"Talulah, you really don't plan on coming back with me?"
"…You know, Ch'en Hui-chieh, I don't know how I'm supposed to face Wei Yenwu."
"Then stop believing that Ursus duke's nonsense. Your father's death—there's no way he wasn't involved."
"I think…"
"Talulah, he is Ursus's Eternal Duke, the Deathless Black Snake. Do you honestly think you understand him?"
"…Let's change the subject."
"…Fine."
As Talulah and Ch'en awkwardly shifted the conversation, the Black Snake stirred faintly in the back of Talulah's mind.
But when it sensed that she truly had no intention of returning to Lungmen, it coiled back into slumber.
Of course the Black Snake had feelings for the pet it had raised.
But only once the pet was properly tamed.
---
…So, Talulah's reached her adolescence.
Watching her lock herself away in her room, Kashchey sighed inwardly.
All he had done was tease her a little, after noticing someone had tried to strike up a conversation with her at a perfectly ordinary banquet.
Trying to play the part of an "understanding father," he had made a lighthearted joke about it.
The result? On the way home, she stayed utterly silent, then slammed the door and shut herself in her room.
Should I try speaking to her in a female body instead?
Kashchey considered the idea.
In the end, he rejected it.
Talulah's age, her still-developing worldview, her lack of maturity… If he approached her that way, it might help in the short term—
—but it would be just as likely to throw her entire understanding of gender into confusion.
In certain respects, the Black Snake was nothing if not meticulous.
He knew well the gulf between himself and the short-lived races, and he did his best to bridge it.
He never treated them the way he would treat another long-lived being.
It was one of the reasons his rule commanded such loyalty.
Kashchey had even set aside time to study how terran parents raised their children.
But he quickly discovered such lessons were limited.
A child's upbringing was shaped by family, circumstances, and the child's own nature—factors that couldn't be copied like lines from a textbook.
And so, the next morning, when Talulah finally opened her door, she found a book lying on the floor outside.
"How to Survive This Awkward Stage — by Kashchey."
"…"
Talulah tossed the book under her bed, where it gathered dust.
---
Back when her father was still alive, Talulah had loved listening to Edward's stories.
Even the scary ones.
"Legend has it," Edward would say, "that Ursus is haunted by an immortal duke of terror, called Kashchey. He chooses a victim at random, kills them, then wears their skin as his own. He takes everything that belonged to them—their wealth, their family, their friends. And once he grows bored, he moves on to the next."
He would tell this to frighten the little Talulah.
The young draco clung tightly to her mother—a Draco-blooded woman.
Timidly, Talulah asked:
"How does it manage to fool that person's family and friends? Could it really copy all their habits… even inherit all their memories?"
"Little Talulah, it's only a legend. Don't worry about such details."
Her mother gave a strained smile.
"Edward, you really do have a harmonious family~"
Sitting beside Edward, a purple-haired feline in a casual T-shirt chuckled.
He was Edward's ally—one of the reasons Edward had dared bring his wife and daughter back to his homeland.
He was known by the nickname 'The Boss.'
"But tell me, was it really wise to bring your 'wife' along?"
The feline cracked open a bottle of soda and, under Talulah's envious gaze, downed it in one gulp.
"…I'd rather not talk about that."
At those words, both the draconian woman and Edward fell into uneasy silence.
The truth was, Edward had secretly smuggled his lover and daughter out this time.
If he succeeded in claiming Victoria's throne, he could install them there openly, never again returning to Lungmen.
The last time, with the Boss's help, he had barely escaped disaster.
But if he failed here in Victoria, he would not escape again.
Wei Yenwu's wrath would tear Edward limb from limb, and the draconian woman would share his fate.
After all, she was another man's wife—and now had a daughter besides.
Even if that marriage was nothing more than a farce.
Sensing the tension, the feline didn't press the point.
He only wanted to harden Edward's resolve, to ensure he could keep the aging Aslan king under pressure.
It had nothing to do with the frightening tale just told.
As expected—no matter the nation, noble affairs are always a mess.
---
When Talulah first realized her foster father was Kashchey, her heart was filled with dread.
But in time, she noticed he wasn't as terrifying as the rumors claimed.
At first, he had seemed erratic—one moment gentle, the next severe.
Yet slowly, Talulah began to read his moods, learning how to get along with him.
---
Raising children really is complicated.
Kashchey watched Talulah carefully.
All around his estate, unseen to ordinary eyes, his Black Snakes slithered.
Within his own domain, nothing escaped his notice.
I've already figured out how to handle her.
In recent days, Kashchey had tested Talulah with varying attitudes, gauging her reactions, deciding on the best approach to shape her.
She's a good child—just a little naïve.
He had settled on a method for her upbringing, even if it was his first time raising a daughter.
---
And precisely because it was his first time, flaws were inevitable.
Kashchey now stood facing the stubborn young draco, a headache brewing.
She was no longer the little girl she once was.
She had grown into a young lady, with her own will and convictions—convictions that, to Kashchey, still felt painfully naïve.
If not for the fact that he sensed no malice from Talulah—only goodwill—Kashchey would have long since activated the Black Snake seed he had planted in her heart from the very beginning.
He had to admit, when Talulah refused to return to Lungmen, he felt a strange, inexplicable flicker of emotion.
So this is what parental pride feels like?
It was the first time Kashchey had ever known such a sentiment.
But even the deepest affection can be eroded. After all, no matter how much someone loves a pet, if that pet destroys the house day after day, the bond eventually wears thin.
And for Kashchey, though Talulah bore him no ill will, the organization she had founded—the Reunion Movement—was beginning to cause him serious trouble.
Ambitious nobles with schemes of their own had grown restless, eager to use Reunion as a pretext to undermine him.
Among Ursus's non-Infected, faith in him had begun to waver.
Even the Emperor had started to doubt him.
Fools.
"Behind a mask, everyone is Reunion"… How could she dare spout something so brazen?
Such a disappointing child—perhaps not worth the trouble at all.
---
Still, Reunion is not without its uses.
This time, I will forgive her.
But if she continues to stir up chaos…
Then I will take the mantle myself, and become Reunion's true leader.