And the next day, William succeeded spectacularly.

[Undine.]

Since he didn’t call upon the spirit’s image, nothing happened. However, William experienced his magic stirring for the first time.

“I, I think I succeeded, Professor!”

“Yes, I heard it too!”

Siod was overjoyed. He was so moved that he hugged William.

“As expected of my son! Are you a genius?”

“Ugh, what are you doing?”

“Hahaha, my child!”

The excited Siod lifted and caught William as if tossing a baby. William felt like he was suddenly being manhandled, but from Siod’s perspective, this excitement was natural.

Even if all of William’s lost time was added up, he hadn’t lived even a hundred years. He was like a hatchling that hadn’t even emerged from its egg.

From Siod’s point of view, it was like watching a newborn speak as soon as it was born.

“Ugh! Ah! Stop it!”

“Hahahahaha!!!”

It was a laugh like that of a bandit. Guinevere and Larisa watched the scene with sour expressions.

“Mother, is the teacher always like this?”

“It seems so.”

The initial mystique was gone, and now there was just an overly affectionate old man.

After the commotion ended, Siod started the lesson again.

“Now, go into the water and try to imagine the water spirit while feeling the water.”

“But I don’t know what Undine looks like…”

“Spirits don’t have a physical form originally. Just imagine whatever appearance you want. The clearer the mental image, the better.”

Hearing this, Guinevere looked down expressionlessly at the Sylph, which had taken the form of a pretty young girl.

So this appearance was the result of Siod’s imagination? She wondered why it had to be a young and pretty girl.

“Is he a pervert?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Larisa smiled brightly and said to William.

“Willi Willi, the Little Mermaid! I like the Little Mermaid.”

“The Little Mermaid?”

Larisa took out a fairy tale book she had brought in her picnic basket and showed it to him. William made a puzzled expression.

“This is too difficult…”

“Hng, but I like the Little Mermaid.”

“Well, I’m not sure if that’s possible…”

“Hng, Little Mermaid!”

“…I’ll try my best.”

William opened the storybook, went into the water, and tried hard to imagine Undine in the form of the Little Mermaid.

“Feel the water! And imagine the form while doing so!”

“Be quiet for a moment, will you?”

“You can do it!”

However, no matter how many times William called for Undine using dragon language, the spirit did not appear.

Siod hadn’t expected William to be able to use dragon language in the first place, so he was already quite happy.

He lay down on the picnic blanket and cheered for William.

“Fighting! You can do it!”

“Ah, I said be quiet!”

To help William, Larisa stuffed a sandwich into Siod’s mouth.

“Are you giving this to me, teacher? How kind of you.”

Meanwhile, Guinevere kept mumbling quietly.

“Undine…”

Who knows? Maybe the spirit would respond to her call as well. But William was faster.

“I did it! I did it!”

“He must be a genius…”

Siod looked like he was about to cry. William had mastered dragon language in a day, and now he had summoned a spirit in half a day. Even a pure-blooded hatchling couldn’t do this.

‘I must go brag to Lord.’

He wouldn’t be able to resist acknowledging him as a dragon. While Siod was overcome with emotion, William was in a hurry. A faint Undine in the form of the Little Mermaid was making eye contact with William. It seemed like she might disappear at any moment.

“What should I do? Quickly!”

“Repeat after me! I desire a contract with you, Undine.”

“I desire a contract with you, Undine.”

Then the stream water rose up like a waterspout and swallowed Undine. When Undine reappeared, she was shimmering more clearly than before.

[Undine?]

When William reached out his hand, Undine just stared at it indifferently. She was completely different from Sylph, so William didn’t know how to interact with Undine.

“It’s okay. Spirits are like that originally. They haven’t learned emotions yet.”

William looked at Sylph sitting on Larisa’s lap. Unlike the lively Sylph, the Undine he had summoned seemed like a doll.

“Then what should I do?”

“If you keep summoning her, show her the human world, and teach her, she’ll become like that.”

Siod pointed at Sylph with his chin while lying down. Then he said grumpily.

“But I don’t recommend it. Once they develop a sense of self, they don’t listen and do whatever they want. You should only teach them enough to be obedient.”

“Teacher, our Sylph is a good child.”

Siod inwardly sighed. When he made eye contact with Sylph, who was playing dolls as Larisa wanted, the spirit smiled again.

“Sylph, you rascal… Who do you think is feeding you… You just suck up my magic and only listen to Larisa, huh?”

“Teacher, don’t scold Sylph!”

“I’m not scolding…”

At that moment, suddenly Sylph’s body began to glow. The translucent glow disappeared from her body, and she took on a perfect physical form. Siod’s jaw dropped.

“Did I just call her by name?”

Guinevere answered.

“You called her Sylph.”

“I must be crazy…”

Larisa hugged Sylph and whimpered.

“Teacher, is Sylph going to die?”

“No…”

“But you said they die if you give them a name.”

“They die when the spirit master dies… If I don’t die, she’ll be fine.”

“Then why do you look so weak?”

“Because Sylph ate too much of my magic.”

Larisa finally relaxed and smiled brightly. Sylph, now with a physical form like a real fairy from a storybook, seemed to have a slightly more tangible weight than before.

Siod writhed in self-loathing.

‘I must be the only dragon who names spirits.’

Now that she had been given a name, Sylph could never return to the spirit realm. When his magic runs out, they will perish together.

As a dragon tasked with maintaining the balance between dimensions, it was something he shouldn’t have done, but Siod smiled wryly as he saw Sylph’s happy face.

‘I’m going to get an earful for this.’

*

Lord focused his eyes to get a proper look at the young fellow who had woken him from his sleep.

[Why are you waking me again?]

“My son used dragon language.”

[How many years have passed?]

“About three months?”

Siod said proudly. However, Lord almost spat out his breath.

[You woke me up after just three months!]

“No, I’m telling you my son used dragon language.”

[So what!]

Lord raised his massive body. The ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck. But he had merely stood up.

There was a flash of light, and Lord, transformed from a dragon into the form of a young man, grabbed Siod by the collar and said,

“You woke me for such a trivial reason?”

“Trivial? I woke you to ask you to acknowledge my son as one of the dragon clan.”

“Not a chance.”

Siod shouted with an incomprehensible look on his face.

“What do you mean? There are precedents. Ancient texts say that mixed-bloods who used dragon language could be recognized as part of the dragon clan.”

“Even if he used dragon language, it was probably just babbling. A mixed-blood child…”

“He even summoned a spirit with dragon language.”

“What?”

Lord released Siod’s collar.

“Is that true?”

Siod was smiling like a doting parent.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“Why would I lie to you, Lord?”

“Then bring him here.”

“What?”

“I need to see it with my own eyes.”

Siod looked at Lord suspiciously.

“Why are you looking at me so disrespectfully?”

“I’m afraid you might hurt him after I bring him here.”

Lord hit Siod on the head.

“Ow, why did you hit me!”

“I need to see for myself to decide whether to acknowledge him or not, you fool!”

Then Siod broke into a wide smile.

“So you’ll acknowledge him?”

“If he used dragon language, I have no choice.”

“Then if Cassandra’s egg doesn’t hatch, will you take responsibility?”

“The eggs have a fifty-fifty chance of hatching anyway. The one already born is more important.”

Siod was a bit surprised. Cassandra is Lord’s daughter. If she loses this egg, it would be the third time, causing considerable emotional pain not only to Cassandra but also to Lord.

Siod also regretted that the egg was involved in William’s time regression. That’s why it was even harder to believe.

“Really, really? You’ll protect our son? Even if Cassandra seeks revenge?”

“Our son? Haha.”

Now that he had a child, he was starting to act like a father. Lord, in the form of a man in his twenties, smiled like an old man.

“Before being Cassie’s father, I am the Lord who bears the future of the dragon clan, am I not?”

Noticing the bitterness, Siod hesitated before saying,

“It, it will hatch. Don’t worry too much.”

“I don’t need your comfort. We must leave it to fate.”

It was Lord who had picked up and raised Siod, who was abandoned by his mother as soon as he was born. He was the dragon who had given birth to the most children and raised the most hatchlings.

It might have been due to his sense of duty as Lord, but Siod knew that he had a rather sentimental nature for a dragon.

And how much hope he must have had for the egg that would be born after three thousand years.

“Anyway, that child can’t enter the Dragon Valley yet, so bring him to the cabin.”

Siod silently bowed his head and retreated.

*

William, who had been practicing dragon language diligently, was startled by Siod’s sudden words.

“What? Who?”

“Lord. Dragon Lord.”

“Why should I…”

Siod smiled awkwardly and said,

“He wants to see you. If you want to be recognized as part of the dragon clan, you’ll have to meet him eventually.”

Guinevere, who had been quiet, interjected.

“I’ll go too.”

Siod whispered in Guinevere’s ear.

“You can’t. If things go wrong, I plan to escape with just William. I can’t protect you too.”

“And you’re going to take William to such a dangerous place?”

Guinevere didn’t lower her voice at all, so William heard it too.

“A dangerous place?”

“No, it’s not dangerous… Just in case. Just in case.”

“If it’s ‘just in case’, then I’m going too.”

As always, Siod couldn’t win against Guinevere.