Chapter 38: 37. Nighttime Boudoir
“Let’s end here for tonight, Mr. Fisher.”
Feilon rubbed his sore shoulders and said this to Fisher. They had discussed the characteristics of souls based on previous data reports, but most of it was Fisher’s speculation and could not be confirmed.
Moreover, the night had indeed grown late, and seeing that it was getting late, Feilon decided to stop the research for the night.
He was just about to get up when he found his steam arm completely still, so he sighed and took a bottle of lubricant from a nearby shelf, then leaned against the table and said to Fisher,
“Mr. Fisher, could you help me apply some lubricant? My arm seems to be stuck.”
Fisher took the lubricant he handed over, gently applied a few drops to the gears of his stuck arm, and then used his fingers to push the gears. His entire arm emitted steam again, becoming light and nimble.
“You installed a small steam device on your back?”
Fisher looked at the glowing object that slightly bulged under his shirt and said this.
“You can’t hide anything from you. I’ve installed a compact and complicated steam-powered ring; it consumes very little energy during normal times, so I don’t need to recharge it too frequently. I can also remove it when not in use.”
He flexed his mechanical arm and then smiled, “But no matter how it is, it can’t compare to the original. Alright, I can move again, thanks.”
Fisher smiled, placed the lubricant on the table, then stood up and stretched. He unintentionally caught a glimpse of the small embroidery hanging on the wall of his laboratory. The embroidery was exquisite and depicted a lion griffin vividly.
“Where did this artwork come from? I rarely see such beautiful embroidery.”
“Haha, this is a specialty from my hometown, Uren. The people around there were very skilled in embroidery when I was a child.”
Fisher observed the beautiful embroidery up close, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said,
“Uren? I remember that’s a coal-producing area in Nali, right?”
Feilon also looked at the embroidery, and after watching for a long time like Fisher, he finally broke the silence and calmly said,
“Yes.”
“Fisher, look! They let me borrow their toys to play with!”
When he returned to the residence with Feilon, they ran into Ral, who was playing with a steam toy, and behind her were several of the children Feilon had adopted.
Other than the werewolf girl named Qiqi, whom Fisher remembered, he was not very familiar with the others, since there were more than ten children here.
Once they saw Feilon come in, they all happily rushed to his side, hugging his legs. Qiqi, seemingly unhappy, pointed at Ral in the distance and exclaimed,
“Father, that little dragon stole my toy!”
“.”
Fisher glanced at Ral, who was holding the toy, and then at Raphael, who was shifting her gaze. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
It seemed that Fisher’s gaze made Raphael feel a bit embarrassed; she stammered in explanation,
“Ral told them she borrowed it to play, but they didn’t understand.”
Feilon laughed, holding Qiqi and said to Fisher,
“It’s alright, it’s just a toy. Let her play with it. Did you all listen to Sister Fia and drink your milk?”
Qiqi replied from his arms,
“I did!”
“And what should you do after drinking it?”
“Sleep!”
Just after Qiqi finished speaking, another werewolf child tugged at Feilon’s pant leg and shouted,
“Father, you promised to look at my drawing tonight!”
“Haha, alright, can you bring your drawing to show our new dragon friend?”
Feilon patted the child on the head, causing the werewolf boy named Boqi’s tail to wag excitedly, and his eyes lit up.
“I’ll go get it right now!”
At that moment, the cow girl, Nana, who wore a skirt, also returned at the entrance of the residence. It seemed she was busy helping the City Lord of Feilon City and had only just returned to the house.
“Mr. Feilon, those werewolves have agreed, and they are very happy to have this job opportunity.”
“That’s good. That means the lives of those subhumans should not have any issues now.”
“Father, look! This is my drawing!”
Boqi rushed back from the room, holding a crayon drawing of a green wilderness filled with himself, other children, and a tall man in a suit, but he didn’t draw any facial features.
“Who is this?” Feilon squatted down, pointing at the figure in a suit.
“It’s Dad! Dad without the mask. Dad must not have worn a mask before, so I drew it this way. Later, you will definitely get better and won’t need a mask anymore!”
Feilon smiled slightly, looking at Fisher, then laughed,
“Hahaha, these kids are really interesting.”
Fisher shot a glance at Ral, who was gnawing on the metal toy, and gently tapped her small head, making her stop her action, looking aggrieved.
“I want to be a painter when I grow up, okay, Father?”
“Oh dear, that’s quite a grand profession. Boqi, you must work hard for that, for example, you should go to sleep now.”
“Okay!”
Feilon patted the child’s forehead and smiled, instructing the maid to take the children back. Many of the children were reluctant to go to sleep, and they clung to Feilon, wanting him to coax them to sleep. Feilon helplessly followed them into the room.
“Then we will take our leave and rest now, Miss Nana.”
In the living room, Fisher glanced at the cow girl Nana beside him. She did not have a very good impression of Fisher, likely due to the previous incident with Auren, so her expression could only be described as polite.
“Good night, Mr. Fisher, Miss Raphael.”
This time, she spoke in the dragon language.
Fisher took Raphael and the others upstairs, and before leaving, he made Ral put the toy back; otherwise, she would definitely try to sleep with that mechanical car. In fact, she didn’t even know it was a car; she only saw that it had four wheels and could be pushed around for play.
“Where are Mill and the others?”
“Ah, they came down with us earlier, but since there was nothing interesting, they went back first.”
After sending Ral back to Mill and the others’ room, while waiting for the door to close, only Fisher and Raphael remained in the hallway. Fisher turned to look at her, causing her to instinctively avert her gaze.
“Let’s go, it’s time for bed.”
“.Mm.”
Raphael originally wanted to change her clothes directly, but now that Fisher was nearby, she first crawled into the bedding on the floor, and then quietly undressed and placed her clothes outside.
However, Fisher did not look in her direction, merely leaning against the bed, continuously writing something with a feather pen under the light of the bedside lamp.
Most of it was related to the research he did with Feilon today, along with some speculations about the soul, such as their characteristics and observation methods. Fisher was hypothesizing in his mind what methods could be used to prove them.
Raphael also did not intend to watch Fisher, but soon realized that he was completely focused on his research and did not pay her any attention. So she turned her head and silently watched Fisher, who was wearing a shirt, from the exposed half of her head under the bedding.
After writing for a long time, Fisher rubbed his shoulders and placed the pen and notebook on the bedside.
“Get ready for bed, hmm? Are you researching how to defeat me?”
He noticed Raphael looking at him and asked this.
Her red horns illuminated her face, but it was hard to tell if her cheeks were blushing. She clutched the bedding, covering herself a bit more, so only her eyes were visible as she quietly responded,
“Mm.”
“That’s good, think more about it. The probability of success will be greater. I’m turning off the light now.”
Fisher turned off the light. He seemed to hear Feilon and Nana returning to their own rooms, and he also covered himself with the blanket, laying down and propping his staff at the bedside to prevent this dragon girl from ambushing him in the middle of the night.
Raphael didn’t have the thought of ambushing him. She found herself sharing a room with this human and didn’t know why, but she felt a bit hot and couldn’t sleep well.
In the quiet night, the moonlight outside streamed through the curtains; in the room, only the breathing sounds of the two could be heard, and muffled conversations might be heard from Mill’s room in the distance, probably Ral wondering what they would have for breakfast tomorrow, and the sounds of Fashir and Keshil tickling her being stopped by Mill.
This house had poor sound insulation, but luckily, Ral’s room was far from Fisher’s, at least farther than the distance from them to Feilon and Nana’s rooms.
Her ears twitched a few times, and she couldn’t help but start listening to the sounds outside to dispel the heat inside her.
Soon, the sound of a door opening echoed in the corridor; it should be the sound of Nana opening her door, as soft footsteps sounded, and it seemed she opened the door to Feilon’s room next door.
“Mr. Feilon,” Nana’s voice was gentle and soft, already a bit vague when it reached here, “Please let me serve you tonight as well.”
“Thank you.”
“…”
Feilon’s door closed, and soon after, some low breathing and Nana’s soft moans came from that side.
Raphael’s mind went blank for a second, and then her entire face turned bright red.
Wait, that cow girl and the city lord are…
“F-F-Fisher!”
She sat up from the bedding, steam all over her body, looking anxiously at Fisher, who was lying there with his eyes closed, “Did you hear that?”
Fisher maintained his sleeping posture, opened one eye to glance at her, and after a second of silence, said,
“Don’t listen. Sleep.”
Raphael bit her lip and then lay back down.
Wait, wait, wait…
Humans and subhumans also…
This is not, this is not…
Clearly, she had many thoughts, but Raphael’s mind distinctly clung to one simple matter about subhumans and humans being together. It felt like a clash of worldviews, causing her to begin to overthink.
That means someone like Fisher?
Wait, why am I thinking about Fisher?
But he is also human; I am a dragon.
No, no, even though he is strong and indeed a good person. But first, I shouldn’t be choosing him as a suitable tail partner, let alone do that kind of thing.
Right, exactly.
It’s like this.
She covered her ears with her pillow to block out the enticing sounds, but she didn’t seem to realize that the scales on her body slowly flattened down into a softer form due to thoughts of a certain someone. She anxiously hugged her long tail, as if holding onto…
She shook her head, quickly trying to hypnotize herself not to think too much and to go to sleep.
Don’t think too much! Don’t imagine that scene! Don’t think about Fisher!
Humans and subhumans…
Stop thinking!
Fisher nearby silently opened his eyes, which had turned into dead fish eyes, as the faint steam carrying Raphael’s fragrance began to spread throughout the bedroom once again. He didn’t need to think to know that girl was lost in indecent thoughts again.
Wisely, he kept quiet and made no movements, only glancing in the direction of Feilon’s room, unsure of what was going on in his mind.
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(End of chapter)
