Free Web NovelAnother new day.
The elven royal court in the early morning brimmed with vitality. Elves of all kinds bustled about in lively crowds.
From time to time, a few carriages entered from outside the city, loaded with goods from the human lands. They would occasionally get stuck on narrow corner roads, the elven drivers chewing on flatbread as they loudly shouted for the crowded elves to make way.
Laughter, hawking cries, scolding voices—endless and overlapping.
You could hardly see any sign of decline brought by suffering in this capital city. It still seemed frozen in its most glorious and bustling era.
In the courtyard, Vieya stood behind a medicine table with her sleeves rolled up. Her exposed arms moved with complete concentration as she used a stone pestle to grind ingredients in a mortar, preparing food meant for newborn dragons.
Although she felt it might be a bit early to start preparing now, she had already wasted quite a lot of raw materials, yet still hadn’t managed to make the infant dragon milk powder described in the reference materials.
“Actually, I’m not that fragile. I don’t need milk powder...” the dragon egg said faintly.
Ever since Vieya had read that damned postnatal care guide for dragon egg incubation, it was as if she had been possessed. Every day, at fixed times, she flipped the egg, saying it was to prevent the embryo from sticking to the shell. From time to time, she would even press her ear against the shell to listen to its heartbeat, claiming she was afraid it might suddenly die inside the egg...
“The materials say that if pure-blood dragons consume the milk of other animals, it can cause diarrhea, lethargy, and stunted development,” Vieya said seriously. “And I’ve already asked the elves to help me look for liquid time, and the crystalline time you mentioned. When the time comes, I’ll grind it into powder and add it to the milk to feed you. That way, you’ll grow faster.”
“As long as you’re happy,” the dragon egg sighed. It almost wanted to hop away, find a pit, and bury itself.
“Hey, don’t wriggle around. Look! It’s crooked again.”
Vieya put her hands on her hips and glared, then straightened the unruly dragon egg, making sure it was positioned under the sunlight.
These past few days, she had carefully studied the post-hatching care materials from beginning to end. Work during the molting phase like this couldn’t be sloppy. Aside from daily egg flipping, regular eggshell care was also required. Most importantly, she couldn’t say words like lizard or reptile to the dragon egg, otherwise the hatchling would grow up with inferiority issues.
Although she didn’t think Flaviel would ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) ever feel inferior, she really had stopped using terms like pig dragon or stupid egg.
‘Starting today, facing the sea, with spring blossoms—flip the egg, do the care, raise a civilized dragon.’
At this moment, little Jasmine was hiding behind the door, sneaking a peek. She cautiously stuck out half her head to observe the courtyard.
Looking at the slime and the egg in the courtyard, she suddenly felt a bit wronged.
Ever since Mom had picked up that big egg from who-knows-where, all her attention had gone to that egg. The time she spent talking with Jasmine every day had grown less and less...
Jealousy.jpg
Jasmine bit her lip, then suddenly rubbed her cheeks hard. No! Why am I jealous of an egg?!
One day, when Mom isn’t home, I’ll secretly boil that egg.
The corners of Jasmine’s mouth couldn’t help but curl into a demonic, sinister smile.
Such a big egg—whether boiled plain, steamed, or stir-fried with extra ingredients, all sounded like excellent options.
If necessary, she could even make an extra barrel of egg wine.
“Little mistress, what are you sneaking around here for?” the sweeping maid suddenly asked.
“Eek!”
Jasmine jumped in fright, her hair practically standing on end. With a flustered little face, she said, “I-I was thinking... right, that’s it! I suspect Mom has been bewitched by that sudden egg!”
As she spoke, her tone grew serious. “Sister Fish, don’t you think so? Ever since Mom brought that egg home, she doesn’t talk to us anymore.”
Isabelle thought for a moment and nodded. “It does seem that way.”
“And there’s more.” Jasmine lowered her voice and continued, “I found that when no one’s around, Mom actually talks to that egg in secret!”
“What? That even happens?!” Isabelle was shocked.
Jasmine nodded and whispered, “Sister Fish, don’t you think this is very similar to the demons described in the scriptures? The kind that bewitch people’s hearts, corrupt the backbone of a family, and quietly destroy the whole household?”
“It is a bit similar,” Isabelle nodded, then shook her head. “But the master is the wielder of the Holy Sword. The blessings on her are more numerous than cow hairs. Forget demons trying to bewitch her—even producing a trace of hostility would trigger a reaction.”
“Huh?” Jasmine froze. Why wasn’t Sister Fish going along with her line of thought?
“Sister Fish, what I mean is, how about we team up and deal with that egg?”
“Little mistress, your thoughts are getting more and more dangerous,” Isabelle sighed, patiently guiding her. “If you did that, the master would be extremely sad. Little mistress, do you really want to make your mom sad?”
“I don’t want Mom to be sad!” Jasmine shook her head like a rattle drum. A hint of struggle flashed in her eyes, followed by confusion. “Then what should I do?”
“Go talk more with your mom. Be honest with her about what’s in your heart,” Isabelle encouraged her. “The master is careless to begin with, so you can just launch a frontal attack! Be bold!”
“Eh? Really?” Jasmine blinked. “But what if Mom dislikes noisy me?”
“Indeed, some mothers are rather heartless. They abandon their children or even sell them for money. Such cases are recorded among both demons and humans,” Isabelle said thoughtfully.
“S-sell for money?!” Jasmine’s little face turned deathly pale. If Mom disliked her, would she be sold?!
“Heh heh, but it’s fine,” Isabelle gave a dark smile. “The master is all bark and no bite—and she can’t even manage bark. So be bold. Go over and help the master take care of that strange egg! Communication is very important!”
With that, Isabelle pushed Jasmine out from behind the door.
Click.
Jasmine stumbled forward and ended up standing in the courtyard. Stepping on the pebbles underfoot, she felt completely at a loss. She looked toward her mom—only to meet Vieya’s gaze.
Oh no!
Jasmine’s heart skipped a beat.
Had Mom seen through her little scheme and was about to scold her harshly?
Vieya looked at Jasmine expressionlessly. Jasmine felt guilty as if she’d done something wrong. Stammering, she said, “M-Mom, can I help you take care of the big egg? I want to, I want to...”
“You can.” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Eh?”
“You can. If there’s anything you don’t know, I can teach you.”
“Mom...”
Jasmine froze, then quickly pouted. She staggered over to Vieya’s side and suddenly burst into tears.
“H-Hey?”
The slime girl held her crying daughter, completely at a loss. What was going on? Why was she crying?
“What’s wrong, little Jasmine? Did someone bully you? Tell Mom, and Mom will go teach them a lesson.”
“Sob, no one bullied me,” Jasmine said, burying herself in the slime’s embrace. Between sobs, she confessed, “It was Jasmine who turned bad just now. I wanted to take the egg Mom likes and boil it into a dish...”
“?”
Vieya froze, then couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. She gently patted her daughter’s head and comforted her.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. It hasn’t been boiled yet, has it?”
“Sob sob sob...” Jasmine wiped her tears.
“......”
Flaviel was speechless, suddenly feeling that dragon life held no hope and the future was bleak. Sigh. How did I end up giving birth to such a filial daughter...
Inside the cottage.
Isabelle, who had witnessed the entire process, let out a soft chuckle. Humming a cheerful tune, she turned and continued cleaning, broom and shovel in hand.
