The life of a busy dragonling was truly not for the faint of heart.

It’s been a week since Orien, the great golden dragonling, together with the little sprite, allegedly managed to revive the patient hidden away in that incredibly suspicious room.

And honestly, it was probably best not to think too hard about that night because it was deeply embarrassing to admit that he’d suffered at least two separate meltdowns during the process.

Still, he firmly believed he shouldn’t be blamed for any of it. No one had given him proper time to mentally prepare for sitting still that long, and that alone was rather cruel and unusual.

Ahem.

But anyway, all of that was water under the bridge now because the struggling man survived in the end.

And that was what mattered.

Hmph!

Ideally, with such a huge problem solved, and with the young dragonling completely unaware that several factions had apparently spent the entire week trying to worm their way into the MBE, Orien Vathros should’ve finally been able to rest like a proper patient himself.

Unfortunately, resting had turned out to be nothing more than a beautiful fantasy.

For one, the man they rescued was strange.

Sure, Orien’s reliable survival instincts weren’t screaming at him around that person, but the golden dragonling still found him unbelievably suspicious.

And why?

Well, there were several reasons.

Observation A: The strange man kept smiling at them.

It didn’t matter where, when, or how. Every single time Orien accidentally met the crimson-haired man’s eyes, he’d already be smiling at him.

Definitely unsettling and certainly curious. That alone called for more extensive monitoring.

Observation B: The strange man smelled rather unusual.

Not bad. Just... weird. Familiar in a way that made the dragonling uncomfortable because he couldn’t place it.

Besides, the MBE medical wing gave everyone the same bath products, so it couldn’t possibly be that.

Observation C: Whenever the strange man thought no one was looking, he always seemed like he was about to cry.

Well...Orien admittedly wasn’t very good at reading facial expressions yet, but the little sprite insisted it was true. And honestly, the sprite was usually frighteningly accurate about these things.

And really, there were even more suspicious observations he could add to the list.

Like how that man’s voice sounded oddly familiar. Or how his eyes always carried this strange, longing look. Then there was the fact that his presence was somehow impossible to ignore despite him doing absolutely nothing.

Ah! But probably the most suspicious thing of all was what happened the day after he woke up.

The weird man started repeatedly requesting hospital bed transfers. Multiple times a day!

Only to quietly end up occupying the extra bed in the same room Orien and Liam shared.

Odd, right?!

Moreover, did that man seriously think a powerful dragon like Orien wouldn’t notice his presence just because there was a flimsy white curtain separating the beds?

How amateurish!

Clearly, the man might’ve been a dragon, but he was somehow even more of a beginner than Aunty!

Tsk, tsk!

If he wanted to become a proper dragon, then he still had a very long way to go!

But oh well.

There really wasn’t much time to keep thinking about the suspicious man because there were far more pressing matters to deal with.

Like the never-ending attacks on the golden dragonling’s poor sensibilities!

It was just that...

Who could’ve possibly imagined those attacks would come in the form of rowdy little humans?!

__

While the buzz outside the MBE carried word of the sudden succession changes within the red dragon clan, inside that very same Ministry, an entirely different kind of commotion was unfolding.

And it all started one bright morning.

The sun was up, the morning bell had just rung, and one golden dragonling had only just finished his rather special breakfast.

Today’s menu included that magical thing called bacon, which had long since secured its place among his favorite food, alongside fried potatoes cut into little smiling faces.

In short, the day had started wonderfully.

Truly wonderfully.

Which was exactly why the disaster that followed felt even more unfair.

Because all of that peace and happiness came crashing down over a single knock that the golden dragonling didn’t even get the chance to witness. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

__

Huh? Already?

Wondering if it was already time for the regular check-up, Liam acknowledged the knock and called for the visitors to come in.

At the time, he had been sitting alone on his hospital bed, reading the book he needed to finish before he could play, when suddenly, instead of the soft and careful entrance the physicians usually made, the door burst open with a loud bang that made the boy freeze in surprise.

"Liam!"

Definitely not the physicians!

No, these guys!

"!"

There was a momentary pause before his eyes widened, lighting up with unmistakable joy.

"You guys! You’re really here?!"

And then chaos followed.

An entire group of boys and girls rushed toward him like a tiny stampede, nearly tackling him right back into the bed as they crowded around for a group hug.

"Liam, are you okay? Does it still hurt?"

"Hey! Move! It’s my turn to hug him! You’ve been holding onto him for way too long!"

"Is the MBE scary? Did you see monsters?! There was a dragon, right?!"

"We brought you gifts! Look!"

The room immediately filled with the nonstop chatter of children. Loud. Excited. Endlessly energetic.

It was the kind of noise Liam hadn’t realized he missed until now.

Honestly, hearing it again almost felt strange.

And while he knew some people had been trying to visit him, he truly hadn’t expected them to suddenly appear today of all days.

One of the boys puffed out his chest proudly.

"Of course you didn’t know! It’s supposed to be a surprise!" he declared smugly. "We wanted to come without you finding out! Hehehe!"

Liam broke into a huge grin, looking genuinely happy to see the friends he hadn’t met in so long.

It wasn’t like he’d been lonely all this time. He’d had countless adventures and met so many wonderful people along the way, too. But even then, it was impossible not to feel something when seeing faces he had once been close to for such a large part of his life.

And as the commotion only grew louder, with everyone trying to squeeze closer to him at once, their teacher finally stepped in before complete disaster struck.

"Now, now, everyone," she said helplessly, though there was an indulgent smile on her face as she carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers. "What did we say about crowding Liam and causing a scene inside the Ministry? He’s still recovering."

"Wow! Even Teacher came?!" The temporary patient exclaimed, his face brightening even more.

"How could I not?" she replied warmly. "We just had to secure the proper permits first, but of course, we were going to visit you."

At the sudden confirmation, Liam looked touched, and maybe a little embarrassed too, but he smiled sincerely as he thanked everyone for coming.

To go through all that just to see him?

He felt a little guilty, considering he was actually fine and not really sick at all, but even then, he was still deeply grateful for everyone’s well-wishes and efforts.

"Oh, but Liam, we definitely came because we wanted to ask when you’re coming back to school," one student added quickly. "We want to play— erm, study together again!"

The boy corrected himself so fast after remembering their teacher was standing right there that Liam couldn’t help laughing.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Tch! I mean it! We really wanted to study too! We even took turns taking more notes for him so it wouldn’t take long to catch up!" The child pouted while insisting on his innocence.

And honestly, everyone else looked close to bursting into laughter, too.

Unfortunately, before the cheerful atmosphere could continue, a loud thud suddenly echoed near the doorway.

Everyone startled, then instinctively turned toward the sound.

A brown paper bag had fallen onto the floor.

It’d clearly slipped from the hands of another child standing by the entrance. One with luscious golden-blonde hair and a hospital gown identical to Liam’s.

But more than the fallen bag itself, what truly stunned everyone was the look on the child’s face.

Pure mortification.

Utter horror.

After all, the golden dragonling looked like he’d just walked directly into his worst nightmare.