Chapter 29: Daily Anecdotes of Mom and Dad (Reached the top 50 in Light Novels, extra update tomorrow)

"Me? Me? Me? I'm not sleeping! I'm reflecting."

Startled by a sudden touch, Victoria gave a little shiver and hurriedly opened her eyes.

"I, Victoria, insist on adhering to the 'Three Don'ts and Three Dos' code proposed by Linde. Don't eat randomly, don't steal food, and don't be a little mouse-dragon. Do move your claws diligently, do stretch your legs, and do be a good dragon!"

Victoria stared straight ahead with a piercing gaze, her expression so resolute she looked as if she were about to become the Dragon King of Gems.

"Calm down, calm down. I’m not Linde."

Hearing this string of declarations, Cynthia couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. What on earth had Linde turned this little dragon into?

"Pfft, you should've said so earlier. You scared me!"

Victoria snorted twice, then narrowed her eyes and began to doze off again.

"Stay awake a bit longer, let's chat." The butterfly dragon nudged the little gem dragon's head.

"Fine, what are we talking about?"

"Hmm, anything really. For example, when Linde chases you with a shovel, why don't you just fly away? Then you wouldn't get hit." Cynthia asked, sounding slightly puzzled.

She truly couldn't understand why the dragon wouldn't use the wings she clearly possessed. Could the silly dragon in front of her have forgotten she could fly?

But as soon as the question left her lips, Victoria, who had been listless just a moment ago, perked up. She rolled her blue eyes at Cynthia with a look of speechlessness.

"Are you stupid? If I flew away and Linde couldn't hit me, he’d just bottle up the anger he intended to vent, and wouldn't he just get even angrier? When he hits me, he knows his limits; he’s not trying to beat me to death. I just have to yelp a bit, and Linde doesn't have the heart to keep going. Plus, I have my scales for protection, so his whacks don't hurt or itch at all. Linde gets his emotional release, and neither of us is actually harmed. Isn't that great?"

Listening to Victoria, Cynthia’s eyes widened. She had initially thought the dragon was just a simple, sweet airhead, but it turned out she had quite high emotional intelligence. Come to think of it, Victoria had mentioned that she had traveled across previous continents, explored ruins, and traded with other dragons. A little dragon who could protect herself in such an environment could hardly be a simple fool.

Cynthia suddenly felt that even if she had persuaded Linde earlier, Victoria might not be so easily swayed.

Fortunately, she had come to terms with the idea of going on an adventure with her.

"Alright, I feel like I've discovered a new side of you, Victoria."

"Actually, I have one more question I want to ask you. I asked Linde this too: If the three of us could live here carefree, and once we grew strong enough, we went to defeat the Red Dragon—would you be willing?"

Victoria didn't answer immediately. She murmured under her breath, "So that’s what they were talking about back then..."

"Huh? What did you say?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Nothing. As for my answer, let me tell you a little story about my mom and dad."

Victoria used her claws to flip open the World Book, browsing through the old records while explaining: "I might have been too busy telling Linde stories about mom and dad that I never told you. This is a bedtime story Dad told me when I was a hatchling. He said that when he was young, he already loved Mom dearly. But back then, he wasn't as strong as he is now, and compared to dragons of his age, he didn't have much of an advantage—he was even a bit smaller."

Dad had confessed with a blush that he felt he wasn't worthy of Mom at the time, and that it was only through great luck that Mom had been "blind" enough to fall for him.

"He originally thought he would go out into the world to hone himself, and once he had gained experience and grown stronger, he would return to the clan to pursue Mom."

At this point, Victoria covered her heart and said with relief, "Thank goodness Dad didn't do that, or I wouldn't even exist now. Mom was the most elegant, gentle, and beautiful dragon among all the gem dragons back then. If Dad had gone traveling, who knows if he would have gotten stronger, but he definitely would have changed colors."

"Ahem, back to the point. On the very night Dad was foolish enough to actually leave, he had just stepped out of his cave when a passing crow happened to poop on his head. *Cackle, cackle...*"

The little dragon laughed uncharitably. The kicker was that she even knew where that crow had come from.

"Dad loved being clean because Mom loved clean dragons, so he didn't care about anything else and hurried to the nearest stream to wash his head. Even when Mom wasn't by his side, he always kept her preferences in mind. That was when he saw a pearly-white gem in the flowing water. It was so radiant, shining so brightly in the night that it looked like the reflection of the moon shattered in the water. Even more miraculously, a pattern resembling the character for 'Dragon' had formed naturally on its surface."

"So, Dad named it the Moonlight Stone. That night changed his mind; he wanted to give this precious gem to Mom the next day. Dad felt he wasn't perfect, so he wanted to share every perfect thing he encountered with her."

Victoria's voice came to an abrupt halt. She touched the upper part of the record on that page of the World Book, then slid her claw down to the moonlight stone pattern at the center dividing line.

The moment she infused it with magic, the perfect, flawless, pearly-white gem described in the story appeared in her palm.

Cynthia was left in awe. So that was how spatial magic could be used—the dragon who created this World Book must have been truly remarkable.

"Cynthia, many things can only be done in the moment. Fate is unreasonable; none of us can say what will happen in the future. Perhaps the Red Dragon will suddenly decide to leave, burn this place to the ground, and walk away; perhaps a giant hole will appear in the sky in a few years, and we'll have to patch it; perhaps the world will end in a decade or two, and we'll have to save it..."

"Our future will have its own peaks to climb. If we make current promises based on future time, pushing the present's difficulties onto the future, it's like me—the me who has grown stronger, the me standing here—going back to that childhood stream to catch the crab that pinched my foot and got away, just so I can eat it. The future will change; you have to seize the crab of the present."

"Are you really just a hatchling, Victoria? I feel like you understand so much." Cynthia couldn't help but marvel.

"Hmph, though my stature is small, my mind is incredibly agile. The title of 'Genius Hatchling' isn't just for show." Victoria tilted her head triumphantly, then closed the World Book and shook it at Cynthia.

"Besides, the knowledge is all in the book. Did you think this was just my diary? Don't forget what the first two words of this book are..."

"It's 'World,' you dummy."

"Victoria! What are you arguing about? Are you done reflecting yet? If you keep making noise, write me an eight-hundred-word apology!"

Hearing the voice from inside the room, the little dragon pouted and stuck out her tongue in dissatisfaction, then lowered her voice to whisper to the butterfly dragon: "Don't worry, in case there's any unavoidable danger, I still have the 'Super Invincible Sparkling Big Gem.' It'll definitely keep the three of us safe."

"Uh... just the name makes it sound pretty unreliable."

"Oh, just trust me. Besides, there was one more thing I didn't tell you about that story. Because Mom saw Dad taking a shower in the waterfall, she thought he was very clean, which is why she publicly declared that she liked clean dragons."

After saying this, Victoria walked into the house.

Cynthia, connecting the dots with the previous story, finally understood.

Well, well. It turned out to be a case of mutual affection all along.