Chapter 33: Feeding the Egg [Bonus]

After a few long minutes passed in silence, Neo finally pulled back from the embrace. His eyes had somehow gone moist, and he quickly wiped them away, but Nora, whose full attention was on him, caught it immediately. She didn’t understand what was wrong with him or why he was acting so strange.

She reached forward and patted his head softly, trying to calm him down.

"There, there. Everything is okay."

Neo blinked, looking bewildered at her comforting him instead, as if he were the one suffering.

"Hey, move your hand."

Nora only tilted her head, not understanding what he’d said since she couldn’t hear his voice, and continued patting him.

"Sigh..."

Neo finally reached up and gently pulled her hand away, looking at her for a moment before standing up from the bench. He turned to her, pulled out his notepad, and began writing to show her.

[Do you want to see something amazing?]

Nora tilted her head sideways and nodded, curious about what kind of amazing thing he was going to show her.

She stood up from the bench, smoothed down her dress, and wrapped her hand around his again, waiting for him to guide her.

Neo glanced at her once before turning to walk toward his room.

From the garden, it didn’t take long to find the staircase leading up to where his room was. After a while of walking, he finally reached the door.

"Okay, let’s go in. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything weird."

Neo pushed open the door and pulled her inside.

The room was luxurious beyond belief, even more than his parents’ own, filled with every comfort imaginable, from the grand bed to the tall bookshelf, to a small corner set aside specifically for cultivation, one he barely ever used. Soft floating orbs lit the ceiling, casting a warm glow across the room.

Without waiting, Neo let go of her hand and walked over to the drawer. He pulled out something wrapped carefully in white cloth, holding it protectively in his arms before showing it to her.

Nora looked at his hands curiously, wanting to know what it was, and stepped a little closer.

"W-what is it?"

A small smile bloomed on his lips as he tilted his head mischievously. "Guess what it is."

Nora glanced at the wrapped object, unable to see what was hidden beneath the cloth, then looked back up at his teasing smile.

"Maybe... your baby?"

Neo froze completely, his smile locking in place as his face went pale with shock.

"Wait, no! What kind of ridiculous guess is that?! How could I have a child? I haven’t even gotten married yet! And even if I had, how would I even— ugh! Never mind. You’re wrong."

Nora pursed her lips, her face still blank, though Neo caught the faintest hint of disappointment in her eyes.

’Damn, she really is clueless about things like this. And here I thought she was supposed to be smart.’

"Okay, let me just tell you what it is."

He reached forward and pulled the cloth away, revealing a small egg underneath. Its shell was a deep navy blue, marked with faint silver lines, looking exactly the same as it had three years ago.

"It’s a Frostwyrm hatchling egg. I got it three years ago. It hasn’t changed at all since then."

Nora stared at the small egg resting securely in his arms, immediately drawn to it.

"A baby dragon?"

She reached out to touch it, then hesitated, as if worried her touch might somehow hurt it.

Noticing her hesitation, Neo gently pushed the egg toward her and placed it in her hands before pulling his own away.

Startled, Nora quickly wrapped both hands around the egg, afraid it might slip and fall.

"It’s... warm."

"Yeah, it is. I don’t know why it hasn’t hatched yet, though. I’ve just been waiting."

Nora looked down at the egg, stroking it gently. Without warning, it began drawing a small, almost unnoticeable amount of mana from her, an amount so faint most people wouldn’t have caught it at all. She noticed immediately.

"Oh. It’s drinking my mana. Does it like it?"

Neo blinked in confusion, not quite understanding what she meant, until he noticed the same thin thread of mana flowing from her hand into the egg. The shell shimmered faintly, as if pleased.

"Wait, seriously? It actually eats mana? Let me try too."

He placed his own hand against the shell, carefully feeding a small amount of his own mana into it, making sure to keep it light enough not to cause any harm.

The moment his mana joined hers, the egg began drinking greedily from both of them at once, glowing brighter with every passing second, as if thoroughly enjoying the meal.

After it had absorbed more than half of both their mana reserves, the glow finally dimmed, as though its stomach had filled up completely.

Neo pulled his hand back, glancing over at Nora, who looked just as satisfied as he felt after feeding the little dragon.

[Okay, we should put it away. If anyone else sees us with it, they’ll definitely tell my parents.]

In truth, part of the reason he’d come home later than planned from his grandfather’s estate was because of this egg. If he’d left with his parents right away, they would have almost certainly discovered it. It wasn’t that he thought they’d harm it, but he knew they’d worry endlessly about him raising a creature that could one day grow powerful enough to level an entire dukedom by itself.

Dragons were incredibly rare across the world, with barely any trace of them left anywhere. If anyone ever found out he was raising one, kingdoms would go to war just for the chance to claim it. Even the royal family wouldn’t sit quietly, knowing exactly how valuable a living dragon truly was.

"Okay. But will you let me see it when it hatches?"

Neo nodded immediately, taking the egg from her hands, wrapping it carefully back in the cloth, and placing it safely beside his cushion.

Nora stood there, an odd emptiness settling into her hands now that the egg was gone. Her eyes lingered on it, as if some small part of her still wanted to hold the little creature a while longer.

Neo smiled softly, pulled out his notepad again, and wrote one more line.

[Okay, little calamity. You can see it again later. It’s ours to take care of.]

Nora met his eyes, hers widening slightly at his words.

"Ours... Okay. I’ll help take care of it too."

Neo nodded and led her out of the room with slow, steady steps, closing the door quietly behind them.

As their figures disappeared down the corridor, the egg resting beside the cushion gave off one last, faint shimmer, as if satisfied simply to have seen the two of them together.