Translator: Nox

Chapter 9

It wasn’t until over an hour and twenty minutes had passed that Bunny finally opened her eyes, her face dark and ashen.

When Bunny spread her hand, a pure white light floated up lightly before popping with a soft burst.

“Ooooh!”

Exclamations of admiration rose from here and there all at once.

Plop, roll roll.

The spreading light gradually faded, and something dropped to the floor, rolling right up to Bunny’s feet.

The murmurs of awe from those who had been gasping cut off abruptly.

An egg…

No, it was a quail egg.

‘Total epic fail…’

In Bunny’s imagination, the lineup of potential dad candidates snickered and turned their backs on her, walking away.

“Not great…”

Thud.

Bunny ended up dropping to her knees right in front of the quail egg.

* * *

The moment Bunny touched the orb, her hand was sucked right in, and her world flipped in an instant.

She was flying over a sea of clouds, after all. Around Bunny, who was drifting lightly over the ocean made of clouds, mysterious lights gathered in droves.

They were beautiful lights in every color of the rainbow.

‘This is it! The light!’

Only then did Bunny realize that these were the lights the children had held in their hands.

Bunny’s eyes sparkled as she pushed through the gathering lights. She knew it instinctively. There was a dragon here.

‘The super huge light!’

To fly through the sky, Bunny thrust her clenched right fist forward and pedaled her feet frantically in a prone position. She shot forward steadily.

Somehow, Bunny kept dodging the swarms of lights coming toward her as she searched for the dragon.

“Luri, what’s the black flame dragon on the left arm?”

“Hm? Oh, the Black Flame Dragon on the left arm? Ah… um… It’s the super king-level strong pitch-black dragon next to the Great Demon King. Yeah… If the Black Flame Dragon dwells in your left arm, immense courage wells up, and you can do anything.”

“Wooow…”

Black Flame Dragon on the left arm!

Bunny’s eyes sparkled. If it was the Black Flame Dragon, it had to be pitch-black light, for sure.

With that one thought, Bunny ignored the countless brilliant lights creeping toward her and churned through the white clouds.

How long had she been pedaling and weaving around?

Bunny spotted a pitch-black cluster of light nestled in a corner tree.

It was a small light, but it was black, at least.

“Wait!!”

Black Flame Dragon on the left arm! Hold on!

Just as Bunny’s eyes lit up and she rushed toward the black light, reaching out her hand…

A pure white and bright red light zipped in and slipped right into her grasp.

“Huh…?”

Blink blink.

Bunny blinked her clear eyes a couple of times.

She turned her head to look at the pitch-black light trembling faintly for some reason, then back at the white and red light forcibly clutched in her fist.

“Nooo!!”

It was the moment Bunny tried to let go of what she held.

Suddenly, it felt like the world turned upside down, and Bunny’s small body was yanked downward.

“Waaah! My black flame draaagon…!”

Bunny’s cry, full of sorrow, echoed over the sea of clouds.

Of course, the thing presumed to be the Black Flame Dragon never ended up in Bunny’s hand.

* * *

Sniffle. Sniffle.

Bunny clutched the egg rolling across the floor… no, the quail egg… and swallowed her bitter tears.

“Black Flame Dragon…”

It was impossible to describe how much sorrow laced every syllable of her voice.

“Bunny… total epic fail…”

Waaah.

Roden Hainer didn’t know what to do as he watched Bunny cling to his leg, burying her face in his pristine white uniform and bursting into heartbroken sobs. He glanced helplessly at Jessie.

Luri, you liar.

Not great at all.

She had thought that since it was an enormously huge and grand light, what got summoned would be enormous too. But it was far, far smaller than Bunny’s palm. Even smaller than an egg. It was the smallest egg Bunny had ever seen.

“Little miss, you understand now, right? When you go from the orphanage to get adopted, you absolutely have to make a guardian. It doesn’t have to be a dad—just a grown human who’ll stay by your side until you become an adult.”

Dad plan: failed.

‘Bunny… can’t even read human letters, no dragon either… The super huge Great Demon King plan is a secret…’

…Does that make Bunny totally ordinary?

No dad would ever want her, that much was clear. In none of Luriel’s stories was there ever a super strong demon dad who loved a powerless kid.

‘Bunny’s a fake, not the real deal, but still a Great Demon King in training…’

Even so, Luriel had said a guardian was absolutely necessary.

Not a dad, but a guardian would do. Even fakes had to muster their own strength.

‘No choice.’

Sniffle.

Bunny rubbed her eyes furiously and quickly shook off her sorrow.

Traces of Bunny’s tears and snot remained faithfully on Roden Hainer’s pants.

‘Next up: the money-money plan!’

The strategy that rich kids get loved by anyone, no matter what.

From Luriel’s daily top 28 romance fantasy recs: , , !

Bunny, who had switched her goal from adoption to snagging a guardian, blew her nose with a sniff.

Sniffle.

After wiping her tears roughly on her sleeve, Bunny peeked up cautiously, scanning her surroundings. As expected, no lines of dad candidates.

She let go of the perfect hugging leg, rubbed her eyes again, and looked all around.

If no dad candidates were lining up, then Bunny just had to go find them herself!

Sniffle.

Bunny sniffled her reddened nose and recalled Luriel’s words.

Handsome or pretty people…

After rubbing her eyes a couple more times, Bunny rolled her gaze around slyly before her eyes met those of someone seated at the head table. She froze.

Bunny’s eyes widened.

Sparkling red irises.

Pitch-black hair.

And…

‘He’s handsome…!’

Pass!

Bunny stamped APPROVED!! in her mind, boom boom boom.

Because all the super big, super strong dads in the fairy tales Bunny knew had black hair and red eyes. And on top of that, he was handsome just like Luriel had said, so he definitely passed with flying colors.

‘Bunny’s guardian!’

Right now, Bunny had zero special qualities, so dad might be a stretch, but guardian seemed totally doable.

Of course, while Bunny was lost in her fantasies, the area had fallen utterly silent amid the unprecedented fiasco of drawing an egg from a divine beast that hadn’t even been born yet.

Ludbrid Yudia, eyes narrowed, rose silently from his seat.

“Everyone, you’ve all worked hard performing the summoning ritual. I’ll speak with you individually later, so let’s end it here for today.”

At the duke’s words signaling the close, everyone who had been watching stood from their seats.

“Also, as many as possible should attend the evening banquet tonight. It’ll be a good chance for those reuniting with their children after so long to catch up comfortably.”

With his chilling voice, Ludbrid Yudia rose from his seat and vanished in a flash.

The moment Ludbrid Yudia left, the children who had been standing so primly all bolted from their spots. At the same time, a few people seated in chairs surrounding the area hurried down the steps.

It was the moment Bunny turned her head with a puzzled look on her face.