Raise Me, So That I Can Eat You Up - Chapter 6

‘……Isn’t this cute to the point of being harmful?’

The fear was momentary; its lethal cuteness broke down my defenses.

No sooner had I thought this than a startled Leon pointed his sword at the Black Dragon.

“Leon. Put the sword away.”

“Are you crazy? You put your hand away, sis. This is a dragon.”

“It’s still just a baby.”

“Don’t you know hatchlings are more ferocious than adults?”

“It’s behaving well in my arms. Don’t make a fuss. It’s not attacking first.”

I managed to calm Leon down, but he still seemed unable to fully let his guard down.

‘A hidden quest, huh. Even if it’s a game without much substance, there must be a reason.’

Alright, let’s summarize the situation.

First, I was attacked… no, imprinted on by a newly hatched Black Dragon.

If I organize the information I’ve gathered so far, it’s like this:

1. The system called this one a ‘sleeping time bomb’. I woke up this time bomb following the system’s instructions.
2. Every time I saw an ending, I saw a rampaging black dragon. Of course, that was an adult, but it was clearly a Black Dragon. Just like the one in front of me now.
3. Above all, these eyes. These ruby-like, brilliant red eyes are exactly the same. I’ve seen them several times, so I couldn’t forget.

‘Then…… is this the problematic rampaging dragon?’

It seems I’ve picked up something tremendous.

As my thoughts reached this point, my head started to throb.

I need more information for now. I decided to start with introductions with the Black Dragon.

“My name is Ariella. What’s your name, Dragon?”

“……”

The Black Dragon didn’t answer. It just stared up at me with its red eyes.

[System: Quest! The Dignity of Imprinting. ‘Black Dragon’ doesn’t have a name yet. Please give it a suitable name.]

So it doesn’t have a name yet. Probably because it doesn’t have a mother. I felt sorry for it somehow.

“Let’s get out of here before the mother returns. It’ll be really bad if we encounter her.”

Leon kept urging, seemingly anxious.

“I don’t think there’s a mother.”

“How would you know that, sis?”

“If there was, it wouldn’t be this messy here.”

Although it was an altar with a barrier, it was dirty as if it had been neglected for a very long time.

‘A mother wouldn’t raise her child in a place like this.’

I decided to check directly with the Black Dragon. Since it looks like a three or four-year-old child, maybe it could answer.

“Dragon, where’s your mom?”

The Black Dragon shook its head as if it had been waiting for this question.

“See? There isn’t one.”

“Even if there isn’t, what’s that got to do with us?”

“Leon.”

“Are you planning to take it and raise it?”

Leon had an exasperated expression.

“How can we leave such a young baby alone?”

“It’s not a baby, it’s a dragon, I’m telling you.”

“……”

“Sis, I understand you feel sorry for it, but think carefully. Don’t you know it’ll be troublesome if we get involved carelessly?”

The reason Leon was saying this was related to the founding myth of the Perdian Empire.

‘The person who read even the world’s founding myth to conquer a trash character is right here.’

That persistent person was none other than me.

In the beginning, there was a dragon, and the child born from its love with a human became the first emperor. This was the content of the myth.

The bloodline of the dragon.

That was the very legitimacy that the imperial family claimed.

Conversely, forces trying to overthrow the imperial family were also obsessed with dragons.

Inevitably, as generations passed, the dragon’s blood would become diluted. Their logic was that they were newly chosen by the dragon.

Historically, there had been several attempted rebellions, all of which were carried out through contracts with dragons.

The imperial family inevitably had to be sensitive about dragon issues.

‘Leon’s words make sense too. What should I do?’

I felt like I hadn’t thought about the consequences because of the system’s urging. I slowly loosened my arms that were holding the Black Dragon.

But the baby Black Dragon burrowed deeper into my embrace.

‘Why does it tug at my heartstrings so much?’

Is it because of the imprinting? As my heart was in turmoil, that’s when it happened.

“……Oscar.”

The Black Dragon mumbled and touched my face.

“Do you like that name? Shall we go with that?”

“Mmm.”

Seeing the little fingers wiggling on my cheek, I couldn’t turn away.

“Alright. Dragon, your name is Oscar now.”

[System: Thank you. ‘Black Dragon’s’ name is now ‘Oscar’.]

Oscar seemed pleased and nuzzled its face into my embrace.

‘There must be a reason why this time bomb came into my arms.’

When it suddenly called it a time bomb, I wondered if it was some kind of landmine. But it seems like a fundamental solution to this crazy party has appeared.

‘Does it mean I should defuse the bomb myself?’

A new goal for survival was just added.

[Let’s try to raise the dragon well and prevent the rampaging ending.]

Born from an abandoned egg, no one would have taught it. It’s still a baby, so there’s room for improvement.

Let’s teach it how to control its anger and release it healthily.

I clenched my fist.

‘……Ah, but others get dating sims and reverse harems! Why am I the only one with survival-type dragon parenting?’

Ah. Reality hit.

The strength left my clenched fist, and I sighed involuntarily.

‘I like handsome guys too. I want to seduce male leads and have a passionate romance of the century.’

I lamented my situation, but what could I do?

What if I fail?

I’d die, of course.

This wasn’t a choice but a necessity anyway.

‘Yeah, if I can raise it well and live a long, healthy life!’

It felt like I was sweating from my eyes, but I had no choice. Absolute survival took priority over love.

“What Oscar! I told you not to get attached!”

Leon was the problem.

“Leon. There’s something I forgot to tell you.”

“What.”

“I think I’ve done something called imprinting with the dragon.”

At my bombshell, Leon’s face contorted terribly. I stuck out my tongue, embarrassed.

“How do you know that?”

“Want to see?”

I picked up Oscar and sat him on the altar.

And when I moved away, Oscar couldn’t bear it even for a moment and ran to hug me.

“See?”

“……Couldn’t it just be that it likes you, sis?”

“Maybe. But what’s certain is that it will follow me.”

No matter how many times I repeated the same experiment, the result was consistent. I smiled confidently.

“What do you think will happen if the imperial family finds out a dragon is following me?”

“……”

Our peaceful life would end that very day. That much was clear.

Leon’s face hardened.

“If it’s going to follow us around and get discovered anyway, isn’t it better if we hide it and raise it ourselves?”

“Haa……”

Leon let out a long sigh.

But as he listened, it seemed to make sense, and he slowly nodded.

“When it becomes an adult, it goes to the Dragon Ravine. That’s the dragon’s habit, right?”

“That’s true, but… Are you really going to raise it?”

“Yeah. Lend me your ear for a moment.”

I gestured to Leon to whisper.

“……Let’s raise it well without getting caught and send it to the ravine.”

“What?”

“Wouldn’t that be a ‘perfect crime’?”

Not knowing or understanding what I was saying, Oscar looked at me with an innocent expression.

Leon rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.

“……Then what about Father?”

“Hm?”

“What are you planning to tell him?”

“Let’s think about it as we go.”

Of course, there was no way I had a plan. Leon took off his outer coat, wrapped it around Oscar, and held out his hand.

“Give it here.”

“Huh?”

“You said we’re taking it with us. We need to leave the way we came in. Are you going to carry it?”

When I looked at him with wide eyes, he avoided my gaze.

“……You were having trouble even walking.”

Finding his behavior cute, I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you seem kind of cute.”

“You’re the only one who didn’t know. I’ve always been cute.”

Leon grumbled as if embarrassed, but his face turned red.

Then he took Oscar from me and held him.

“Hng.”

Oscar’s face contorted as if about to cry.

The way he stretched out his tiny hands and struggled to return to me made me want to bite him.

“I didn’t hold you because I like you either.”

Leon retorted sulkily while rocking Oscar. I leaned my face towards Oscar and smiled brightly.

“I’ll hold you all you want once we’re out of this cave. Okay?”

It was cute how he nodded while puffing his cheeks.

[System: ‘Find the sleeping time bomb’ quest completed!]

[System: ‘The Dignity of Imprinting’ quest completed!]

[System: As a reward, you have acquired ‘A Toddling Time Bomb’.]

Seeing that, I started to leave the cave with Leon and the baby dragon, Oscar.

Oscar smiled like an angel every time our eyes met.

[System: ‘Oscar (Black Dragon, Psychopath Hatchling)’ likes you.]

Psy… what?…… I must have heard wrong, right? The system seemed to have muttered something ominous.

***

We arrived at the mansion late in the evening.

“How cute. It’s asleep.”

Despite throwing a tantrum earlier about not wanting to be held, Oscar was sound asleep in Leon’s arms, apparently finding them comfortable.

The way he mumbled in his sleep and breathed evenly was endearing.

“Eh- phew. What a sight this is.”

“It seems Oscar was tired too.”

“As if I’m not tired myself.”

While constantly grumbling, Leon gently stroked Oscar’s hair, seemingly finding him cute.

“Sis, why did you want to go there earlier?”

“You mean the cave?”

“Yeah. You said you’d explain.”

I can’t keep putting it off forever. What should I do? My head started to throb.

“Well, that, it felt like I had to do it.”

“What do you mean? Really.”

“It’s like I heard a voice in my head.”

“……”

Leon was silent, his expression deep in thought.

‘Did I say too much off the top of my head?’

I couldn’t outright mention the system, and suddenly making something up seemed vague.

“Well. It’s either holy power or mental illness.”

“……I guess so?”

“Considering you discovered a dragon, it’s probably holy power. Is being a saint your dream?”

“Not at all.”

“Then I’ll keep it a secret.”

Leon smiled as if he was doing me a favor.

Perhaps because of his experience struggling with the unwanted Sword Master title, he seemed to understand the difficulties.

“Should I put it in your room?”

“Yeah. That seems best for now.”

“Have you thought about what to tell others?”

“Still thinking.”

Father would find out tomorrow anyway, but today I didn’t have the energy to lift a finger.

Maybe it’s because my body was so tired, but I couldn’t think of a suitable excuse.

“Then we should go this way.”

Leon and I used the secret passage we had used since childhood to avoid the eyes of the employees.

“Open the door, please. Sis.”

“Okay.”

Just as we arrived at my room door after much difficulty and opened it-

“Where have you been at this hour?”

‘We’re screwed.’

Father, Viscount Hayworth, was glaring at us from inside the room.