This Novel is not my Novel

Since I couldn't keep holding the saliva-drenched orb, I went to the bathroom to wash it clean. Then I placed what appeared to be the Yeouiju into the dragon's forepaw.

Yor played with the orb, sometimes tossing it up and catching it, other times rolling it around on the bed. All the while, the tinkling sound of a bell echoed continuously.

"Yor. I'm asking just in case, but can you lower the bell sound or make it completely silent?"

"Nyang!"

Fortunately, Yor seemed to understand what I said. She answered briskly while shaking the Yeouiju clutched in her forepaw.

I hadn't expected much when I asked, but surprisingly, no sound came out at all. However, the moment Yor started playing with the Yeouiju again, the bell sound rang out once more.

It must be because it's no fun without the sound.

It seems the bell sound of the Yeouiju is to Yor's taste. Maybe she likes it because it was one of the first sounds she heard after being born.

'Well... as long as a silent mode is possible, it doesn't really matter.'

In a world where a dragon meows, what could stop a Yeouiju from sounding like a bell?

Thinking that, I took a cake from the aether mini refrigerator and placed it on the table.

At that, Yor swam through the air and circled around me, still clutching the Yeouiju she had been rolling around and playing with in her forepaw.

"Nyan nyan nyang~?"

Is she asking what this is?

Or is she asking why I'm suddenly taking out a cake?

Faced with those two possibilities, I chose the latter as the correct answer.

Since Yor had understood my words earlier and silenced the bell for a moment, it was clear she had been born with basic knowledge.

"Today is the day you were born. So I thought we should have a celebration party, even if it's a small one, and prepared a birthday cake."

As I spoke, I placed a number 0 shaped candle on the cake and lit it.

All the while, Yor stared at the cake with sparkling eyes, yet she didn't lunge at it.

Such a dignified attitude, befitting the Dragon race.

"Alright, now blow out the candle."

"Nyah...?"

"What is it?"

"Kyaooo-!"

For some reason, Yor slapped the floor with her tail in anger.

The atmosphere had been good just a moment ago. I had no idea why she suddenly became displeased.

"Is the candle too pretty, so you don't want to blow it out?"

"Kyaong!"

"No? Then do you want me to blow out the candle with you? But today is Karvaldr's birthday, not mine..."

"Kyaaaong!!"

"If it's not that either... could it be the birthday song...?"

"Nyang~!"

I found the answer after the third question, but I wasn't happy about it at all.

As I mentioned briefly a few chapters ago, my singing ability was terrible.

Back in school, whenever I sang during music performance evaluations, my classmates would laugh at me.

Did that leave me traumatized?

At some point, my throat started tightening with nervousness whenever I tried to sing.

Even though it was a very long time ago, it's still the same today.

"......"

"Yaong, nyan nyan nya, mya myaak nyaa..."

As I stood there unable to say a word, only moving my mouth, Yor shook her head and made incomprehensible sounds.

Then she started singing the birthday song herself, meowing all the while.

I couldn't help being surprised.

'Not only does she know the birthday song, but she can even sing it?'

It seems this familiar is a much smarter creature than I assumed.

Or maybe it's because this world is based on a Korean fantasy novel, so the formula that 'dragons are intelligent and great beings' still applies.

"Yor, you were just born, but you already know so much and sing so well. That's really amazing!"

After Yor finished the song and blew out the candle, I showered her with praise and applause.

Since I couldn't sing the birthday song for her, I felt I had to at least do this much.

Maybe she appreciated the effort, because Yor smiled happily and wagged her tail.

"By the way, I'm relieved that familiars can eat the same things humans do."

"Myang~!"

After sharing the cake with Yor, I cleaned up the table, washed up, and finished preparing for bed.

But I couldn't fall asleep right away.

There was something I needed to tell Yor.

"Yor, I'm happy you were born as a dragon. Of course, even if you had been born looking like a small wildcat like Karvaldr's familiar in the original novel, I still would have liked you. But as I said before, my real name is 'Mir,' which means 'dragon'."

With only the small mood light on, I sat on the edge of the bed and began speaking.

"The fact that you were born as a dragon must have been influenced by me. I've only been in this world for a little over two months, and the time I've spent supplying you with Ether has been just as short. To be honest, I'm not sure how this happened. I can only speculate that maybe it's because you accepted 'me' as your master, not 'Karvaldr'..."

"Aeooong~."

Yor coiled up on the cat cushion I had placed on the bed and let out a long cry.

It was an ambiguous reaction, neither quite an affirmation nor a denial.

Maybe Yor herself doesn't know the exact reason.

"You are not Karvaldr's familiar. You are my familiar. The proof is that you were born as a dragon."

"Nyang!"

The words that came out of my mouth could sound obsessive, depending on how someone interpreted them.

Even so, Yor smiled brightly at me and answered cheerfully.

I stroked the baby dragon's head and got to the main point.

"But other people don't know that. Since it's a secret that I'm not the real Karvaldr, everyone will be puzzled by your appearance."

No matter how much Yor makes cat sounds, there is no way anyone could mistake her for a feline predator.

Moreover...

"The fact that your eyes are sky blue... will also become a problem."

"Nyaa...?"

Yor tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

At that innocent sight, I couldn't help biting my lip.

I felt incredibly sorry.

I wondered whether it was really okay to tell such things to a familiar that had only just been born.

But I had to.

'If she prepares herself beforehand, she'll be hurt less.'

Looking into those eyes that held the color of a clear blue sky made my emotions grow unsettled.

The eyes I used to see every time I looked into the mirror before possessing this body were exactly the same.

According to my mother, my father was a pure Korean.

The same went for my mother.

'So the reason I was born with blue eyes was simply because I lacked melanin pigment.'

But people simply assumed my father was a foreigner and gossiped however they pleased.

I'll omit the details, but it was never the sort of thing people should say in front of a child.

Yet even when they knew I could hear them, they never bothered watching their words.

So my [N O V E L I G H T] mother and I always ended up feeling sorry toward each other.

Even though we were the ones hurt by others, we always had to blame ourselves.

'It's a shame for the child, having the wrong mother.'

'The mother suffers because of the child's eyes.'

Those were the kinds of things people said.

The bullying I experienced at school was also connected to this.

My blue eyes already made me stand out, and according to the rumors, I didn't have a father. On top of that, my personality was strangely timid.

In many ways, I must have looked like an easy target for bullying.

'I tried changing my timid personality because I thought I couldn't just endure it forever, and I screamed and fought back, but it didn't help. I somehow managed to endure it until middle school, but...'

Anyway, the reason I told Yor that her eye color could become a problem was because I had experienced something similar myself.

Because I had been forced to face prejudiced stares and become the target of gossip without any preparation.

My mother eventually tried to tell me many things.

Things like, 'You don't need to listen to what other people say,' or 'Your eyes carry the color of a clear and beautiful sky.'

'Mom will always love you, and I will never resent you. If anything, I'm the one who's sorry.'

Things like that.

But none of those words ever reached me.

No matter how kind the words were, they couldn't heal a heart that had already been wounded.

That's why I decided to prepare a shield in advance.

"It's not that your eye color is actually a problem. It's just that other people might speak carelessly, so I'm telling you ahead of time so you won't become confused when you hear those things."

"......"

Yor stared at me with an unreadable expression.

Maybe because she's a dragon, she doesn't even blink.

That only made it feel more burdensome.

"It's because the body I'm possessing belongs to a scion of the Austri Ducal Family. For generations, the people of this family have been born with purple Ether and purple eyes, and they take great pride in that tradition. The familiars of this family also possess purple Ether and take the form of feline predators, you see? So..."

A familiar born in the form of a dragon with Sky Blue Ether...

...both were unexpected, so my words wouldn't come out properly.

I didn't know where to begin or how to finish explaining it.

"Nyan nyan nyang, nyang~."

Did she notice that my heart was lost in confusion?

Yor lightly wrapped herself around me, rested her head on my shoulder, and gently tapped my back with her tail.

The meaning behind the gesture was unmistakably clear.

I don't know how long it had been since someone last hugged me.

The unexpected comfort nearly made me cry.

In fact, I think a few tears really did escape.

That was when I realized it.

It was true that I had brought up this conversation because I was worried about Yor, but underneath it all, the foundation of it was my own anxiety.

"I'm sorry for suddenly bringing up such an uncomfortable and hard-to-understand topic. I should be the one protecting you, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to. I was afraid you'd end up getting hurt and come to regret and resent choosing me as your master." freewebnøvel.com

I honestly confessed what I had just realized.

At that, Yor made a purring sound as if to say it was okay.

The Karvaldr from the original novel must truly have been a foolish and idiotic character.

To hate such a lovely being.

If he hadn't, he might have found comfort through his familiar.

"I'm still lacking in many ways, but I'll try. So let's get along from now on, whether as master and familiar or as family."

"Nyan nyan nyang, nyan nyan, nyaaaah, nyang~!"

Yor said something long, but I had no idea what she was saying.

For some reason, she seemed excited, but I didn't know why.

In any case, one thing was certain.

She didn't say no.

'That is good enough.'