Chapter 255: There’s No Bad Dragon in the World (3)
“You don’t mean that, right?”
“She’s already reflected on this a lot, really.”
“I doubt that’s the case. She’s just upset the schedule didn’t go the way she wanted it to.”
I could already guess what had happened. At first, Dialugia had agreed with Tol To-ri’s punishment upon seeing how she behaved. However, returning to the nest and seeing her daughter shed thick tears had softened her up.
This alone made me realize how bad her parenting was. She must’ve comforted Dialuria with promises of talking to me and getting her out of her punishment. In short, she had basically taught her to cry in order to get his way.
‘And it actually works…’
Dialugia was the type of mom who would do anything to make her kid happy. No wonder Dialuria thought of her mother as a pushover.
“Actually, I only told her that outings would be banned.”
“Ah… Really?”
“Yes. But looking at you, I think it would be alright to prolong the punishment a little.”
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“You have to teach her that she can’t get everything she wants. I know very well that I’m not in a position to tell you, but our Tol To-ri has lived doing what she wants to do up until now. She should know that sometimes there are things that she can’t get by crying over it.”
“O-Of course, I agree with…”
“So you agreed. What’s the problem here?”
“I think Dialuria was really looking forward to the both of you going out together… Wasn’t that the promise you made before you left for the expedition? I know Dialuria best. She is already reflecting on it enough. If you go there and reason with her…”
“You’re too soft on her.”
“I think you’re well aware that Dialuria likes her father a lot.”
Absolutely. I even thought it was dangerous, looking at her characteristic.
Upon seeing my guilty expression, Dialugia decided to take the opportunity.
“I can say for sure. It’s because you didn’t stop at the nest and didn’t give love since she was very young. Still, leaving a child thirsty for her father’s love as it is… Of course, it is Dialuria’s fault today. But I think you should let a little loose for your child to be able to breathe.”
“Is that really the reason? It seems you’re saying that simply because you don’t like to see Tol To-ri crying.”
“W-What do you take me for?”
Seeing her reddened cheeks, I knew I had hit the bullseye.
However, Dialugia didn’t say anything wrong. It was undeniable that I had left most of the child-raising to her. I only spent once a week with Tol To-ri, and even that was stopped when I had to go to the training center for a month.
If I were to think about it, I had no right to talk about proper parenting. Nevertheless…
‘This one is definitely a problem.’
Dialugia’s unique characteristic was a Tree that Generously Gives. This was proven in the way she smothered Tol To-ri with her love. Seeing this for myself reminded me of a slave working hard to please her master.
Dialugia didn’t even have her own life in the first place.
Everything about her revolved around Tol To-ri. Though I commended her dedication, this was exactly the problem as to why Tol To-ri took her for granted.
‘This one also has a problem.’
I had to teach her to respect herself more, but the problem was I didn’t know how to do it.
‘It’s difficult to raise a child.’
Honestly, I didn’t even know where to start.
I didn’t have a child on Earth, nor have I ever been in a place like early childhood education to learn theory. The only knowledge I had was the one I saw through programs like “Super Nanny,” and I didn’t even enjoy it. Perhaps that was the same with Dialugia.
This meant I needed an expert who could give me some realistic advice.
I’ve got a ton of work to do, but if I were to think about the grown Tol To-ri later, there could be nothing more important than shaping her up now.
Eventually, I spoke up.
“For now, go back today. I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”
“T-Then!”
“No. I don’t mean to withdraw the punishment, but… I think we need an accurate diagnosis of our family.”
“What?”
“You just need to know that for now.”
I went to quickly write a letter, leaving a wondering Max behind.
* * *
The next morning, I faced a displeased Dialugia.
“You… will… consult an expert? I don’t understand. Why do we need help from others to raise our child? Our Dialuria is a dragon, not human.”
“Well, I’m not sure if it will work or not, but it won’t get worse than it is now. Whatever it is, the advice of people who have experience is helpful.”
“That… it is, but…”
“Oh… Was Tol To-ri well yesterday?”
“Yes. Yesterday she fell asleep when she heard that her dad was coming… She seemed to be looking forward to a lot this morning. Anyway, has that expert raised a lot of children?”
“No. He didn’t. Just think of it as having a professional education. He is not just limited to early childhood education, he is also a person who spans many fields. Before coming here, he was working as a family psychotherapist. When he came here, I was told that raids while using the title Monster Behavior Analyst.”
“A dragon is not a monster.”
“I know that, of course, but we still need to give it a try.”
As expected, Dialugia didn’t seem to like the idea of getting an expert’s help.
It was not unusual for her to respond that way since psychotherapy was not properly established on this continent as of the moment. Plus, they were a different species than humans.
In fact, I didn’t have high expectations, either. Raising humans and raising dragons seemed to be different because I assumed that the dragons’ intelligence exceeded that of humans’ to dismiss it as simply a monster.
‘Although Tol To-ri seems to act according to her instincts…’
I didn’t have enough time, so I sought help from Lee Jihye to help me find someone.
She had assured me that this would help, but I honestly still doubted it.
If I kept bottling up my emotions, I would just take longer to solve the problem. It was at least more realistic to get advice from people who have learned a little more than me.
Not far from the nest, I took a seat with Dialugia and waited. Eventually, someone came.
Appraising the man, I saw that he had a trustworthy look on his face.
“I am Kang Hyun-wook. Uhm… Lee Jihye introduced me…”
“Ohh. Yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Kiyoung.”
“I’m Dialugia.”
“I am truly honored to meet these high-profile people. I didn’t know that I would be in contact with you… Haha. They say we don’t know what can happen in our lives, and it’s amazing. This big and magnificent nest amazes me every time. I didn’t know I would ever get to step into it.”
“This is all spent money, too.”
“Someone like me can’t even imagine. Anyway, I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll do my best.”
“Please, doctor.”
“You don’t have to call me that. Just call me Hyun-wook, Blue Vice Guild Master.”
“Ah… Okay. I think you can just call me Kiyoung-ssi too.”
“Haha. It’s a bit too much for me, so I’ll call you Lee Kiyoung-nim.”
He gave off a better impression than I thought…
When he first appeared, I didn’t feel that he was very trustworthy, but it seemed that he was not a bad person after meeting him face to face.
‘I think he will be helpful…’
As if Dialugia felt the same way, she loosened up a bit.
When we went up to the nest together, he looked around as if he was amazed, but I could also see the firmness in his expression, meaning he was aware that he was working.
“So, what will you do, Hyun-wook-ssi?”
“Oh. First of all, you don’t have to worry about me. I think you can be with your daughter like you normally do. I think it would be better to see what kind of problem there is first.”
‘He is real…’
I felt like he was already eager to get started. Though it bothered me, I couldn’t mull it over because Tol To-ri had already come running towards me.
“Haaaa… Kiek! Kie-ee-ee-ee-ek!”
Though Dialugia ran to meet her first, Tol To-ri once again ignored her mother, waving her tail softly as she waited to be hugged. I realized that she had never really reflected on what she had done the day before.
“Dialuria.”
Noticing how serious I sounded, Dialuria stiffened and began to whine once more.
‘She definitely has a lot of problems…’
Right now, I wanted to scold her again, but for now, seeing as Hyun-wook was watching us, I had to show my usual appearance as much as possible. In the meantime, Dialugia was openly scolding her daughter, looking perplexed as she realized that Dialuria never did regret her actions.
Still, seeing how happy her daughter was, she decided to let it pass.
We ate together, talked a little, and played, and the time passed us by.
Only after Tol To-ri fell asleep did Kang Hyun-wook approach, looking very serious. I was curious about how he would start this, and he chose to take the harsh path. I already knew this, but Dialugia herself looked very shocked.
“The child is behaving as if she had no mother. It even seems that she is completely ignoring her.”
“Ah… that…”
“She has no eyes for anyone other than her father.”
Anyone could see this. The important thing was what caused this.
“Is there any reason?”
“There is a reason for every behavior of children who are not yet mentally mature. Actually, there are many small problems, but in my personal judgment, the biggest problem seems to be that the guardians don’t look so close to each other.”
“What?”
“It’s not just that you don’t seem close. It seems that the two guardians aren’t interested in each other at all. It’s so blatantly obvious that even a child like your daughter can see that. Did you know that you two talked to each other in less than 30 seconds in a timespan of a few hours?”
“Ah…”
I had not realized this fact.
“I’m sorry to say this, but… The root cause of your daughter’s problems seems to trace back to the two guardians. I can never think of this as a normal family.”
Dialugia’s face turned pale due to this brutal conclusion.