Chapter 329: Dragons and Dessert Economics

It started with something curved. Golden. Layered in soft folds like edible clouds that had somehow ended up inside their bags for the day. No one knew what it was called, but apparently that didn’t matter.

“Mine is bigger.”

Kael said it calmly, nonchalant yet decisive, as if he were stating an objective truth about the state of the world.

Across from him, Orien froze.

“No, Uncle! Mine is.”

The indignation was immediate and deeply personal.

Kael lifted a brow and glanced at the half-moon-shaped pastry in Orien’s hand. “Are you blind?”

“No!” Orien shot back, scandalized. “I just took a bite so it looks like it’s smaller now! But I swear it was bigger earlier!”

He held up the remaining half as evidence. Unfortunately, the evidence was not compelling. Nearly half of it was clearly gone.

Kael’s gaze focused on the missing portion that had to be inside someone’s belly and then back to his nephew’s face in quiet, unimpressed judgment.

Riley, who had been pretending not to listen, pressed his lips together. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so concerned about mana signatures and being a walking beacon earlier. Clearly, this was far worse for his pitiful heart.

The lucky bag reveal had taken a turn for the worse. What began as excitement had turned into curiosity, then comparison, and now full competition.

“Let’s check properly.”

“Line them up.”

“Whose is larger?”

Riley pinched the bridge of his nose. “It doesn’t really matter if the piece is bigger,” he tried reasonably. “Some items are purposely made smaller but are premium. Size doesn’t automatically mean more value, nor is it indicative of better taste”

As one could expect, the argument didn’t wane. It simply evolved. Death glares began flying across the table.

Then, as if attempting to restore logic to the situation, his father, bless his heart, cleared his throat. “If you truly want to measure who won, then perhaps compare the value saved. That would be more accurate.”

“Taste would be difficult to judge fairly since most of you already ate whatever you opened and that metric also happens to be pretty subjective. So what about the monetary equivalent instead?”

Riley looked around the table.

Seriously.

What a disaster.

Because for reasons beyond comprehension, his very own husband refused to lose against the children. Without fanfare, Kael stood and bought a dessert platter for takeout.

Just like that.

Riley blinked slowly. He thought perhaps his golden dragon had learned that move from observing the counter earlier, but then he remembered that Kael had actually witnessed him doing the exact same thing with the cake pops.

Ah.

So this was his fault. Again.

Orien most definitely didn’t take the development well.

“How come Uncle can buy more?!” he demanded, nearly standing on his seat despite lacking wings at the moment.

“What about the budget?!”

The distress was genuine. Honestly, it was a valid question.

But as understandable as it was, said uncle also had a legitimate explanation.

Kael glanced down at him. “Do you work?”

Orien blinked. “…Work?”

“Yes,” Kael replied evenly. “I asked if you worked. We all have the same base budget, but for us adults, extras are based on the money we make from working hard at our jobs or from related arrangements.”

Silence fell.

The words clearly rocked Orien’s little world.

Making money from working hard?

What about all his hardships? Were they not considered hard work so he wasn’t entitled to an extra budget?

His lower lip trembled. His golden eyes shimmered suspiciously as he stared at his own hands like a dragon who had just realized the economy was real. He genuinely looked like he was about to shed tears over financial injustice.

His cheeks began to puff in preparation for protest.

And then a sigh sounded from the side.

Riley moved with terrifying efficiency and shoved a glorious piece of treasure straight into Kael’s mouth.

Kael blinked mid-bite.

“You’re both right,” Riley said flatly. “So it’s better to stop it at that.”

He absolutely refused to let this escalate into a public debate about financial oppression, especially not when the child who looked like he was being deprived held a budget comparable to half a year’s miscellaneous spending of a middle-class family.

And that was just for this one outing.

__

Of course, in reality, Orien had enough money to purchase a random mountain if he truly accessed his vault. That wasn’t an exaggeration. It was simply a fact of his birth.

But they all agreed that it was better to teach the child the concept of mortal money. Unlike the magical beings who used gold to acquire artifacts and ancient relics, the golden dragonling was far more interested in mundane items.

And imagine the kind of financial upheaval Orien would cause if he decided to buy every place he liked simply because he actually could.

Not that such things had never happened before with magical beings. But most of the time, creatures of that caliber still preferred items that made sense within their own traditions. Ancient weapons. Rare materials. Enchanted objects.

Human settlements had been allowed to grow to this extent throughout the years precisely because the other beings simply didn’t care about things that didn’t have a lot to do with mana.

But apparently, not anymore.

It would have been far easier to just let the child purchase everything he wanted. It would have solved the tears. It would have solved the argument.

But it would likely escalate the moment he realized just how wealthy he actually was compared to mortals.

And that realization wouldn’t be small.

But at the same time, it wouldn’t be fair to hold it against the child. He didn’t particularly have a say in who he was born as. Moreover, it would also be unfair not to recognize his efforts when, in fairness to him, he really did work.

At least as Riley’s and Liam’s tutor.

So Riley reached into his own bag and held up a different pouch in front of the trembling dragonling.

“Here.”

Orien blinked. “Huh?”

“Like your uncle said, working and working hard is what earns us funds to spend,” Riley explained patiently. “And this right here is what you earned after all those tutoring services.”

“!”

Even Liam gasped at that.

“I was keeping it with me for safety and planned on handing it over later when we visit the supermarket. But since you brought up the topic, it would be best for you to see it now.”

“Really?” Orien asked incredulously, holding out both hands as if he were about to receive something sacred.

“Really. It even has a label. You can check.”

With careful fingers, Orien turned the pouch around.

And there it was.

A small tag.

With his name written clearly on it.

“!!!”

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