Home/The very suspicious chick of the Blue Dragon clan/ch 4

Chapter 4

A few days later.

Aran awoke from sleep to a warm but somewhat rough touch.

"Pit…?"

(Mama, why do you keep doing this while I'm sleeping…?)

She'd assumed it was Cheongun, given how much he'd been fidgeting with her for days.

Lifting her heavy eyelids, a face like the full moon floated brightly into her vision.

An unknown intruder looked down at Aran and bowed. The morning sunlight, which had been blocked by her large frame, finally brushed past Aran's eyes.

The voice that followed was so loud that Aran flinched in surprise.

"Greetings, youngest young miss!"

"PEEEP—! Pit!"

(Agh! Did you shove a trumpet down your throat—what kind of lung power is that—!)

"Oh, was my voice too loud? I suppose shouting at the training grounds has been my main job, hahaha!"

But her hearty laughter was still thunderous.

Aran tried to stretch out her stubby wings—still lacking any proper feathers—to cover her ears.

That immediately backfired.

"Goodness gracious!"

Flinch—!

At the ensuing exclamation of awe, Aran's body trembled.

For some reason, the intruder's body trembled too.

"So—so adorable…!"

"Peep…!"

(Speak softly, will you! My ears are about to burst…!)

The intruder finally seemed to catch Aran's displeased chirping and took a step back, asking.

"Oh, is my voice still too loud?"

Then, finally lowering her volume, she introduced herself.

"Allow me to present myself! I am Seong So-rim, the Right Training Master of the Blue Dragon Palace!"

Of course, by Aran's standards, it was still loud, but…

"Pit?"

(Training Master? Isn't that like a drill instructor? What business do you have with me…?)

Though she couldn't understand a single word the chick said, Training Master Seong So-rim remarkably managed to answer Aran's curiosity right away.

"I hear that baby birds must learn walking, running, and even flying from someone. But dragons walk on their own from the moment they're born, so the Blue Dragon Palace has no nursemaid to teach the young miss!"

"…Pik?"

(…So?)

"That's why I'm here!"

"Pit?"

(Why you?)

"When it comes to teaching others, I'm number one in this palace! Whoo-hoo-hoo-haht!"

Come to think of it, So-rim seemed to raise her voice the more embarrassed she got.

Ugh, so noisy.

I told you I don't want a nursemaid—didn't Hwi pass that along?

Why is Cheongun making such a fuss over useless things?

I really, truly hate the idea of a nursemaid—!

Aran huffed and struggled to stand up, determined to make it clear that she didn't need one.

She put strength into her tiny toes and firmly planted her slender ankles.

"Pii-yat!"

(Behold, the magnificent sight of this body—!)

She'd woken at dawn feeling unusually energetic, so she'd already practiced her first steps of this new life on her own.

Nearly two weeks had passed since her hatching—a full week earlier than her first steps in her previous life.

See? When I'm well cared for, I can do it too…!

"Good heavens!"

But for some reason, Aran's effort and achievement seemed to have spawned a completely absurd misunderstanding.

Seong So-rim's eyes grew moist as she trembled at the fingertips.

"Does this mean that I, the greatest Training Master Seong So-rim, have made the young miss take her first steps the moment we met?"

"Pit, pik?"

(What? That can't be right? What did you even do?)

Where had that woman who seemed to understand her a little gone?

So-rim, completely oblivious to Aran's dumbfounded thoughts, continued to be deeply moved.

"To be honest, when the master first said he would entrust such a young miss to me, I declined several times out of lack of confidence. But the master, who is like the reincarnation of the Blue Dragon himself, encouraged me, saying I was the best teacher in the palace… sniff."

"Pi?"

(Huh? Are you crying?)

So-rim, with a bit of exaggeration, wiped her eyes with hands the size of cauldron lids, then slowly swept her chest as if deeply moved.

After that, she gently placed both palms together at Aran's feet.

"Well then, young miss, shall we go out and see the Blue Dragon Palace together?"

Looking at the sturdy palms before her, Aran tilted her head.

"Piya…?"

(Hmm…? Am I allowed to leave here so freely?)

She had thought she was being temporarily confined until her identity was clearly determined and her treatment decided.

---

In the warm early summer garden.

"One, two! One, two! Our little Peep-peep young miss is doing wonderfully!"

Aran waddled along to So-rim's booming encouragement, but she was so embarrassed that her cheeks flushed bright red.

Thank goodness for the downy feathers, at least.

Peep-peep—what a mortifying name. She'd have to find an opportunity to tell them her real name.

"Pii…"

(Please, for the love of all that's holy, keep quiet, Training Master. It's no great feat for this body to walk—how humiliating…)

With such a raucous walking practice going on, how could people's gazes not gather?

One by one, palace attendants flocked to watch Aran's toddling and clapped for her.

"Oh my, is this the rumored youngest young miss? How adorable! But hasn't it only been a short while since she hatched?"

At a young attendant's curiosity, someone older answered.

"Birds are naturally slow to walk, they say."

"Hic! Then you mean she's been lying down all this time? How bored she must have been!"

Aran turned around in exasperation.

"Pit! Pit!"

(Bored? I've been so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open!)

Still, she couldn't stay in the cradle forever, so walking practice was necessary.

Aran steeled herself.

Though So-rim, who wasn't even a Vermilion Bird, didn't seem like she'd be much help, being around someone for a change didn't feel entirely bad.

After all, Aran had lived alone for years right up until the world was about to end.

So-rim crouched in front of Aran, crawling along on her knees, clapping like a gong.

"Two, two, three, four! That's it! Young miss, you're doing great!"

Aran didn't know what to do with herself in the face of such enthusiastic encouragement—something she'd never once experienced in her young life.

Just as she was practicing her first steps, thoroughly embarrassed, a voice she was starting to recognize called out.

"Huh? Peep-peep, you're walking?"

It was Cheong Hwi, her only channel of communication.

Aran was so startled she wobbled.

"Peep-peep!"

Because, in front of that young master, she had to watch every word she said.

"Whoa, Peep-peep!"

Hwi hurried over and scooped Aran up before So-rim could.

So-rim apologized, flustered.

"I—I'm so sorry, young master! The young miss was walking just fine a moment ago…"

Regardless, Hwi busied himself gently moving Aran's slender legs, one by one, as she rested on his palm.

"You need to be careful, Training Master. Look at these legs. A single wrong twist and they'd snap right off."

What? What's wrong with my legs!

That's what Aran thought, but what came out was nothing but obedient.

"Pit-pi."

(I didn't get hurt. I'm sorry for worrying you.)

"Are you really okay?"

Aran saw the deep furrow etched between Hwi's handsome brows and clutched her cherry-sized conscience.

She nodded vigorously, and Hwi turned to So-rim, who was standing like a penitent.

"Training Master, Peep-peep says she's fine. She's sorry for worrying you, actually. Isn't she sweet, even though she's just a baby?"

"Is that truly so?"

So-rim let out a sigh of relief.

"If only I could understand beast-speech too. The young miss said so many things to me back in the room…!"

No, I didn't.

Aran barely resisted shaking her head.

"I didn't understand a single word! But the young miss understood me perfectly and took her first steps because of it."

Surprisingly, Hwi seemed to believe So-rim's far-fetched claim at once.

"As expected, Training Master is the best!"

He proudly set Aran back down on the ground.

Aran decided to let So-rim's confident delusion slide. Compared to a dragon who thought he was her mother, this was nothing.

Just then, a sudden clatter came from somewhere.

And then a strange cry drew closer…

"Kiiiuu!"

Huh? What in the world is that sound?

Aran was tilting her head at the peculiar noise—one she'd never heard in her hundred years of life—when—

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud, CRASH!

Her body floated up from the shock, stars flashed before her eyes, and darkness descended in an instant.

As her consciousness faded, Aran thought:

Ah, is this it now?

Oh Black Tortoise God, are you taking me now?

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