IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 28

4. I Became Friends with a Dragon

After sleeping soundly, Thaleia cleaned her plate—not just the apple she'd left earlier, but an entire bowl of stew.

Seeing Thaleia's noticeably improved condition, Mia swallowed a sigh of relief.

Finding it admirable that she even swallowed the bitter medicine obediently, Mia gave Thaleia a candy she'd prepared in advance.

Thaleia stared intently at the glass jar full of fruit candies, then started shaking it.

Thaleia shook the jar with focus, her brow furrowed as if she had something specific in mind.

"Madam, His Grace has arrived."

"Oh my, has he?"

At the news that Julian had come, Mia stood up. It was still two or three hours before his usual quitting time.

Both of them had been so worried when they left for work this morning—Julian must have left early after all.

As soon as he removed his coat, Julian entered Thaleia's room, and Thaleia stopped shaking the jar and smiled brightly to greet him.

"Papa."

"Tilly."

Julian sat beside his young daughter and checked her temperature with the back of his hand.

Thaleia, who would normally have avoided his hand, giggled instead, making Julian look at Mia with worried eyes.

"It's the fever making her giddy."

"...Tilly, does it hurt a lot?"

"No, it doesn't hurt."

"Really?"

"It hurt earlier but it doesn't now."

Thaleia said this and started shaking the jar again.

Julian, catching on to what she was trying to do, opened the candy lid and asked her.

"What flavor?"

"Cherry flavor. The red one."

The cherry candy near the bottom came out easily when Julian pulled it with his long fingers.

As Julian tried to close the lid, Thaleia blocked it with her hand.

"Papa and Nanny should have candy too."

"May we?"

"But just one each."

Julian and Nanny smiled and each took one candy. Receiving the jar back, Thaleia seemed to think for a moment, then tucked the candy jar under the blanket.

Since they'd warmed the inside of the blanket hot enough for Thaleia's cold, putting candy in there would obviously melt it.

When Julian pulled the jar back out, Thaleia fussed for him to give it back.

"...Tilly, I'm not stealing it, so you don't need to hide it."

"I'm not hiding it. If you sleep with candy in the blanket like this, you dream about candy."

At that nonsensical statement, Julian laughed and put the candy jar back under the blanket.

Thaleia smiled with satisfaction and lay back down as if she really intended to dream about candy.

"Papa."

"Mm?"

"I want to eat cookies."

"Let's eat when you wake up."

"Buy some."

At the request to buy some, Julian tilted his head. Of course, there were places in town that sold cookies, but the ducal estate's head chef was skilled, so they made their own cookies and cakes.

Julian assumed she wanted different cookies from what they usually ate, which was why she asked him to buy some.

"You know which cookies I like, right? A long time ago when I said on the phone I wanted cookies, Papa bought a whole box full. But this time you have to buy two of each, okay?"

"...Tilly?"

"Mom always buys two—one for brother and one for me—but Papa always only buys one of each. It's not about the quantity, having two of the same thing is what matters."

Not only was "phone" an incomprehensible word, but Julian and Roxana had never bought cookies from outside, nor did Thaleia have a brother.

She must be delirious from fever and medicine, rambling according to her stream of consciousness. Julian patted her chest and whispered for her to sleep quickly.

"Otherwise our household pig will eat everything by himself..."

Thaleia mumbled something more, then fell asleep quickly again. As her breathing became even, Mia placed a wet cloth on her small forehead again.

"The medicine is quite strong, it seems. She was lucid before taking it."

Julian nodded at Mia's words and checked outside the window. If he was going to buy cookies, he thought he should hurry before it got dark.

As Julian stood up hastily, Mia called to him.

"Your Grace, take the Prince with you when you go."

"The Prince too?"

"He's been guarding Miss's door all morning, and now he's keeping miss Royna company. He'll be bored."

Julian smiled at Mia's consideration, then quickly washed up and headed to Royna's room.

For once, Royna was sitting up, staring intently at Rayan in front of her. Rayan was also sitting still, staring intently at Royna.

'Why are they doing that?'

Children really were hard to understand sometimes. When Julian cleared his throat, both Royna and Rayan turned their eyes to him simultaneously.

"Aah!"

"Uh..."

Royna seemed to recognize him and waved her rattle up and down enthusiastically to greet him. Julian patted Royna's head once, then asked Rayan.

"Your Highness, Tilly says she wants cookies. Would you like to come buy some with me?"

"Buy... cookies?"

"Yes, at the bakery in town. I'll buy you lots of cookies you want to eat too, Your Highness."

At the offer to buy him cookies he wanted, Rayan's face brightened completely. Perhaps because he couldn't eat properly at the palace, Rayan had quite an appetite.

Julian smiled while putting the coat he'd brought in advance on Rayan and checking his condition.

His jet-black hair gleamed, his cheeks were plump, and his nails were clean without any bite marks.

He remembered how obviously poor Rayan's condition had been when they first met, making Julian show his displeasure to Rayan's attendants.

That was probably why Rayan had been intimidated by Julian at first—because he'd been scared then.

But lately he seemed more comfortable; when their eyes met now, he smiled instead of looking away like before.

'It's not about the quantity, having two of the same thing is what matters.'

Could "brother" have referred to Rayan? Now that he thought about it, Rayan was a few months older.

'Brother... We just talked about that with Her Majesty the Empress yesterday.'

Should he call it an amazing coincidence, or was Thaleia reading Julian's mind?

Julian firmly grasped Rayan's small hand and left the estate, reminding himself that he must buy two of each cookie for the two of them.

Arriving at the largest bakery in town, Rayan stood with his mouth open, looking around.

Usually, snacks came on plates with just enough to eat. But the bakery had such variety, with baskets piled full.

"Yan."

When Julian called the nickname that only Thaleia had used before, Rayan looked up at him in surprise.

Since Julian had been wearing a robe to hide his conspicuous appearance since getting off the carriage, only the area around his mouth was visible.

But since a smile rested on his lips, it wasn't uncomfortable. Julian knelt on one knee to meet Rayan's eye level and whispered softly.

"Outside, we need to look like father and son."

'Father and son?'

Rayan briefly recalled his father, the King of Celis, but soon understood the situation and nodded.

Julian stroked his head as if finding him admirable, then told him to pick two each of what he wanted to eat.

"What does Tilly want?"

"Well... She told me to buy what she likes."

"But Tilly eats everything well."

At Rayan's honest answer, Julian chuckled and said that was true.

"Still, there are things she likes better."

Rayan began selecting cookies while thinking about Thaleia's preferences. Julian watched him quietly.

Ding!

When the bell rang, Julian turned his head. The servant who'd been watching the carriage came in and whispered something in Julian's ear. The faint smile on Julian's lips stiffened.

When Julian brought Rayan out, surveillance had followed.

'How troublesome.'

Julian had initially accepted Rayan for purely political reasons. But when he first saw Rayan, he'd thought: what exactly are they doing with this child?

If you wanted the throne badly enough to kill the child, you'd assassinate him cleanly—he couldn't understand the reason for petty torment.

Raising a child the same age himself, the difference between a loved child and an abused child was obvious at a glance.

In the end, Julian broke his plan and was the first to suggest wanting to bring Rayan to the ducal estate.

'The ducal estate would be easier to keep in sight than the Imperial Palace, after all.'

Using the annex to separate the attendants from Rayan and applying subtle pressure, they seemed to have completely stopped paying attention to Rayan.

But seeing surveillance immediately attach to a casual outing showed they hadn't completely let go.

'It's quiet now, but if he stays here long, they might try to kill the child later.'

What should he do? There weren't many options given all the constraints.

If Rayan's life was the top priority, he needed to make him king.

And if Rayan became king, the Celis Kingdom—whose situation kept worsening due to the tyranny of the Queen's faction nobles—might have a chance to change.

Adjacent to the desert region where the lesser wraith dwelled, the Celis Kingdom was the first line of defense, so it had to be preserved somehow.

Julian was making political calculations when he saw Rayan busily moving around filling a basket with cookies.

'Or...'

Should he just adopt Rayan as his son and bring him here? That would reduce opportunities to intervene in the Celis Kingdom, but he could protect one innocent child.

Julian wavered between profit and reason, morality and emotion. It was something the original Julian would never have hesitated over.

"I'm done picking!"

While Julian was lost in thought, Rayan had filled the tray with cookies. Julian pushed his concerns aside and watched with Rayan as the clerk packaged the cookies.

Rayan's attention was caught by new cookies displayed on the counter. Fruit skewers dipped and hardened in syrup.

The color arrangement that would appeal to children and the transparent marketing of putting them on display were obvious, but Julian said it was fine to pick those too. The clerk smiled and asked Rayan.

"How many would you like?"

"Uh, um... Two, no four... five?"

As the number kept increasing, both the clerk and Rayan looked at Julian with troubled expressions.

"We only got ours and Tilly's."

"..."

Understanding Rayan's intention, Julian stopped the servant who was about to pay and started discussing something with the clerk.

The clerk's expression brightened considerably, and even the pastry chef from the back came running out.

After quite some time, Julian approached Rayan carrying wrapped cookies and two fruit skewers.

"I ordered enough for everyone at the estate to eat tomorrow, so today let's secretly eat one each, just the two of us."

At Julian's words, Rayan's eyes widened. The clerk and pastry chef smiled as if finding Rayan adorable.

"...Secretly?"

"That's the charm of running errands."

Julian unwrapped the package and handed it to Rayan, who bit into the strawberry on top.

Julian ate his own fruit skewer while holding Rayan's hand.

"Shall we go home now?"