The sun came out and a little while later.
　I woke up and moved to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
　I'm on meal duty today.

Now, what shall we have on the menu?

　Want to stay for dinner?　Or shall we have bread?
　I can't eat anything heavy in the morning, so it usually comes down to those two choices.

　Sometimes I'd like to try something other than those two choices, but...
　If you do a bad challenge, you'll end up like Sola.
　As expected, that's not good.

　

''........Good morning.
Good morning, Tania.

　Tania showed her face.
　She seemed to be waking up from her sleep, and was vaguely unsteady.

'Huh?　...Was Rain on duty today?
'Yes. It's still going to take a while, you can wait in your room if you want.
No I'm here.
Really?
'Yeah ... huh ...'

　Tania let out a strange breath.
　It was kind of feverish...
　If you look closely, your cheeks are red.
　And he looks sluggish, and he's leaning against the table.

　It's kind of bothering me....
　I stop cooking and move over to Tania.

'What's wrong?　What's wrong with your face?
'Nothing ... but ... nothing ...'
I don't think so, but I need you to stay put.
Huh?

　I put my hand on Tania's forehead.
　Maybe it's because my hand was cold, but Tania made a strange noise.

''Wha.........lein?　What are you doing all of a sudden?
Just hold still, don't move, it's hot.
Do you think it's possible that I, a dragon, have caught a cold?
'Even the strongest species will catch a cold when it comes. You'd better stay in your room and stay quiet. Can you walk?
Don't treat me like a child... I can't even walk, for God's sake... oh, my God.

　Tania stands up...............................and then stumbles back to her feet.
　Maybe she has more of a fever than I thought.
　I'm worried about leaving her alone.

'Tania, hold on.
'What?　Wait.........?

　He put his hands on Tania's back and behind her knees and held her in place.

'Hey, what are you doing?　Hey, this is....
'Be quiet. Tania is an invalid.
"But that doesn't mean... this is, well... um, ha, embarrassing...

　I mean, it's a lot of noise, but....
　Tania didn't have that much energy left in her, but she soon became quiet.
　As it was, he took Tania to his room and laid her down on his bed.

''Huh........''

　He was trying to be strong, but it was still hard, and Tania let out a huge breath as she lay down on the bed.

'Give me a minute,'

　I'm going to leave the room for once and...
　Get some cold water and a towel and head back to Tania's room.

　Put the towel in the water and squeeze...
　Then he placed it on Tania's forehead.

'Hmm...'
What do you think?
I'm feeling a little better.
Good. Good. You ready to eat your dinner?
...if it's light.
All right. I'll make you some porridge. And I'll take my pills.
I don't want to take the pills because they're bitter...
"Don't be a child,

　If I have this much energy, I should be fine.
　As I was leaving the room to make porridge and rice for everyone....

'Oh....'

　I heard a voice that sounded somewhat lonely, like it was holding me back....

'Yeah?　What's wrong?
'Well ... well ...'
Is there something you need?
Yes, well, I'd like an apple. Grated apples.
Okay. Okay, I'll set that up for you, too. What else?
Nothing to see here.
So, wait a minute.
Hmmm.



----------



What?　Did Tania catch a cold?
That's a concern...

　I'm making porridge and rice.
　Sola and Luna showed up and I explained the situation.

'If that's the case, leave it to Sola. We'll make you a nutritious sick man's meal and successfully cure Tania's cold.
'No, you shouldn't do that you'll get a thud from Tania if you do.

　I inwardly agree with Luna.

'Well I'm sorry, but can you ask me to prepare dinner for everyone?　I can't wait to give Tania something warm to eat...
"Mmm, leave it to me if that's what you want to do!　I will cook everyone's food.
Let Sora handle it. If you want, I can make you some porridge, too.
'No, no. I've already made the porridge I'm grateful enough to be in charge of everyone's meals.

　.........So.
　Leaving the rest to Sora and Luna, I visited Tania's room again, with food and medicine in hand.

''Thanks for coming back.''
Hmmm... it's late...

　When Tania found me, she sat up.

'Yes,'

　I scooped some porridge with a sponge and brought it to Tania's mouth.

What..........what are you doing........what are you doing?
'What?　........Oh, I see. Bad bad.
I know. You don't treat me like a child.
You forgot to let it cool. It's hot in here.
You have no idea!
Phew, phew ... okay, that's about it. Here, uh-huh.
Ugh....

　Tania's face turns bright red as she holds out the lengua again.
　Did her fever rise?

You okay?
''It's okay... Ugh, I can't believe you're upset over something like this, or that you can do this with impunity... Rain. I mean, aren't you missing a few things...?

　I'm mumbling something.
　It sounds like a terrible thing to say, but....
　Well, let's not worry about that right now.

　I need to prioritize taking care of Tania.

'See, ah,'
Uhhhh...
It's getting cold, okay?
Wow, I know... well, I mean... umm...

　For some reason, Tania looked horrified and took a bite of the lenge.
　As it was, she ate her muggy porridge.

'How do you like it?'
Well, that's just fine.
Can you still eat?
Just in case...
Okay, ahem.
Ugh ... that again...
Hmm?
All right, all right, I know what to do, just eat it, just eat it.　Uh-oh.

　For some reason, Tania ate her porridge, feeling desperate.
　She was reasonably hungry, so she ate the porridge.
　She also ate a grated apple along with it.

　Then she took some pills and....
　I lie down again.

'You're sleeping peacefully, okay?　Don't try to sneak out or anything.
I'm not a child I'll be quiet now, I promise.
If you need anything else, just call me.
'You don't mind if I call you out on a trivial errand?
'It's fine. Tania's a sick person and she should be pampered at times like this.
Yeah.
I'll see you later. Good night.

　I was leaving the room and...

Well, wait.

　Gently, Tania grabbed my hand.

'Yeah?　What's going on?
I mean, it's not like I have to run errands, is it?
Yeah, that's good. What do you have?
'Well ... well ...'

　Tania's gaze wandered, her cheeks stained in a different way than a cold...

"...stay with me until I fall asleep. I'm so lonely at times like this I feel alone...
Yes, sir.
...hmmm....

　Gently stroking her cheek, Tania smiled happily.