Chương 60: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 60 - Personally Feeding

After that glance back and smile, Bugs Bunny turned its head away with mechanical precision. The murderous glare returned. Eyes glowing red. Its claws hooked over the stone beam as it hammered out pull-ups at a furious pace, even faster than before. It was thrilled. Genuinely, thoroughly thrilled about the Harpy joining their ranks. It had been waiting for this. The great Black Dragon master had taken on a new follower. That meant more sparring partners. More punching bags. And this one could fly.

Perfect for practicing aerial tombstone piledrivers. The more Bugs Bunny thought about it, the more excited it got. Vivid and brutal imagery bloomed in its mind. A low, grinding hnngh hnngh rumble rose from its throat, and stone chips rained from the beam. Ji Taimei watched that picture of warmth and cordiality doing pull-ups in the corner. She took half a step back. Deeply, deeply afraid.

"You two will definitely become friends," Su Nian said pleasantly.

"No discord, no concord — and every single feather on your body was plucked by Bugs Bunny personally. Nothing to worry about." Ji Taimei: "... (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻" Su Nian gave her shoulder an amiable pat, then shifted gears entirely.

"I've heard you Harpies have beautiful singing voices. Is that true?"

"Great master, it is." Ji Taimei nodded and lowered herself respectfully to the ground. When it came to her areas of expertise, a little pride crept onto her face despite herself.

"Sometimes we lure human adventurers into our hunting grounds through song. Then we kill them together and take their equipment and supplies."

"Very good. Sing something for me." Right on cue, the Kobold Bolikri appeared with the finished crocodile egg soup, holding the bowl above his head with both hands as he presented it to Su Nian.

"Great master! Crocodile egg soup. Made exactly according to your instructions, not a single step missed. Please, taste it." Su Nian took the bowl. He leaned his dragon head close and drew in a slow breath. Scent molecules flooded his nasal cavity and were processed by his dragon senses, rapid and precise as a computer running an analysis. Information resolved itself in clean lines. Non-toxic. Very fresh. Slightly fishier than ordinary egg soup, crocodile eggs after all, but within acceptable range.

He thought about it a moment longer. Actually, eating fishier food now wasn't a bad idea. Get used to the taste. That way, when Anna eventually tried even fishier things, it wouldn't seem so strong to her. Su Nian pinched a soup spoon between two claws, scooped up a mouthful, and blew on it gently until it cooled. Then he brought it toward Anna.

"Brother, what is this?" Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Anna stared at the golden soup in the bowl. She swallowed. Her peach-blossom eyes were bright and eager, the way they always got around food. As a dedicated little glutton, she had come to expect that Su Nian would produce some new and delicious thing she'd never tasted in the Emerald Forest. But the source of the ingredients this time was a bit... She hesitated.

Her gaze drifted sideways toward the corner of the Dragon's Nest, where a Rock-Armored Crocodile was being ridden by a Kobold in charge-training drills.

"Don't worry," Su Nian said.

"These were all cracked eggs anyway. The intact ones were left for Clayton and the others." He nuzzled her soft cheek and pressed on.

"Besides, Rock-Armored Crocodiles lay eggs constantly. Every single day. As their master, what's wrong with eating a couple?"

"But..." Anna still couldn't quite bring herself to. In her heart, these crocodiles had pledged themselves to Su Nian, which made them her companions. And if they were her companions, how could she eat their children? The thought sat uneasily with her. Her throat swallowed anyway, involuntarily, drawn by the smell.

"Seems like I'll have to feed you myself." Su Nian watched her waver, a low heh heh in his throat. Bowl in his left claw, he moved his right — a quick retract, a flip, and in one smooth motion, with Anna letting out a soft cry of surprise, he pressed her gently down onto the fur pad. He leaned over her and began feeding her the way he'd fed her medicine once, back when she was sick. He had plenty of practice now. Not a drop spilled from the corner of her mouth.

"Mmm—" Anna's lips were stopped up the next instant. Completely. No angle left uncovered. Along with the warm, delicious crocodile egg soup. This was nothing like the medicine. Medicine was bitter and numbing. It deadened the tongue until all she could taste was the bitterness itself. There was nothing else. Now, alongside the savory warmth of the soup, Anna felt something else entirely. Is this... a kiss? Such a strange feeling. Something ticklish, right at the tip of her heart. Her eyes opened a little wider.

Her long lashes fluttered. She was nervous, but more than nervous, she was simply confused. What was the right thing to do, when the dragon you liked kissed you? Should she be reserved? Put up a little resistance? Or play shy? But she had no urge to resist. Shyness wasn't there either. If anything, she felt eager. She looked up at the Black Dragon above her and found nothing frightening in him at all. No menace. No ferocity. He was perfect.

Even across the distance of their different kinds, she could see the beauty in him clearly. The enormous body that dwarfed her completely. The broad wings. The powerful muscles across his chest. The horns rising from his head like a crown. The mysterious golden slit-pupils. And the aura around him, dark, yes, but somehow the thing that made her feel safest in the world. He was as commanding as an emperor. And he kept his gentlest self only for her. The sounds of the lair faded around them.

In the quiet, Anna could hear his heartbeat, strong and steady and vast. It seemed to fall into rhythm with her own until she couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. What powerful, overflowing vitality. Their children would surely be remarkable, too, wouldn't they? Would they grow wings and take to the sky? Would they have fox ears and a fox tail... The thought arrived fully formed in her mind before she caught it. Anna went scarlet from head to toe.

Oh no, what was she thinking about, How could she, Was she actually a naughty girl? Impossible. She was absolutely not a naughty girl. She was just, she was only, she'd watched her dragon brother work so hard for her, day after day, and she wanted to give something back. That was all. Yes. Exactly that. But how, exactly, was she supposed to do that? She had no idea. Anna gripped the fur pad beneath her fingers, nervous and uncertain, while Su Nian kept feeding her.

And into her mind drifted a storybook she had read once, some time ago. The Tsundere Princess Training Plan (Evil Dragon Edition). There had been quite a lot in that book, now that she thought about it, about how to respond during a kiss. It might be useful here. The situation was not entirely different from her own. The only real gap was that the dragon in the bard's pages had been considerably smaller than her dragon brother. She wanted to give him something back. She wanted him to be happy.

Her face kept getting redder. Her heart kept beating faster. A faint glimmer of tears gathered at the corner of one eye. And in the moment when her heart felt its softest and most certain, she made up her mind.

[PS: If you're looking for more to read, consider checking out my older book on Tomato, "The Maid Is Too Strong: I'm the Villain Lord Who Gave Up." Gets pretty fun after the first dozen or so chapters, and there's sweetness too.] ➤ Next: Liking and Dragonification