Raise Me, So That I Can Eat You Up - Chapter 26

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“Ari. Who’s that mister?”

Oscar asked with a bright face.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he looked outwardly calm without any signs of distress.

However, from my perspective having seen the system, that smile felt more like a ticking time bomb.

‘How should I introduce him?’

How could I successfully introduce them without offending Oscar?

My mind went blank.

“…Um, well, he’s someone who helped me.”

For now, I decided to establish that we had a close relationship.

Oscar had a nasty basic personality, but he was different towards people I liked.

‘He showed less aggression towards my people. Even when angry, he would hold back.’

It was the same with the maids, and with Leon or Viscount Hayworth.

“He helped Ari?”

Oscar tilted his head.

“Yes. He lent me a book, and he opened the door when I was locked in.”

“When?”

“You know that day I came home late? That day……”

“……”

Oscar’s expression darkened subtly.

‘Ah, right. Did I remind him of an unpleasant memory?’

That was the day Oscar had devastated my room and crawled under the bed.

‘I was thoughtless. I need to fix this quickly.’

I cleared my throat unnecessarily and smiled gently.

“So, what I mean is! This person is a ‘good person’.”

“A good person?”

Perhaps it didn’t resonate with him to suddenly call someone a good person. Oscar had a blank expression.

“Like, you know the ‘friend’ that appears in fairy tales? He’s like that ‘friend’.”

Sigh, being a homebody without friends, I had to resort to examples from fairy tales.

If I had known this would happen, I should have made some friends. It was giving me a headache to come up with such implausible excuses. But Oscar was smart, so he should have understood what I meant.

“……”

Oscar.

“……”

Benedict.

“……”

Leon.

Embarrassingly, all three men remained silent with expressionless faces.

“Right, Grand Magician?”

Benedict seemed a bit flustered by the sudden ‘friend talk’.

‘Well, it is a bit of a stretch to call him a friend.’

It hadn’t been long since we started interacting like this. And Benedict wasn’t the type to keep people around him in the first place.

Did I overdo it? I think I made an excessive excuse because I was in a hurry.

But what could I do? Preventing Oscar’s rampage was the top priority.

‘Mr. Magician, please save me. If he goes on a rampage, this dinner will be our last supper.’

I clasped my hands together and shot him a desperate look.

“Sis has a friend? Now I’ve seen everything.”

I heard Leon’s sarcastic comment.

‘As always, he’s not helpful in life.’

I wanted to glare at him, but it seemed wiser to plead with Benedict right now.

I decided to treat Leon as if he were invisible.

“That’s right. Friend.”

After a moment of silence, Benedict, seemingly having read my desperation, answered readily.

‘Thank you so much for pretending to be close. I’ll definitely repay this favor on top of the compensation.’

I smiled warmly and then checked Oscar’s expression.

“……”

He still had a blank expression that made it impossible to read his thoughts.

Oscar got down from his chair and toddled towards Benedict.

“Mister.”

Then he held out his maple leaf-like hand, offering a handshake first.

“I’m Oscar.”

“……”

Benedict seemed taken aback by Oscar’s sudden action.

I was surprised too. I had only called him a friend hoping he wouldn’t be hostile.

I never imagined he would offer his hand first like this.

“What’s your name, mister?”

Oscar looked up at him with bright red eyes. After hesitating for a moment, Benedict accepted the handshake.

“I’m Benedict O’Neil.”

“Okay. Mister.”

……If he was going to call him mister anyway, why did he ask for his name?

The dragon I was raising was truly eccentric.

“What’s the dragon language? Are you talking about dragons?”

“Yes, little one. The script used by dragons is called ‘dragon language’.”

Oscar made a profound expression and then spread out one palm.

“Oscar is five years old.”

“Pardon?”

“One, two, three, four, five.”

And he counted his fingers one by one.

‘I wonder who he takes after. He lies so naturally.’

Moreover, his acting skills are top-notch. I reflected on whether I had shown him too much of this kind of behavior.

‘Judging by appearance, he certainly looks like a five-year-old child.’

I grew more anxious, not knowing what Oscar’s intentions were.

“How old are you, mister?”

“I’m twenty-five years old.”

“Wow, that’s a lot!”

Oscar clapped his hands in admiration.

“I can’t count that on my fingers. Oscar can’t.”

Then he spread both hands wide and wiggled his fingers, folding them.

Since he had ten fingers, it was only natural.

“Even with toes, I can’t count it all.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Benedict answered soullessly.

‘I wonder if he doesn’t like being called old.’

He must feel like he’s been hit by the child’s innocence. I laughed silently.

“Oscar knows how to write his name. Do you?”

“I’m old enough to know how.”

“Oscar likes dragons. Picture book. Grrrr!”

Oscar raised both hands like claws and lunged at Benedict’s knees.

There was no time to stop him. For a moment, I felt dizzy and pressed my brow.

“You must have seen it in a picture book.”

Fortunately, Benedict readily accepted Oscar’s antics.

“Yes. You know, Oscar is going to become a dragon when he grows up.”

Oscar seemed to like Benedict’s response, resting his chin on his knees and clinging to him.

He looked excited, just like a child talking about their future dream.

“Do you see Oscar as a dragon, mister?”

“Pardon?”

At Oscar’s bombshell statement, I felt my heart sink, unable to even open my mouth.

‘Could he be trying to come out as a dragon?’

I must stop that at all costs!

Just as I was about to intervene, Oscar began to act up.

“Oscar did it! Hehe! Roaaar! Grrrr!”

Thankfully, that wasn’t the dragon’s rampage.

I watched with empty eyes as Oscar spun around wildly, jumping up and down on the spot.

Yes. Anyone would see that as nothing but a five-year-old child.

“I’m, I’m sorry. He’s been a bit too obsessed with dragon fairy tales lately.”

I picked Oscar up in my arms and once again drove the point home.

“You know how all kids are at that age, right? When I was five, I thought I was a fairy or an angel!”

Ah, this awkward atmosphere. I feel like crying.

At times like this, I should push even harder.

“I still get confused sometimes! When I look in the mirror, I say, ‘Hello, angel? When did you descend? I’m blinded by your radiance.’ Hahaha. It’s normal for a child! Hahahaha!”

I was so busy making excuses that I was almost out of breath. My face turned bright red.

Oscar, who had suddenly become quiet, whispered in my ear.

“Ari.”

“Yes?”

“Put me down. I still have something to say to the mister.”

“Can’t we not do that?”

“No.”

Oscar was adamant. Since my priority was to prevent his outburst, I had no choice but to humor him.

“Promise to behave, okay?”

“Okay.”

I hope he doesn’t cause any trouble. I reluctantly put Oscar down.

“Mister.”

Oscar rushed to Benedict and clung to him again.

“Yes.”

“Oscar saw squiggles in the storybook.”

Squiggles? What on earth is he talking about? It was completely unpredictable.

“Squiggles?”

“Yes. I copied them exactly.”

“In that thick book?”

“Uh-huh.”

From the context of the conversation, it seemed he had seen dragon language in a storybook and simply copied it into the ‘Dragon Encyclopedia’.

‘Sigh, what an implausible excuse.’

It was also a blatant lie with no basis.

‘I wonder who he takes after to be so brazen.’

I had a hard time controlling my expression as a headache came on.

“Which storybook was it?”

Benedict asked.

‘See, I knew he would ask that if you made up such an excuse!’

I wanted to beat my chest in frustration.

“Don’t know. Can’t remember.”

Oscar grinned and played innocent. Then he added coyly.

“Oscar wants to see that again. Mister, find it for me.”

He meant, if you’re curious, you find it yourself.

‘Wow… As he grew up. He evolved to be even more troublesome.’

Well, what could I do? I was the very person who raised him to be like this.

I could neither do this nor that, and just kept watching Benedict’s reaction.

Benedict chuckled as if he found it amusing.

“Lady Hayworth.”

And then he changed his target to me.

See! You cause trouble, but I have to clean it up. My head was spinning, and everything went dark before my eyes.

“Ah, I’m, I’m sorry. I don’t really understand what the baby is saying either……”

“It’s alright. The little one is correct, so I’ll look for it by next week.”

“Ne, next week?”

Can this be resolved so simply? I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

“And about the compensation.”

“Ah, yes.”

“As part of the compensation, I’d like to see the little one every week.”

“The baby?”

“Yes, I like babies. I feel healed just by looking at them. And a baby who likes dragons would be even better.”

No, for someone who says they like babies, you’re too expressionless!

‘Sigh, something feels uneasy.’

Although his face was soulless, Benedict was always like that, so I couldn’t tell from his expression.

‘And he wants to meet weekly because it’s a baby who likes dragons?’

It was unsettling and neither easily acceptable nor understandable.

‘But what can I do? I’m not in a position to refuse.’

I decided to ask Oscar’s opinion first.

“Master Oscar, would that be okay?”

I whispered to Oscar as if in secret.

Please refuse. Say you don’t like it!

Please stop this march of hardship on my behalf!

It seemed better to endure a lifetime of hard labor than to compensate on such thin ice.

“I like the mister too. If Ari likes him, I like him too.”

As expected. Oscar wouldn’t understand my desperate wishes.

Since even Oscar said he liked it, there was no way out.

‘What’s with this enthusiastic response?’

Oscar was smiling as brightly as a flower.

But I found that beaming smile strangely irritating.

No, it gave me goosebumps for some reason.