Rose smiled, faking it of course, as she grabbed the paper. She really restrained herself from ripping it apart. She started scribbling on the paper with the dark pen.
<1. Do you want to go to Monster Realm Academy?>
Was this even a question for a test?
Tsk, tsk. These people really thought she was a golden egg or something. They make things so easy for her unlike her life had been before these few weeks being with them.
Still, she gave them an answer. 'No!' Then she thought for a while. This simple answer could not even convey half, how mightily she hated academies at all. So she continued… 'No! It is like the devil's c*ck!' Better!
She moved on to the next. Then to the next, feeling a bit bad that when the actual persons who she suspected were the old man and the old aunt, saw the answer to their questions, they'd really be disappointed in her. But hey, before she was thrown in here, no one really had hopes for her.
The last question.. she couldn't tell who had set it just like the first. It was either the green uncle or uncle tails. It read:
<4. What do you want to become when you grow up?>
Of course, they all had various expectations from her aside from the Dokkaebi.
The old dragon wanted her to be a music master like him but far greater than him. Aunty Isla wanted her to be a star. Popular. Maybe in the entertainment kind of way. But these weren't any of their questions.
Uncle Tails really wanted her to just grow up and be as lazy as he is while being admired and revered. He was a nine tailed fox and that was a very rare monster species. So, this was likely his question.
As for the Dokkaebi…. he really just wanted her to grow up so fast and that was all. All she had read in his mind before.
Hmm… since she wanted to fail this test, she had to fail this question too right? She scribbled down, 'I want to stay at home with my green uncle and be the Dokkaebi's Bride.'
There.
She smiled and passed the paper and pen over to the old dragon who completely sealed it without looking. "I hope I pass the test, Grandpa Max," she whined with her sweet, cute coquettish voice. How fake.
The old man patted her head and said. "I hope you will too. Meanwhile, you should join me inside where I'd read out your answers and know if you pass or not."
Rose laughed sinisterly in her head. Of course! She held his hand. "Green uncle, aren't you coming?"
"I will, you go first. I have to feed my flowers."
Whoosh!
With that, she and the old man disappeared and reappeared at the main living room where aunty and uncle tails were. She quickly rushed into aunty Isla's outstretched arms and made herself comfortable.
"So, now I will read her answers…"
She really hoped her answers wouldn't hurt Aunty Isla, the most. Aunty Isla was such a daughter for a mountain spirit demon.
A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST>>>>>>>
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The old dragon wasted no time when it was time to take her into the main city the Goemuls called the actual Goemul Realm, not what the outsiders thought it was.
He stepped outside and immediately shifted into a massive red dragon.
They didn't ride Goemuls for transportation here though. Not usually. In fact, this realm had everything humans had. Only, the old dragon had flown here in a rush when he heard the Oenunbaki's cry, and he couldn't bring his van behind.
Seraphina was in awe as she climbed onto old Max's back with the Dokkaebi's help. She had only seen dragons in books and art, but never up close.
Now, she was riding one. At six years old.
Wasn't life just… precious?
Worried that the little girl might get air sick once they were flying, the Dokkaebi sat her on his lap, straddling him in a hug-like position, her head to his chest.
Seraphina stiffened.
It felt too intimate. But she was small, and easily lifted into that position by the large green man. Reading his mind helped—he meant no harm.
Still, he noticed her frozen posture and added: "The air is full of flying ants that bite children's faces. If I don't press your face to my chest, they'll bite you, you'll fall ill… and die."
He didn't hesitate to speak of death to a kid. The kid was in the Goemul Realm after all, where she can die anytime.
Soon, they were up, flying in the air. The wind rushes past them in a steady, high-altitude rhythm. Then, they were steady, flying for some time. No flying ants.
"Green Uncle, did you lie to me about the air ants?" she suddenly asked, her cheek squished to his chest. She needed to think about anything else, anything to distract from how unexpectedly nice the Dokkaebi smelled. He smelled like sour wine.
His body was surprisingly soft and hot too, and that was distracting as well. His body was too warm for a monster. She almost wanted to hug him tighter.
The Dokkaebi's lips thinned when he heard what she called him. Green Uncle. He didn't mind though. She was just a child.
"I did," he replied confidently. He spoke seriously. "There are no ants. I lied."
And in his heart, he added, ~…so you could relax against me comfortably. I won't hurt you. Yet.~
Seraphina bit back a laugh. His answer was cute. Suppressing a smile, she teased, "You know lying is wrong, right, Green Uncle?"
The Dokkaebi tilted his head, pondering seriously. She was just a kid; maybe he should be more careful with what he said. But then he replied, "No. Lying isn't wrong. I lie all the time, and I'm fine. Let me teach you this… lying is good."
A spark of amusement lit up Seraphina's small face. Teach her lying is good? He was a strange one. His heart said one thing, but his mouth said another...
"Sometimes," he continued, "you'll be in serious trouble. If you tell the truth, you'll be punished. Or worse. Isn't lying the better choice then?"
Seraphina actually saw the logic in that.
If this green man had been around earlier, maybe he would've taught her how to lie better. She would've lied about those vegetables turning into frog-beast meat. She could have blamed Levy—he was mischievous enough to be believable.
So many situations... like when Elias told her to steal beans from Lady Madeleine, the holy ones used to ward off evil, because eating them would drive the evil out of her. She hadn't been caught, but she still confessed when the academy investigated. And they had beaten her for it.
"Green Uncle," she said, pretending to be innocent, "When I was unconscious, I had a dream that I was really hungry and I stole beans. I still told the truth in the dream, and people I didn't know.. they beat me a lot!"
Of course he had. When he visited the human world, they often threw beans at his face when they saw a green man. Especially around temples. They believed they were punishing him, a demon.
Goemuls didn't do well with beans either, so they weren't even grown in the Goemul Realm. Some monsters were demonlike, so they would often get affected. But not him.
Now, hearing the little girl talk about them with such longing, and how people in her dream punished her for something so small... something tugged at his heart.
"I'll get you beans," he blurted. "Whenever you want them."
Seraphina's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Do you think I'd lie to you, little Rose?" he snorted. He liked the sound of that—little Rose. Feeling strangely proud and wanting to boast some more, he added, "In fact, when you're fully recovered, I'll bring you a whole pot of beans. A big one."
She looked at him with confusion at first, then awe… and then her big blue eyes welled up with tears.
The Dokkaebi: "..."
Was she really about to cry?
Of course she was. This Dokkaebi wasn't just treating her like she mattered, he was promising to spoil her with beans. What they had literally given her a good beating for.
"If you smear my shirt with your salty tears, I'll throw you off this ride," he warned dryly. "Now, buckle up, we are about to go over the mountains and there, you might see someone. When you see her, call her Aunty Isla."
Seraphina: "...."
"Okay."