The Female Lead Takes Care of Everything - Chapter 81

Still, since Nivellia ran into her arms so eagerly, Armiphera decided to forgive her just this once.

She kissed her softly and repeatedly on her squishy cheeks.

“Oh my, why do you smell so sweet and buttery today? Did you eat chocolate cookies again?”

“Heehee! I had one! I dipped it in milk!”

“You really have the taste of a pine tree that stays green forever.”

Armiphera smiled and praised her, saying she liked how Nivellia never changed.

But Nivellia slowly leaned back.

She took a step away, wearing a curious expression.

Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open. She looked exactly like a cat catching a strange scent.

“Auntie,” Nivellia said.

“Why do you smell funny?”

There was definitely a musty odor.

“Oh, right.”

Armiphera let out an embarrassed laugh and explained.

“I came here in such a rush that I didn’t have time to wash properly for a few days. I missed you so much, Nini. Do I smell that bad?”

“Mm-hmm. Just a little.”

“Should I go take a bath?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to take one with me, Nini?”

“Aaack!”

One bath a day is enough!

Nivellia hissed in protest and ran away as fast as she could.

After a long bath, Armiphera came out smelling like roses.

“A mercenary smelling like roses just feels wrong.”

She didn’t look happy about it herself.

“Why? It smells really nice.”

Nivellia clung to her again and sniffed with curiosity.

“I use this sometimes too. Dragon Ather uses it too.”

“What? That dragon?”

Armiphera was grumbling when she suddenly froze.

“What did you say?”

She asked again to make sure she had heard it right.

“Who uses this?”

“Nini and Dragon Ather.”

“Why are you calling him Dragon Ather? Not Evil Dragon Ather?”

“He’s not evil anymore.”

“Where is he?”

Armiphera quickly turned around, abandoning her original plan of reporting her arrival to Caleo.

Nivellia led her to the bedroom of Muniel and Ardores.

“He’s sleeping here.”

But the place she pointed to was actually a small room right next to the bedroom.

Nivellia knocked gently on the door.

No answer came.

Still, she didn’t seem to mind and quietly opened the door.

In the center of the room was a cradle, the kind usually made for babies.

Ather, no longer an evil dragon but simply a dragon now, was curled up inside the soft cradle, sound asleep.

Armiphera could hardly believe what she was seeing.

His scales…

The last time she had seen Ather was during a trip to western Lator with the Pellaea Trading Company.

He had appeared in the middle of her night watch, delivered letters from her nieces and nephews, then disappeared again. Back then, he was a small, pitch-black dragon.

But now, his body had turned completely white, like freshly fallen snow.

There were still patches of black, but even those were slowly fading.

The change was slow, but clearly visible.

“Grandma said it’s okay,” Nivellia whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping dragon.

“She said it’s not because he’s sick. It’s actually something very good.”

“That’s a relief.”

Armiphera looked at Ather again.

Maybe it was the comfort of those words, but Ather looked peaceful. There were no signs of illness. If anything, he seemed to be in a deep, restful sleep.

Armiphera gently reached out her hand.

Not wanting to disturb him, she softly stroked his head and chin.

Then the corners of Ather’s mouth moved slightly.

“He smiled!”

“Shhh.”

Oh no.

Nivellia quickly clapped her hands over her mouth.

Armiphera smiled and picked her up, then quietly left the room with her.

Once they were outside, Nivellia dropped her hands and said excitedly,

“Ather smiled!”

“I saw it too. He must be dreaming about something very happy.”

“Ather loves dresses and jewelry. He always tried to take mine.”

“Then maybe he’s dreaming about being surrounded by pretty dresses and sparkling jewels.”

“Nini wants to dream about eating chocolate cookies with Aref, and my brother, and Mommy, and Grandma…”

And Daddy, Grandpa, Al, Rubens, Duke De Gladius, Leticia, Deter, Azel, the Grand Witch, and all the witches too.

“And also the Tower Master, and Della, hmm, and Monitos…”

She said she wanted to dream about eating chocolate cookies with all the people she loved.

“What about me, Nini?”

Armiphera asked with a slightly hurt tone.

“You can eat with us too, Auntie!”

“You always forget me. That really makes me sad.”

“Aww, are you sad?”

“If you give me a kiss, I might not feel upset anymore.”

“Heehee! A kiss for Auntie!”

“Hahaha!”

Nivellia pressed her lips to her aunt’s cheek again and again like a tiny woodpecker.

Armiphera laughed so hard her stomach began to ache.

The Red Saint Festival.

This holiday was created by Saint Muniel to welcome the new year.

After the Krepata War, Muniel proposed a small celebration to bring joy back into a weary and broken world. As time passed, the festival merged with Dramenor’s traditional New Year customs and eventually became the kingdom’s biggest holiday.

It lasts an entire week, from the end of one year into the beginning of the next.

During this time, people share kind words to recognize the hardships they’ve overcome and to wish each other happiness in the coming year.

It also becomes the most active season for shopping and celebration.

There are seasonal treats like dried fruit cakes made only during the Red Saint Festival. Homes are decorated with fresh green mistletoe and colorful ornaments of every kind.

Public squares, markets, and shops are busy preparing for the holiday rush.

Even though it is exhausting, this once-a-year peak season fills everyone’s faces with smiles.

Children look forward to the Red Saint Festival more than anyone.

Because…

“Presents!”

On the final day of the festival, the Red Saint brings gifts to children.

Of course, it is really their parents preparing the presents in secret.

“I’m going to get a present!”

Nivellia wanted a gift from the Red Saint too.

But suddenly, she began scolding her parents.

“Mom and Dad are so unfair!”

Nivellia narrowed her eyes in frustration.

“There’s this amazing grandpa, and you never told me about him?”

“We did tell you…”

“You got a present from the Red Saint last year. Don’t you remember?”

“Not even a little!”

Every year she received presents during the festival, but because she never remembered, she always blamed her parents.

“It was just last year,” Caleo said, looking at Nivellia’s sulky face.

“Maybe she was still too young to remember.”

“Still, now that you know, if you start doing kind things, the Red Saint might bring you a gift again.”

“But I tried to hit him with the fireplace poker…”

Do you think he’ll forgive me?

Nivellia asked with concern.

Caleo and Celletina were speechless. This was the first time they had heard about the fireplace poker incident.

“You tried to hit him?”

“I thought he was a monster.”

Either way, to earn her gift, Nivellia began wandering around the house like a cat on the prowl, looking for good deeds to do.

“What counts as a good deed?”

“Hmm…”

Aref thought seriously for a moment and gave her a few ideas.

“Not throwing trash on the ground. Saying kind things.”

“Nini doesn’t do either of those.”

“Then that means you’re already a good girl.”

“Oh wow!”

Nini is so good!

Now that she had discovered the truth, Nivellia stopped looking for good deeds.

Instead, she went back to helping the staff like usual and even ate vegetables she normally hated by mixing them with meat.

Just in case, she placed a chocolate cookie and a glass of milk on the shelf above the fireplace.

“Please bring me a present. I promise I won’t hurt you. Just bring me a present…”

She pressed her little hands together and whispered a prayer.

It was the most sincere prayer of her four-year-old life.

“If only you prayed like that during mass,” someone murmured quietly.

Stop sleeping all the time.

Muniel, who had been watching, eventually had to say something.

Thanks to her efforts, Nivellia was able to receive a present.

On the final day of the Red Saint Festival…

“Kyaaah!”

Nivellia let out a high-pitched scream as she saw the mountain of presents piled up in the living room.

“Presents!”

“Wow…”

Soles and Aref could not contain their excitement either.

“You little rascals. You’re over the moon, aren’t you?”

Armiphera grinned playfully at her nieces and nephews sitting in the living room in their pajamas.

“Auntie, look at this! I got presents!”

Nivellia pointed proudly at the boxes with her name on them.

“I knew it! I just knew Nini was a good girl!”

“The Red Saint wasn’t the only one who gave you gifts.”

Soles gently calmed her down.

“Your parents and other adults gave you some too.”

Soles already knew who the Red Saint really was.

Nivellia asked confidently,

“But I got them because I was good, right?”

“Because we love you, Nini.”

Armiphera replied.

“We give you gifts just because we love you and care about you. There’s no special reason.”

Nivellia blinked her round eyes slowly, then smiled brightly.

“I love you too!”

“I know. Now hurry and open your gifts. If you don’t, your mom and dad are going to drag you off to the dining room for breakfast.”

The children quickly started tearing into their presents.

Armiphera chuckled as she watched them.

“Ah, of course.”

Caleo let out a small sigh as he appeared, just a little too late.

“I wondered why they weren’t coming down to eat. So this is where they were.”

“Come sit down, brother. We always eat late on holiday mornings. Look, Celletina is here too. And so are Mom and Dad.”

Before they knew it, the whole family had gathered around the sofa.

The adults smiled as they watched the children open their presents with pure joy.

“A ribbon! It’s a hair ribbon!”

“Wow, I got a dictionary! I really wanted this!”

“I got a chessboard…!”

Torn wrapping paper and empty boxes quickly turned the floor into a mess.

But the more chaotic the room became, the brighter the children’s smiles grew.

Aref, in particular, kept glancing back at the adults every time he opened a new gift.

As if he was asking, “Are all of these really for me?”

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