Living My Fourth Life as the Dragon's Daughter

Kael has long acknowledged his situation.

Because of a human child, he couldn’t say the word ‘no’ recklessly.

Jiel, who freely instructed Albert to prepare the room, put Lihan’s hand in Hyazelki’s hand.

“Baby, can you show him around the castle?”

“Yes!”

Hyazelki, smiling, led Lihan to show him the castle.

As Kael crept towards Jiel, Albert quickly followed the children.

“What are you up to, you black-hearted fellow?”

“Oh, you’re making me sad even by saying that. It’s good to have a kid around her when she’s still growing up. Kids need to know how to spend time with other kids.”

The way he shrugged his shoulders was disgusting to Kael.

“It’s a big responsibility to raise humans.”

“I just felt like it.”

Jiel answered refreshingly, but he looked like he was hiding something.

However, Kael didn’t necessarily want to know about Jiel’s involvement in human affairs, so he didn’t take it seriously.

“Where did you get him from?”

Jiel, who had been consistent in a sly manner, did not immediately respond to the question.

Taking a breath for a moment, he glanced out of the window.

“He’s a child I found in the west.”

“I guess I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“A child who survived alone.”

“So…”

Anxious Kael touched his forehead.

“……the ground was really dead.”

“…….”

Kael lowered his hand that touched his forehead and stared at Jiel.

“If I left him alone, the child’s world would be muddy.”

“The fact that the ground died, was it because a sinner was there?”

Jiel nodded quietly.

Just as Kael was reluctant to face a sinner, Jiel was not at ease to see a dead land.

There are always countless people dying, and all that remains is devastation.

The death of the land was proof that so many lives were lost.

It takes more time than you think to sprout again, grow trees, and flowers.

The land that is destroyed beyond human habitation also has to be carefully restored.

And the sinner who caused the land to be dead is punished as cruel as that.

“It must be one of the guys who arrived recently.”

“The fact that he’s not the only one who arrived…… Oh, I suppose everything is going well.”

“So, how did he survive there when the land was in that state?”

Jiel paused to catch his breath.

Kael knew there wouldn’t be a good story, but seeing Jiel silent meant that it was more uncomfortable for him to say.

“I heard that person who polluted the land saved him, saying it wasn’t worth killing him. The land was dead anyway, so even if he leaves the child there alone, he’ll starve to death. Instead of killing him comfortably, that person told him to die in the pain of an empty stomach.”

Lihan was only nine years old.

“It was more serious when I thought it would be.”

Kael clenched his fist.

How can such a harsh person exist in the world who is cruel to a child who is only 9 years old?

“But he still can’t eat a lot.”

“……why did you go so far for that child?”

He wasn’t going to ask.

Kael was already fed up with hearing their reasons.

“Just.”

At Kiel’s answer, Kael closed his eyes for a moment.

There is no reason for them. No, you might think it’s a reason, but it’s not acceptable to ordinary people.

They talk nonsense, and they talk as if it’s a legitimate reason.

They have seen such humans countless times.

“Because it’s more comfortable to see him alive.”

At Jiel’s words, Kael couldn’t help but swear.

“Damn.”

“The land has not been restored yet, so I have to go again. I’m here today to leave Lihan in charge.”

“………You’re being selfish.”

“You know, I’m a wanderer, so I’m not in a position to take care of the child. In addition, it is true that children should grow up with their peers.”

Kael turned away from Jiel with a sour face.

“……I’m not keeping the child because of you. I’m keeping him because of Hia.”

* * *

Malice makes a man turn black.

Whatever the color of the eyes, whatever the color of the hair, they are dyed black. In severe cases, even the skin is dyed black.

That’s what the world Lihan has seen.

So it was difficult for Lihan to tell the color of a person’s eyes or hair.

There were people who were originally dyed black so that he could not recognize what color it was, and even if it was not, all of them were murky.

How can a person not be dyed in black while staying in the dark all his life?

Perhaps that’s why Lihan was surprised seeing the vivid red eyes for the first time in his life when he met Jiel.

“Hello.”

And here, there was another person whose eyes and hair color were clearly visible.

Jiel was a dragon, so he didn’t become black.

She’s obviously a human, but her colour hasn’t faded even a little bit.

“What do you want to see first? The Castle or the garden?”

Coral hair was the most beautiful light-colored hair Lihan saw in his short life. And bright amber eyes were maybe the prettiest jewel to him in the world.

“I like gardens, but…… It’s still cold, so why don’t we look inside the castle first?”

The smiling face was immaculately clean.

A human with no darkness.

A human with no malice.

Lihan looked down at his hand that she held.

A warm warmth. It was pure without malice.

“Oh, did I tell you my name? I’m Hyazelki.”

“……Yes.”

Lihan already knew her name.

On the way to the castle, he heard about Hyazelki from Jiel all the time, so he had no choice but to know.

As Jiel said, she was pure, bright, pretty, and lovely.

The kind of person that everyone would love.

“Should I show you my study?”

“……Yes.”

It didn’t matter where he looked.

Lihan even didn’t care if the roof was above his head.

“Do you know how to read books?”

“……I don’t know.”

“Really? Do you want me to teach you?”

Lihan opened his eyes wide at the question that came back as if it were natural.

Living in such a huge castle, he doesn’t want to feel embarrassed or sorry to hear that he doesn’t know what to read and write.

Hyazelki shut up for a moment and stopped talking suddenly.

“……Let’s look at the garden first. The gardener works hard, so the garden is very pretty.”

Hyazelki, who turned around saying so, led Lihan out of the castle.

The garden was really pretty as she said.

Hyazelki led Lihan to the Snowflake Tree.

“It’s pretty, right? It’s called a Snowflake Tree, and it’s a tree that can only be seen in the north.”

“……Yes.”

Lihan looked up at the snowflake tree blankly.

It was so different from the things he saw where he lived, so he felt a sense of separation.

Lihan reached out slowly and smoothed the snowflake tree.

“……The color is pretty.”

“Yes! You can’t see it after winter, so I’m glad you came in winter!”

Lihan, who was looking up at the tree, turned his head.

Her smiling face was the most colorful thing in the world.

“Miss!”

As Lihan was staring blankly at Hyazelki again, Yuri appeared in the garden.

“I brought some cookies to the drawing room. It’s cold, so let’s go inside.”

“Yes!”

Hyazelki, who answered vigorously while looking at Yuri, grabbed Lihan’s hand again.

“It’s cold, right? Let’s go.”

Lihan walked absent-mindedly as Hyazelki led him.

The northern land was certainly cold, and his body was shaking inside his clothes now.

But strangely, it was bearable.

Without the warm hand clasping together with him, he couldn’t do it. Strangely, it feels hot.

* * *

“Well…… should we hire a teacher now?”

At Yuri’s question, Kael scanned the butlers and maids lined up in front of him.

“Why? Is there a good teacher somewhere?”

After dinner, Jiel asked while eating the pudding that came out as dessert.

“It may be a little different from the education of the imperial family, but they can teach the children everything if it’s the education of a decent noble family.”

In response to Albert’s reply, Jiel nodded in agreement.

“Oh, I see.”

Most of the people who worked in the castle were aristocrats or educated in that family, except for the Humphrey family of Albert.

People who retire from politics early and live with pride in serving dragons.

Although he was forced to step down from politics because of a sinner in his family.

But they didn’t repeat the same mistake.

The children were educated from an early age and sent to the castle when they were ready.

Of course, they didn’t send a child who refused. What they were doing was not coercion.

Only those who wanted to serve the dragon themselves could come to the northern castle.

Having recalled the background, Jiel agreed that a teacher was necessary.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Satisfied with the powerful answer, Kael turned his head again.

Hyazelki looked at them still and asked Lihan, who was eating the pudding.

“Don’t you want more?”

The chewy fruit pudding was delicious. But Lihan only took a spoonful of it and didn’t eat any more.

“Ah… no….”

The amount of dinner Lihan ate was noticeably small.

Kael’s eyes subsided after hearing the story from Jiel.

He was a child smaller than Hyazelki, but his experience was no less tragic than her. So the shock was so great that he couldn’t even eat properly.

Looking at him(Lihan), something hot seemed to boil inside, so Kael turned his head with a short sigh.

“Eat a lot, Lihan.”

Unlike Kael, Jiel said casually, disheveling the child’s platinum hair.

“……Yes.”

“Albert, is Lihan’s room ready?”

“Yes, Lord Jiel.”

Jiel, who smiled and said that he was also a competent butler, gently stroked Lihan’s head again.

“I’m full, so I should go now.”

“What?”

“Jiel, are you leaving already?”

Lihan, who opened his eyes like a small animal that had lost its place to rely on, looked at Jiel anxiously.

“I have to go back because I’m not done with my work. I’ll be back when I’m done. Until then, will Baby take care of Lihan for me?”

“Yes, Jiel.”

Hyazelki has been in a good mood since the two of them appeared.

‘Is it really good to have someone her age?….’

Kael, who stared at her quietly, thought so.

Hyazelki finished eating the pudding quickly, then rushed to the chef and whispered something before coming back.

Seeing Tim’s face brightening, it seemed to be the appreciation of today’s dessert.

Hyazelki rested her face on her chin and stared at Lihan.

“Are you tired? Do you want to rest now?”

“Ah…”

Perhaps she felt responsible for Jiel’s request, but she seemed full of will to take care of Lihan gently.

Of course, there was that, but Hyazelki felt more willing because he(Jiel) just had brought a younger brother for her to take care of.

Not once in her past life, she never had a brother or any younger siblings, so she was excited without realizing it.

‘I think he’ll be fine, so there’s no worry.’

Looking at the pair of children, Jiel grinned quietly.