Dragon Teeth

Crunch crunch… crunch crunch…

Roll around… roll around…

On the third night after Daisy and Viola arrived at Baron Bolus’s estate, the mansion had long since fallen silent.

Everyone was asleep.

Well… almost everyone.

Inside the room Daisy and Viola were borrowing, faint sounds still echoed in the darkness.

“Wuu…”

Crunch crunch… crunch crunch…

The curtains blocked out most of the moonlight, leaving the room dim and perfect for sleeping.

Daisy and Viola had already gone to bed.

As usual, Viola had spread her large feathered wings over Daisy like a warm blanket.

Normally, the soft warmth made it incredibly easy to sleep.

Tonight, though…

Daisy couldn’t settle down at all.

“Wuuu…”

She rolled back and forth restlessly under the feathers.

Something felt uncomfortable.

Something itchy.

Not the kind of itch she could scratch away.

Crunch crunch… crunch crunch…

Curled up beneath the feathers, Daisy unconsciously ground her little dragon teeth together.

The strange sounds filled the quiet room.

Unlike humans, dragons didn’t replace their teeth only a few times in life.

Their teeth were more like sharks’ or rodents’.

Broken teeth could regrow endlessly.

But if left alone too long, they’d continue growing and become uncomfortable.

That meant dragons needed to regularly wear down their fangs and claws.

Especially young dragons still growing.

And right now—

Daisy’s teeth were itching badly.

“What’s wrong, Daisy?”

Viola’s calm voice suddenly came from beside her.

“…Can’t sleep?”

Daisy froze.

She had been trying not to wake Viola.

Apparently that effort had failed.

In the darkness, Viola lazily sat up and looked toward her.

“Wuu…”

“My teeth…”

“They’re itchy again…”

Daisy hid half her face beneath the feathers, looking embarrassed.

“Teeth again?”

Viola sounded completely unconcerned.

“Then come grind them down.”

Her arm suddenly became covered in silver-gray dragon scales.

She held it out toward Daisy.

“It’s late.”

“Finish quickly and go to sleep.”

“Wuu…”

Daisy obediently nodded.

She climbed out from under the feathers and opened her mouth.

Chomp.

Dragon teeth were absurdly hard.

Almost nothing in the world could withstand them.

But dragon scales were just as absurdly tough.

Especially Viola’s.

Crunch crunch crunch…

Crunch crunch crunch…

Daisy happily gnawed away while sparks practically seemed ready to fly.

Meanwhile Viola didn’t even look bothered.

This was just normal for them.

Like eating.

Or sleeping.

Or anything else in daily life.

Still—

There was one peculiar thing about dragon teeth.

Among dragons there existed an old saying.

Dragon teeth had instincts.

Especially in young dragons.

Whenever danger approached…

Their teeth sometimes reacted before anything happened.

Growing faster.

Feeling itchy.

Urging them to bite things.

A warning.

A battle instinct.

So was Daisy’s sudden toothache just because she was growing?

Or…

Was danger approaching?

That question wasn’t something Viola spent much effort thinking about.

After all—

Viola was Viola.

Crunch crunch… crunch crunch…

After a while Viola asked,

“Better now?”

“Better!”

“The itch is gone!”

“Thanks!”

“Good.”

“Then sleep.”

“It’s already late.”

Daisy immediately curled back under the feathers.

Then suddenly remembered something.

“Oh!”

“Viola, good night!”

“The teacher said greetings are important!”

Viola stared at her for a moment.

Then a faint smile appeared.

“Alright, alright.”

“Good night, my Daisy.”