That Sea, That Dragon, That Sky

What if she really turned into a stupid little dragon? Would the evil dragon still raise her as his Dragon Wife?

Given the evil dragon's fickle nature, if she became a stupid little dragon, his first thought would probably be to use her as bait. After all, once she became a foolish hatchling, he could use her as bait, and silly little her might even think the evil dragon was playing a game with her. She would happily serve as bait for the evil dragon, catch a big fish, and let the evil dragon eat the meat while she drank the soup. The more she thought about all the terrible things that might happen after she became stupid, the more Lucia resisted accepting the evil dragon's Memory Inheritance.

Waaah. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have blurted out last night that I envied giant dragons with Memory Inheritance. She had casually mentioned her envy, and the evil dragon had immediately said, "Don't envy them. If the children of other giant dragons have it, then the hatchling I raise must have it too."

The evil dragon always kept his word. This morning, he had directly extracted the Dragon Language inheritance memories from his mind and was ready to stuff them into her head at any moment. If she had been a real hatchling, she wouldn't have been so afraid. But she was human—a minor girl, at that. The dragon inheritance memories he put into her head would probably outnumber the fragments of her fifteen years of memories. How could she possibly withstand that?

"No. To prevent that from happening, I only extracted the inheritance memories related to Dragon Language. These memories might cause a tiny, faint disturbance to your existing memories when they enter your mind, but they won't turn you into a stupid little dragon."

"Y-you... are you sure?"

"Sure."

"Th-then... then put... put the inheritance mem-memories into my head."

The evil dragon Lance wanted to laugh. Should he say that this hatchling he had picked up was overly cautious? Or should he say that she was afraid of death?

It was hard to judge. She had been so brave when she ran to the human world to abduct a princess—no, that was wrong. Given this hatchling's fear of death, she had probably gone to the human world to find a princess to raise her. There was absolutely no way she had truly wanted to abduct a princess.

"Hatchling, let me ask you something."

"A-ask... go ahead."

The evil dragon addressed her far too casually. One moment she was a hatchling, the next a dragon cub, and occasionally he called her Lucia. He really treated her like family.

In the human world, people only addressed one another so casually when they regarded each other as family or friends. "Were you really in the human world that day to abduct a princess?"

"Huh? Oh. Yes."

"I don't think you went to the human world to abduct a princess."

"???!!!"

The hatchling panicked. Had the evil dragon discovered something?

She couldn't panic. She had to insist that she had appeared in the human world to abduct a princess. Otherwise, if the evil dragon discovered the truth and flew into a rage, he might make her pregnant. As for a hatchling, the evil dragon would wait until she was grown.

He definitely wouldn't wait for a princess. "I-I-I went to abduct a princess! I really went to abduct a princess!!!"

"You didn't."

"I did!"

"You didn't."

"I did!"

"You went there to freeload until you died."

"I did!"

Huh? What? Went... went there to freeload until she died?

Why had the hatchling gone to the human world just to freeload until death?

She couldn't figure it out. She couldn't understand it.

"W-why would I go to the human world to freeload until I died?"

"Because you wanted a human princess to raise you. So, you pretended to go to the human world to capture a princess, but what you really wanted was to find a princess who suited your tastes and have her raise you.

"You had quite a good plan. If I hadn't been there as an unexpected complication, you might already have been living a life of free food and retirement."

"???"

This was too humiliating for the Imperial Daughter!

She wasn't the kind of Imperial Daughter who freeloaded until death! She was an Imperial Daughter with ideals and ambitions.

Even if she became a hatchling, she would still be a hatchling with ideals and ambitions.

What other hatchling besides her would dare say she wanted to run to the human world and become an emperor? None of them dared. Only she did! There were two kinds of hatchlings.

One was a hatchling transformed from the Imperial Daughter Lucia, and the other was every other hatchling.

"I'm not the kind of hatchling who relies on acting cute to survive! I really did go to abduct a princess!"

"Right, right. You went to abduct a princess."

The hatchling's mind relaxed. Taking advantage of her unguarded state, the evil dragon Lance shot the Dragon Language inheritance memories he had extracted into the hatchling's brow.

The hatchling had been tense before and somewhat resistant to accepting the inheritance memories. If he forcibly drove the inheritance memories into her mind while she resisted, they wouldn't be able to merge smoothly with her dragon soul.

He had spoken to distract her and make her relax her guard, causing her to subconsciously forget about the inheritance memories.

"Ah!!! You stuffed the dragon inheritance memories into my head! I-I-I... am I going to become a stupid little dragon? Waaah! Evil dragon, promise me that if I become a stupid little dragon, you won't take advantage of me.

"Don't use me as bait over and over again. If you catch a big fish with me, let me have a few bites when you eat the meat. Don't just make me drink the soup. And also, if you have the ability, weave me a beautiful dream about becoming an emperor.

"And also, after you fatten me up, don't swallow me in one bite. If you think I eat too much, make me smaller. Then, when you go play in the human world, hang me from your dragon body as an accessory. Whatever you do, don't leave me on the island. I'm afraid that after you leave, the Deep Sea Siren will come here and swallow me in one bite. I-I-I..."

The hatchling chattered on and on until the evil dragon Lance couldn't take it anymore. He clenched his dragon claw into a fist and punched the hatchling.

What father would hurt his own child?

Even if the child had been picked up, raising it for long enough would still breed affection.

"Ow! It hurts, it hurts! Hitting someone on the head will make them stupider. It might even speed up my transformation into a stupid little dragon!"

"Stop saying that you won't become a stupid little dragon. Even if you really do become stupid, I can cure you."

"Really?"

"Mm."

"Then, are we still eating grilled squid today like you said last night?"

The evil dragon had said she wouldn't become stupid, so the chances of her turning into a stupid little dragon had to be extremely small. Now that she had obtained the Dragon Language inheritance memories, she probably wouldn't need to study Dragon Language with the evil dragon in the morning. She could just slowly absorb his Dragon Language inheritance memories.

"Lance, the inheritance memories entered my mind, so why don't I feel anything?"

"The Dragon Language inheritance memories will slowly flow into your mind while you sleep."

"Oh. Studying in my dreams? That's good, that's very good. No wonder giant dragons like sleeping. So they're absorbing and digesting their inheritance memories."

Shouldn't the important part have been that the memories would slowly flow into her mind for her to digest?

The hatchling always managed to focus on some strange part. "Are we still eating grilled squid?"

"Yes!"

"Let's go. I'll take you to catch squid."

"Where are we catching them?"

"In the sea."

"Take Er Gouzi with us."

"It can't fly."

Oh no. Was the evil dragon planning to use her to fish for squid?

Two giant dragons appeared above the endless surface of the sea.

The enormous black dragon flew just above the sea, while the skinny hatchling followed behind him, imitating his flying posture. The hatchling thought the evil dragon's flight was handsome, natural, and carefree. Above the glittering sea, the black dragon wantonly displayed his ability to fly as though he had merged with nature itself.

Watching the evil dragon ahead, the hatchling's mind drifted. She suddenly felt that the evil dragon had become one with this world.

The sea, the black dragon, and the sky became one, indistinguishable from each other, forming a beautiful oil painting filled with artistic conception. She had even thought of a name for it: That Sea, That Dragon, That Sky.

P.S. Thanks to book friend 20220908143823328, Old Pigeon, for the 100 coins tip.