LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 86
Chapter 86. Spreading Wings
— The adults looked so cool.
I admired how they powerfully spread their wings and soared into the sky.
Baby dragons sometimes don’t even notice that they have wings for a while.
It seems that Leila became aware of her wings about six months after she was born—I don’t remember it myself, but my father and mother said so.
“Kyuu, kyuu!”
Imitating the adults, I flapped my wings. I jumped and spread my wings from a rocky ledge, but I couldn’t glide properly and crashed straight to the ground.
“Kyuu?”
Despite being young, I’m still a dragon; that didn’t hurt at all.
“Oh my! This little one is already trying to fly!”
My mother licked my face playfully. It tickled and felt nice.
“Ha ha ha. She takes after you, though she’s quite the tomboy.”
My father teased.
“Oh, how rude! Maybe she takes after some mischievous brat somewhere!”
My parents laughed as they looked at each other.
“Look, Leila. This is how you do it.”
My father spread his magnificent wings and demonstrated a slow flap.
“Give it a try.”
“Kyuu?”
I remember trying my hardest to imitate him.
“Oh! That’s the spirit, that’s the spirit!”
“Good job, Leila!”
Seeing my parents happy made me feel happy too.
“Kyuuuu!”
Excited, something surged up within me—I puffed out some smoke from my mouth.
“Oh! Even a breath!”
“That’s amazing! Wow, hot hot!”
My parents were overjoyed. I was so pleased that I proudly puffed out smoke again.
“This child will surely grow into a magnificent dragon!”
“Yes! She will surely guide our lineage!”
Suddenly, sensing a serious vibe from my parents, I tilted my head, “Kyuu?”
“…It’s nothing, Leila. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“Right! That’s it! Your father is getting all fired up!”
My father stood on his hind legs and flapped his wings mightily.
With a rush, a strong wind blew through, and little Leila was blown away with a “Kyuu!”
Roll, thud. I tumbled on the ground. Even as a young dragon, of course, this didn’t hurt at all.
“My goodness, you!”
“Ha ha ha, sorry, sorry!”
Both my parents, great White Dragons, came over and licked my scales.
“Cute Leila.”
“Please grow up healthy.”
“Kyuu…”
I didn’t quite understand what my parents were talking about.
Still, it was definitely a happy time—
Suddenly, a shadow fell over Leila’s head.
Swat! A sharp slap on my cheek.
“Ouch!”
Before I knew it, I had turned into a human. In a dark cave, men cloaked in black surrounded me.
“Those damned White Dragons…!”
“Throwing dirt with your back legs!”
“What do you plan to do to bother us so much?!”
Angry shouts and insults were hurled at me.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
I could only bow down and apologize. But then, another swat came like a whip. A tail from a dragon form swung and knocked me away—I was sent flying, unable to breathe from the shock.
“Hey, hey, don’t die.”
“Doesn’t matter. If she dies, we can just eat her.”
“She’s a bit skinny, but the meat seems tender.”
Their vile laughter, like metal scraping, sent shivers down my spine.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry!”
Sobbing, I rolled away and began to escape.
An endless—dark cave, where I couldn’t see the end—
“She’s gotten away!”
“Just as I thought, a filthy traitor!”
“Kill her!!”
A terrifying tremor and footsteps approached from behind.
I could tell without looking that dragons, bared fangs exposed, were chasing me.
“Help… Father… Anyone…!”
In human form, I got out of breath quickly. I couldn’t keep running for long—!
“Oof!”
And then my feet stumbled, causing me to fall.
(Help me…!!)
Someone—
The moment I wished that, a young voice said, “Are you okay?”
Looking back, at the cave’s end—at the bright exit, a boy with horns reached out to me.
“Over here! Let’s escape!”
Clinging to his hand in a desperate rush, I—
Escaped the dark cave—
“Look here!”
The boy suddenly wore a mischievous smile.
“Your father.”
In the bright room, on the table, was my father Faravgi’s head.
I stood frozen, about to scream—
“—Noooooo!?”
I jumped awake.
In a dim little room on my bed.
“……Ah.”
Panting, I turned around to gaze at the sunset sky peeking through the small window, lost in thought.
The warm sun was setting—soon would be the time of the dark creatures.
That’s right, I had already been handed over to the Demon Lord’s Prince Zilbagias, leaving the hands of the dark dragons.
I couldn’t tell how many times this had happened. I recalled reality once again.
“……What a terrible dream.”
With a tired smile, almost giving up, I murmured softly.
“……I need to take a bath.”
I was drenched in sweat. Rubbing my eyes, I wobbled out of bed.
†††
A while had passed since Leila joined Zilbagias’s ranks.
Incredibly, I was still alive and in one piece.
At first, I suspected it might have been a trap set by the dark dragons to further despair me—
“Good morning, Leila. Did you sleep well?”
From the way Garunya, my senior, spoke with a hometown accent, it didn’t seem like that.
For the most part—this beastman didn’t seem capable of pulling off such a trick.
“Yeah… I slept well, thank you.”
Leila replied with a smile.
Actually, I had been sleeping well. Even though I was haunted by a nightmare, having been assigned a proper room was infinitely better than living in a cave with the dark dragons.
At the very least, I didn’t have to deal with dragons making a ruckus nearby to disturb my sleep.
Getting a room with a window in the Demon Lord’s Castle was quite a privilege. This massive castle with many residents often crammed the lowly workers into dark, damp rooms without windows.
The little room I was currently living in was prepared by Zilbagias’s mother, the Duchess Platiphia, for unexpected guests. For the daughter of the sinner Faravgi, this treatment could be considered exceptional.
“So, my master truly doesn’t intend to do anything bad to you. Please feel assured about that,” Garunya had told me before.
“Oh, right. Leila, I have something for you!”
After finishing the morning meal, Garunya handed me a pouch. Inside were a vast number of cookies coated in syrup.
“Wow, so many… I’m always bothering you…”
Usually, Garunya always gave me snacks, and I genuinely felt bad about it. But today, the amount was especially large. I thought I should refuse—
“It’s okay! My master said, ‘You’ve worked hard, so this is a bonus,’ and increased the amount of snacks!”
Garunya was grinning widely, but her expression turned a little troubled.
“Even though these cookies are delicious, they make me itch if I eat too many… Lady Sophia said that some people have such a constitution.”
“Oh… I see…”
“That’s why I can’t eat too many, so I thought I’d let you have them.”
……Could that really be true? I wondered if she was trying to spare my feelings or something. But that was probably just because I wasn’t used to receiving kindness.
Especially coming from Garunya, who always treated me so sincerely and innocently.
It confused me, yet at the same time, brought a warm feeling deep within my heart.
“Thank you… I’ll eat them deliciously.”
“Yeah! Alright, let’s work hard today too!”
Garunya stood up energetically with a tray of dishes.
……The dark dragons had often mentioned how beastmen were insignificant, weak, and lowly races.
But—compared to those dragons who laughed while saying such things, Garunya seemed to possess a much nobler and more tolerant spirit.
“Oh, right! Be careful not to munch on snacks in front of Viene while you’re working, or you’ll get lectured!”
Garunya added as if remembering something.
“Oh, um…”
“……Who’s going to lecture you?”
But at that moment, just as she said that, Viene entered the dining hall carrying a tray.
“Oh! Good morning!”
Garunya made a quick getaway using her beastman agility.
“Really, that child…”
Viene sighed and then cast a slightly troubled expression towards me.
Unknowingly, I had tensed up. Often, dragons had night elf servants. When I was living in the cave, the night elves didn’t actively bully me, but they didn’t help me either.
They just continued to treat me with cold, icy glares and expressions like an iron mask—
“I won’t complain as long as you’re not piggishly eating in front of the lady or the prince.”
However, Viene had no way of knowing my inner thoughts as she shrugged and took a seat diagonally across from me at the table.
“Well, that child is a beastman, so she probably gets hungrier than we do. But still, moderation is important. No matter how familiar you are with your master, if you don’t maintain proper behavior, it’ll be embarrassing if unexpected guests come, and the servants are caught munching away.”
“Y-yes…”
As Viene scooped some potato salad from breakfast onto her spoon and chewed, she spoke clearly. I could only nod in response.
“That’s why, conversely, it’s fine as long as you’re not caught. But she forgets so quickly without me repeatedly reminding her…”
“Oh, I see…”
“And there’s a trick to not getting hungry while working,”
Viene pulled out a similar pouch from her maid dress pocket.
“Make sure you eat a hearty breakfast with your meal!”
As she tossed dried fruits into her mouth, she smiled brightly.
……Back when I was in the cave, I thought the night elves were a heartless race, like ruthless killing machines. Because I had never seen them smile.
Even now, I find it frightening when it comes to other servants or the frightening sword master named Virosa, even though she’s a night elf… But I feel, for some reason, that this senior servant Viene genuinely cares about me.
(After all, from Viene’s perspective, I’m the daughter of the white dragon that nearly burned her to a crisp, but I almost don’t remember that, and when I woke up, everything had settled down. Compared to taking care of that hateful high elf saintess, I felt like I could accept most people with an open heart.)
“…………”
With Viene now fully focused on her meal, I shifted my gaze down to the pouch of cookies placed on the table.
I took a crunchy bite. It was slightly sweet, with a nutty flavor—delicious.
Aside from taking a bath as a human, eating snacks was what I loved the most.
Munching on a cookie with a happy expression, Viene secretly glanced at me and smiled gently.
Once the meal was done, it was work time.
However, the extent of Leila’s responsibilities only included ironing.
In the cave, my job was to iron the robes of other dragons. I had to work hard to perfect my skills, otherwise, if even a slight wrinkle remained, I would be haunted and bullied, but in the end, I genuinely became great at ironing.
Honestly, it’s not a job I have fond memories of, but when the beastman servant aunts praised me with genuine compliments like, “Oh my, you’re so good at this!” I couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratification, thinking, “Ah, my experience wasn’t for nothing after all.”
In the cave, no matter how perfectly I finished things, it was expected, and I was never praised.
After that, I usually stayed close to Zilbagias or received tutoring from Sophia the Knowledge Demon, which made up my daily life.
“Nurghhhhhh!!!”
Duchess Platiphia and Zilbagias were engaged in a fierce training session that resembled a life-or-death battle.
With semi-transparent arms sprouting from her back, Platiphia unleashed a storm of thrusts from three spears while Zilbagias desperately defended with sword and bone gauntlet.
“Gaaahhhh!”
Wounded and cursed with searing pain, the prince gritted his teeth and continued fighting while the Duchess was also soaked in sweat and bore an intense expression.
……The dark dragons had held the demon race in such contempt: “Arrogant and presumptuous rulers who trample on other races. They lounge in the status built by the first Demon Lord, ignorant of their own shortcomings, like mere insects”……
But seeing Prince Zilbagias training seriously before me in a way that could literally mean life or death, I couldn’t help but conclude it was a totally unjust evaluation.
Rather… was it not the dragon race that relied on their inborn physical capabilities and immense magical power…?
“Alright! We’ll stop here for today.”
Seeing Zilbagias kneel, exhausted, Platiphia ceased her movements.
“You’ve really improved in handling curses. As expected of you, Zilbagias, keep up the good work.”
“Yes… Mother…!”
Panting heavily, Zilbagias took on Platiphia’s minor injuries using the teleportation spell and collapsed just when the saintess Liliana rushed in with a “Wah wah!”
“……Thanks as always…”
Zilbagias smiled and patted Liliana on the head.
His expression was filled with a kind of affection that seemed unimaginable for the demon race, which dark dragons typically referred to in whispers as ruthless and terrible—
“……Oh, Leila.”
Suddenly, Zilbagias caught my eye.
“While we’re at it, how about you train with us a bit?”
“Ah… yes!”
I nodded while loosening the ribbon of my maid dress.
I still wasn’t accustomed to my current position.
I hadn’t even sorted out my emotions.
Yet, even so… I felt I should do something.
At the very least, since Zilbagias was working so hard, I thought I could at least do that.
And as I spread my wings, preparing to fly freely—
I didn’t know what awaited me ahead.
But still, I figured there was no need to be lost as long as I focused on what I could do now.
Folding the maid dress and dispelling the human transformation magic.
As I returned to my dragon form, I looked up at the night sky.
(……That’s right, Father, Mother.)
Gazing up at the tender silver moon, reminiscent of my parents’ silvery scales, I whispered softly within my heart.
――――――――
I want to bring some hope to little Leila soon…
Clicking the heart allows you to easily convey your feelings of support. (Login required)
Support
If you have an account, please log in
Learn more about the reading experience available on Kakuyomu.