Raise Me, So That I Can Eat You Up - Chapter 33

He must have leveled up to ‘Lv2. Tempestuous Hatchling’.

I thought Oscar would need his own space now. So I made a separate room for him.

Today was the first night of sleeping separately.

“From today on, you need to sleep by yourself. Can you do that?”

“Shisder.”

When told to sleep alone, Oscar used his baby talk that he hadn’t used in a while.

‘I guess he still wants to be babied.’

I had to resist the urge to scoop up this clingy hatchling and kidnap him to my room.

Though he was cute, I couldn’t give in. Oscar would keep growing, and we couldn’t sleep together forever.

It was my duty to help him become independent when the time came.

I stroked Oscar’s hair and met his gaze.

“No baby talk, please. Is Oscar still a baby?”

“Yesh. Don’t know how to shleep alone. Oscar still baby.”

This little rascal. He deliberately made puppy eyes and put on a pitiful expression.

It was all a ploy to weaken my resolve.

‘I can’t lose to mere puppy eyes.’

If I couldn’t properly control Oscar, I wouldn’t be able to protect, raise, or educate him.

I didn’t want to become a guardian who gets pushed around.

So, I decided to use my secret weapon.

“Oh, really? I thought you were a gallant and cool hatchling now. But you’re still a baby?”

“…”

“I must have been mistaken. Babies can’t sleep alone. That was close. We should sleep together then.”

At that, a crack appeared in Oscar’s red eyes.

‘A gallant and cool hatchling’ – probably too sweet a title to let slip away.

“Oscar not baby.”

“But you just said Oscar was still a baby.”

“No. No baby talk. Oscar gallant and cool hatchling.”

“Hmm… well, gallant and cool hatchlings can sleep by themselves. Can Oscar sleep alone too?”

“Yes.”

“Wow~ Ah, that’s amazing! I knew it. Because you’re so brave and strong.”

I deliberately clapped and made a fuss.

Oscar, drunk on being called a ‘brave and cool hatchling’, seemed to have made up his mind to sleep alone.

I took the opportunity to lay Oscar in bed and pull up the covers.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pat you until you fall asleep.”

“Yes!”

Oscar, not wanting me to leave, tried hard to keep his eyes wide open.

But it seemed he couldn’t fight against my patting technique and his drooping eyelids.

Soon enough, his steady breathing showed he was sound asleep, looking utterly lovable.

I too found it hard to leave such an adorable Oscar.

‘I can’t get weak. What next, following him to the ravine?’

Though it would be nice if possible.

But dragons were said to be independent by nature, so it wasn’t possible.

I squeezed my eyes shut and returned to my room.

“A drink after parenting duties. Perfect.”

And I raised a toast to celebrate Oscar’s first independence and my liberation.

Though I desperately wanted a beer, I made do with champagne instead. Well, champagne had its own self-congratulatory feel to it, so it wasn’t bad.

“Sleeping alone. My Oscar has really grown up.”

An indescribable pride washed over me. From now on was time purely for myself.

“Maybe I’ll catch up on some reading.”

Though Oscar was cute, sometimes I desperately needed time alone. Except for sword training, we were together almost 24 hours a day. It was inevitable.

I took out the bundle of books Benedict had delivered. I had hidden them where Oscar couldn’t reach them.

“Yes. I choose you for tonight.”

<The Circumstances of the Virile Male Lead 3>

Seems the sequel came out already.

Perhaps because I enjoyed the previous one so much. My heart swelled at the thought of reading the next volume.

“Let’s see just how virile he’s become.”

I don’t even remember the last time I enjoyed such freedom. I turned the pages with a twitching smile.

Knock knock. There was a knocking sound.

‘Who could it be at this hour?’

I hid the book under my pillow and carefully opened the door.

Through the gap, a little red-eyed one poked his head in. It was Oscar.

‘How cute. Seems he wants to sleep together.’

It was natural to feel strange on the first day.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? What’s wrong?”

I forcefully held back my smile at his cuteness and deliberately played dumb.

“Legs hurt. Hurts.”

Oscar, hugging his pillow tightly, made the most vulnerable expression in the world.

“Your legs hurt and you can’t sleep?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think you could sleep if I massage them?”

“Yes.”

“Then come in for a moment.”

When I readily agreed, Oscar entered with a bright smile. I picked him up and laid him on the bed.

With gentle hands, I massaged his legs softly.

“Does that feel better?”

“Yes. Hehe.”

When Oscar broke into a big smile, I let go of his legs.

“Would you like to go back to your room and sleep now?”

“Ugh, this side still hurts.”

When I tried to tease him, he immediately grabbed his calf.

‘What a crafty little one.’

I lightly tapped Oscar’s nose with my fingertip and smirked.

“Just for tonight, okay? From tomorrow, you’ll sleep bravely by yourself.”

“I saw a ghost in my room. A really big ghost!”

Oscar hastily made excuses to justify why he had come to my room.

‘This little one who can bend swords with bare hands is afraid of ghosts?’

Perhaps he just didn’t want to sleep alone. His continued excuses were utterly adorable.

“Oh right. I have something to give you.”

“Hm?”

“First, close your eyes.”

Oscar squeezed his eyes shut.

“Don’t open them until I say so.”

“Okay.”

I quickly took out the necklace I had kept in the bedside drawer and put it around Oscar’s neck.

‘It fits perfectly.’

The pendant on the necklace gleamed softly in the moonlight.

His tightly closed eyes looked so cute that I gave his eyelids a light kiss, making Oscar’s eyelashes flutter.

‘How cute.’

My lips curved up involuntarily at his adorable appearance.

“You can open your eyes now.”

When given permission, Oscar drowsily opened his eyes. I held up a hand mirror with a gentle smile.

Oscar curiously looked at his reflection from different angles.

“How is it? Pretty, right?”

“…What is this?”

Oscar seemed still dazed by the unexpected gift.

“It’s a magic stone that can hold human energy.”

“Magic stone?”

“Yes. I asked Leon to buy it from the magic shop. Since you seem uneasy without me.”

“Heh…”

I bought it on a whim, but could he really feel my energy from it?

Oscar fiddled with the pendant for a long while.

“When you wear this, it’ll feel like I’m always with you.”

“Tch. You could just stay with me instead.”

I ruffled Oscar’s hair as he grumbled.

“You might want to be alone sometimes.”

“…Ari. Do you want to be alone?”

“No, not me. I mean you.”

Oscar’s eyes went wide. Perhaps he thought that impossible.

‘They say dragons become independent when they reach maturity.’

Sadly, that was instinct. Dragon instincts could never be defied.

Someday he would leave my side, and I worried about Oscar who couldn’t sleep alone.

‘Well, maybe I’m worrying for nothing.’

I was well aware of dragons’ independent nature.

‘When he matures, he might completely forget about someone like me.’

Either way, I felt I should treat him well while he was still with me.

“Marriage is when humans live together forever with someone they love, right?”

Perhaps because of Henry’s visit, Oscar suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“That’s right.”

“Were you going to live with Prince uncle forever?”

He seemed to have been thinking about my former engagement to Henry. I answered with a faint smile.

“That’s all in the past.”

“Are you not getting married now?”

“No. I’m not going anywhere, I’ll stay by Oscar’s side.”

“Is it because of Oscar?”

Well, that wasn’t wrong.

Looking at the ending, the dragon goes berserk, making me give up on the male lead and decide to remain single.

“No, it’s not like that.”

Still, looking at that cute face, I couldn’t bring myself to say it was because of him.

Living with Oscar, I felt a different kind of happiness than when pursuing the male leads.

It was a heavier emotion, different from heart-fluttering romance. This wasn’t bad in its own way. If I could just continue living like this, marriage and such… I felt it wouldn’t matter if I never did.

‘Why did Oscar go berserk?’

Suddenly, a fundamental question occurred to me.

Why did the system give only me such cruel trials and demand I solve them myself?

The imprinting right when he saw me, too. Why does he act terribly toward others but unconditionally follow my words?

Everything was questionable, but one thing was clear – I was Oscar’s guardian.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t one-sided protection. I too was growing and healing because of Oscar.

‘Could Oscar live without me? No, could I live without Oscar?’

Just thinking about it made my heart sink heavily.

Someday he would need to become independent and go to the ravine. And I would need to find my own life. But I couldn’t face that yet.

‘How should I live after Oscar leaves?’

While lost in thought, Oscar suddenly got up, knelt on one knee, and took my hand.

“Ari. Will you marry Oscar?”

“So suddenly?”

How silly. I burst out laughing at Oscar’s sudden proposal. Unlike me who kept laughing, Oscar looked quite serious.

“Hmph. Oscar’s not joking.”

“I know you’re serious. But where did you learn about this?”

“Saw it in a storybook. The princess and prince lived happily ever after.”

Well, true. Fairy tales always end with ‘they got married and lived happily ever after.’

‘Will such a thing happen in this life?’

Would such days come for me too, after raising Oscar well and safely sending him to the ravine?

It seemed too distant and unreachable, making me laugh self-deprecatingly.

‘But it’s too cute a proposal to reject.’

Looking at the little one with his serious sparkling eyes, it was hard to refuse outright.

“I’ll think about it when you’re grown up.”

Though by then, he would already be gone. I hugged Oscar tightly, loving his innocent face looking up at me.