A Perfect Timing
Lucky timing, that.
“Why?”
Perdikion blinked in surprise at the sudden request but sat down in the chair without a word.
Rune then reached out and gently ruffled his red hair like petting a puppy, fluffing it up with a light touch.
“What are you doing?”
“Just… wanted to.”
Perdikion’s eyes widened a little, but he quickly cleared his throat and straightened his expression.
“Hmph! I’ve said it before, this isn’t something a little kid like you should do to your older brother.”
“Really?”
“I thought it was gentle, but if he truly hated it, he would’ve swatted my hand away.”
Rune pulled his hand back without saying it out loud.
Perdikion, who had been rolling his eyes while receiving the petting, muttered awkwardly.
“Did you learn this from Christina?”
“Yeah. She does it all the time.”
He had picked it up from the way she would stroke the little hatchling Rune when he was in the cradle.
Rune suddenly recalled those days when he first stayed with Christina.
“Come to think of it, I might have been copying the right behavior without realizing. She would pat my head and say ‘cute’ over and over.”
Then a strange feeling hit him.
“Wait….”
Rune recalled his past and suddenly formed a hypothesis.
“Maybe this will go over well after all?”
While Rune chewed on the strange thought, Perdikion frowned and bit his lip in worry.
“Rune, was I scary?”
“…?”
Rune thought for a moment and realized why Perdikion had asked that.
Perdikion had once ruled the dwarves with tyranny and clashed with the rare residents.
He must have worried that he might have lost his temper with Rune and caused fear or disgust.
“He really doesn’t act like himself.”
Rune quickly dismissed the thought.
“Perdikion may dote on his subordinates, but he wouldn’t be intimidated by just a few dwarves.”
While pondering the inexplicable question, Rune stared at him, and Perdikion quietly added.
“As your older brother, this advice is only right, but I worry that a little one like you might feel uncomfortable. If it’s unpleasant, tell me now.”
Rune thought things through.
Perdikion had always had to act like a lord, so honestly showing himself felt strange and clumsy.
How to express his feelings was something he probably didn’t know, unlike his skill mastery.
“He’s still young, and this is a matter of etiquette. It will take time.”
Rune looked at Perdikion anxiously waiting for an answer and spoke up.
“No matter how much it angers your brother, you wouldn’t feel that bad. I wasn’t really upset.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You looked really dangerous to me, and I was worried. I wanted to yell in the moment.”
Unfortunately, you can’t always feel only good emotions while living.
Sometimes you face feelings you don’t want to feel, like discomfort.
“I would have considered anger bad if it was used as a means to achieve something or to control others with fear, but I don’t think anger itself is bad.”
“……I see.”
After that, Perdikion stayed silent for a long time, then nodded his head.
“I understand.”
He looked strangely refreshed.
“Impressive.”
Rune recalled the day they first met.
Changing the way of life one had believed was right had never been easy.
Yet the future Lord of the Fire Dragon Tribe showed his true self well and listened to Rune’s story.
“He even thought about how the image of ruling through violence would look to me. That’s a good sign. He’s still a young hatchling even if he’s the Lord successor.”
Perdikion had gotten angry for a reason that seemed justified to Rune.
A young hatchling who wasn’t even old enough for school could have died in that place, yet he entered without fear.
“Come to think of it, you’ve never gotten angry before.”
“Me?”
Rune’s eyes widened in question, and Perdikion said seriously.
“Yeah. It’s unusual, considering how young you are. Dwarves gave me bad looks. Even if they bowed in front of me, their fear and contempt weren’t hidden. But.”
Perdikion pointed to his own eyes and continued.
“I never felt that negative vibe from you.”
That was true.
Of course, the reason was because Rune wasn’t an ordinary hatchling.
“Even tantrums or anger had never been shown. You were too smart and kind.”
“…?”
“That’s how it was interpreted?”
His words were sincere.
Rune was left speechless.
The reason he had never gotten angry was because his identity was an Imugi who had lived for nearly a thousand years.
A true adult wouldn’t get angry at a child, so there was no reason for Perdikion to be mad at Rune.
“I can’t tell the truth.”
Perdikion, staring at Rune who couldn’t find words, furrowed his brows.
“Rune, you’re too pure. That’s a problem.”
“Me, pure?”
Ignoring the instinctive question, the Fire Dragon Tribe hatchling shook his red hair side to side.
“Yeah. That worries me. There might be people who try to use your innocence.”
“This guy thinks I’m a pure idiot?”
Rune stared at him in disbelief.
Finally, Perdikion lowered his gaze and muttered something that sounded serious.
“Perhaps the Water Tribe used my little brother’s purity?”
Rune wanted to believe he had misread Perdikion’s lips.
When he felt a spark in Perdikion’s eyes, he knew he had to stop it.
“Use purity? There are no such people. I helped Amelia because she became my friend.”
“So the name of that reckless Blue Dragon is Amelia?”
Perdikion’s glare became even fiercer, and it had the opposite effect.
“How close is ‘close’ when it’s just been seen? Don’t tell me you’re closer than me?”
“That’s enough.”
If he answered wrong here, anger would flare again.
“Hoo-ahm. Oh? It’s Perdikion-sama!”
“Pya!”
At that moment, Baekya yawned while crossing the magic circle, cutting the conversation perfectly.
“Lucky timing.”
Rune greeted Baekya calmly.
“You looked really tired. Did you rest well?”
“Yes! Nya-ahm…”
The yawn continued despite the answer.
Baekya, half-closed eyes chewing on something, looked up.
Heungmi, covering her big open mouth with one hand, squinted and then blinked brightly.
She stretched her arms wide.
“Yung! I’m really awake!”
“Pya!”
Baekya, sitting on Heungmi’s head, spread his wings like Heungmi.
To Rune, who watched the scene, she asked in a much brighter voice than before.
“What were Rune-ssi and Perdikion-sama doing?”
“Talking. He came because he was worried about me.”
“Worried?”
Heungmi tilted her head with innocent eyes and put her finger to her lips while looking at Perdikion.
“No need to worry! It was really fun underwater!”
“Pya. Pya.”
Baekya nodded at Heungmi’s words and chirped, making Perdikion’s eyebrows twitch.
“It would have been nice if we played together. Sorry, Perdikion-sama, for leaving you alone!”
“Pya!”
“…”
The words were innocent, but the impact was strong.
Rune felt Perdikion’s glare grow sharper and quickly jumped in to change the subject.
“What do you want to eat for dinner? I’ll make it.”
“Waa!”
The days of cooking with Christina had all gone into Amelia’s belly.
Thanks to that, they could absorb the dark power and curse from the group, but the problem was there was nothing left to eat.
Mana food was especially good for recovering stamina, so Rune wanted to give them some reward.
“Brother, what do you want to eat? Most of the cooking Christina taught me, I know how to make.”
Perdikion glared at Rune with an innocent smile, looking displeased.
But since Heungmi and Baekya were there, he answered.
“If that’s the case, meat would be good. Everyone looks tired. Lemon cake or apple pie would be enough for dessert.”
“Heungmi wants strawberry chocolate parfait and cheesecake! For the parfait, put chocolate-covered sticks. And cheese crackers… Oh, meat pie would be tasty too!”
“Pya!”
Rune listened to their various requests and checked the list in his head.
“Well, no need to worry about menus. The ingredients effective for fatigue recovery are plenty left.”
Rune recalled the refrigerator and listed some dishes as candidates.
Suddenly, Rune’s gaze turned toward Dullahan.
Sadly, he had a promise with Christina, so he had to stay here.
“This place seems quite comfortable for him, but leaving him with nothing feels wrong.”
Dullahan, leaning against the wall with only his green eyes flickering darkly.
After thinking for a moment, Rune called Perdikion.
“Brother, can you spare some time after dinner? Like with Heungmi, check Dullahan’s condition.”
“I understand. He’s my vassal too.”
While listening to the story, Dullahan’s green eyes brightened when their gazes met.
Perdikion, perhaps sensing a beastly pride, stared back for a few seconds with a heated glare.
“I like it.”
When Rune checked Dullahan’s status and recited the food list, he said.
“Rune, you should rest too.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t feel that tired.”
Thanks to having the dark power, he felt less fatigue than expected.
But Perdikion shook his head and gestured with his chin.
“He wouldn’t listen even if I told him to stop… Guide me. The place where you cook.”
“To the kitchen?”
“Yeah. I wanted to see how mana cooking is made. You’re not going to say no, are you?”
“I won’t, but…”
“It’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t practice the Word of Power while cooking.”
Rune shook his head and agreed.
***
Rune retrieved his avatar sleeping in his room back into the spatial pocket.
Despite feeling Perdikion’s scorching gaze again, Rune acted as if he didn’t notice and moved to the kitchen.
“Here.”
“Hmm.”
A recipe paper Christina had been researching was added to the shelf where ingredients were placed.
In the separate workshop room to the side, neatly bound new books filled the shelves.
It seemed she had produced quite a few results worth recording beyond simple research.