Moreover, even to Hugo’s own eyes, it was impossible to deem it an ordinary creature, even if it were an empty word.

“It seems it wasn’t extinct.”

Elysia corrected as he let out a sighlike comment.

“It is indeed extinct. That young one is an exceptional case.”

Elysia stopped midway as she lifted her cup to drink coffee, and set it back down.

Contrary to her usual elegant gestures, the sound of the cup scraping against the saucer echoed loudly.

“From what it told earlier, it seemed to have experienced terrible things… Perhaps its birth process wasn’t much different. It said it had been there since it opened its eyes.”

“……”

“Who could it be…?”

“No matter how young, a dragon is a dragon. My wife must have felt it too, but the existence of a species that was once the strongest creature on earth does not simply disappear.”

Hugo, too, lost his appetite and set down his cup.

“An organization that would experiment on a dragon…”

The continent once engulfed in a massive war.

There were plenty of villains, selfish organizations, and reckless terrorist groups.

Quite a few organizations were annihilated in the course of the war, but just as many groups survived and maintained their lineage.

There were too many places to point the finger.

“We should have hunted them down back then…”

Elysia spoke ominously.

Now, she’s a duchess, but back in those war days, she was a general who trudged through countless battlefields barehanded.

The horrifying things she saw and experienced then are still happening somewhere.

Elysia barely suppressed the urge to grab a sword and rush out right now.

“So what should we do with the dragon?”

“You know very well.”

“…There is a chance our baby could be in danger.”

“It’s a young dragon that doesn’t even know how to use its power properly. You’re around our baby, I’m around, the Knights are around, and even the ruler of the Eastern Demon World is there.”

Hugo couldn’t deny this. Their daughter’s life wasn’t threatened by a mere young dragon, not when there were formidable figures surrounding her.

“There could be quite a few troublesome things even if it’s not dangerous.”

“The power of Artina can handle a little trouble.”

That was true. The power of their house was not so weak as to fail to handle such a thing.

Hugo, beating around the bush, sighed and voiced his true feelings.

“Even if we can handle the trouble, I just don’t want to…”

As Hugo murmured weakly to Elysia, the only one he weakens around, she responded with a stern expression.

“Hmph. The answer is clear. You just need to answer. Is that hard?”

“…Then why did you ask in the first place?”

Elysia shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, let’s say it’s just for courtesy.”

That evening.

“You will stay with us for the time being.”

With the declaration of the head, Hugo, one more family member, no, one more dragon, was added to the Artina duchy.

‘I have a home now!’

It was natural for the little dragon, hearing the news, to flutter with joy, unable to contain its happiness.

Of course, just because they were sharing a home did not mean that the distance between them would close instantly.

The noble family of the Artina Duchy, who hadn’t exactly lived a smooth life, was no different.

Especially the high nobles, who knew the bitterness of the world, tended to be extremely introverted.

So most of the family members, especially Arkhan and Cedric, were not pleased with the reality of sharing a house with a dragon overnight.

“Just look at it pretending to be cute.”

“It did say it had a hard time. But we can’t trust everything it says.”

However, Elysia herself, who had accepted the young dragon, was very satisfied.

Originally weak for animals and young children, she also judged that having a cute young dragon as Evelia’s sibling living together would produce a reasonably good outcome.

“Our child who has no siblings, could also become a good friend for Cedric, who has no brothers.”

Elysia thought as she read a book describing ancient dragons.

“If someday a dragon could protect our child in a crisis, that would be reassuring.”

The pages of the book rustled as they turned.

“Most importantly, what if the group that drove the young dragon out takes him back?”

Elysia’s gaze turned sharp for a moment.

“As he said, even if a dragon is somewhat lacking, it’s still a dragon. If it falls into their hands, it could someday become our greatest enemy.”

To prevent that, this method is the best.

Elysia, who had been a leading strategist of this empire in the past, didn’t make the mistake of seeing only one aspect when making a decision.

Thus, Elysia and Evelia, who were the actual power behind this duchy, embraced the little dragon, and the three wealthy men and the Arital Knights couldn’t do anything.

For three days.

The little dragon, which was already quite fluffy, sparkled even more after finishing a shiny shower, and the tattered rags he wore when he transformed into a human were replaced with a dark blue tunic chosen by Elysia, looking absolutely cute.