Joshua had once told her the shocking fact that dragonkin’s age of adulthood was when they reached a hundred years old, so she had a hunch that dragonkin childhood was long, but she didn’t know how long it would take before he could change form. She had been given books to study the biology of the dragonkin, but she’d hardly read them because of how fast everything had gone from realizing she was pregnant to giving birth. Basically, she barely had any knowledge of dragonkin children.
Jade had been by her side since giving birth, so Ruri asked him, assuming it would be quicker than going through any required reading.
“Let’s see... He’ll probably be able to assume human form in another two weeks. In human terms, he’ll be as big as a three-year-old.”
Ruri was filled with a surprise that she’d felt countless times by now. “Is his growth a little fast?”
Actually, “a little” wasn’t the half of it. Jade was saying their son would grow to the size of a three-year-old in only three weeks, including the week Ruri spent in bed.
“A dragonkin doesn’t reach adulthood until a hundred years, right? I feel like if they kept growing at that rate, they’d hit old age quickly...”
The dragonkin were said to have the longest lifespans in the world. A lot of that had to do with their mana, but even excluding that, they lived long lives. That was exactly why Ruri had thought it would take a long time for them to grow up, but she received the exact opposite answer, which confused her.
“Dragonkin grow quite quickly until a certain point. But after that, the aging process gets slower, and when you reach a hundred—the age of dragonkin adulthood—you age even slower.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Which is why you only have to take care of a child for a short time. At first, they grow phenomenally fast compared to other races, so even without their parents taking care of them for years like humans, they will grow on their own if you leave them be.”
“On their own?” Ruri repeated, suspicious. Even if that was true, it seemed like an overstatement. Still, Jade had no reason to lie to her.
“Dragonkin are different from other races in many ways. It’s usually a surprise when they marry outside their own race.”
“Yes, I can only imagine,” Ruri replied. There were way too many things about dragonkins that were out of the norm. “So, from what you’ve told me, Jade-sama, do children leave their parent’s care early?”
“Yes.”
Ruri was visibly shocked. “No way! But I was going to take care of the baby and give it lots of love and attention!” she cried, knowing that Citrine wouldn’t need her care if he learned to be independent early. It was a huge departure from the way human babies were raised.
Ruri clutched her head, worrying about whether she could raise him properly.
Seeing this, Jade put his hand on his chin as if thinking about something. “You probably don’t know a lot of things, and I doubt Lady Riccia would know about raising a dragonkin either.”
“I doubt that too,” Ruri agreed.
Up until she heard Jade’s explanation, she’d thought she would learn from Riccia’s teachings on parenting, but dragonkin were so different from humans that it didn’t seem like her mother’s lessons would serve any purpose. She was at a loss. Even if she crammed knowledge from the books into her head, it was unlikely that she could put any of it into practice. And even if she was to talk things out with anyone, it was easier to talk things out with women than men, and most of the women working around Ruri were unmarried. Rutile also only had information and had never actually raised a child.
Ruri thought that Jade’s retainers would be somewhat easier to speak with, but according to him, Claus, Agate, and the other elders were too busy working in the service of the king to participate in childcare. She was tempted to complain about that being a problem in itself. Work was important, but so was family.
Then again, Jade had said their children “would grow on their own.” The way they raised them must have been fundamentally different from how humans did things—with humans, it was a risk to ever let your young out of your sight.
“Hmmm...” Ruri hummed, worried about whether she would be able to handle being a dragonkin parent.
Jade then suggested, “How about we summon Chelsie?”
“Chelsie?”
“Despite appearances, she is a veteran who birthed and raised three children, including Claus, all by herself. You would have an easy time talking things over with her, wouldn’t you?”
“Ah, I see now. Good point.”
It would be a great help to Ruri if she had Chelsie, a dragonkin parent, there for her. She’d raised three children, so she would likely be able to provide accurate childcare advice if Ruri was ever in a bind.
“But will Chelsie-san come?”
“I’ll try to get in contact with her personally. We’ve already talked about you giving birth, and according to Claus, she was going to come by soon to check on you.”
“Thank you very much. Having Chelsie-san around would be extra helpful!”
“Then sit tight for a bit. I’ll go talk to Claus,” Jade said, exiting the room.
He came back soon after, as though saying he didn’t want to be away from Ruri for even a second. He had a ton of documents in his hands. Euclase must have pushed them on him. He placed the documents on the table with a dismayed look on his face. Then, as if nothing had happened, he came to Ruri’s side and embraced her, turning away as if trying not to look at the documents.
Ruri smiled awkwardly, sensing that he was trying to escape reality. She decided not to say anything and let him procrastinate in peace.
“Nevertheless...” Jade spoke up, looking down at Citrine. “I had expected it to a certain extent from Lord Beryl, Lady Riccia, and you, but to think that even Citrine is a Beloved too...”
“Yes, I know what you mean. The Imperial Nation might raise a fuss again.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure that Euclase and Claus will handle that.”
“Worst case, Rin said that she would threaten them or something.”
“Ruri, I beg of you—don’t let her do that.”
“I think Rin was half joking, so don’t worry.”
“Then does that mean the other half wasn’t joking?”
Ruri quietly looked away. Yes, a number of small spirits were sticking around Citrine’s basket, smiling and watching him sleep. At first, even more spirits had come in droves to see him, but Rin had rebuked them for being too loud, so they’d ended up deciding on an order for visiting. And in the process, there’d been a bit of a kerfuffle.
“’Kay, I’m first!”
“No, I am!”
“I wanna go ahead!”
“Let me!”
“No, let me!”
They fought over who would go first, causing Rin to yell at them for being noisy again. Weren’t spirits supposed to be able to share information? Regardless of who was first, they shouldn’t have had any problem if they shared what they saw and heard with each other.
Ruri asked them about it, but Rin exasperatedly replied, “Yes, but they still want to see him.”
Rin and Kotaro were away right now. Even though they’d scolded the other spirits before leaving, the lower-level spirits who had been clinging to Citrine ever since he was born launched a vehement protest.
“Not fair!”
“That’s terrible!”
“Give us a turn! Give us a turn!”
“Yeah!”