Volume 1 Chapter 140

Volume 1 + Chapter 140: Keep Her

“Is that so? But we don’t really need a maid at home.”

Eve looked at Andai standing outside the door. To be honest, she was truly reluctant from the bottom of her heart to let a dragon into the house.

Because it might attract some unnecessary trouble. However, what made Eve find it even more difficult to comprehend was…

Although she had long known that Leah was different, learning that this child had taken down another dragon in a matter of days left Eve’s mind anything but calm.

Knocking Anna down was one thing, after all, in Eve’s impression, Anna was quite a useless little dragon.

Eve had her stay obediently within the empire, engaging in mutually beneficial relations with imperial merchant caravans, partly out of pity for Anna.

That little silly dragon appeared aloof, cold, and majestic on the surface, but in reality, she was scrawny.

Clearly a Black Dragon, yet her combat prowess was the weakest among the dragon race.

Although more than enough to deal with humans, if she went out to compete for territory with other dragons, she would undoubtedly have no competitive ability whatsoever.

So Eve had let Anna stay, simply to preserve her self-esteem, and chose to keep it a secret about this little foolish dragon being kept.

Originally, Eve thought she had a clear understanding of Leah’s strength.

But ever since Leah took down Anna, this understanding seemed to start going awry.

According to the original work’s setting, Leah’s strength wasn’t achieved overnight, it was a gradual process.

She didn’t become so powerful right from the start, many things were the result of accumulated experience.

Taking down Anna was entirely an accidental fluke. That little dragon Anna was young, inexperienced, and her inherent combat power wasn’t high.

However, Leah then effortlessly handled Andai. That was no fluke…

Andai was undoubtedly a member of the Black Dragon clan. This clan of dragons had always been famous for their formidable strength. Apart from exceptions like Anna, every other member was a powerhouse even witches acknowledged.

Yet even such a Black Dragon seemed somewhat inadequate before Leah.

Leah’s potential and power exceeded many people’s imagination. Her strength even made Eve begin to suspect if there were some secrets behind this child that she had yet to understand.

“Huh? But Mom, wouldn’t it be very convenient if we kept her by our side? She can watch the house when we’re out, and help with simple tasks. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her. I absolutely won’t let her cause you any trouble.”

Leah spoke very earnestly, her eyes full of expectation. She even remembered to add, “So, can we keep her, please?”

Her words left both Eve and Andai momentarily stunned. The two looked at each other, feeling somewhat amused and helpless inside.

It seemed Leah was treating Andai like a puppy picked up from the roadside—no, even more like a stray cat picked up on a whim.

But Leah wasn’t aware of the complexity. Her thoughts were simple and direct.

She couldn’t let Andai go easily now. What if she went back to harass the merchant caravans? Wouldn’t that waste the hard-earned fifty-gold-coin bounty?

Although it seemed on the surface like she was considering Andai, in reality, it was entirely to ensure she could receive that reward safely. Leah’s logic was clear, and she felt perfectly justified, as if this was the most reasonable decision.

If she let her go back now, her fifty-gold-coin bounty would also go down the drain.

How could that be allowed? Wouldn’t that mean having to travel all that way again to take her down once more?

The key wasn’t really having to take her down again, but having to travel that long distance.

The carriage ride was very uncomfortable, jostling her little bottom until it hurt.

“Um… Miss Leah, if your mother isn’t very willing to take me in, then I won’t trouble you any further.”

Andai had long wanted to seize the chance to make a run for it. Staying here was too dangerous—a fiery-red witch and a little girl with monstrous strength. They might very well eat dragons.

“No, of course not!”

Leah quickly stepped forward, grabbing Andai’s arm, afraid she might slip away by accident.

Simultaneously, she lowered her voice, half-threateningly whispering into Andai’s ear, “If you dare run away, I’ll take you down again. You must stay obediently by my side for these two months.”

Otherwise, my fifty-gold-coin bounty will be gone.

“Eek!”

Hearing Leah’s words, Andai involuntarily shivered all over.

This place really does eat dragons!

“I-I’m sorry,” Andai stammered, trembling with fear as she hurriedly apologized.

“Sigh…”

Watching Leah threaten the poor, pitiful damsel like a little delinquent, Eve momentarily couldn’t figure out who the real evil dragon was.

To prevent Leah from continuing to bully the poor, pitiful damsel… no, Andai, Eve decided to take her in for now.

She could also learn more about Anna from her. After all, that little silly dragon was also about to have her own springtime.

Although she kept saying she wouldn’t be anything like… the empire’s guardian deity, the Dragon God, or whatever, claiming she wasn’t interested in such titles.

But Eve could still see she was very happy.

Because when she brought them back to the imperial capital, Anna was maintaining her human form. After all, the imperial capital was crowded and many-eyed. She had to leave the capital and reach a desolate area before she could revert to her dragon form and fly back to her usual cave.

After delivering Eve and the others back, Anna returned on her own… While saying she wouldn’t be any Imperial Dragon God, Eve, Chancelianne, and Alice all saw Anna’s bouncing, cheerful figure as she left.

“Dinner is almost ready. Come in first.”

Eve finished speaking and returned to the kitchen with the spatula in her hand.

“Great! Mom said we can keep you!”

Leah’s face was full of joy, but Andai’s face showed no happiness at all. She felt it would have been better not to let her in at all.

What a calamity… but…

Andai stepped into the room and immediately noticed the long trench coat Eve had hung on the coat rack by the door.

The coat looked very beautiful, well-designed, and sleek, but that wasn’t her focus.

She smelled what seemed like a familiar scent on that coat…

Andai instinctively leaned closer, wanting to sniff the scent carefully, but Leah grabbed her shoulder.

“What’s going on? If this continues, I really will have to restrain you! No matter how good it smells, you can’t just go around sniffing it!”

Leah saw right through Andai’s intention, her little face full of vigilance and a threatening expression.

It was then that Andai realized that in human society, there wasn’t a habit of confirming others’ scents, so randomly sniffing someone’s scent was considered impolite behavior.

She was just about to apologize when she saw Leah bury her face into Eve’s coat, taking a deep, epic breath that filled her lungs.

Although Andai hadn’t leaned in to smell it, she still identified the scent on the coat as belonging to her cousin, Anna!

But… she clearly remembered that for humans, randomly sniffing others’ scents was considered impolite behavior. So what exactly was Leah doing?