Free Web NovelChapter 13: Goodnight, Little Trouble
"Y-Yes!"
Kael had just crushed Puff’s theory that "bigger means Mom."
Puff took offense at once. She raised her tiny pink fists and thumped his chest again.
"You little idiot. Behave."
"Mm..."
Aurelia looked at them, and the corner of her mouth lifted.
Her son was standing there, dripping wet, red-eared, furious, and arguing with a baby dragon.
Alive.
Safe.
For now, that was enough.
She went to the clothes rack and took down a fresh set of clothes. The bathhouse heat had dried them well enough.
"Little Kael, put these on first."
Before Kael could answer, Aurelia stepped in and straightened the collar near his shoulder.
It was such a small motion.
The kind she had done a thousand times when he was young.
Kael nearly jumped.
"Mom! I can dress myself!"
He hugged Puff against his chest with one arm, snatched the clothes with the other, and squeezed his eyes shut like dignity could be protected by not looking.
Aurelia smoothed the edge of his sleeve.
"There. Better."
Then she ruffled his wet hair.
Kael broke.
"I—We’re leaving!"
He had reached his limit.
His body was done. His brain was done. His pride had died three times already.
One more second of his mother treating him like a child, and he might actually lose his mind.
So he grabbed Puff and fled the bathhouse like the whole place was burning down.
"Huh? Little Kael, why—"
"Goodnight, Mom!"
Bang!
The door shut hard behind him.
"Goo’... night!"
Puff’s small voice came from the hallway.
"You’re too loud, stinky brat."
Their bickering drifted farther and farther away until the bathhouse fell still again.
Aurelia stood by the clothes rack.
After a while, she let out a breath and bent down to pick up the clothes Kael had left behind.
"Really," she murmured. "That child runs off every day."
Her fingers tightened around the damp fabric.
"It scares me."
She was the Empress of Suncrest.
But before that, she was his mother.
Whenever Kael left her sight, worry followed. She pictured blades in alleys, ambushes outside the gates, battlefields too far away for her to reach.
And there was another fear, one she hated even more.
One day, Kael might not need her at all.
So she gave him what she could.
Care. Fussing. Scolding. Warm clothes after a bath.
All the small things he kept trying to run from.
All for the child she treasured most.
Her adopted son.
Kael.
...
"Hey, stinky little brat."
Kael stood in the middle of his room with Puff tucked under one arm.
His headache was getting worse.
"How exactly are you supposed to sleep?"
"Ehee..."
Puff giggled.
Kael searched the room.
Bed.
Table.
Chair.
Cabinet.
Nothing useful.
No cradle. No spare couch. No little dragon basket magically waiting in the corner.
Just one enormous bed.
Kael stared at it.
"So I’m supposed to put you there?"
Puff smiled like the answer was obvious.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"Don’t just laugh. Do you wet the bed?"
Puff blinked.
"Do you wake up in the middle of the night and cry for no reason?"
His face darkened.
"Because if you do, you’re sleeping on the floor."
He was not waking up at midnight with a tiny dragon screaming in his ear.
Or soaking the sheets.
Before he agreed to anything, he needed to know what kind of disaster he was dealing with.
"Aow..."
Puff looked offended.
Then she opened her mouth and bit his shoulder.
Hard.
It was not a warning bite, either. She clamped down and held on like his shoulder had personally insulted her ancestors.
"Ah—! You little stinky brat!"
Kael hissed, pulled her off, and dropped her onto the bed.
He rubbed his shoulder.
Small teeth marks dotted his skin. A few had already turned red.
"Mm..."
Puff froze.
Kael’s reaction seemed to tell her she had done something wrong. Her round eyes grew wet, and her face crumpled.
"Tch. What are you crying for?"
Kael rubbed his shoulder again and kept his voice flat.
"It barely hurt. Don’t make that face."
Puff sniffled.
"N... not... hurt?"
"Hurt, my ass."
Kael snorted.
"I’ve taken worse hits from training dummies."
He pointed at her forehead.
"But don’t bite me like that again. Do it one more time, and I’m flicking you right here."
Puff touched her forehead with both hands.
"Mm..."
Kael turned off the magic lamp. The room dimmed.
He put Puff on one side of the bed, shoved a pillow between them, changed into his sleep clothes, and lay down on the other side.
"Da... da."
Kael paused.
"Yeah?"
Puff curled up in the dark.
For a few seconds, she stayed there.
Then she rolled over the pillow, pressed herself against his side, and hugged him with both arms.
Like she was afraid he would vanish.
"Good... night."
Kael looked at the ceiling.
"...Goodnight."
...
Morning light slipped through the windows.
The room brightened bit by bit.
Kael should have gotten up.
He did not.
"Tch..."
For once, nothing urgent waited for him.
No war council.
No training ground.
No battlefield.
One lazy morning was not going to kill anyone.
"Da... da."
"Hah...?"
Kael kept his eyes closed.
"What?"
His voice was rough with sleep. His brain had not returned yet.
"Hungry..."
"Oh."
Puff had been awake for some time.
Kael was still buried under the blanket like a corpse.
She sat there and stared at him.
Then she stared harder.
At last, she crawled out from under the blanket, climbed onto him, and smacked the top of his head with one chubby hand.
"Hungry... hungry!"
"Ah—stupid dragon, get off my face!"
Puff smacked him again.
And again.
And again.
By the time Kael opened his eyes, she had hit him more than ten times.
He glared at her through half-lidded eyes.
Last night’s drinking had been a mistake.
A serious mistake.
"You moron... can’t you see I’m sleeping?"
"Mm... hungry!"
Puff ignored his glare and patted his cheek again.
Her stomach had spoken.
To Puff, that settled everything.
"You’re such a pain."
"Milk... milk!"
"There is no milk! Stop grabbing, you moron!"
Now he was awake.
Painfully awake.
Kael cursed under his breath, sat up, climbed out of bed, and went to get dressed.
Puff stayed on the mattress, head tilted, staring at him like he was some strange creature she had found in the wild.
A knock came at the door.
"Master Kael," Zera called from outside, "breakfast is ready."
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you."
Kael opened the door.
"Here. Take this idiot first."
Zera had no time to react.
Kael grabbed Puff by the back of her little cloak and deposited her straight into Zera’s arms.
Zera froze.
She looked down at Puff.
Then at Kael.
Then down at Puff again.
Her face said she had no idea what she had just been handed.
"You’re taking this dummy," Kael said, already turning away, "and you’re changing her and feeding her."
"Eh? Master Kael, but—"
"No buts. Hurry up. I’m going out later."
Zera did not get another word out.
Kael shut the door in her face with the speed of a man escaping a battlefield.
