Chapter 26: The Little Daisy of the Story

"That is a rather condescending thing to say!"

Shirona’s temper flared. It was true that she feared the Red Dragon, but no matter how great that fear might be, she would never betray a friend. Even during the harshest days of last winter, with only five days left before the tribute was due and no offering in sight, she had not resorted to stealing or robbing others. Instead, she had braved the blizzard, digging through the frozen snowdrifts until her claws were raw.

She was weak, but she was not wicked. To steal from another dragon was to deprive them of their chance to survive the winter. In the end, just as her consciousness reached its breaking point, she had unearthed a piece of pure, flawless ice crystal. That natural work of art, formed from the essence of extreme cold, lay buried deep beneath the thick snow; a dragon without the persistence to dig to the very bottom would never have beheld its dreamlike brilliance.

Shirona was self-aware. She knew she might never summon the courage to face the Red Dragon in this lifetime—perhaps due to the suppression of her bloodline, perhaps because she had been oppressed for too long, or perhaps simply because of an innate, paralyzing dread that made her knees turn to jelly. The persistence and kindness of a weak dragon were like a sandcastle before a titan, shattered into dust under a single claw.

Yet, if Linde and Victoria intended to challenge the Red Dragon, she would not hold them back, even if she could not provide any real help. Regardless of whether they succeeded or failed, they were doing what Shirona had only ever dared to imagine.

And now, for Linde to harbor such prejudice and mock her with words that belittled her integrity as a dragon—even if it was a deliberate provocation—left Shirona feeling incredibly insulted. She glared at Linde with her green eyes, refusing to look away, using the intensity of her gaze to convey her stance.

Unlike the indignant Shirona, Linde remained perfectly calm. He picked up the last bead he had finished carving and said languidly, "The last bead. That makes them all."

With that, he packed away the various tools from the table, turned around, and crouched down to tuck them into his toolbox one by one. Only then did a faint smile touch his tense face as he muttered, "Hah, now that’s a dragon."

After snapping the toolbox shut, his peripheral vision caught a flash of white on the ground. Checking to see that Shirona wasn't watching him, he reached out and performed a quick, subtle maneuver. Then, standing up straight, Linde clenched his right hand into a fist while his left hand casually grabbed a handful of loose beads from the table, keeping both hands behind his back.

He turned his gaze toward Shirona and raised an eyebrow. "Guess which hand the beads are in?"

"..."

*This person has lost his mind,* Shirona thought. Even if it were Victoria guessing, she would get it right. No, that couldn't even be called a guess, given the results were plain as day. Although she couldn't fathom what game he was playing, she sighed and answered, "The left hand..."

"Not bad, you guessed right." Linde opened his left palm, revealing the result.

"Sigh, is there any meaning to this?" the butterfly dragon asked languidly.

"No meaning at all. It’s just that my right hand happens to hold something else as well."

Linde proceeded to open his right hand. A small daisy with snowy white petals and an orange center lay quietly in his palm. Shirona was momentarily startled, but quickly regained her composure.

"A clear-cut result can still harbor the possibility of a different flower blooming, can it not?" The dark-haired man smiled, his tone gentle. He stepped forward and tucked the small flower behind the butterfly dragon’s ear.

"Hey, human... you!"

Shirona stumbled back a few steps, visibly flustered. The sudden shift from his sharp, caustic demeanor to this unexpected gentleness left her reeling. Once she collected her thoughts, she watched Linde’s retreating figure. Her gaze seemed to linger not just on him, but to pass through him, toward something further away.

"Linde, um, there’s something I want to tell you..."

"Just say it." Linde frowned, sensing that the atmosphere had shifted. *Could this be...*

"Your house is gone."

"Your house is gone! Why the foul language?" Linde scoffed, thinking that nothing good ever came out of a bird’s beak.

But seeing that Shirona had no intention of bickering and that her gaze remained fixed behind him, Linde suddenly realized what she meant. He turned around to see that the small hut the dragon had rebuilt was now a pile of rubble.

"Victoria!!! Get up right now! You’re still sleeping?"

"You build a house in the morning and it collapses by the afternoon. I can't even imagine how you managed such shoddy workmanship."

"Work... is there any dried fish?" The young dragon, shaken awake by Linde, rubbed her sleepy eyes and mumbled, "Is it time to eat?"

"Eat? Eat your head! If you don't rebuild this house properly, I'm kicking you out of the party."

"Huh?" Hearing this, Victoria’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She scrambled to her feet to explain, "This isn't my fault! This morning, uh, after you left, it rained a little. It was just a dirt hut, and once the water soaked it and the sun beat down on it, it was bound to collapse!"

Seeing Linde staring at her with a look of deep suspicion, Victoria hurriedly turned to Shirona for help, hoping for an alibi. "Shirona can prove it. I was very diligent in building the hut. It was all that rain's fault."

"Diligent, I suppose you could call it that. But it didn't rain this morning," Shirona said truthfully.

"Shirona, you, you, you—how could you sell me out?" Facing Victoria’s accusing glare, Shirona silently turned her head away.

Linde narrowed his eyes and gave the young dragon’s head a friendly pat. "Victoria, I think you and I need to have a deep discussion about honesty."

"Wait, wait a second! Actually, I was sleepy and got my memories mixed up. Do you believe me?" Victoria blinked, resting her chin on her stacked claws, bowing her front half down in a submissive, conciliatory gesture.

Linde remained unmoved. *Do you really think I believe that?*

"I'll give you one more chance to organize your thoughts." Linde said coldly.

"Fine, I wasn't sleepy. I said there was rain on purpose," Victoria stuck out her tongue. "I like to tell little lies, hehe."

"Hehe..." Linde began to laugh as well.

"Wait, Linde, what are you doing with that wooden stick? Don't hit my butt! I-I'm warning you, if you hit me again, I'm going to get mad!"

"Get mad? You're going to get mad? Let me ask you: are you going to build shoddy houses ever again?"

"I won't! I'll never do it again, wuwuwu..."

The young dragon’s whimpering echoed far and wide across the grasslands.

...

On the way back, Victoria was still clutching her backside. It didn't really hurt—it just felt a little tingly, likely because Linde hadn't actually used much force. However, when she saw the little white flower on Shirona’s head, her attention shifted instantly. She asked curiously, "Where did that come from?"

"It's a secret."

"I’m not even holding it against you that you didn't cover for me, and you're still being secretive? That's not very friendly, hmph!"

"Fine. Actually, Linde gave it to me."

"When did you two get so close? What happened while I was sleeping?"

The questions of the slumbering young dragon were left for the wind to answer.