Chapter 37: What a Beautiful Dress~ Does Zhu Qiu Like It?

In the morning, the sun rose high, hanging at a lofty position in the sky.

Inside the room, Zhu Qiu was sleeping soundly.

She had shifted from a sprawled-out position to sleeping with half of her body on the bed and the other half dangling toward the floor.

Her dragon tail rested on the edge of the mattress, looking as if it might fall off at any moment.

“My precious daughter, it’s time to get up~”

Zhu Xiaxia was dressed in a magnificent gown.

The overall color scheme was white and blue, with a large bow at the chest.

The dress was encrusted everywhere with various small white diamonds that sparkled under the light.

She walked gracefully into Zhu Qiu’s room.

‘Ah? My daughter isn’t awake yet. I figured.’

Looking at Zhu Qiu’s bizarre sleeping posture, Zhu Xiaxia gave a mischievous smirk.

Then, she quietly used her own tail to tug at the bedsheet.

“Whoa!”

Zhu Qiu made direct, intimate contact with the floor.

She rubbed her eyes and sat on the floor in a duck-sitting position.

Her eyes were vacant and dull as she stared confusedly at Zhu Xiaxia, looking as if she might fall back asleep at any second.

Clearly, Zhu Qiu was still far from fully awake.

“Ugh… Zhu Xiaxia, what are you doing… I’m sleepy.”

Zhu Qiu asked weakly, signaling that she still wanted to sleep and requested not to be disturbed.

“My precious daughter, look quickly and see if Mother looks beautiful.”

Zhu Xiaxia spun around in front of Zhu Qiu like she was showing off.

The hem of her skirt danced with her body, looking exceptionally lovely.

“Oh. I guess you look good.”

“Then, does my daughter want to put on a dress like this and go for a stroll outside the Imperial Palace with Mother~?”

“I don’t. I only want to sleep.”

Zhu Qiu crawled back onto the bed and lay down again.

she pulled the quilt up tight, leaving only her small head exposed.

Sleeping was the most comfortable thing in the world; she definitely didn’t want to get up.

“Get up, precious daughter.”

Zhu Xiaxia patted Zhu Qiu’s head, but the girl immediately retracted her head into the blanket and pressed down on the covers with all her might.

“I’m not getting up. I want to sleep.”

Normally, Zhu Xiaxia might have thought to let it go.

If her daughter wanted to sleep in, then let her.

But today was different.

It was already 10:00 AM.

This afternoon, they had to meet with various members of the Dragon Race in a public setting.

It was essential to ensure she had the best image and was in her peak condition.

“That won’t do. You must get up today~”

“No, ugh~”

“If you don’t get up, Mother will have to take ‘good care’ of her precious daughter~”

As she spoke, Zhu Xiaxia crouched down and reached out, slowly sliding her hand deep into the blanket, feeling for something.

Soon, she grabbed hold of something long that felt soft to the touch.

‘Found you, you little rascal.’

She gave it a pinch.

“Ngh~”

She pinched it again.

“Mmph~”

Zhu Qiu turned over uncomfortably.

“One more time.”

“What are you doing!”

Zhu Qiu whipped the blanket aside in anger, staring at Zhu Xiaxia with puffy cheeks.

Seriously, this woman spent all day knowing exactly how to disturb her sleep, waking her up for absolutely nothing important.

“Does Mother’s outfit look good?”

“It looks good, alright!”

Just after Zhu Qiu finished speaking, Zhu Xiaxia gracefully walked out of the room.

‘Zhu Xiaxia is truly a psychopath! Waking me up just to have me judge if she looks good… wasting my sleeping time. Hmph! Seriously.’

Zhu Qiu had just lain back down when Zhu Xiaxia returned.

This time, she held a miniature version of the dress she was wearing in her hands.

“Why is my daughter lying down again? “Hurry up and get up.” Try on the new clothes Mother prepared for you.”

“I don’t want to. I’ll bet it’s just the same thing with a different color. Don’t even think about tricking me.”

“It really isn’t. Just get up and look.”

“I’m not looking.”

“Then Mother can only…”

“Fine, fine, fine! I’ll look, okay!”

Zhu Qiu knew what Zhu Xiaxia wanted to do.

If it weren’t for the fact that having her tail pinched was so uncomfortable, she would never have surrendered.

Zhu Xiaxia spread the dress out on the bed so Zhu Qiu could admire it.

“Do you like it?”

“Well…”

Zhu Qiu’s gaze shifted back and forth between the dress and Zhu Xiaxia.

Admittedly, it did look quite nice. It was shiny and similar to the one on Zhu Xiaxia, except it had been changed to a light pink tone.

It looked very exquisite; it must have taken a long time to prepare.

Unfortunately, she didn’t wear dresses.

But if she said she didn’t like it, Zhu Xiaxia would probably be very sad, wouldn’t she?

‘Forget it, forget it. Since I, the Human Sword Saint, am so magnanimous, I won’t let your painstaking efforts go to waste.’

“It’s okay, I guess.”

Zhu Qiu didn’t say she disliked it, nor did she say she liked it.

This preserved Zhu Xiaxia’s dignity while also preventing herself from being misunderstood.

‘I’m really a genius!’

Zhu Xiaxia picked up the dress with a slight smile.

“Since it’s ‘okay,’ then daughter should put it on right now!”

“?”

‘I didn’t say I liked it! Why is Zhu Xiaxia still forcing me to wear it!’

Zhu Qiu had no choice.

No matter what, she would be manipulated by Zhu Xiaxia.

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

Zhu Qiu stood up and took off the light pink camisole she was wearing.

She held out her arms as if welcoming the change.

This was the first time Zhu Xiaxia had managed to get Zhu Qiu to dress so willingly.

If only every time could be like this, how wonderful would that be?

After the dressing was finished, Zhu Xiaxia didn’t say anything else.

At this hour, it was almost time to eat.

Then there was lunch, and then the time after lunch.

Around 2:00 PM, Zhu Qiu was in her room plotting an escape route from the Dragon Race Imperial Palace.

She really couldn’t stand Zhu Xiaxia’s “forced tail-pinching method” anymore.

As long as that woman pinched her tail, it was all over; she had to listen to everything Zhu Xiaxia said.

“Hmph! That annoying Zhu Xiaxia. Once I run away, I will definitely defeat you!”

In the next second, the room door was opened.

‘Oh no, she didn’t hear that, did she?’

“Precious daughter, come out. We’re going to the first floor to review the walking posture from last time.”

‘Phew, she probably didn’t hear.’

“Coming.”

Once they reached the first floor, Zhu Qiu, wearing her princess dress, walked unhurriedly and gracefully from the doorway to the other side of the palace and back again.

When she stopped in front of Zhu Xiaxia, Zhu Qiu held both sides of her skirt with her hands, took half a step back with her right foot, slowly crouched down a bit, and finally lowered her head with a smile.

A perfect Princess’s Bow.

“How about that, Zhu Xiaxia? Are you shocked by the learning ability of a Human Sword Saint?”

Zhu Xiaxia began to clap.

“My daughter is indeed amazing. You grasped the essence in an instant~”

“Hmph.”

Zhu Qiu stood up and asked her question.

“Zhu Xiaxia, why did you suddenly ask me to walk a few steps like this? What are you planning?”

“That is naturally to practice in advance~ My daughter will have to walk a long distance under the eyes of many people in a little while. I wonder if you’ll be so scared that you won’t be able to move~”

“The eyes of many people? What do you mean?”

“I forgot to tell my daughter. Mother notified many members of the Dragon Race to come here to the Dragon Race Imperial Palace to see you. So, my daughter’s performance in a moment will be their first impression of you~”

“What! Why didn’t you mention such a big thing sooner!”

“My daughter didn’t ask~”

At the thought of walking in front of a crowd of the Dragon Race, Zhu Qiu’s skin crawled.

Although Zhu Qiu had seen many grand spectacles when she was the Human Sword Saint among the Human Race, having so many dragons together was something she had truly never experienced.

It even caused a sense of dread to well up from the bottom of her heart.

“Then… then when did you say ‘in a moment’ was?”

“It’s right now.”

In the next second, the grand gates slowly swung open under the influence of Magic.