Chapter 49
Of course, despite her concerns, anything Dylan wore would appear luxurious—even a cheap fake gemstone worth just two won from a street vendor. That was how refined and elegant the aura surrounding Dylan was.
Hearing Erina’s worried response, Dylan shook his head.
“No, among everything I am wearing today, this is undoubtedly the item that will make the most people envious. Just like my niblings’ reactions.”
Dylan turned around with a smile.
There stood Resen, Lia, and Poi, glaring at him with sulky expressions. They were clearly upset that Erina’s gifts had not been limited to just them but had extended to Dylan as well.
When Erina, startled, looked at the children, their eyes widened slightly in surprise, but their lips remained stubbornly pouted.
They looked just like an eldest child pouting in jealousy over their mother doting on their younger sibling.
At the sight of the children’s adorable expressions, Erina completely forgot her earlier nervousness over Dylan’s reaction and burst into laughter.
Her laughter was infectious, and soon everyone in the dressing room joined in, exclaiming, “How cute!” and giggling with delight.
The only ones who couldn’t adapt to this reaction were the dragons.
The triplets, in particular, were deeply troubled.
Not only had their wretched uncle stolen Erina’s attention, but now he had also received a beautiful and enormous gemstone. They couldn’t believe it.
At this rate, they needed to grow stronger and fast. Only then could they push this uncle out of Erina’s favor for good.
Meanwhile, Dylan couldn’t understand what others saw as ‘cute’ in these murderous little lizards.
They were already ugly enough, and their jealousy only made them look even uglier.
Still, Dylan kept his irritation to himself and carefully fixed the pin to the center of his cravat.
“How does it look?”
“It looks amazing! I was worried it might not suit you, but of course, you can pull off anything…! Ah, no, I mean… It suits you really well!”
Realizing how much she sounded like a devoted admirer, Erina quickly corrected herself, nodding slightly.
Out of all the samples she had chosen from, the gemstone she had handpicked for Dylan suited him perfectly.
It was a different kind of satisfaction than when she gave gifts to the children.
“Yes, this is the first gift I’ve received that suits me this well.”
Dylan lightly tapped the gemstone atop his cravat and lowered his gaze as if embarrassed.
Embarrassed…? That Dylan…?
Those who had heard of Dylan’s reputation, or experienced it firsthand, were utterly shocked.
Sensing danger, the triplets sprinted toward Erina with their short legs.
“Erina! It’s snack time now! Let’s go!”
“I’m hungry, let’s go now!”
From their tiny bodies, an unexpected burst of strength emerged as they pushed against Erina.
Caught off guard, she stumbled backward and was practically herded out of the dressing room by the children.
Lynn hurriedly followed behind them, calling out,
“I don’t know what snacks you’ll have, so let’s change into something more comfortable first! You can dress up again for dinner!”
As the noisy children disappeared, the dressing room fell silent once more.
Dylan, too, had returned to his usual indifferent, cold expression, as if he had never been smiling just moments ago.
The people who had been laughing loudly just seconds earlier now held their breaths, each returning to their work with quiet concentration.
They instinctively kept a low profile.
Not that Dylan had ever cared who was in the room in the first place.
Without sparing a single glance at anyone, he turned and exited the dressing room.
“Whoa… Talk about a mood shift.”
“Right? This is normal, right? The way he was treating the young masters’ nanny earlier—that was the strange part, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. That was the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I feel like I’ll have nightmares about today…”
The tailors whispered amongst themselves.
And so, word began to spread throughout House Harrison… rumors of a person who could tame dragons.
***
No matter how delicious the food at the banquet was, there was no way the triplets would give up on Erina’s homemade snacks.
After enjoying their treats, Resen, Lia, and Poi climbed into the carriage, ready to head to the banquet.
Mitzu accompanied them, though he sat apart from the triplets, as all of them insisted on sitting next to Erina.
“Hey, woma… no, Erina. Tomorrow, I want a cheesecake with lots of cheese cream on top.”
“Hmm… But I already promised Lia that I’d make strawberry pudding for tomorrow’s snack.”
“What?! Then just make both!”
“That’s not exactly…”
As Mitzu loudly demanded both desserts, the carriage came to a stop.
A moment later, the coachman knocked on the carriage window, announcing their arrival at the Heriobe Palace.
“Alright, kids. Time to get out.”
Thankfully, their timely arrival gave Erina an excuse to ignore Mitzu’s shouting.
The triplets quickly hopped out, though not before giving Mitzu’ foot a few solid stomps as they passed.
Not that it mattered, the triplets’ strength was so insignificant that Mitzu couldn’t even feel any pain. However, when it came to irritating him, their efforts were highly effective.
“You little brats!!”
Mitzu yelled once again, his voice echoing loudly. It was enough to make one worry that he might become the first dragon in history to collapse from high blood pressure.
But no one sympathized with his plight.
Left fuming on his own, Mitzu hurried to catch up with the group.
“I prepared all of this! You should at least thank me!”
The grandly decorated palace entrance was enough to leave anyone in awe. It was no wonder Mitzu’s shoulders were practically reaching the sky with pride.
But Erina and the triplets knew the truth… after making a mess of the invitations, Mitzu had simply handed over the task to the butler and other attendants.
So, they merely nodded slightly, just enough to avoid hurting his feelings.
Once again, this only reaffirmed how incredibly competent the staff of House Harrison were.
Since this was her first time stepping into a palace, Erina found herself unable to focus on just one thing.
The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the golden ornaments decorating the walls, the marble flooring—everything shimmered and gleamed.
‘I guess that’s to be expected from a place where the emperor lives…’
Her initial reaction had been a stunned “Wow,” but the excitement quickly faded. No matter where she looked, everything was just shiny and it became boring fast.
Losing interest, Erina turned her attention to the children.
Resen, Lia, and Poi seemed to feel the same way. Their expressions had dulled with boredom.
Wait, don’t dragons love shiny things?
Tilting her head in confusion, Erina asked,
“Isn’t all this sparkle and shine nice?”
“No! This kind of shine is ugly!”
“Something that just shines painfully bright like this is worse than a purple gold beetle!”
“Poi, Poi thinks… Erina Mama is the best!”
Resen and Lia scrunched their faces in disgust, while Poi, unconcerned, buried his face into Erina’s skirt, rubbing against it affectionately.
Erina was surprised that the children had such strict standards.
From what Dylan had told her, dragons were supposed to lose their minds over anything shiny.
She glanced over at Mitzu, who was easy to spot with his striking red hair and eyes. He, too, looked utterly bored.
Apparently, not all shiny things were blindly adored by dragons.
Whatever their criteria were, it was something she, as a human, would never understand.
Erina stopped looking around the palace and instead shifted her gaze to the long banquet tables lined with food.
“Hmm, what’s this?”
The dishes, prepared for a grand imperial banquet, were not only varied but also extravagantly decorated.
Even after coming to House Harrison, Erina had mostly been eating the food she cooked herself. She still wasn’t familiar with the cuisine of the Sylvian Empire.
The children, who had been following her gaze, also stared at the unfamiliar dishes with question marks in their eyes.
Just as they hesitated, unsure of what to eat, murmurs spread throughout the hall.
Then, with a deep, resonant chime, the sound of large bells filled the space.
People who had been chatting with their companions immediately fell silent as if on cue.
Among them, only Resen, Lia, and Poi remained the same—beaming brightly at Erina.
