Night fell.

Naya came to Eliya’s room early to tell her a story. She wanted to lull Eliya to sleep as soon as possible. She still had to go back and finish the task the System had given her: ride the Dragon Queen, Elise, once.

“Last time, we got to the part where the Chosen Hero, who had turned into a Dragonkin princess, learned from the Dragon Queen about the curse of dragon blood. She kept searching for a way to turn back into a human. She went through every book in the library, and finally found one that recorded the dragon blood curse, and the story of a human who had once become Dragonkin, then broke the curse and returned to the human kingdom...”

Naya kept talking on and on.

“And then one day, the princess finally learned how to turn human again. During one trip outside, she secretly ran away behind her maid’s back. After returning to the human kingdom, she wanted an audience with the king. She wanted to tell him what had happened to her, and reclaim her title as the Chosen Hero.”

“Mhm...”

“And then, guess what? That king refused the princess’s request. Humanity had already made up a tragic, heroic story for the Hero. The Hero wasn’t supposed to come back.”

“Why?”

“Because the king needed hatred. He needed people to remember that the Hero’s death was glorious. He needed a Hero who took pride in sacrifice, who charged into the Dragonkin nest without hesitation. That was why the Hero could be called a Hero.”

“Uu... I don’t get it.”

Naya smiled softly. She was only using a simpler way to explain the link between racial hatred and national interest.

“It’s okay if you don’t get it. Later, the king ordered the knights guarding his side to kill the princess. Left with no choice, the princess returned to her Dragonkin form. But she held no hatred toward humans, so she simply couldn’t bring herself to kill the knights or the king. The knights seized that chance and wounded her. Evil dragon blood splashed ten paces, staining the entire front hall of the royal palace. The king’s eyes turned blood-red, covered in Dragonkin blood. But do you remember? The Dragon Sovereign’s blood carries a curse. And as the heir to the Dragon Sovereign, the Hero Princess naturally had a dragon blood curse just as powerful.”

“And then? And then?”

Seeing the anticipation in Eliya’s eyes, Naya smiled and reached out to stroke Eliya’s pink hair.

“The rest... I’ll tell you tomorrow night.”

Eliya’s face instantly fell.

“Uu... Mama, you always stop right at the cliffhanger.”

That was the perfect opening for Naya to bring up Eliya’s little sister.

“Eliya, do you know how Dragonkin are born?”

“From humans getting infected by the dragon blood curse.”

Just as expected. But that also made this a good chance to give Eliya some proper Dragonkin sex education.

“Nope. A story is still just a story, Eliya. Don’t always take stories as truth. Remember how I studied biology with your mama last night? When two Dragonkin who love each other do the most intimate thing, they can make a dragon egg, and then a baby dragon hatches from it.”

“So... was I actually born from Mama?”

“Uh...”

Good heavens. Naya actually didn’t know how to answer that.

Eliya’s case was a little special. She hadn’t been born from her mother. She’d only been hatched by her mother.

But for Eliya’s mental well-being, it was better not to tell her exactly how she had come into the world.

“Mhm, Eliya, you’re going to have a little sister very soon. Right now, your little sister is in Mama’s belly.”

“What?!”

Eliya shot upright in fright and stared at Naya in horror.

“Mama, did you eat little sister?!”

Naya burst out laughing.

“No, no. When I say ‘in the belly,’ that’s just a broad way of putting it. Inside a woman’s body, there’s a place called the uterus. After Mama studied biology with your mother, we made a dragon egg in there. It’ll probably be born in about three months. Then Eliya will know how a normal Dragonkin is supposed to be born.”

“What? What? What biology? How do you make one? Can I make one with Mama too? Mama, I’m really curious. Is there really a baby dragon in there?”

Eliya stared at Naya’s stomach and rattled off a whole string of questions.

She seemed to understand, and yet not really.

“You’ll know when you grow up, Eliya. Since you carry the Dragon Sovereign’s bloodline, you can also make other female Dragonkin give birth to baby dragons.”

The moment she heard that she could have baby dragons with others too, Eliya got wildly excited.

“I don’t want to wait till I grow up. I want to know right now!”

Oh no. Naya had gotten a little too into it.

If this kept going, Eliya really wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Naya thought for a moment, then smiled at Eliya gently.

“Mhm... Eliya, the Dragon Sovereign bloodline will tell you the answer. You just need to close your eyes and ask your bloodline in your heart. The Dragon Sovereign bloodline will explain everything to you in a dream. That’ll be much clearer than me trying to explain it with words.”

“Really?”

Naya stood up and gently pressed Eliya back down so she would lie properly.

“Mhm. Go to sleep now. The former king will visit your dreams and tell you the secrets of the Dragon Sovereign.”

She pulled Eliya’s little pink quilt up to her neck.

Eliya blinked her watery eyes and looked at Naya.

“Be good. Close your eyes. Now. Right this instant, go to sleep. You’ll know the answer in your dream.”

“Mhm! Good night, Mama.”

“Good night~”

Eliya obediently closed her eyes.

A child’s excitement came fast and faded fast too.

In less than three minutes, Naya heard Eliya’s breathing turn slow and even.

Finally, she could go study biology with Elise.

She turned off the light and left Eliya’s room.

Naya stopped short when she reached the door to her own room.

[System, tell me... if we do that kind of thing too often, will it affect the life in my belly?]

[Host, what exactly do you mean by that?]

[Actually, I... well, um...]

[What? Don’t tell me you’re backing out again!]

If the System had a respiratory system, Naya would’ve made it die of anger by now.

[No! I just mean... my body recovered way too fast. My waist doesn’t ache anymore, my back doesn’t hurt anymore, and the plumbing’s all fixed.]

[What do you want, then? What else do you want? Are you doing this task or not? What kind of help do you need from me? Want me to evolve you a qilin arm? Or toad arts?]

The System was losing its mind.

Why was topping someone even once this hard for Naya?

Elise had already agreed to let Naya top her. And yet this girl was still backing out at the very last step!

[That’s not what I mean. I just want to make sure my child is okay. If something really happened, I’d cry.]

[Sigh, Host, you’ve really forgotten completely and thoroughly that you used to be human, and used to be male.]

[That has nothing to do with being male or female, does it? Men can’t care about their children? Men can just harden their hearts and abort them? System, you don’t understand the feelings of living things.]

[Relax. It won’t hurt your child. Elise understands this better than you do. Since she treated you like that, she must be fully confident she can keep the child safe. So can you just honestly top her once? Stop thinking about all this random stuff. Now, right this instant, go into the room, strip Elise’s clothes off, pin her to the bed, and stir-fry her hard.]

[System, let me confirm one more time...]

[Confirm, confirm, confirm my ass! Even if you really get pushed down instead, I’ll protect your child, okay? Satisfied now? Stop asking and get in there already!]

A bead of nonexistent sweat slid down Naya’s forehead. She hadn’t even finished speaking yet. Why was this stupid System in such a rush? What, had it never seen cute girls getting close before?

[No. I just want to confirm the task one more time. I need to top Elise once, and spank her butt ten times, right?]

[That’s right. You just need to sneak into the dragon’s lair. That counts as topping once.]

[Okay!]

Naya raised her head and stared at the door. Determination blazed in her eyes. She clenched her fists, her whole body brimming with fighting spirit.

Tonight would be the battle to wash away the shameful title of Pillow Princess.

The battle to prove who the real head of the household was.

Success, or die trying.