Raise Me, So That I Can Eat You Up - Chapter 7

The tension was palpable.

Leon and I froze as if we’d seen Medusa from the legends.

‘Think of anything. Please.’

Maybe it was because of the piercing gaze, but no matter how hard I tried, my mind went blank.

“Leon Hayworth.”

Viscount Hayworth called Leon. His voice was as cold as frost.

“Answer me.”

“Ye- Yes sir!”

“I sent you to protect the country, but it seems you’ve been fooling around somewhere.”

When Leon answered in a panic, a harsh rebuke followed.

“……What?”

As expected, Viscount Hayworth’s gaze was fixed precisely on Oscar.

“I’ll ask you directly. Is it your child?”

“Wh- What are you talking about……”

“You neglected such a young child, leaving it half-naked, and now you bring it here?”

Viscount Hayworth seemed to be making a strange misunderstanding.

Before I could even grasp what he was talking about specifically, he fired off accusations relentlessly.

“Did you just bring the child? What about the child’s mother?”

“Father. That’s……”

“Can you even call yourself a man after this?”

While Leon stood there with a blank expression, unable to continue, the narrative was developing further.

‘No, how far did you imagine from just a glance?’

As I was about to step in and explain, Leon, seemingly feeling wronged, grumbled.

“N-No, it’s not like I have a hidden son or anything.”

“Then how will you explain this?”

“This is sis’s……”

“Blaming your innocent sister makes it even more despicable.”

As soon as the word ‘sis’ left Leon’s mouth, he cut him off without even listening.

Viscount Hayworth’s eyes flashed fiercely.

“I’m telling you, sis did it!”

“There’s no way Ari would do such a thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because our Ari is perfection itself.”

For a moment, I doubted my ears. It was a completely baseless and blind defense.

“Our Ari is beautiful, smart, kind, domestic, and utterly perfect.”

I blushed with embarrassment at the nuclear-level doting that came out like a dialect.

‘I knew I was a cherished child, but was he this much of a daughter-idolizer?’

In fact, today was also my first time meeting Father, Viscount Hayworth.

I hadn’t known this fact at all because he had been away in another territory until now.

“I’m so hurt. Father, why do you only favor sis?”

“Because our Ari is perfection itself.”

Leon huffed, feeling wronged. I thought he was about to start round two with the same repertoire, but then Oscar opened his eyes.

‘Oh no. He must have woken up because it’s too noisy.’

His red eyes blinked tearfully. They were filled with fear.

“I’m the one who brought him. Both of you, please stop.”

I tried to smooth things over, but it seemed too late.

Oscar’s soft cheeks quivered, and he burst into tears.

“Waaah- Aaah aaah- Wah!”

I tried to approach and comfort him, but something was off. Oscar’s red eyes turned even redder, and his body started emitting a black light.

‘……What’s this?’

That ominous light engulfed his small body in an instant.

[Beeeep!]

A convulsive cry was heard.

When the black veil lifted, Oscar was gone.

‘We’re doomed.’

Instead, there was only a pitch-black hatchling glaring at us.

Oscar growled and bared his teeth. The way he twisted and thrashed his entire body showed extraordinary strength.

‘……What should I do.’

Did I pick up something too dangerous without any fear? I fell into a momentary panic seeing Oscar in his raw form.

Even during that chaos, Oscar was reaching out to me. It was a desperate gesture as if trying to come to me.

‘Could it be he wants me to hold him?’

I remembered how he had pouted in the cave, wanting to be held.

‘Right. I promised to hold him once we left the cave.’

Having reached a quick conclusion, I urgently called out to Leon.

“Leon. Put Oscar down.”

“He’s dangerous right now. I’ll subdue him.”

Leon was holding on with all his might, but he looked overwhelmed, almost staggering.

“It’s more dangerous for you to hold him.”

“……But still……!”

“If you persist, both you and Oscar will get hurt. Hurry.”

Leon reluctantly put Oscar down.

‘As expected.’

Oscar immediately came into the folds of my skirt, as if he had been waiting for this.

Red ruby-like eyes looked up at me. They were clearly Oscar’s eyes.

I examined Oscar, now transformed into a dragon, once again.

The proportions were close to three heads tall. The wings were so small that I wondered if he could fly with them.

Additionally, short limbs and a plump tail.

‘It sounds crazy, but it’s cute.’

It seems a bit clumsy to be the terrifying dragon I’ve seen in picture books.

‘Poor thing. It’s still trembling.’

Oscar was shivering. Still panting, as if the anger hadn’t fully subsided.

I carefully reached out and stroked Oscar’s forehead.

I thought it would be cold, but it was unexpected. The touch felt quite soft and warm on my fingertips.

[Peeep.]

A small cry was heard. Unlike before, it was a slightly more subdued cry.

“I’m sorry. Were you very surprised?”

[Peep.]

I bent my knees to meet his gaze. And I hugged Oscar tightly.

“It’s okay. You’re safe here. This is my room.”

[Kyuuu.]

I slowly stroked Oscar’s back to reassure him. Oscar seemed to calm down a bit too, relaxing in my arms.

“Hing.”

Then, as if by magic, Oscar returned to his human form.

“…A, dragon?”

Faced with the unbelievable sight before him, Viscount Hayworth wore a stunned expression.

“Yes. I’ll explain everything.”

I said calmly while lifting Oscar.

“First, let’s bathe him and feed him.”

***

“You shouldn’t be doing this, let the maids handle it.”

“He cries when I’m not around.”

Besides, it would be troublesome if he transformed into a dragon in front of the maids.

I had originally planned to hide it from Viscount Hayworth too, but who knew he’d be waiting in the room.

“My, what a naughty one.”

Viscount Hayworth clicked his tongue and added soap to the bathtub. I felt a bit awkward.

“I said I’ll do it, Father.”

“Won’t your delicate hands get rough?”

Oscar was sitting quietly in the bathtub like a doll. Perhaps because it was warm, his cheeks were flushed pink.

“How do you know how to do this, Father?”

“I bathed Leon a lot when he was little, so I’m an expert.”

“You did, Father?”

Despite sending him to the knight order to raise him tough and his rough expressions, he personally bathed him instead of leaving it to the maids. It seemed Viscount Hayworth cared a lot for Leon too.

“Of course. I taught him swimming and diving while bathing together.”

Well, it seems he focused a lot on raising him tough. I burst into laughter.

“So, are you planning not to tell your father what happened?”

“I picked him up.”

Unable to think of a suitable excuse, I decided to just be honest.

After all, he already knew it was a dragon, and I desperately needed Viscount Hayworth’s cooperation.

“A dragon, you say? Where?”

“Just while walking on the street.”

There was a whole process of entering the cave, breaking the barrier, and cracking the egg, but I omitted that.

Viscount Hayworth still looked unconvinced.

“What nonsense is this? Explain in detail.”

“Actually, I hear voices in my ear. I followed them, and this happened.”

“You hear voices?”

“Yes. Leon says it might be holy power.”

A cherished daughter suddenly having holy power – it seemed he was surprised by this sudden news.

“……”

Viscount Hayworth couldn’t continue speaking for a while.

Regardless, I was more concerned about Oscar, who had been sniffling for a while now.

“Now, Oscar. Blow your nose!”

“Hmm.”

“Harder! Blow!”

“Blow!”

Even though I had wrapped him up, it seemed he might have caught a cold. I wiped Oscar’s nose with a handkerchief.

“Well done, Oscar.”

After wiping his nose and kissing his forehead, Oscar smiled brightly.

“No, Ari, how could you… Even if you heard voices, how could you just pick up a dragon?”

“I had no choice. Now that I’ve brought him, I have to take responsibility until he’s fully grown.”

“Oh, my head. If the imperial family finds out about this……”

Viscount Hayworth seemed to have the same concerns as Leon.

“Don’t worry, Father.”

I covered Oscar’s ears as he tried to scoop up water with his hands.

“I’ll raise him well and send him away. To the Dragon Ravine.”

I flashed a wicked smile at Father, then uncovered Oscar’s ears.

“So you’re saying we should raise that ticking time bomb?”

“Because it’s like a time bomb, we need to hide it and raise it.”

“What?”

“At first, I was just going to leave. But it seems he’s imprinted on me, keeps following me around.”

“Haa……”

“If he transforms into a dragon in front of others one day, it’ll be a big problem.”

I deliberately put on a more troubled expression.

“So you want to hide and raise him in secret?”

“Yes.”

“……Are you planning not to get married?”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to marry a good man?”

It seems Ariella didn’t know about her unfortunate fate.

I smiled faintly.

“No. My plans have changed.”

“How so?”

“My dream is to never marry and live with Father forever.”

I thought it was a great line. I could almost see hearts popping in Viscount Hayworth’s eyes.

“R-Really? Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Of course not. Father is the only man I can trust in this world.”

Viscount Hayworth placed his hand on his left chest and wore a touched expression.

He was probably clutching his heart.

“I see. As expected, our Ari is wise. Perfect, indeed.”

“It must all be because I take after Father.”

“Let’s do our best to hide him together.”

Thanks to this, I gained one more reliable ally.

“Hiiing. Papa.”

Whether he understood his situation or not, Oscar suddenly clung to my neck in the middle of his bath.

What’s papa? Before I could ponder that,

‘Growl.’

A thunderous sound came from his tiny stomach. How could even the sound from his stomach be so adorable?

“Are you very hungry, Oscar?”

“Mm.”

“Then let’s go eat.”

Whether we hid him well or raised him to send away, it seemed we needed to feed him first.