“How could I not? As the Queen of the Dragon Tribe, I must keep my promises. Punishment is inevitable.”
Hearing that punishment was unavoidable, Zhu Qiu realized her plan had failed.
‘Zhu Xiaxia, this wicked big bad dragon, just doesn’t want to let me go.’
She wiggled her body, pulling the entire quilt toward her and wrapping herself up like a cocoon, not even letting her head peek out.
“Does my daughter want to steal the entire blanket and not leave any for Mother?”
Zhu Xiaxia tried to pull it away, but Zhu Qiu gripped the blanket tightly from inside, refusing to budge.
At this point, because she wasn’t wearing any clothes, the blanket was Zhu Qiu’s only line of defense.
There was no way she would let Zhu Xiaxia strip it away.
“I’ll count to three. If my daughter still hasn’t realized her mistake, then… Mother will have to be sorry — “
Zhu Xiaxia deliberately adopted a serious, angry tone.
She didn’t believe her cute daughter could hold out against her for long.
“Three.”
“Zhu Xiaxia, what exactly do you want! I just want to sleep. Sleeping like this is comfortable!”
Unable to withstand the pressure, Zhu Qiu reluctantly poked her small head out.
“My daughter wants to sleep and took the whole blanket for herself. Then what is Mother supposed to do? Hmm?”
Zhu Xiaxia cupped Zhu Qiu’s small face with both hands, forcing the girl to look into her eyes.
“Sob… I, I really don’t know, sob…”
Zhu Qiu was so frightened that she stammered, her entire body trembling.
“Alright, alright. Mother doesn’t want her precious daughter to cry while she’s sleeping — “
As she spoke, Zhu Xiaxia pulled a Pink Heart Candy from under the pillow and stuffed it into Zhu Qiu’s mouth.
In an instant, the flavor of the candy melted across her tongue.
It was sweet, with the fresh scent of mint and the taste of milk.
It felt as if she had turned into a butterfly, transported to Cake Island filled with sweets.
Everything was made of candy; the sun was a fruit drop, and the clouds were marshmallows.
“Mmm… it’s so delicious.”
Zhu Qiu let down her guard and quickly began to enjoy it, completely failing to notice anything wrong with this particular piece of candy.
One minute later, when the timing was just right, Zhu Xiaxia pressed her hands against Zhu Qiu’s small face again.
“Precious daughter, how does this candy feel? Do you want another?”
At that moment, a flush appeared on Zhu Qiu’s face, gradually turning a deeper shade of red.
“Mmm, it’s good. I want more, but I feel a bit…”
“A bit what, precious daughter?”
“A bit…”
Before long, the scene before Zhu Qiu’s eyes became blurry, and her head felt heavy and tipsy.
“Mmm… my head is so dizzy…”
“Daughter, how does this Liquor-filled Candy taste?”
“Liquor-filled Candy? There was alcohol inside?”
By the time Zhu Qiu realized there was something wrong with the candy and that she had fallen into a trap, her brain was already unable to think clearly.
“Ugh…”
Zhu Xiaxia took out another identical candy and stuffed it into Zhu Qiu’s mouth, forcing her to eat it.
“No… more…”
Under the influence of the alcohol, Zhu Qiu’s brain quickly gave up and went on a total strike.
In her eyes, Zhu Xiaxia’s appearance became distorted, even showing double images.
“Daughter, tell me, what should you call me?”
Zhu Xiaxia poked Zhu Qiu’s flushed cheeks with a playful expression.
She knew she had Zhu Qiu right where she wanted her.
“Ugh… M-Mother.”
“You have to call me that from now on, understood?”
“Ugh, I know…”
“And if my daughter calls Mother something else in the future, what should happen?”
“Mmm, sob… then, Mother should punish me severely…”
“Good, precious daughter. You said it yourself.”
Zhu Xiaxia leisurely pulled a Purple Trumpet Flower from under the other pillow.
After applying a bit of Magic Power, the Purple Trumpet Flower repeated the entire conversation between her and Zhu Qiu.
With this, she was confident Zhu Qiu would learn to use polite titles from this moment on.
“Does my daughter want to receive her punishment?”
“Mmm… I don’t want to, but I made a mistake, so I should be punished.”
Without warning, Zhu Qiu threw open the blanket and lay prone on the bed, sticking her small tail up in front of Zhu Xiaxia.
“Daughter is willing to accept the punishment. Come on.”
‘Zhu Qiu is so compliant today?’
‘Is the power of the Liquor-filled Candy really that strong for her?’
It could make her lose her senses while ensuring she acted like a truly good baby in front of her.
Zhu Xiaxia loved this obedient version of Zhu Qiu, but she knew this wasn’t what Zhu Qiu truly thought deep down.
As a mother, she still needed to keep working hard.
Zhu Xiaxia picked Zhu Qiu up and placed her properly on the bed.
Then, she lay down herself and covered them both with the quilt.
“My daughter is such a dummy. How could Mother have the heart to punish someone as cute as you?”
“Sob… but Mother, I made a mistake. I should be punished.”
After lying down, Zhu Qiu turned on her side to look at Zhu Xiaxia.
Her hands lay weakly by her side, and her eyes were gradually failing to stay open, as if she might pass out from the intoxication at any moment.
“Those words alone are enough for Mother. If you know your mistake and change, you’re still Mother’s good daughter — “
Zhu Xiaxia reached one hand under the blanket, found Zhu Qiu’s tail, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Eek!”
Zhu Qiu’s body jerked violently.
The flush that had nearly faded from her face rushed back instantly.
Seeing this, Zhu Xiaxia immediately recorded the scene.
“Hee hee hee — “
When her daughter woke up tomorrow, she would surely love this photo.
“Alright, that’s enough for tonight. I’m turning off the lights to sleep now.”
Zhu Xiaxia switched off the lamp.
Because she was afraid of the dark, Zhu Qiu instinctively crawled closer to Zhu Xiaxia’s side.
“Sob… M-Mother, can daughter… can I hug you while we sleep?”
“Of course you can. In exchange, Mother gets to hug her daughter too — “
The mother and daughter embraced tightly, spending the rest of the night in peace and stability.
***
Ilanka had woken up early according to the study schedule set by Her Majesty the Queen.
By 8:00 AM, she was sitting at the desk in her room, waiting for the Princess to come find her.
However, as a teacher, she did not have the right to wake the student.
When the Princess would arrive was entirely up to fate.
Gradually, seeing as the entire morning was about to pass, Ilanka found herself in the same situation as yesterday — she still hadn’t seen the Princess all morning.
As expected, due to the events of the previous night, Zhu Qiu slept right through until noon.
By the time she woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
In order to spend more time hugging Zhu Qiu, Zhu Xiaxia had actually stayed in bed and slept until noon with her as well.
Zhu Qiu opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Zhu Xiaxia’s chest.
‘Wait? What is going on?’
“Is my precious daughter finally awake? I didn’t expect you to sleep until noon again.”
Zhu Xiaxia opened her eyes.
‘This isn’t right! Why am I hugging Zhu Xiaxia? This doesn’t fit my persona as the Human Sword Saint at all!’
“You, you, you, you! What did you do to me!”
Zhu Qiu jumped up from under the covers, only to feel a chilly breeze against her skin.
“Shouldn’t my daughter go put some clothes on first? It’s not very good if others see you stark naked like this.”