And then he slowly approached Sephiel.
“Dyon’t hit me!”
Finally, her voice burst out.
Elton, who arrived late, looked distressed.
Erga pointed a dagger at Elton and gestured.
“Take her to the main building.”
‘This isn’t right!’
Sephiel felt her body trembling uncontrollably.
Like a captured prey, she was helplessly taken into the castle.
<Anyone who offends the grand duke’s family of dragons may face severe punishment. So, you must be careful.>
Marie’s warning echoed from afar.
She had avoided Lotto only to run into a tiger.
“I almost used it, thinking it was prey.”
“…..”
“How does everyone handle things here?”
Erga asked in disbelief.
“Please don’t be too harsh, young master. She’s still young.”
‘Wait, but he and I are the same age!’
Sephiel felt utterly speechless, on the verge of tears.
Erga stared at her. His golden eyes glowed, sending chills down her spine.
“How do I usually deal with my prey, Elton?”
“Take off the skin and hang it up.”
“He–heuk!”
Sephiel covered her mouth, horrified.
‘No, if I scream, I might really die by his hands.’
Elton looked at Sephiel and spoke cautiously.
“Young master, but this person is not prey. She is your fiance.”
At that moment, someone came hurriedly into the hall with a loud noise.
It was Marie who came running, out of breath.
“Wasn’t your job to take care of this, Marie?”
“Yes, today I’m in charge of Miss Baby at the annex.”
“I’m going to punish you. That’s negligence of duty.”
At that moment, Sephiel noticed something tied to Marie’s waist.
‘These are my shoes!’
The red shoes with the ribbon—she remembered. She had left them out in the open to bask in the moonlight while playing with Marie that day.
Only then was Sephiel able to figure out what was going on.
‘She went back to get my shoes because it started raining!’
Sephiel’s nose tingled with emotion. Marie and Berry hadn’t abandoned her after all.
‘Ah, I messed up.’
She wanted to stomp her feet in frustration.
“Punish her.”
“According to family rules, the punishment should be whipping, but young master, isn’t that too severe?”
At Elton’s words, Erga frowned slightly and looked at Marie.
“This raccoon could have died. Hit her until she’s close to death.”
At that moment, Sephiel’s brain became fully operational.
“Ah, no!”
Without thinking, she grabbed Erga’s collar and clung to him.
“What are you doing?”
Erga’s voice dripped with coldness, sharp enough to kill with words alone.
“That’s…..”
Sephiel swallowed nervously.
“I snewaked owut without Mayyi knowing.” ( I sneaked out without Marie knowing)
“Why?”
“Be…because I wyanted to see ywou…”
Sephiel looked up at Erga and said.
“You… wanted to see the young master?”
Elton quietly repeated the words.
“Mm….”
Sephiel nodded her head furiously, then hesitantly let go of Erga’s collar.
“Why?”
Erga’s movements stopped. His expression was confused, as if he had seen something strange.
He asked again.
“Why me?”
“I have somewthing to ask ywou. And also… just because…..”
“Just because?”
She felt like a single wrong word could cost her life. Sephiel decided to be bold.
“Because I like ywou….”
For a moment, the surroundings became quiet.
Elton, who was standing behind Erga, looked stunned. His mouth slightly opened in surprise.
It was the first time Sephiel had seen Elton, who was always so relaxed, make such an expression.
“You’re making up ridiculous lies.”
“It’s not a lie!” Sephiel protested.
“The bayoness, ywou scowlded her because of me!”
But…
‘Is it just my imagination?’
The golden eyes that had seemed like zero-degree ice wavered slightly.
“You are so confident. Who said it was because of you?”
“Thyen because of who?”
She didn’t care anymore. She’d just say whatever.
Sephiel rubbed her small hands over her eyes and looked at Erga with an innocent gaze.
“That woman insyulted me. So ywou scwolded her…”
Erga’s stern expression softened slightly.
“I like ywou… because of that.”
Sephiel forced a smile.
‘Just smile.’
Otherwise, she might get beaten.
“You had a question.”
“H-huh?”
“You said you had something to ask me. What is it?”
Sephiel hesitated and glanced at Erga’s expression.
‘Had his anger subsided a little?’
“Th-that’s…”
“What is it?”
“Just cuyious…”
“Curious about what?”
“Uh,…. Whyen do we get mayyied?”
‘Ah. Damn it.’
She wanted to curse her past life for not teaching her how to handle situations like that.
‘Why does this short tongue become even more incompetent at times like this?’
“……”
“……”
“……”
The surroundings were filled with silence.
“Marriage?”
Erga repeated, looking utterly dumbfounded as if he had never heard anything so absurd in his life.
‘Ah. Sh*t.’
Sephiel cursed in her head.
She had never even sworn in her previous life, yet now she was tempted to do so.
“Are you here to accuse me of not wanting to marry you?”
Erga asked with a reluctant expression.
‘No, no, no!’ Sephiel screams internally, but outwardly, she just nodded and murmured, “Uuh…”
To make matters worse, the aftereffects of the surprise had now arrived, and her eyes were getting teary.
‘What should I do? He’s really mad. I haven’t even officially borrowed his name, let alone written any engagement documents yet. What if he really kicks me out?’
‘Oh, whatever.’
Tearing up, Sephiel spoke desperately.
“Ywou said we’re getting mayyied! You picvked me!”
Sephiel’s urgent plea was driven by sheer desperation.
“Oh my… Really…”
Lev, who had been watching from the sidelines, swallowed hard.
“How adorable…”
Amazingly, no one took Sephiel’s words seriously.
“How much would the five-year-old love the young master…..”
If Sephiel had been just a little older, they might have taken it seriously.
But Sephiel was too young, and Erga was the same age.
The servants just looked at her with affection, as if she were a pretty flower, a gemstone, or an affectionate sister.
“Miss Baby.”
Elton had an absolutely bewildered expression, as if he didn’t know whether to laugh, worry, or tease.
“Seriously… You must really like his looks. Doesn’t seem like you care about his personality, though….”
‘…Hey.’
Sephiel seriously considered biting Elton.
And Erga’s reaction?
“I thought you were just a ridiculous raccoon, but now I see you’re a crazy raccoon.”
Erga said with a sigh.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
‘What I want is… to escape from my bad family. My name is on the family registry. That’s it.’
Sephiel wanted to beat her chest and say it out loud. But she couldn’t.
“Miss Baby.”
Marie finally calmed down enough to speak.
“If you were curious about that, you should have told us first. Do you know how worried we were when you suddenly disappeared.”
“Mayyi….”
Sephiel sobbed.
—Tak. Tak.
As Erga’s tense atmosphere eased slightly, the distant servants cautiously approached, surrounding Sephiel.
“Miss Baby.”
Among them was Berry, who had just arrived and looked pale.
“So you were anxious?”
“Young Master isn’t going anywhere.”
Berry and Marie consoled Sephiel, who was sobbing.
Sephiel rubbed her eyes and said what she wanted to say in secret.
“But what if he chavnges his myind?”
“Our Miss Baby really adores the Young Master.”
“Miss Baby, doesn’t that warm your heart?”
‘I don’t even like him…’
But Sephiel couldn’t say it. He just buried his face in Mari’s embrace and nodded slightly.
“Hmph… Hmph… Mayyi… Beyyi…”
Being comforted only made the sorrow worse.
Elton, barely holding back his laughter, turned to Erga.
“Miss Baby is still a child. Children are drawn to things that stand out. Since you’re half-dragon, you have a striking appearance.”
Elton added.
“You really like me that much?”
Sephiel gritted her teeth and nodded fervently.
“Yes! A lwot! So myuch!”
“Then why are you crying?”
“You should be laughing.”
‘Wow. What a question.’
Sephiel wanted to cuss him out at lightning speed.
Erga asked lazily,
“How do I make this kid stop crying?”
Mari and Berry swallowed hard before answering.
“She likes splashing in bathwater.”
“And she loves sweets.”
“She doesn’t even realize how much time passes while playing ball.”
“And she enjoys having her head patted.”
Erga looked at Sephiel, who was trembling.
“Young lord, you should comfort Miss Baby,” Elton said.
‘I’m dead.’
Sephiel squeezed her eyes shut.
And then…
Erga’s hand landed on Sephiel’s head.
“You….”
Erga whispered.
His hand was unbelievably large for someone his age. Sephiel’s pomegranate-like eyes widened.
“I’ll let it slide this time, but if you do this again, my father will actually kill you.”
“Uh…”
Erga gave a cold glance.
“Take her away and calm her down.”
“Uh…. in what way, exactly?”
“All of them.”
“…..”
“Do everything. Then report back.”
Erga turned away.
“Phew…”
The tense atmosphere finally relaxed, and everyone let out a breath of relief.
* * *
