Growing Up with the Demon King Tyrant - Chapter 10

The spirit beast hatchling also saw Xue Yi and tilted its head to study him.

The strength of the Dragon Clan sat at the pinnacle of this continent. Some timid beastman races would even flee immediately upon sensing a dragon’s aura, let alone a common spirit beast. However, perhaps because both were so young, the spirit beast was not afraid of Xue Yi.

Xue Yi took half a step back, a flash of wariness and a hint of confusion in his golden eyes. Most beastman races place great importance on the reproduction of their kin, and dragons are no exception; yet while dragon eggs are numerous, the hatching rate is not high. Therefore, usually, a single hatchling is cared for by several adult dragons together.

This racial instinct was also etched into his heritage. The appearance of a new hatchling caused Xue Yi to suddenly feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Does Xi Huai not like me anymore? Is he going to start taking care of another hatchling?

Xue Yi slowly squatted down, his tensed tail flicking slightly.

Xi Huai did not notice the dragon cub’s abnormality for the moment, frowning as he looked at the spirit beast in the cage. He quickly realized that because he had mentioned wanting to raise a dragon last time, Hemonya must have misunderstood and thought he wanted a pet, so he had the Adjutant prepare a spirit beast.

Back then, he had specified a Silver Snow Dragon, so the spirit beast’s fur was also pure white; though its species had nothing to do with the Silver Snow Dragon, it was at least somewhat related in appearance.

Xi Huai had no interest in raising a pet and was about to call a servant to take the spirit beast away when his movements suddenly paused. The spirit beast hatchling looked about the same age as Xue Yi and belonged to the feline family, so its personality should be relatively quiet and gentle.

He looked back at Xue Yi; the little dragon cub seemed somewhat interested in the spirit beast, squatting next to the cage and staring at it without moving.

Why not… keep this spirit beast and try to let it be a playmate for Xue Yi?

With this thought, Xi Huai opened the cage lock and pulled the spirit beast out. His movements weren’t particularly gentle, and the spirit beast struggled lightly in his hand, letting out a timid “mew.”

Xi Huai inspected the spirit beast’s body; its fur was very clean and its claws had been trimmed in advance so it wouldn’t scratch anyone. He set the spirit beast down and called, “Xue-bao, come here.”

Xue Yi didn’t move, acting as if he hadn’t heard, his golden eyes still fixed on the spirit beast.

The spirit beast hatchling was quite brave. Once freed from its restraints, it immediately began to explore the vicinity cautiously. Its first target of interest was Xue Yi. As if feeling a sense of kinship upon seeing another “same-age” hatchling, the spirit beast approached with its tail held high, wanting to sniff Xue Yi’s scent.

The little dragon cub tensed the tip of his tail, and as the spirit beast approached, he raised a claw and batted it across the face.

The spirit beast was caught off guard and almost tumbled sideways. Xi Huai hadn’t expected this scene; worried the two hatchlings would fight, he quickly picked up Xue Yi.

“Don’t want to play with it?” Xi Huai looked down and asked.

Xue Yi gave a muffled “wu,” indicating he didn’t want to at all.

At that moment, the spirit beast hatchling came up to Xi Huai. It still really wanted to be close to Xue Yi and didn’t give up even after being hit, trying again to approach and sniff the tip of Xue Yi’s tail.

Sensing the unfamiliar breath behind him, the little dragon cub turned and hissed, a clump of extremely faint ice mist puffing from his mouth as his golden eyes glared displeasurably at the spirit beast.

Sensing this dragon’s breath, the spirit beast finally began to feel fear and fled back into its cage in a panic, shivering. Seeing this, Xi Huai confirmed that Xue Yi truly did not like this spirit beast.

He stroked the little dragon cub’s claws in reassurance. “Then never mind.”

“Wu wu…” Xue Yi was still in a state of high alert, burying his head to rub against Xi Huai’s hand while peeking at the spirit beast hatchling again.

The back half of the cage was still covered by the black cloth; the narrow space and dim light allowed the spirit beast to quickly recover its composure. It relaxed, its front paws pressing into the plush fabric at the bottom of the cage, gently kneading.

There was also a small box of food in the cage made of cooked dried meat from the softest parts of poultry, perfect for a hatchling. Feeling hungry, the spirit beast nudged open the lid of the meat box, sniffed it, and was about to eat.

Xue Yi immediately grew anxious, looking up at Xi Huai. “Wu…”

I’m still right here, so how can that hatchling over there start eating?

The cage had been brought in from outside, yes, but as long as it was in this room, the little dragon cub viewed it as his territory. In Xue Yi’s eyes, the spirit beast was eating his food, which was simply intolerable.

Xi Huai, however, thought Xue Yi wanted to eat and reached in to take out the dried meat. The spirit beast only got to eat one piece and watched wistfully. This happened to suit Xue Yi’s wishes, and he became marginally happier.

Xi Huai tasted the dried meat himself before feeding it to Xue Yi. Lunch hadn’t arrived yet, and having played in the courtyard for a long time that morning, Xue Yi was also hungry and obediently ate a few pieces.

The spirit beast wanted to come out of the cage, but seeing Xue Yi’s gaze sweep over, it retreated timidly. The little dragon cub looked at the remaining dried meat, picked up the largest piece in his mouth, jumped down to the floor to the front of the cage, and tossed the meat inside.

Having done all this, Xue Yi turned and left without wanting to give the spirit beast another look. The spirit beast hurriedly ate the meat and let out two “mew mews.”

Xi Huai picked up Xue Yi, who had returned to his side, and asked, “Really don’t like it? Then I’ll have someone take it away.”

A servant happened to bring lunch at that moment, and Xue Yi ran into the bedroom to hide. The plush rugs had been cleaned with magic, so any crumbs from the meat vanished instantly. Xi Huai instructed the servant: “Send the spirit beast back. I’m not raising it.”

The servant complied and, while taking the cage, also tidied up the empty food box on the floor. The dried meat in the box actually hadn’t been finished; seeing that Xue Yi liked it, Xi Huai had kept the rest.

Once the servant left, the little dragon cub ran out from the bedroom and rubbed against Xi Huai’s pant leg. Xi Huai bent down to pick him up. “You can have more dried meat this afternoon; eat your lunch first.”

Xue Yi responded obediently and licked Xi Huai’s chin. With the spirit beast gone, Xi Huai must have abandoned the idea of raising another hatchling. However, a faint, unfamiliar scent still lingered in the room, so Xue Yi did not relax completely. The little dragon cub stared at the hand Xi Huai had used to touch the spirit beast and rubbed against it forcefully several times.

On the other side, the servant promptly returned the spirit beast to the Adjutant’s quarters. The Adjutant was away and didn’t return to learn the news until about an hour later.

He wasn’t very surprised. “Did the Prince say anything? Did he not like the species?”

The subordinate replied, “He just said he didn’t want to raise it.”

The cage was in the front hall. The Adjutant walked in, and the spirit beast inside heard the commotion, bumping against the edge of the cage and crying out as if it were very uneasy.

The Adjutant frowned. “What’s wrong with it? Wasn’t it fine when I sent it over?”

This spirit beast was quite precious, its appearance and personality were impeccable, and it was intelligent. His first reaction was to wonder if Xi Huai had done something to make it feel afraid.

The subordinate stepped forward to check and said after a moment, “Nothing serious, it’s likely just hungry.”

The food box in the cage was empty; not a single piece of the dried meat put in that morning remained.

The Adjutant found it even more strange. This type of spirit beast has a small appetite, and a hatchling can eat even less. When he took it to Xi Huai’s quarters that morning, he had enough food put in to last at least until tonight. Yet now, the meat in the box was gone, but the spirit beast was so hungry it was bumping against the cage.

A subtle sense of oddity settled in the Adjutant’s mind. He took a few more looks at the spirit beast, then waved for his subordinate to take it away, feed it, and return it to its original place.

In the afternoon, Xi Huai took his books out of his storage ring, intending to make up the schoolwork he had missed over the past few days.

Xue Yi lay by the desk to accompany him, unknowingly becoming sleepy and forcing his head up to stay awake. Xi Huai reached over and stroked the dragon cub’s chin. “Go sleep inside.”

Xue Yi refused to go, grumbling as he rubbed against the youth’s hand, yet he also didn’t want to just sleep on Xi Huai’s lap; it seemed he insisted on staying with him. Xi Huai had no choice but to quicken his pace and finish the schoolwork in the shortest possible time.

As he put away the books, Xue Yi jumped into his lap, hugging his wrist with his front claws and letting out “wu wu” grunts. Usually, Xue Yi was clingy, but today he seemed a bit unusual.

Xi Huai asked gently, “Feeling unwell?” He carefully checked the dragon cub’s temperature, breath, and the state of his tongue. Xue Yi stuck out his tongue for Xi Huai to inspect, his claws scratching at the youth’s sleeve a few times.

In truth, it was still because of the spirit beast from noon. Although the spirit beast had been sent away and hadn’t stayed for long, and Xue Yi had even eaten all its meat, he was still worried about whether he had been “bad” in some way.

After the inspection, Xi Huai straightened the little vest on Xue Yi. “Do you want to drink water, or go out to play?”

Xue Yi shook his head, looking around the room as if unsettled. Then, the little dragon cub jumped down to the floor on his own, patrolling every part of the room on the rugs. Wherever there was a lingering scent of the spirit beast, Xue Yi exhaled several times, completely masking it with his own scent.

The scent was heaviest where the cage had been placed; Xue Yi circled that spot several times until a very thin layer of frost formed on the rug. The frost vanished in an instant, and Xue Yi twitched his nose, finally feeling a bit more satisfied.

The little dragon cub returned to the desk, looking up and wagging his tail to be held. Xi Huai reached out, frowning in thought over Xue Yi’s actions just now. He’s not unwell, and he doesn’t want to go out; then what is he trying to do?

Xue Yi lay practicedly in Xi Huai’s lap and began to mimic the spirit beast hatchling by kneading. The dragon’s claws were similar to a cat’s, pressing into the fabric of the sleeve one by one, making a light rubbing sound.

Xi Huai looked down and met Xue Yi’s gaze. Combining everything from noon until now, he vaguely began to understand.

“Are you afraid I’ll leave you behind and raise another little dragon or kitten?” Xi Huai stroked the cub’s chin.

“Wu…” Xue Yi responded; Xi Huai had guessed correctly.

“I won’t,” he explained seriously. “That was sent by someone else; I didn’t like it.”

Xue Yi listened quietly and responded with an “ao!” Having confirmed he wouldn’t be abandoned, that the spirit beast was just an accident, and that Xi Huai didn’t dislike him, Xue Yi felt completely at ease and tilted his head to lie down.

The next second, the dragon cub caught another lingering scent—it came from Xi Huai’s palm. He missed this spot!

The dragon cub scrambled up and exhaled repeatedly on Xi Huai’s hand, even giving it a bite, leaving two shallow fang marks on the fingertip.

Xi Huai coaxed him with a few words: “It’s my fault, don’t be angry.”

At the same time, the Adjutant was sitting in his study. On the table before him sat two gold coins sent from the medical clinic. A physician there had informed him that he had originally intended to return the coins to Xi Huai but had forgotten them in a drawer, where they were later discovered by someone else. To explain the source of the coins clearly, the physician didn’t dare hide anything and told him about Xi Huai bringing a spirit beast hatchling for treatment that day.

Belongs to a classmate? Very precious and not easily shown to others?

The Adjutant pressed his hand to his forehead, considering whether to go see Xi Huai first or tell Hemonya directly that Xi Huai was secretly raising a pet. At Xi Huai’s age, wanting to raise a pet was normal, but he insisted on doing it secretly. His situation was different from others, after all, and required more attention.

The Adjutant thought for a moment and stood up.