Hehe

Hehe

A lavishly decorated party venue, cheerful music playing, and numerous people chatting loudly.

If you just read about it, it would seem like a series of unremarkable things.

But if I were to describe it in detail, I could say it was full of mismatched elements.

An antique Gothic-style party hall, trot music playing, and many people who looked to be in their teens to thirties.

Nothing seemed to go together, everything was out of place.

But Chae-a didn’t seem to care about any of that.

She started dancing enthusiastically next to me.

“Hehe.”

Seeing Chae-a laugh happily makes me feel good too.

As I’m watching Chae-a dance cutely beside me and patting her head vigorously,

A graceful voice was heard from afar.

“Ha-eun and Chae-a are here.”

The voice sounds very refined, like that of a noble, but it’s also quite excited, which feels a bit strange. As I look ahead,

I see a woman with snow-white hair similar to mine, smiling at us.

‘Though I’ve never seen her before, she feels like someone I’ve known for a long time.’

Should I say it feels warm? Or maybe familiar?

Even I find it hard to express this likability, and I’m trying to calm my heart while wagging my tail,

When suddenly, the elder dragons around us turn their gazes towards me like in a horror movie and start repeating, “It’s Ha-eun.”

“…?”

Why are they acting like that, I wondered as I glanced around.

Just as the dragons had surrounded me earlier, the elder dragons were quickly approaching to encircle me.

“Elders, please be patient.”

The moment the white-haired woman spoke, everyone returned to their original positions, merely clearing their throats.

I found this scene very fascinating as I held tightly onto Han A-rin and Chae-a’s hands.

The woman who had calmed the dragons earlier gestured to us and spoke.

“Come here for a moment, children.”

At those words, Perseus looked back, nodded, and then stepped aside.

It seemed to mean that only Chae-a and I should go.

As I held Chae-a’s hand and moved forward, the white-haired woman smiled brightly and picked us up.

‘… It feels very warm and comforting.’

It feels more psychologically stable than when I was in the lair.

I’m surprised because this is the first time I’ve felt this way.

I notice Chae-a nodding off beside me.

‘… Chae-a, who is usually shy, is falling asleep in a stranger’s arms?’

As I’m watching this curious sight.

She smiles kindly and says to me.

“I am Philips Lecia, the primordial dragon with ancient blood. Call me Grandma Lecia.”

Can I really call her grandma?

Putting aside her appearance, if she’s a primordial dragon, she must be an incredibly great being.

I hesitated, wondering if it was okay for me to do so, when Grandma Lecia tickled my cheek and chuckled softly.

“It’s alright, dear.”

Feeling like I really had a grandmother now, I found myself smiling without realizing it.

Though a bit embarrassed, I gathered my courage and softly tried calling her.

“Gra… Gwanma…?”

… Ah.

I made a mistake because my tongue was too short.

As I tried to hide my embarrassment, deciding to add palm stretching and tongue stretching to my nightly routine,

Grandma Lecia looked very pleased and said to me.

“Yes, I’m your grandma.”

She seemed to be very generous and gentle, lightly passing over my small mistake.

I was so grateful for that, I was shyly grinning,

When Chae-a, who had just woken up, suddenly said ‘snacks?’, causing Grandma Lecia’s expression to turn puzzled.

“Chae-a loves snacks…! This much!”

Chae-a, wanting to explain how much she likes snacks, starts talking seriously about snacks.

I was worried that Grandma Lecia might dislike Chae-a’s sudden change of subject.

But the grandmother seemed to find Chae-a cute, chuckling softly while patting Chae-a’s head.

After we had been chatting for quite a while like this,

Chae-a suddenly put her hand on her stomach and started blinking her eyes.

Wondering what was wrong, I stared at Chae-a blankly.

Gurgle

Suddenly, a gurgling sound is heard from Chae-a’s stomach.

It seems her stomach is quite empty, probably because she skipped breakfast, planning to eat a lot at the party.

I’m chuckling to myself, thinking I should feed Chae-a lots of different things later.

“… Don’t tell me you’re hungry?”

Grandmother Lecia stops stroking Chae-a and me, and looks at us with a very stiff expression.

The relaxed atmosphere seems to have disappeared, which I found strange.

I was about to dismiss it as nothing, but Chae-a clutches her stomach and says,

“Yeah. Chae-a’s tummy is growling.”

“I-Is that so? Then we should bring food right away.”

Up to this point, it was fine.

But Chae-a’s next words shocked Grandmother Lecia.

“Yeah! When it growls, it hurts, so I want to eat a lot!”

She cheerfully tells Grandmother Lecia what she had told others before, that it hurts when she’s hungry.

Grandmother Lecia looks like she might faint at any moment, covering her forehead with the back of her hand and squeezing her eyes shut.

As I watch this, wondering if she’s okay, Chae-a, seemingly unaware of Grandmother Lecia’s state, continues proudly,

“But it’s okay…! Chae-a is good at starving, so I can go without food for 3 days…!”

“Huh…?”

“And if you look in the trash cans, you can find lots of food. If you’re hungry, tell me, and I’ll teach you how to find food!”

With those final words, Grandmother Lecia and several other elder dragons seem to get dizzy and collapse right there in their chairs.

I was wondering what to do in this shocking situation.

Grandma Lecia continued speaking quickly while stroking my and Chae-a’s heads with trembling hands.

“… Let’s end today’s meeting here. It would be better to feed the children first.”

With those words, Grandma Lecia snapped her fingers.

She immediately ordered food to be brought.

I was blinking as I watched numerous golems busily moving around carrying food.

Chae-a opens her mouth proudly while looking at us.

“Chae-a is amazing…!”

It seems she said that earlier because she wanted to be praised.

I was patting Chae-a’s head instead of grandma and telling her how amazing she is.

Grandma Lecia calmly says while looking at us.

“If it’s not enough, just tell me anytime. Grandma will find a way to get you food no matter what.”

“It’s okay. Chae-a is good at getting food too…!”

Chae-a looks at me with eyes that seem to say ‘Right?’ after finishing those words.

Not wanting to disappoint Chae-a, I hesitantly nod my head.

Grandma Lecia takes a deep breath and says to me.

“… Ha-eun, are you hungry too?”

Feeling like there would be a commotion if I said I was hungry here.

I quickly shook my head while suppressing it and said.

“I’m not hungry…!”

At those words, Grandma Lecia’s anger seemed to subside a bit, and she answered me with a much-improved expression compared to earlier.

“Is that so? That’s good to hear.”

“But Ha-eun said she just ate green slime in prison! She said it tasted bad!”

“……?”

Beside me, Chae-a giggles and recounts everything that happened earlier, one by one.

I’m hiccupping while watching Grandma Lecia’s expression change in real-time.

Chae-a, still unaware of the situation, continues to chatter away before suddenly smiling brightly at the sight of food.

“Eat this!”

She seems to be imitating the way I spoke earlier.

Chae-a had somehow picked up one of the prepared dishes with her hand and offered it to Grandma Lecia.

Grandma Lecia accepted it and ate it while smiling very bitterly.

“Thank you, dear.”

As she ate the food, Grandma wore a contemplative expression for a moment.

Somehow, she looked like a stunningly beautiful actress deep in thought, and I found myself staring blankly.

This time, Chae-a offered me some food with a bright smile.

“Ha-eun, eat a lot too! Chae-a is happy when Ha-eun is full…!”

“Thank you.”

“Yes!”

Grateful for Chae-a’s care, I unconsciously start wagging my tail.

I hear chuckling laughter from around us.

Snapping back to reality at the sound, I look around to see the Elder Dragons watching us with very fond expressions.

“……”

Indeed, this kind of thing is quite embarrassing.

I feel my face turning bright red as I keep my head down.

Grandma Lecia strokes our heads and calls Perseus.

“Child, let’s have a little talk.”

At those words, Perseus nods politely and approaches.

Wondering what they’re going to talk about, I glance up slightly.

Grandma Lecia gently sets me and Chae-a down, smiles kindly, and continues speaking.

“Grandma will be back after a short chat. Go say hello to the other grandmas and grandpas.”

“Yes…!”

With those final words, she pats our heads and leaves with Perseus to somewhere.

Though I felt quite disappointed, I thought I should still do what needs to be done.

Holding Chae-a’s hand, I headed towards the nearest Elder Dragon.

“Oh my.”

As we approached, two dragons who looked like a young couple gasped in shock, covering their mouths.

Then, with trembling hands, they began to pat my head vigorously.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing when strangers pat my head.’

But there’s something about the familiar scent of grandparents, you could say.

It’s a very cozy smell, so I don’t feel any aversion to it, I think, as I try to calm my wildly wagging tail.

Then, one of the Elder Dragons asked me a question.

“Perseus was saying that you, Ha-eun, like ice cream, is that right?”

Could it be that the Spirit User Uncle told Perseus?

I nodded, thinking it was highly likely.

He smiled kindly and told me something strange.

 

“I’ll buy you an ice cream shop. Eat as much as you want whenever you want.”

“…?”

A shop, not just ice cream…?

Wondering if he had misspoken, I tilted my head in confusion.

As a nearby golem was approaching with what looked like some documents, I hastily shook my head.

“Ah, no thanks!”