Baekya
Christina was right. This guy focused on not bothering the weak. But he turned out to be even easier to handle than expected.
If Perdikion kept raging at the bird, he'd become a real brute who didn't know how to control his anger.
“I heard this guy is a lucky charm. If the hyung doesn't hate him, the bird won't hate the hyung either.”
Lune Eclipse ruffled the hatchling's fluffy white head with his long fingers.
Hate begets hate. It was only natural to create enemies even if they weren't your target.
The baby bird blinked its yellow eyes slowly in the palm of Lune's hand.
“See? Isn't it well-behaved?”
Perdikion clicked his tongue in displeasure, but the baby bird simply tilted its head, making soft peeps and chirps as if it wanted to be petted.
It was harmless and peaceful enough to make the anger disappear completely.
“This guy did his best to protect me. If the hyung touches him, I won't stay quiet either.”
“...Hmph. Got it.”
The pure eyes of a hatchling who could read the opponent's heart, the calm gaze warning not to cross the line, the tightly shut mouth.
It gave off an atmosphere where one couldn't act carelessly, but the young black hatchling's firm face only looked like the bold attitude of a chubby little kid.
After a short reply, Lune felt relieved inside when he saw Perdikion fall silent.
'He's communicating. It's fortunate he has some sense of morals.'
“Piyit!”
Lune puffed up his fur and ruffled the baby bird's head, pressing down firmly and messing up its feathers with a tousled look.
“Piiit!?”
'You should act up a little too. After all, that guy lived way longer than you.'
“Pii! Piyak!”
The young bird protested something loudly, then grabbed Lune's hand with both wings and chirped as if saying not to hate.
'We are siblings.'
Creatures sharing the same attribute and mana.
They had been subtly bickering from the start, but Lune thought it would be good to treat each other equally.
He had thought they would communicate through various situations and emotions, but right now it seemed like a long road ahead.
'But it's doable. The start is good.'
Some discord was expected. After all, personalities formed over nearly 800 years couldn't change in an instant.
Just as Lune was thinking that, Perdikion let out a short tongue-click.
“...Well, no choice. That bird is still annoying, but I'll let it slide generously.”
'Oh.'
“Thank you, hyung.”
He immediately smiled gently after the praise.
At that moment, Perdikion's lips curled up as he muttered softly.
“Actually, I don't know why it bothers me so much. That little bird.”
“Hyung, don't tell me...”
Lune felt the sharp glance toward him again and looked at Perdikion steadily.
Perdikion's brow furrowed as he read the subtle suspicion, but he didn't get angry like before.
“It's fine. Even if it's annoying, ordering someone to stop nagging your subordinate is hilarious. I won't retract it.”
'His voice drips with coldness, but his eyes are full of fire and he speaks so smoothly.'
Lune chuckled inwardly, but if he could, it would have been refreshing to fight properly. Yet this limited response was probably because he felt like the hyung.
'He seems to treat his allies as family. That's not bad for a prince's qualities.'
He talked a lot and seemed rather lenient despite his complaints.
Lune didn't know when he might switch sides, but this was a meaningful change for the first day.
'I can roughly guess his original personality.'
From the knowledge passed down by Christina, red dragons were said to have a cool and fiery temperament, and that word fit perfectly.
'This guy was lucky too. If it hadn't been me, he might not have escaped his father's teachings for long.'
A life that long just to live without wanting it was too much.
If he didn't even know what he liked, even as a dragon he would live like an empty bottle.
'Unlike short-lived chimera, we who live long are hard to survive only with a sense of duty.'
The young bird puffed up its fluffy white fur and looked at Perdikion with eyes full of hostility again.
'I didn't expect them to dislike each other this much, but eventually those guys will get along... right?'
Since they shared the same fire attribute, Lune had thought they might become friends quickly, but that was a mistake.
'If it goes well, maybe I can rest while the two of them play. That was my wish.'
Usually, letting the kids play made the guardian comfortable.
But it was uncertain when that day would come.
The result of the eye-staring contest with the bird went to Lune, who covered the bird's eyes.
The young bird flapped its wings anxiously, looking upset, but Perdikion raised one corner of his mouth and turned his head to ask Lune.
“By the way, what's the name of your subordinate?”
“Name?”
Lune's eyes widened in surprise.
Perdikion looked at him and the bird alternately with a dumbfounded expression.
“Right. I can't keep calling it 'little bird.' Did you not even give a name to your vassal?”
'I only met this guy a week ago.'
Still, Lune thought it was reasonable since he had been a bit careless as a lord.
Lune glanced at the pure white body of the baby fire phoenix and let it sink in for a moment.
His hesitation was short.
“It's called Baekya.”
“Baekya?”
“Yeah. It means white night.”
Lune had actually chosen that name because he had swallowed the power of darkness and was born from it.
“A strange name. Well, it's too good for that bird.”
“...Is that so?”
Lune felt a bit awkward talking about the name he had come up with, but he couldn't fault him.
“Piyak?”
On the other hand, Baekya blinked its yellow eyes without reacting even when it heard its name.
Lune told Baekya again.
“You heard it. From now on, your name is 'Baekya'.”
“...Piy? Piiit!”
Baekya tilted its head blankly for a moment, then its yellow eyes sparkled as if it had realized something.
It then started trotting around on its thin legs, running all over the place.
'What does it know to be so happy?'
Lune shrugged his shoulder. He still liked how it chirped clearly and flapped its wings.
“So, is that your name now?”
“Yeah.”
Lune nodded shortly.
He had been troubled about his own name since receiving the hint from Christina, but he hadn't decided yet.
“It's better to decide quickly. Some magic requires you to use your name to activate it.”
Even though Perdikion's tone wasn't gentle, the words weren't wrong, so Lune nodded obediently.
“I got it.”
Perdikion looked down at Lune for a moment with arms crossed.
“By the way, you said you don't have parents, right?”
“...Yeah, that's right.”
It didn't seem like a topic easy to share casually, but Lune agreed for now.
“So, you don't have a guardian to think about names. I can help a bit.”
“It's fine. I'll think about it slowly.”
“What?”
Perdikion furrowed his brow and asked quickly.
From his expression, the guy looked displeased, but Lune was firm.
“Why rush when it's not urgent?”
Lune figured why Perdikion was in such a hurry to name it.
Although he was a younger brother, strictly speaking they were children of dragons who would one day become elders of their respective clans.
One day when they became dragons, they would gain the authority to represent their clan, and one of those authorities required knowing the dragon's true name called the True Name.
'For a dragon, the True Name means "proof of existence" itself.'
Knowing the True Name didn't mean you could freely control the dragon.
It was more like signing a contract that influenced the world and your existence, or using mana to affect through naming statements.
If a dragon promised to protect a country with the True Name, the country might disappear if it fell.
Even if the dragon failed to protect it, or had done nothing wrong, it was the same.
Some dragons even had their existence sealed because they carelessly revealed the True Name, making them slaves of demons or no longer dragons.
'So usually, they add conditions that can be canceled, use indirect self-references, or prepare ways to invalidate the promise using recognized means.'
Giving a name like this was like handing over the seal of your contract.
'Thinking about it, there's no need to name it carelessly, and right now it's not something this guy needs help with.'
It was an act that secretly allowed the other party to have a big influence on his life, so he had to be cautious.
Rather, it was intrusive for Perdikion, who had only met him recently, to mention something as big as parents.
'Was he trying to find out the meaning of the True Name from a young age?'
There was no clear evidence, but it wasn't impossible either.
From a good perspective, it might have been to become a reliable ally, but from a bad one, he might have wanted to use the True Name contract or later claim the power Lune would have alone.
Even if Perdikion had no such intention, it could have been a command from Pasiyas.
'There's no harm in being careful. Names are something that can be handled.'
The True Name meant the full name, so it wasn't necessary to reveal the entire name.
Like Perdikion or Christina, middle names could be used instead of full names, or nicknames.
Perdikion mentioned that point too.
“Then, think about what to call you. You can't just keep saying 'you' to your little brother.”
He looked at the young hatchling with a light cough.
“My name is Perdikion, as you know, but the True Name is a longer name.”
His red eyes glanced at Lune.
“Giving the True Name to a dragon is also proving that the other party is a complete enemy. Dragons who know each other's True Names can't betray each other easily.”
Lune blinked as Perdikion crossed his arms and said with a sigh, “Well... since you're my little brother, when the day comes to tell your True Name, I'll tell mine too.”
In reality, this proposal was a spontaneous card from Perdikion.
Lune nodded happily.
“Got it.”
Perdikion glared at Lune with an annoyed look at the simple answer.
He didn't say it, but he looked deeply hurt.