattering beside him, time seemed to pass slowly.

 

***

 

TL:

That’s it for this novel. I will be directing my focus to the other ones as the internet will return soon. Thank you for reading.

Consider supporting the translation via kofi to get extra sponsored chapters (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

http://Ko-fi.com/alaa616068