Chapter 23: This Craftsmanship? Truly Excellent! (Please Follow!)

What is “tsundere”?

What does “retire the environment” mean?

What is he talking about?

Valentina blinked, confused, her face radiating pure innocence untouched by knowledge.

Lately, she had begun to wonder if she’d been locked up too long—whether she’d lost the ability to understand the outside world’s language.

Just as Hungry Dragon was baffled, Herbert asked: “Customer, do you have a preferred hairstyle? Longer or shorter?”

Valentina’s lips twitched. “Whatever.”

“‘Whatever’? People who say that are the hardest to please.”

The barber, Master He, smirked, reluctantly picking up the scissors and muttering: “Since you said that, don’t come crying later.”

Once you enter this door, you no longer get to choose.

The shop bears no responsibility for any consequences!

Snip.

With a faint sound of blades grinding and pressing, flame-colored strands gently fell away.

Though Herbert had issued a disclaimer beforehand, he wasn’t some idiot who rushed in without preparation.

As the duke’s second son, Herbert didn’t know haircuts—but the poor soul who’d struggled alone in his past life knew scissors well.

His skill wasn’t great, but cutting his own hair and his friends’ was more than enough.

The scissors flew behind Valentina as she nibbled slowly on her last chicken leg.

After last time’s lesson, she’d learned to pace herself—no longer gulping everything down at once, instead savoring the process quietly.

Not long after, just as Valentina was about to shove the cleaned bone into her mouth to crunch it, her shoulder was gently tapped.

“I’m not sharing this!” she snapped back, then bit and swallowed the bone whole.

Snip-snip. Gulp.

Herbert: ???

“Who’d even want to steal that from you?!”

He sighed wearily, waving his hand. “Turn around. I’ll trim the front too.”

“Oh.”

Watching the overly obedient Dragon Lady, Herbert couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow—and for a moment, he couldn’t resist the urge, pressing his hand to the top of her head and ruffling it.

“Hm?”

Valentina looked up, puzzled, her eyes conveying confusion—and a threat.

What are you doing?

At this life-or-death moment, Herbert seemed to enter a special state.

In this instant, he understood perfectly what he must do—and what he absolutely must not do!

His expression unchanged, he kept rubbing, saying seriously: “...Don’t speak. I’m thinking about how to cut.”

Valentina instinctively felt something was off, studying his eyes closely—but found no flaw, and finally just murmured, “Oh.”

“Oh... hmm?”

Thump-thump-thump.

Their distance was so close that Valentina could clearly hear the boy’s rapid, strong heartbeat.

“Hey, why is your heartbeat so fast?” Valentina narrowed her eyes. “What are you afraid of?”

The flaw was exposed. Everything seemed over.

But Herbert remained calm, even a little irritable. “I’m afraid I’ll cut it badly and you’ll get mad at me again... Alright, don’t move. It’s almost done.”

Snip-snip.

With two final, clean swipes of the scissors, Herbert completed his masterpiece.

He stood back a few steps, squinted, then nodded in satisfaction.

“Hmm, good. My craftsmanship is truly excellent!”

“Just as I thought—you suit this look perfectly.”

?

Valentina stared at Herbert’s strange smile, a chill running down her spine. “Hey! Don’t just stand there grinning—speak! What do I look like now?!”

“Don’t rush, don’t rush—I’ll show you.”

Herbert pulled out the mirror he’d prepared and placed it before the Dragon Lady, smugly announcing: “Ta-da—”

Valentina had been about to snatch the mirror away—but the moment she saw her reflection, her expression froze.

“Ah...”

The Valentina before her was no longer the ragged vagrant she’d been. All traces of mess and wildness were gone.

Her medium-length red hair cascaded down her back, with a few loose strands falling over her forehead—wild yet softened.

A beauty this radiant yet bold would draw stunned glances on any street.

Whether she’d “cut men” was debatable—but she’d almost certainly “cut women.”

Post a video online, and little sisters would either beg to call her “big sister” or fight to call her “mom.”

“Is this... me?”

Valentina shook her head slowly, murmuring in disbelief: “Is this really me?”

She’d seen her human form before—she didn’t dislike it, but she’d never loved it as much as her dragon form.

She’d always believed she preferred the majestic, powerful dragon shape.

But now, looking at herself in the mirror, her conviction wavered.

“Of course it’s you. And this is your true form.”

No makeup, no special effects—how could this not be your true form?

Herbert handed her the mirror, smiling. “Keep the mirror. It’s a gift for your cooperation. You can look at yourself in it every day, admire your beauty.”

“Ah... hmm.”

Valentina took it dazedly, her gaze fixed on her reflection, motionless.

Herbert seized the moment to gather all the cut hair.

“Perfect. Got the materials!”

Suppressing his excitement, Herbert didn’t lower his guard. He picked up a damp towel and walked toward Valentina.

“Alright, admire later—I’ll wipe the hair off your face first.”

You don’t half-ass a performance—not when the finale’s at stake.

Valentina blinked, startled, then instinctively refused: “No, I can do it myself...”

Hair? Just burn it off with fire.

Why go through all this trouble?

Valentina tried to pull away—but Herbert wouldn’t let her go. He thrust the wrung-out towel right in front of her.

“Stop fussing. Close your eyes.”

“You—ugh!”

The cool towel pressed firmly against her face, then rubbed in circles, up and down.

↑→↓←

His technique wasn’t gentle—bordering on rough—but the Dragon Lady didn’t flinch. She was unusually cooperative.

→→↓←→↓

Because this was the first time anyone had cared for her.

She kept her eyes shut, silently whispering a name in her heart.

“Herbert...”

After finishing Valentina’s haircut, Herbert didn’t proceed to the next area. He left the prison with the hair.

Better to handle these tricky materials first—wash them at least—since they’d be going into his mouth.

This time, to avoid awkward encounters, Herbert avoided the kitchen. Instead, he headed to the monastery’s most remote well for water.

But before he could reach it, the familiar scent hit him—and his expression changed instantly.

“Shit...”

“Why does this keep happening to me?!”

His face darkened as he stared at the carp by the well, one thought echoing endlessly in his mind—

“Bro, your craftsmanship? You’re really playing it right...”

Thank you to the faceless instant noodles for the donation—thank you, boss!

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This cold is so awful—cough cough cough cough (trying to transmit this digitally to you)

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(End of Chapter)