The room held its breath as the newborn dragon, small and gleaming like a polished pearl, looked at Lyria and squealed with a wide, innocent grin:
Lyria flinched, stunned by the declaration. The warmth in the creature’s voice shook her for a moment. She instinctively held it closer.
Before she could process it, the dragon turned to Kael, blinking twice.
Then, in a softer voice, it cooed—
Kael’s brain short-circuited.
Ramos, who had been frozen mid-step, immediately pointed at Kael with a look of wild disbelief. "Why is it calling you Papa?"
"Don’t give me that look, old man!" Kael shouted, backing up. "I’m not its Papa! There’s no way!"
The dragon’s gaze fell, and its silvery eyes shimmered with moisture. Its tiny lips trembled.
A second later, fat drops of water began to slide down its cheeks as its little body started to shake.
The ground trembled with it.
"Oh no no no—shh, it’s okay, sweetie!" Lyria panicked and gently rocked the dragon. "Papa is just joking, isn’t he, Papa?"
Kael’s entire body stiffened like he’d just stepped into a puddle of dogshit barefoot.
"Being called Papa when I’m not even married... what is this cursed timeline..."
Still, the trembling dragon’s sobs were too pitiful. Its glimmering, pearl-white scales twitched with emotion, and its fragile wings drooped.
Kael looked at it, sighed, and gave in.
He knelt down, awkwardly extending a hand and patting its tiny head. The dragon sniffled, looking up with big, glossy eyes.
"Papa is joking," Kael muttered through gritted teeth. "Papa... loves dragons."
The little dumpling-like creature blinked at him, its teary eyes demanding further confirmation.
Kael let out another long, reluctant sigh.
"...Of course, Papa loves you most."
At that, a radiant smile bloomed on the dragon’s face, so wide and pure that it felt like the clouds outside parted just for it.
Lyria exhaled in relief and cradled the creature closer.
Kael, meanwhile, squinted suspiciously. ’Wait a sec... Caroline was a blue dragon. Why is this one white?’
He scratched his head.
’White... is this also an ice element dragon?’
Before he could think further, the baby dragon had begun to wiggle around, exploring the area. Lyria, who usually wore a stone-cold expression, now had a soft, glowing look of affection on her face.
Ramos, staring at the trio like he’d walked into someone else’s dream, rubbed his eyes. "I must be hallucinating..."
But the cuteness... the sheer cuddliness of that small creature... Ramos couldn’t resist. He reached forward, fingers trembling.
A distressed cry rang out as the dragon darted back into Lyria’s arms, burying itself in her warmth.
"It’s okay," Lyria whispered gently, stroking the soft tufts of fur along its neck. "He’s not scary. That’s... um, Grandpa. Papa’s Papa."
The dragon peeked up, blinking.
Its head slowly turned toward Ramos.
Then, upon seeing Ramos’s wild hair, scarred chin, and ragged cloak, his eyes welled up again.
Kael shoved Ramos aside with both arms. "Get away from her, you goblin! You’re traumatizing her!"
"The hell did you just say, bastard?!"
Ramos’s face turned red as he stepped forward, fists clenched. "Say that again, I dare you!"
Just as Kael cracked his knuckles to respond—
The room shook violently.
A wave of crimson pressure filled the air. Both men snapped their heads toward the source.
Lyria stood there, eyes glowing with fury. Her two horns had grown longer and sharper, her crimson hair swirling in the air like fire threads.
Her voice came low and cold:
"If you want to fight, get out of here."
Kael and Ramos froze like deer in headlights.
"What the f—" they started in unison.
A sudden blast of force hurled both of them out of the room like ragdolls.
They landed in the hallway with a loud thud, groaning in pain.
Inside, the baby dragon nestled deeper into Lyria’s arms, now fully calm, and let out a contented hum.
Lyria gently rubbed its head.
"There, there... Mama’s here."
Outside, Kael groaned. "This... this isn’t over..."
Ramos spat out a tooth. "I’m gonna file a report to the Grand Duke about this..."
Ramos was still frozen, pointing at Kael in disbelief. His voice finally broke through the silence like thunder.
"You... did you make out with a dragon?!"
Kael staggered back as if slapped by lightning. "Of course not! Stop those perverted thoughts, old man!"
"Then how the hell did you become its papa?!"
Kael cast him a withering glare, eyes filled with utter disbelief. "Did you hit your head when you were born?"
Ramos narrowed his eyes. "What did you mean by that?"
"I meant exactly what I said," Kael snapped. "Don’t you know newborns—especially magical beasts—often assume the first people they see are their parents?"
"What? For real?" Ramos looked stunned.
Kael’s expression dropped deadpan. "You’re so old and still don’t know this? Yet you go around claiming to be an expert who’s satisfied thousands of women?"
Ramos punched him square on the head. "That’s an entirely different skill set, you dumb idiot."
Kael rubbed his head with a wince while muttering curses under his breath. Ramos calmed down after a moment and crossed his arms.
"When I tried touching the dragon, I measured its mana pulse. It’s just born, but it’s already at C-rank. That’s concerning."
Kael didn’t look surprised. "That’s expected. All true dragons are like that. Their bloodline is built differently."
"Adult dragons are either SSS-rank or straight-up demigods. They don’t even need to train. Just sleep, grow, and they’ll eventually get there... if they don’t die young."
Ramos nodded with a grunt. "Monstrous creatures."
"We can’t do much about her strength," Kael added. "Let’s just take it slow and make sure she doesn’t burn the house down."
Then Kael tilted his head. "By the way, how do you think Dad will react?"
Ramos went silent, then let out a hollow laugh. "Hah... knowing that heartless brick wall, I’d be surprised if he even blinked. For him, she’s probably just ’another mouth to feed.’"
They both sighed at the same time.
Inside, the little silvery white dragon snuggled into Lyria’s lap, tail wagging softly as she hummed a lullaby, completely unaware of the chaos she had caused.