The next morning.
On the dining table, only a freshly prepared baby bottle sat.
Aya Tone touched his nose.
Uncharacteristically, Big White hadn’t woken up to prepare breakfast.
It seemed she was angry.
On the way to school.
Aya Jiu clutched her bottle, her ponytail swaying rhythmically with her steps, like a cheerful little tail.
“Papa, Big White isn’t happy, so there’s no breakfast. Aya Jiu isn’t happy either.”
Despite her declared unhappiness, she comfortably took a small sip of her milk.
‘Delicious~’
Following behind, Aya Tone, who was carrying a small schoolbag, felt a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
His gaze fell upon the bottle clutched in her tiny hands.
‘You still have milk to drink. I’m the one who truly has no breakfast.’
“My dear daughter, could Papa have a sip?”
Having been hungry all night, he had finally made it to morning.
Who would have thought breakfast would be gone…
Seeing Aya Tone’s drooling expression, Aya Jiu, feeling exasperated, turned around and blocked his path.
Simultaneously, she shielded the bottle in her hands.
“No! This is what Big White prepared for me!”
“Papa, you bullied Big White. Teacher says when you do something wrong, you have to apologize.”
Her small eyebrows drew together slightly, and she bit her lip, a hint of stubbornness flashing in her eyes.
It was as if she were saying, ‘If you don’t agree, I’m going to cry.’
Aya Tone paused, a smile playing on his lips as he playfully ruffled the wisps of hair on her small head.
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll go back and apologize to Big White later. Is that alright?”
To be fair.
He had indeed still been treating Big White as she was before, that little white furball.
He had regretted it last night.
It had been a moment of impulse. If he had known, he would have let Big White sleep with Aya Jiu and slept in the living room himself.
There was no other reason; the well-endowed, white-haired loli was just too tempting.
He had almost succumbed late last night.
Unfortunately, Big White couldn’t…
Even if Aya Jiu hadn’t said anything, he had already planned to buy a bed for the study today.
“Hmph hmph~” Her objective achieved, Aya Jiu happily wriggled free from the large hand on her head.
She had heard from the other children at kindergarten that their mothers always slept with their fathers.
Now that Big White was back in her own room, Sister Fire Finch wouldn’t have a place to sleep.
‘Wouldn’t she then be able to sleep with Papa?’
Aya Tone had not anticipated that his obedient daughter would one day start scheming.
Waving goodbye, he watched Aya Jiu walk into the school accompanied by her teacher.
Seeing that it was still early, he decided to head straight to the furniture store to finalize the plans in his mind.
Without further ado, he set off.
****
By the time Aya Tone returned home, Fire Finch had already left to slack off at the guild.
“Big White~”
Big White, who was busy with housework, frowned and kept her head down, refusing to look at him.
‘She’s angry!’
‘The kind of angry even the little master couldn’t soothe.’
Aya Tone chuckled, “Big White~ I know I was wrong. Please don’t be angry, okay? Look, I even bought some delicious snacks.”
He extended the bag in his hand towards Big White.
Seeing that Big White remained unmoved, he didn’t give up and shook the bag gently.
The rustling of the bag echoed in the room.
Big White’s movements paused, and she pouted, her eyes fixed on Aya Tone.
Seeing this, Aya Tone’s spirits lifted.
‘Is it working?’
“Master, if you’re too idle, you can go out. Don’t bother me here!”
With that, she immersed herself back into her tidying tasks.
‘Uh…’
Aya Tone, having been scolded, stiffened, the plastic bag still held aloft in his hand, as if mocking him.
‘Big White despises me?’
He lowered his head, dejectedly walked to the sofa, curled up on his side, and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
He muttered under his breath.
“Big White despises me… Big White has changed…”
“Wuwu, and I even specially bought snacks, *chomp*.”
‘So sad. Only secretly eating a duck neck can alleviate it a little.’
Big White, who had been silently observing the entire scene from behind, had a flicker of helplessness in her eyes.
Ultimately, her nature dictated that she couldn’t stay angry with her family.
Even if Aya Tone had been in the wrong.
“Don’t eat on the sofa; you’ll make a mess.”
“Big White~” Aya Tone instantly sat upright, quickly spat out the bone in his mouth, and looked at Big White with surprise.
The whining, resentful expression he’d worn moments ago had completely vanished from his face.
“I truly know I was wrong! This afternoon, I’ll go tidy the study, and then…”
Suddenly!
As he spoke about allocating rooms, something occurred to Aya Tone.
‘Aya Jiu and I will sleep in the master bedroom, and Big White will sleep back in her own room.’
‘The study for the President?’
He felt a pang of reluctance at that thought.
Although it was called a study, there weren’t many books inside at all.
The bookshelves, which should have been filled with books, he had converted into display cases for his figurines.
‘A whole wall of figurines… What if the President got upset one day and ‘killed’ all his ‘wives’?’
‘What would he do then?’
“Big White… how about you sleep in the study?”
“No!”
Meeting Big White’s resolute gaze, Aya Tone let out an awkward laugh.
“Just kidding…”
Since that was the case, he would just have to put in some effort.
‘The amount of work is a bit daunting.’
****
At the Vermillion Bird Guild, in the President’s office.
Fire Finch sat with her legs crossed, her eyes intently fixed on the tablet before her.
“Uncle Ao, what exactly has Jia’er’s ability transformed into?”
On the other side.
Ao Yu remained composed, a slight smile gracing his face.
With one less S-rank dungeon, his workload had been drastically reduced.
Now, he even had time to drink tea in the guild office.
‘It had to be his younger brother.’
“Didn’t I tell you? That fruit was influenced by dragon energy, then treated as a dragon heart by the dungeon’s consciousness, and nurtured by dragon blood.”
“Under a multitude of coincidences, the energy it contained was not merely spatial energy, but also a significant amount of dragon bloodline.”
“That little girl was also fortunate that my younger brother sought my help to assist her in absorbing the fruit.”
Ao Yu sighed with emotion.
Things truly happened by such coincidences.
The fruit’s creation was a complete accident, and Aya Tone asking for his help was also a coincidence.
Even a slight error along the way would have prevented the current Li Jia from coming into being.
Had anyone else acquired the fruit without his protection and the assistance of the Azure Dragon Armor.
At most, they would have only absorbed its spatial energy.
The excess dragon blood would have been inevitably wasted.
And for a non-acquaintance to ask for his intervention would have been an even more fantastical notion.
That was why it was said she was truly fortunate.
“So, Jia’er’s ability really transformed into a dragon?” Fire Finch rested her chin on her clasped hands, her gaze distant.
Ao Yu replied, “It’s hard to say. Everything will only be revealed once she fully masters the power within her.”
The creature nurtured by the dungeon’s consciousness was merely a flood dragon, its dragon blood not pure enough.
Therefore, whether Li Jia’s ability could evolve into a true dragon was something he couldn’t guarantee.
Fire Finch also detected the uncertainty in Ao Yu’s words.
Yet, she wasn’t disappointed.
When she had treated Li Jia yesterday, the power within her was capable of contending with the Undying Flame.
It stood to reason that she was a creature of a similar caliber.
To be comparable to a Saint Beast meant she was also among the ranks of Divine Beasts.
“Oh, right!”
Ao Yu changed the subject, “Protect your friend well. Recently, some ‘rats’ have been sniffing around the Imperial Capital, looking for food.”
“I’m worried…”
He didn’t elaborate further, but his gaze subtly shifted.
Fire Finch understood instantly.
He was concerned that her subordinates might reveal Li Jia’s identity.
Although Li Jia had successfully advanced to S-rank, her internal condition did not yet allow her to exert her full power.
This was the sole drawback of using an energy fruit.
The rapid surge in power left one’s foundation unstable, requiring a significant amount of time to adapt.