Amid the deep rumbling sounds, the two small dragons’ consciousnesses gradually faded into a blur.
“Gurgle—”
Tilly slowly opened her eyes.
She had woken for some reason, only to be jolted fully awake by a sudden noise.
Tilly wriggled her petite body, shifting her position within Mama Xuefei’s warm embrace. Just as she was fumbling for Mama’s (meow meow~) to resume her slumber, that strange sound rang out again.
“Gurgle—”
Was it Chesia snoring?
Evil dragons often made soft purring noises, especially in their dragon forms—adorable sounds like a kitten’s that never failed to fill Mama Xuefei’s heart with sweetness.
Still, curiosity got the better of her, and Tilly cracked her eyes open to check on her sleeping little sister.
Lifting her head, she saw Mama Xuefei cradled against Mama Leia’s shoulder, with Tilly nestled right in the middle between the two of them. Chesia was sprawled atop Mama Xuefei… The four of them were pressed tightly together in a cozy pile, basking in one another’s warmth.
But then Tilly noticed Chesia was trembling.
She clung desperately to Mama Xuefei’s body, shaking all over, her dragon tail twitching restlessly. She was clearly wide awake—or perhaps trapped in a nightmare. Her lips quivered faintly, but with nothing to soothe her gnawing emptiness, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, as if she might burst into sobs at any moment.
“Chesia…”
To confirm whether the milk supply had run dry, Tilly leaned in for a closer inspection. The answer was plain as day: Mama Xuefei had sorely underestimated a dragon baby’s hunger.
Tilly’s conclusion? That “gurgle” was coming from Chesia’s stomach!
Chesia had latched onto Mama Xuefei’s arm, craving more of that maternal comfort, but satisfaction eluded her. Unable to rouse her mother, she was left in this heartbreaking state.
“Chesia…”
Tilly murmured softly.
In that moment, an innate sense of sisterly duty surged through her veins.
She wriggled free from Mama Xuefei’s arm, then clambered over the soft, warm expanse of her body to reach Chesia’s side. Gently, she brushed a wing and whispered, “Tilly, you can have mine!”
“…”
Chesia blinked her eyes open.
She glanced at Mama Xuefei and curled up sadly.
A few seconds passed before she turned her head, spotting Tilly’s gentle touch on her wing.
“Sis…”
“…”
“You don’t want to wake Mama, do you?”
Chesia nodded.
Tilly peeked at the slumbering Mama Xuefei. Her chest rose and fell in steady rhythm, her smiling face radiating an otherworldly tenderness. Waking her now would surely shatter that beautiful dream, wouldn’t it?
Tilly tried to mimic Mama’s method as a substitute, but she only ended up disappointedly kneading her own underdeveloped little pigeon breasts, suddenly understanding the problem.
Her own (meow meow~) simply couldn’t compare to Mama Xuefei’s when it came to nourishing herself and the little ones. This was no solution at all…
Unlike Chesia, Tilly was several months older. She knew the palace inside and out and could find whatever she needed in an instant.
If Mama wasn’t available, then Tilly would just have to play “mama” herself!
Conveniently, her own hunger had roused her too…
Tilly slipped into her little dress and whooshed away.
She eased the door open and flew straight toward the kitchen.
There ought to be all sorts of premium ingredients—seafood, lamb, beef, goose, venison. Normally, Tilly would let out a soft cry to wake Mama Xuefei for milk, or scamper off to the kitchen where the maids toiled, hunting for those meats.
“Hee hee~”
Tilly bounded along with lively energy, darting through the opulent library, down the corridor linking it to the living room, then slipping through the second corner’s hidden door. She groped her way down in the dark… landing nimbly on the stairs below. Another door swung open, and she hurried straight ahead, twisting left and right…
Here was the restaurant.
Moving so fast, Tilly nearly slammed into the kitchen’s locked door. Only a quick tail-brake saved her—and the door—from disaster. Ruining it would have left Mama Xuefei utterly disappointed!
Tilly extended her hand, and magic coalesced into a gleaming purple key, a perfect replica of the real one.
That was right—to come and go from the kitchen as she pleased, Tilly had long since used her magic to “duplicate” the key!
Of course, it did give the maids a bit of a headache~
They’d wake the next morning to find more than half the ingredients they’d prepped the night before—for their own meals—mysteriously vanished. What a pickle that would be!
But what Tilly didn’t know was that Maid Lucy, in order to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening, always placed plenty of unprocessed—but still quite tasty—”ingredients” in prominent spots around the kitchen to serve as decoys. Of course, Leia had seen right through it all.
Tilly made her way smoothly to the kitchen. In the cabinets, she found sugar, coffee, soft bread, cheese, and all sorts of vegetables. The fridge held a variety of meats.
In the darkness, Tilly’s orange-red eyes flickered on and off.
“Will Chesia like these things?”
It was a problem.
Up until now, Chesia had only ever consumed her mother’s milk since birth. Beyond that, she’d eaten pulverized meat just two or three times, along with some soft cakes and porridge to supplement other nutrients. Those probably hadn’t tasted all that great…
At that moment, Tilly’s gaze shifted to the two cartons of milk sitting in the fridge.
“Is this the leftover milk from the maid sister’s cake-making…?”
“Milk…”
Tilly had never actually drunk milk before—only eaten foods made with it.
But since it was all milk, the texture should be about the same, right? At the very least, she couldn’t let Chesia go hungry. Absolutely not!
Tilly happily munched on a few pieces of raw, unprocessed meat, then grabbed the milk cartons and headed back to the Dragon Nest. She also snagged a small bowl for pouring the milk.
Once back in the Dragon Nest, Tilly slipped off her little shoes and tiptoed up to Chesia. She set the bowl down in front of her and poured in the white, premium milk…
“Little Ya, want to try some?”
“Mm…”
Chesia first gazed at Tilly with eyes full of gratitude. But as she wriggled free from Xuefei’s embrace, tears welled up at the corners of her eyes, as if parting from her was some terrible wound.
Still, to stave off hunger, Chesia went ahead with it. She crouched down before the milk-filled bowl and lowered her head, just like a kitten about to lap up some milk.
Leaning forward revealed the perfect curves of her figure, curves that left Tilly burning with envy. Decades from now, Chesia’s body would be utterly mouthwatering.
At that moment, Chesia extended her little tongue, sending ripples across the milk’s calm surface. She drew a few drops into her mouth and savored them carefully…
“Wu~”
To Tilly’s surprise, Chesia shuddered all over—like she’d received a mild shock or a kitten with its fur standing on end. It was both adorable and heartbreaking.
Afterward, Chesia plopped down on the ground. She glanced from the milk to Tilly, her little face etched with worry.
Was there something wrong with the milk?
