“I swear I saw that…it’s weird…”
“I know. did she wash it up?”
“It didn’t look like that.”
The bad children of the Newt family who had thrown stones at Elaine and made her bleed, were chattering among themselves, thinking about Elaine who had returned looking fine.
To the Newt Family, Martin, Damon, and Ellie, Elaine was just another toy to play with.
Elaine never begged even when she was beaten and cried. That was disgusting, so they wanted to make it even worse. Of course, they wouldn’t have let her off the hook even if she cried.
“Next time, I’ll hit it harder.”
“Next time, I want to throw it too!”
“Me too!”
Damon and Ellie were also excited as Martin braced himself for the next attack because feeling denied the success of the stoning.
But that was then.
“What are you throwing?”
The three of them, who were excited, suddenly stiffened at the voice they heard from behind.
“Brother…”
It was L’Arch, the first and successor of the Newt family.
Only Martin, the second, barely pretended to recognize him, but the other two didn’t dare to look up and make eye contact.
“Oh, nothing. just….”
“just…?”
“Who, who throws stones far away…”
“I thought you said you were going to hit something earlier.”
“Oh, that…that…”
“Huft….”
Martin, Damon, and Ellie shuddered at the sound of L’Arch’s sigh. Even though the age difference was not big, L’Arch can not be treated carelessly.
This is because the Counts of Newt and his wife have firmly established the position of Lark’s successor since they were young, and Lark also showed off his difference by thoroughly distinguishing himself from the rest of his brothers and sisters.
If he was hated by L’Arch, he might be locked up in his room, cut his allowance, or punished by not being able to attend the party. His parents respect any decision L’Arch made.
The three siblings, who had known that before they were ten years old, became more afraid of L’Arch than their parents as they got older.
“Damon. Tell me honestly what happened.”
“No, it’s not that… so… it’s all Elaine’s fault!!”
“Elaine?”
When L’Arch reacted a little differently to Elaine’s name, they thought it was a hole to escape from and clung to it.
“Yes! She’s the subject of our family’s shame and she sticks her head up and stares at us, so cheeky.”
“That’s right, she’s supposed to be sorry for us all the time!!”
“That’s why Martin gave her a good scolding, he didn’t do anything wrong!”
L’Arch frowned and tilted his head slightly.
At that small movement, the three of them quickly shut their mouths and looked at L’Arch.
L’Arch, who had just turned 20, already had the temperament of a ruler.
“The fact that you scolded her… You mean you threw something and hit Elaine?”
“Uh, yes…It was a tiny pebble, Really! No blood!”
L’Arch remembered Elaine, who had gone up to her room after dinner earlier. She seemed quite bullied after they threw stones at her, but she didn’t appear to be seriously injured. In fact, it didn’t matter if Martin threw a big stone and Elaine bled. As long as it’s not talked about outside.
However, L’Arch felt the need to warn his siblings for now. Throwing stones and hitting people was not the most civilized and respectful thing to do.
“Martin.”
“Yes, brother…”
“You are already 17 and you’re all grown up, so how long are you going to act like a child? What do you think our mother and father would say if they heard rumors about your attitude?”
“M-I’m sorry…”
“Always watch your manners with the thought that your younger siblings will learn from you.”
“Yes…”
After admonishing Martin, L’Arch looked up and down at Damon and Ellie, then turned and left the room without saying a word.
Behind him, he could hear his younger siblings sighing in relief, but L’Arch didn’t care.
Rather, she was a little more concerned about Elaine, who had an indifferent face despite being bullied.
‘I think I’ll get annoyed if she comes to my room again.’
Elaine was always like that.
In front of Count Newt and his wife and other cousins, she kept her mouth shut and stared at the floor.
But she came to Lark at a time when no one else was looking at her and said a few words.
It wasn’t that she was whining about his cousins’ misdeeds or pleading for help. She just talked nonsense and then went back.
L’Arch neither kicked out Elaine nor welcomed her.
Reacting to Elaine was meaningless to him. In fact, He didn’t even understand why his family was overreacting to Elaine.
‘I’m a little tired today, so I’ll send her out as soon as she comes.’
L’Arch had already concluded that Elaine would come looking for him, and he thought of drawing a line against her.
* * *
Elaine, who had a satisfying meal for the first time in a really long time, leaned back on the bed and turned to Rabes, who was sitting by the moonlit window looking out.
“By the way, Lord Rabes.”
[why?]
“Lord Rabes was so small, how could you become such a big dragon in 10 years?”
[Don’t think of the dragon as the beast of the earth. To us, an ‘egg’ is just a shell that seals our souls, and the size and shape of our bodies are determined according to need. It’s not according to growth.]
Elaine felt that Rabes was considerate of her there. Because now he stays in his cute little dragon form somehow it was for her.
“So, can you continue being a little dragon?”
[Not only can I live in a baby dragon form but I can also live in a human form.]
“Wow.…I wonder what Lord Rabes will look like when you become a human.”
[My human form? Hmm… Judging from the fact that many people liked that appearance, it seems that they really want to make love.’]
“What do you mean!”
Elaine looked around as if it would be big trouble if anyone listened to Labes’s stark choice of words.
Of course, no one would come up to the attic where ‘Newt’s stain’ lived.
“That means you’re handsome, it’s not like they want to make love.”
[isn’t that the same?]
“No, it is different. Being handsome doesn’t necessarily make you want to make love with him.”
Elaine’s cheeks blushed a little because she was embarrassed that she had to say the words ‘mating’ or ‘making love’ in the form of a 16-year-old girl.
However, Laves asked without paying attention to Elaine’s difficulties.
[Have you ever had a male in your previous life that you wanted to mate with?]
“Oh, no!”
[That’s just a lie.]
“Oh, My God! Can you even recognize lies?”
[As expected, it was a lie.]
Only then Elaine, realizing that she had fallen for the dragon’s trick, wanted to say goodbye, but the water had already spilled.
Elaine replied with a sigh as she recalled the person who always gave her cold eyes.
“There was someone I liked but I never wanted him to be my mate.”
[Then, wasn’t that person handsome?]
“Yes, He was handsome.”
[I think my logic won out.]
Elaine was at a loss for words, so she kept her mouth shut, then mumbled softly.
“But I didn’t like him because he was handsome. And even though he was handsome, I don’t even like him anymore.”
[Why?]
Elaine looked at him as she was being dragged away and Elaine remembered L’Arch, who said,
“It’s not bad that you are being used like this.”
The only person in the Newt family who didn’t bully her, the one who didn’t coldly throw her away, the person who was cold but whose every demeanor was so elegant and beautiful. The only one who was strong and proud and confident unlike her, and she couldn’t help but like him…
‘It was purely my own misunderstanding that I believed that L’Arch would secretly take care of me.’
In the first place, there was not a single place for Elaine in his cold heart.
To him, she must have been nothing more than a livestock he reluctantly raised in the hopes that she might be of some use someday, and Elaine realized that too late.
“Because I found out that I was nothing to him.”
[Really? So, the feelings you had, they said, ah! unrequited love! I guess it was unrequited love.]
Having pointed out her feelings in clear words, Elaine reluctantly nodded. But instead of laughing at her strange feeling, Rabes tilted his head and said.
[It’s a bit difficult to understand the human feeling of unrequited love.]
“yes? Which part?”
[You were the one who ignited that feeling, and the other person probably didn’t have any thoughts about it, but you were secretly hoping for something in return from the other person. That seems a bit unfair to the other person.]
Elaine’s face turned red beyond measure at Rabes’ unexpected criticism.
“Ha, but–!”
[Have you danced a courtship dance in front of him, ah, courtship dance is something birds do, anyway, have you tried to tell him you like him, that you want him to be your partner?]
“No…I didn’t dare to do that. And in this world, there are many people who have to hide their feelings.”
Rabes was about to say something more but fell silent when he saw Elaine’s eyes glistening as if they were wet.
Although he is a young dragon who is not even a thousand years old, he also had noticed that.
He know that if he said one more word, he would get in trouble.
* * *
