Chapter 25: Waaah, Our Zhu Qiu is Still a Baby

“Sorn Bernas, is there really nothing there?” the tall figure asked again.

As the figure entered the room, the light illuminated his weathered face, allowing Zhu Qiu to see him clearly.

At that moment, the man was staring solemnly into Zhu Qiu’s eyes.

Zhu Qiu’s pupils shook as she looked at the human before her, her heart swelling with excitement.

‘This, this, this. This face, this person, this voice. This… this is my father!’

‘Dad is here to save me!’

“Dad!” Zhu Qiu cried out.

She rushed excitedly to Sodlan’s feet, hugged his leg tightly, and began to fake cry with a mess of snot and tears.

“Dad, you finally came to save me! I thought I was going to be locked in the Dragon Race Imperial Palace by that villain Zhu Xiaxia for the rest of my life.”

“Sorn Bernas, please let go of my leg. I have something to ask you,” Sodlan said.

Zhu Qiu pulled her hands away and stood up straight, smoothing out her little dress.

Every time she looked down at herself, however, her small face turned bright red.

“Um, Dad, don’t look at me, I…”

“Sorn, you don’t need to explain anything to me. You only need to answer my question.”

“Dad, wh… what question?”

“My question is — ” Sodlan thrust the Greatsword in his hand into the ground, ” — why don’t you guess why that tray is empty?”

Huh?

“Dad, can we not ask such useless things right now? This is the Dragon Race Imperial Palace,” Zhu Qiu said, stomping her feet in a panic.

“I don’t know how you got in here, but there are two bad dragons living here, Zhu Xiaxia and Xiaguang. They are both incredibly powerful. We need to run away now.”

Zhu Qiu grabbed Sodlan’s hand, trying to pull him toward the exit.

“Wait!” Sodlan picked up the Greatsword and stabbed it into the floor. “Answer my question.”

“Oh, come on!”

‘What has gotten into Dad today? Why is he being so strange? This isn’t like him at all.’

But he was Zhu Qiu’s father, after all.

“I can’t guess. Let’s just go.”

“Very well!” Sodlan gripped Zhu Qiu’s hand tightly.

“I’ll tell you why right now. It’s because the food on that tray was supposed to be you, Zhu Qiu Gracia!”

Before the words had even finished echoing, Sodlan raised the Greatsword in his right hand and swung it toward Zhu Qiu’s head.

In this moment of life or death, Zhu Qiu exploded with a sudden burst of strength.

She wrenched her hand free from Sodlan’s grip and dove to the side.

*Clang — *

The Greatsword slammed into the floor, embedding itself deeply into the wood.

Zhu Qiu had narrowly escaped death.

“Dad, what are you saying? I’m your son, Sorn Bernas! Don’t you recognize me?”

Zhu Qiu scooted her bottom along the floor, moving bit by bit away from Sodlan.

She couldn’t understand it.

Her father, who used to deliberate deeply even over what to eat for dinner, had just made such a decisive move to kill her.

“You’re my son? What a massive joke. My son is the Human Race’s Sword Saint, Sorn Bernas. Look in the mirror and see for yourself who you really are.”

In the next second, a mirror appeared to Zhu Qiu’s left.

She turned her head.

Her appearance hadn’t changed; she was still a tiny dragon cub who had been out of her Dragon Egg for only 1 day.

She had long white hair, tender skin, a dragon tail that wouldn’t stop shaking from fear, and rounded little dragon horns on her head.

She was a dragon cub.

It was an undeniable fact that had nothing to do with the Human Race.

“I, I… Dad, I really am your son! I was just turned into this by Zhu Xiaxia. Dad, you have to believe me! Dad!”

Zhu Qiu shook her head like a rattle, desperately denying the fact that she was a dragon cub.

But who would believe her?

From start to finish, Sodlan couldn’t see a single similarity between this dragon cub calling him “Dad” and Sorn.

“Dad?”

Sodlan took a few quick strides to reach Zhu Qiu.

He hoisted her up with one hand and gave her a cynical look.

“With a dragon tail this obvious, you still dare to impersonate my son, Sorn? Do you take me for a fool?”

Sodlan swung his arm violently, throwing Zhu Qiu onto the blood-stained bed.

Her head slammed hard against the wooden headboard.

Zhu Qiu instinctively clutched her head as tears began to flow uncontrollably.

“Waaaah… Dad, it hurts, waaaah…”

“To beg for mercy, you even went as far as calling me your father. Little dragon cub, you’re far too spineless. You’re nothing like my Sorn. I despise you.”

With that, Sodlan raised his Greatsword and stepped onto the bed.

“Evil Dragon, your end has come. I’m going to turn you into food for my son, Sorn!”

The Greatsword swung down.

In her current state, Zhu Qiu couldn’t dodge. Every effort was futile.

“No!”

“Waaaah! Don’t kill me! Waaaah!”

“Waaaah…”

***

Around 4:00 PM, Zhu Xiaxia had already finished her lunch.

She was in her workshop flipping through a book titled *Basic Classroom for Novice Dragon Mothers*.

Upon hearing Zhu Qiu’s cries from the next room, Zhu Xiaxia rushed over immediately.

‘That shouldn’t be right? I only used a little Magic to make her fall asleep quickly. Why is she crying?’

She turned the doorknob only to find that the door was locked.

Zhu Qiu knew how to lock a door, but she didn’t realize that a locked door was useless against Zhu Xiaxia’s Magic.

“My daughter sure is silly.”

A faint white light appeared in Zhu Xiaxia’s hand, and the door opened on its own.

“Waaaah… waaaah…”

Seeing Zhu Qiu huddled on the bed crying her eyes out, Zhu Xiaxia hurried over and gathered her into her arms.

“There, there, my sweet baby. Don’t cry. Mother is here.”

Zhu Xiaxia soothed Zhu Qiu while gently patting her back.

Seeming to feel the warmth, Zhu Qiu opened her eyes and clutched Zhu Xiaxia’s arm with tear-filled eyes.

Looking at the scenery outside the window and the state of the room, she finally realized that everything just now had been a dream.

“Waaaah, Mother, I had a nightmare. A terrifying nightmare.

I… I dreamed I was hacked to death, waaaah…” Zhu Qiu sobbed to Zhu Xiaxia, feeling deeply wronged.

‘So she was just scared by a nightmare. My daughter is getting cuter and cuter.’

“Don’t cry, my dear daughter. Mother’s arms are the safest place in the world.”

“Waaaah…”

Even though Zhu Qiu knew it was a dream, she couldn’t stop herself from crying, as if she had suffered some great injustice.

After being comforted for a long while, Zhu Qiu’s sobbing finally began to subside.

Zhu Xiaxia placed Zhu Qiu back against the pillow and began picking up the candies scattered across the bed one by one, putting them back into the wooden box.

She knew exactly why the candies were on the bed, but she chose not to expose the little girl.

“Daughter, Mother still has work to do today, so I can’t stay with you for now.”

After tidying up, Zhu Xiaxia left the room but purposely left the door open.

A few seconds later, Zhu Qiu covered her small face with her hands and started crying again.

“Waaaah… how embarrassing. I actually cried like a child and let Zhu Xiaxia hold and comfort me, waaaah…”

Just then, Zhu Xiaxia poked her head back through the doorway.

In her hand was a fruit candy she had swiped while cleaning up earlier.

She hadn’t actually left.

“Don’t cry, my sweet daughter. Mother will give you a treat.”

Zhu Xiaxia unwrapped the paper, walked over to Zhu Qiu, and popped the fruit candy into her small mouth.