“Just teasing you. How could I really use my tongue to wash you? That’d be so gross.
Even if it doesn’t affect the body, it’s still disgusting.”
Inside the alchemy cauldron, hot water was bubbling. Golly soaked inside, her face full of contentment.
There wasn’t much water in there—just enough for Golly to sit with it barely reaching her neck.
Meanwhile, after being teased, Genasa squatted by her side, back turned to her, with the lower half of his head dipped in the water, his face full of stifled frustration.
The next second, Golly leaned over beside him, expressionless as she warned:
“Hey, this is my bathwater, you better not sneak a drink.”
(눈 눈)
“Who the hell would want to drink that stuff! Can’t you act a bit more normal?!”
Beep–
Living together with a beautiful and seductive dragon girl—if it were before, he’d have dreamed of such a thing. But now, with his hardware not grown yet, all it did was make him uncomfortable.
“Seriously, with this old lecher around, I’ve got zero privacy. Once I grow a bit more, I’m running away from home!”
Even just taking a bath meant sharing the same pot, and there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was endure it and wait until he grew up—then he’d leave!
A dragon shall never be a slave!
“Mealtime~”
After the bath, Golly brought over a platter of meat and placed it in front of Genasa.
He grabbed a chunk with his front paw and stuffed it into his mouth, then suddenly thought of something.
“Hmm… This shouldn’t count as living off a woman, right? Eh, whatever.”
He shrugged, not wanting to waste any more thought on the matter.
“Kid, there’s something I want to discuss with you.”
Golly suddenly squatted down in front of him, beaming with a big smile.
“What?”
“Do you want a wife?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, that fellow’s daughter is about to hatch. I was thinking, should I do as we discussed before—find a way to keep her here as your wife, or should I find an excuse to send her back? So, what do you think?”
It was a tough question. Genasa didn’t know what to do either.
Although he’d half-joked before about snatching that girl for himself, now that he thought about it, a forced melon isn’t sweet—at most, it would quench his thirst.
“Better not. Things like a wife should come naturally. Even if I wanted one, it’s not something I can force. Besides, who knows what the future will bring.”
“Oh my~ You’re quite the philosopher. But you’ve got to plan for this sort of thing. What if you can’t find a wife in the future?”
(艹皿艹)
What kind of talk is that! Who just outright says someone won’t be able to find a wife?! With my qualities, how could I not find one?!
Golly saw Genasa’s displeased expression and a teasing look appeared on her face. She covered her mouth and leaned in, mocking him.
“No way, don’t tell me you’re getting triggered by this? You’re not going to get upset over such a little thing, are you? Truly a small fry~ Oh ho ho ho~”
Damn it. (`皿’)
“You’re just an old but still alluringly sexy mother dragon yourself.”
Silence—
The air suddenly stilled. Golly froze, not knowing what to think.
The scene turned awkward. Genasa just stared at her, saying nothing for a long while.
After a moment, Golly quietly made a decision.
“Let’s just keep that girl here. If you want a wife, go for her.”
“Eww~ Are you sure it’s right to set someone up like this?”
He looked at her with utter disdain, but Golly remained shameless as ever:
“What happens to others is their own business. Anyway, it won’t affect me, hohoho~ That’s settled, then. Just keep an eye out—she’ll be hatching in less than two months.”
“Alright, but stop calling her my wife. I’m still a kid, saying stuff like that sounds bad. If you must, just say she’s my junior disciple.”
Genasa corrected her in the end. It was only half a joke when he called her his wife before—nothing was set in stone.
Most importantly, early romance isn’t right. And besides, even putting adulthood aside—
At the very least, they should meet first! She’s still in the egg. Who knows if they’ll even get along. What if she’s just another evil little red dragon like her father?
“As your teacher, I understand, I really do. From now on, I’ll just say she’s your junior disciple, not your wife, hohoho~”
Golly put on that ‘I know everything’ face, leaving Genasa utterly speechless.
“Understand, my foot, really… I should never have run my mouth back then.”
“Hoho, that’s that. Just look forward to your junior disciple~”
With that, she briskly left.
Right after, her playful grin melted away, replaced by a deeply worried look.
“What he said didn’t sound like a joke… Though I do like a bit of dominance, if it’s a kid I raised myself, that’d just be weird.”
Strange thoughts crept into Golly’s mind—a blurry-faced, red-haired tycoon grabbing her chin:
“Mother dragon, you’re playing with fire.”
She cradled her cheeks, looking bashful.
“Oh my, this is too embarrassing! No, no, no… I need to do something.”
Leaving Genasa behind, she made her way to the very top of the Crystal Palace, onto a wide, circular platform.
The summit pierced through heavy clouds, the sky above dotted with endless stars.
Golly strolled to the center of the platform, spreading her arms wide as if to embrace the heavens.
Closing her eyes tight, even the cold wind seemed to dance with her breath.
As she slowly opened her eyes, sparkling motes of starlight appeared around her, growing ever brighter.
One by one, their numbers swelled, as if vying with the stars above.
But when the motes filled the entire platform, the stars above and the ones around her seemed to merge as one.
A gigantic astral disc took shape.
The ancient and mysterious art of astrology would guide the way ahead.
“Alright, let’s see… your future.”
Golly pointed a finger, and the brightest star before her flared even more brilliantly.
Threads of light stretched from it, spreading outward in all directions.
Blue-white strands connected star to star around her, finally forming the outline of a mighty dragon.
Upon seeing the dragon’s image appear, Golly closed her eyes once more and cleared her mind.
As her consciousness drifted into that vast sea of stars, distant stories slowly entered her mind.
“Wait, this is…”
Suddenly, Golly seemed to see something, her brow furrowing tightly.
In the endless darkness of her mind, a colossal crimson-gold dragon’s eye snapped open.
The sea of stars shattered in an instant. Golly, struck by the shock, stared wide-eyed in terror, her whole body shuddering.
“Oh my god, what was that?! He seemed to see me… ah, this…”
Golly stood there dumbfounded. After a while, she began to pace back and forth anxiously, hands clasped behind her.
“This isn’t right. This is way more than just a little off—something’s seriously wrong! That brat really pulled it off… What should I do? Don’t tell me it’s really…”
Remembering her previous tycoon fantasy, Golly was overcome with shame and frustration. Fuming, she cursed at the sky:
“What the hell are you looking at? Still staring! I’m done! I’m outta here, not playing anymore!”
She stomped away, gloomy. But she didn’t see it—where the dragon star pattern had been, a single drop of…teardrop?—had appeared at some point. But it soon vanished, as if it had never been.
Golly felt restless after leaving the astrolabe, but soon came to terms with it.
“Wait, why am I even worried? If I can’t mess with him, I’ll just stay away! Worst case, I’ll run farther off. Although I didn’t see what exactly he did to me, that kid’s been pretty well-behaved so far, and he shouldn’t do anything strange in the future, right? Maybe I just scared myself.”
Though she’d reasoned it out, Golly still couldn’t fully let it go. She turned to look at the endless snowy plains.
An evil grin crept across her face.
“I’ve got an idea~”