Yawn? Yawn!
Christina let out a soft sigh, her face etched with deep pity for the little creature before her.
‘If only she hadn’t been inside the egg… would the wounds of war and the brush with death still linger inside her?’
Since the group was no longer present, she moved as slowly and harmlessly as possible, careful not to frighten the newly born hatchling.
“Come on, look at this.”
Christina reached into the leather pouch at her waist.
“How about this?”
In her hand emerged a milk bottle of pure white liquid.
“It’s not ordinary milk. It’s the milk of the serpent that grazes on mountain herbs and lives on the power of the land.”
Plop.
She opened the elegant lid of the high-grade mana potion bottle, and a fresh, milky scent wafted out, tickling her nostrils.
‘It smells delicious.’
The Imugi couldn’t help but twitch its nose, glancing between the bottle and Christina.
‘I don’t sense any malice coming from this person. Besides…’
The rich, fresh aroma of the creamy liquid rose with every gentle shake, filling the air with inviting sweetness.
‘Why does it look so appetizing…?’
Normally, no matter how hungry he was, he wouldn’t have been so drawn to a single bottle of milk.
But the survival instinct of his tiny, young body overpowered his reason completely.
He slyly extended his tiny front paw—only to snap his mind back to reality and freeze mid-motion.
Then his eyes kept drifting to the bottle, his toes curling in hesitation.
‘Ugh. Snap out of it!’
The Imugi shook his head sharply to regain his composure.
His reason had won. With a determined fist, he pulled back the paw he had been about to extend.
Gurrgle.
‘Ugh…’
His stomach growled despite his will, and the Imugi’s face twisted in embarrassment.
Christina felt her own heart flutter with irritation.
‘How frustrating. He must be starving, yet he refuses to eat?’
A newly hatched hatchling normally had an enormous appetite.
Even with plenty of nutrients from the egg, the primal drive for survival burned far stronger than any other instinct.
He resembled a sickly chick that had been denied food, barely clinging to life.
“Oh, little one…”
His sad expression pierced her heart, and the Imugi felt a pang of guilt.
‘He doesn’t seem like a bad guy at all.’
Though he had rarely left his lair, the thousand years of life had left him with a certain wisdom.
The Imugi stared at the bottle again, lost in thought.
‘Since she’s the owner of this place, I’ll have to leave through her. So I should build trust.’
Even if she had some trap in mind, she wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if she intended to harm him.
He decided there was no choice but to risk whatever danger might lie ahead, yet caution held him back from reaching for the bottle.
Seeing the Imugi with his face scrunched in deep conflict, Christina shook the bottle gently.
“You don’t like it that much?”
“…”
The moment the Imugi had decided to go for it, his eyes darted to the bottle and his hand reached out—only for her to pull it away with a teasing smile.
“If you don’t want it, I can’t force you.”
Worried that her offer of forced milk might only heighten his wariness, Christina started to retract the bottle.
‘No—!’
“Kyuuu!”
Desperate, the little one spread his short, chubby hands and snatched the bottle right from her grasp, immediately pressing the nipple to his mouth and gulping it down noisily.
His eyes shot open wide.
‘Just milk… and it’s this delicious?’
Beyond ordinary milk, it even seemed to grant a tiny bit of strength.
His depleted body desperately gulped the entire bottle, then tilted it upside down and drained every last drop.
Christina, startled by the suddenness, let out a soft laugh.
“Was it good?”
“Kyuu. Kyuuuk.”
He looked utterly mortified, his face flushed with embarrassment.
Christina swallowed her smile as he carefully set the empty bottle aside and nodded obediently.
‘I stored it for later use in tea. Perfect timing.’
Even full-grown dragons didn’t need to eat much, but they still enjoyed meals for the sake of pleasure.
Christina preferred cookies, tea, and cakes—her favorite desserts.
“Kyuu!”
The black hatchling who had been holding the black mana stone now looked up at her, chest heaving.
‘He wants to go together?’
He realized that by accepting the milk, he had achieved his goal.
‘Good. She doesn’t seem like she’d harm me, and I couldn’t stay here forever anyway.’
His condition wasn’t good enough to survive on his own.
A young body would panic and eat anything in front of him when hungry, without listening to reason, and he had no training.
‘The thousand-year training is worthless compared to this instinct.’
He felt so pathetic he wanted to stick out his tongue.
‘It’s impossible to start over alone with a body that can barely stomach hunger.’
With a cold, clear-headed assessment, the Imugi rubbed his mouth with his paw.
‘Following her for now is probably the best choice.’
He coughed loudly in his mind to clear his throat.
‘It’s not because the milk is delicious, of course.’
With a deep breath, he tucked the black mana stone into his chest and looked up at her.
“Kyuuu.”
‘Okay. Let’s go.’
The Imugi lifted one paw onto Christina’s hand as a sign of agreement.
Christina smiled warmly and gently scooped him up into her arms.
The unexpected hug made his eyes widen in surprise.
‘Eh?’
“Come along, little one.”
Christina stroked his back soothingly.
He was a bit smaller than his peers.
‘Normally he should have absorbed plenty of nutrients inside the egg and been protected by a full-grown dragon.’
She wondered if the abandoned egg had left him underdeveloped, thin, and frail compared to others.
‘Was it because he had to endure hardships he never should have faced before birth?’
Even with his constant wariness, the desperate way he searched for that one bottle of milk melted her heart.
He was adorable and pitiful.
At the same time, she felt grateful.
In truth, when the last black dragon entrusted her with the egg, neither the dragon nor the egg knew that she would eventually send them both off forever.
Every time she visited the empty egg, regret would weigh heavily on her.
After the black dragon’s death in battle, she had tried to care for the egg, but it had grown cold, and her last hopes had faded.
But now things were different.
The warmth of the young life in her arms.
The small, quiet breaths.
Christina felt a deep wave of gratitude in her heart.
‘No matter what happens, I’ll do everything I can to help you become a strong and proud dragon.’
“I knew you wouldn’t be born… but I’m so grateful you were born.”
Her sincere words, though slightly broken, carried an indescribable warmth and compassion in the Imugi’s heart.
‘He’s just saying thank you for being born.’
The Imugi wiggled in her arms, trying to escape, then stopped.
‘That’s… so embarrassing.’
He had never heard anyone say thank you for giving him life in his own existence.
Yet he didn’t feel particularly displeased.
If anything, it felt strangely pleasant.
He sensed an infinite depth and gentleness from Christina.
‘It’s hard to keep doubting after hearing words like that. She wouldn’t lie to a baby who doesn’t understand language anyway.’
In a way, he felt a faint sense of debt because she wasn’t his true original owner.
‘The original owner was probably dead.’
After pondering for a moment, he finally yielded and let her hold him snugly.
‘Building good karma is also a necessary quality for divine beasts.’
He nestled his small nose against her chest, breathed deeply, and lifted his upper body to hug her neck lightly with his short arms.
“Kyu. Kyuu kyuuk.”
‘Kuhm. No matter what it is, it’s not your fault. You have to stay strong.’
Christina’s eyes widened a little at his actions.
“Did you… just comfort me?”
“Kyuuu.”
To hide his embarrassment, he answered flatly, but she burst into a bright, clear laugh.
“What a cute little one has come along.”
“Kyuu? Kyuu!”
‘I wasn’t trying to be cute. I just wanted to tell him that he doesn’t have to suffer too much.’
She reasoned that it was better for the helper’s condition to be good rather than weak or poor.
Yet Christina simply smiled as she held the shaking hatchling.
“Thanks to you, I feel much better. I’ll take good care of you from now on, little one.”
“Kyuuu!”
‘Yeah, I’ll take good care of you.’
Christina found the hatchling’s fresh reply adorable and gently stroked his head.
The Imugi found it deeply embarrassing to be petted on the head while someone admired him so openly.
‘Damn it. My face is burning up.’
Shame flooded his entire body, and when he tried to breathe, a tiny sneeze came out of his nose.
Though he had lived a long time, he was weak even among divine beasts when it came to interacting with humans.
A neighbor’s dog would have done better.
Small and young as he was, being held and petted like a grown divine beast made his conscience sting.
‘Stay calm. I only helped. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He’s strong.’
It was a desperate attempt at self-justification.
Of course, most of it was true.
The hidden strength beneath the softness in her arms.
The carefully cultivated aura of intimidation.
He felt a legacy stronger than the world itself.
‘If such a being is on my side, survival will be much easier.’
Moreover, since he owed the original owner, showing kindness to him couldn’t possibly be a bad thing.
Suddenly glancing toward the carved rune, he made a solemn vow to the dead child in his heart.
‘I am grateful for giving me this life. May you rest in peace.’
With renewed respect for the child, he turned his thoughts to practical matters.
He didn’t know how he had survived with memories from another life, but the memory of dying powerless remained crystal clear.
‘I won’t die the same way again.’
Click.
Even though his heart wasn’t pierced by a spear, he felt a sharp ache.
The Imugi unconsciously tucked his two front paws close.
The soul-tearing pain.
The shock he never wanted to relive.
‘In this life…’
His clenched fist tightened until it hurt.
‘At least I won’t die powerless like that time.’
Even thinking about it now, the injustice surged from his toes all the way to his head.
Only one year out of a thousand.
When he had been killed right before ascending to become a divine dragon.
When he, who had lived with only one dream, had lost everything.
The rage and helplessness burned through his entire body like wildfire.