"Huh?". Rina looked on as the dragon put her down gently on the ground. "You, what are you talking about?". However, once again her words came out as gibberish. The dragon tilted its head and looked at her with confusion.
"You can't speak? Well, seems that you aren't that bright".
"Oi, what do you mean? Have ever seen an eighteen month old speak with such clarity?" But poor Rina, the dragon still didn't understand her.
"This is quite troublesome. Why can't you speak well. As I thought you aren't smart." said the dragon with a troubled look.
"Are you even listening?" roared Rina who was beyond frustrated. "Oh, I know", the dragon then raised its large claws and pointed a nail at Rina's forehead and poked it. "Ooouuuuucch! that hurt!" Rina shouted.
She placed her hand on her forehead but there was no wound. "What did you do to me?". That was when she realised she could speak well. The dragon put on a smug look and mocked "What do you think I did to you? Of course it was fixing that weird way of speaking after all this great lord did not understand you."
"Ehhh, you can actually do something like that. Well that makes things easier. Answer me. What are you?". The dragon looked at Rina with a hurt expression and pointed its sharp nails at her face and bellowed "You ungrateful brat! I helped you and this is how you thank me?!"
She continued to look on with a blank expression as if saying 'Will you answer or not.'
The dragon snorted and pointed at itself and replied, "You can call this one Papa. Come on, say it don't be shy hehe~"
"No", Rina answered with a cold expression. Tears started to well up in the dragon's eyes but Rina didn't seem to care. "Fine, you win. I am the Phantom King, ruler of the Phantom World, the Dragon of Death".
The dragon said with a look of defeat. "Why am I here?" Rina asked. The dragon looked at her for a while and said, "You are quite calm for a child".
Rina snorted, "You did realise I was a child, huh!"
Phantom king replied softly, "It is hard to notice with your feisty personality."
Rina looked up at him and pouted, "I don't have a feisty personality."
The dragon's expression suddenly became serious as it said "I found you on the bank of a river. No idea where you came from. Where are your parents?" Rina replied "Don't know."
The dragon then said happily,"Then I'll be your father. Come on, call me papa. I can list a lot reasons for you to agree to this. First, I can teach you everything you want to know. I can also-".
Rina suddenly burst out laughing" You want a daughter that bad? Okay why not." The dragon was stumped, "It was that easy?" Rina nodded "That easy."
"Are you sure? I don't want to take advantage of you."
"Don't make it sound weird. Besides, I have never had parents before so it's okay. Right, Papa Dragon?" Rina said with her brightest smile.
Suddenly there was a flash of light. Rina closed her eyes to avoid getting blinded. When she opened them again a middle aged man appeared in front of her.
He had long silky black hair that reached his waist, a tall nose with thin pink lips. His eyes were as dark as ink. His side burns had already turned white. He wore a black robe with jade tassel on his waist. He had a muscular build with broad shoulders, a narrow waist and hips.
He seemed a little gloomy probably due to tiredness but his eyes were sparkling which was a sign that he was very happy. In conclusion, he was a very handsome and charming uncle.
The Phantom king squatted to pick up little Rina.
"You'll really be my daughter?" he asked. Rina was still in a trance but she quickly snapped out of it. "Don't ask me so many times or I might regret it" she answered blushing.
"Is my baby girl shy?" the Phantom king teased. Rina pushed his head away and quickly replied, " I'm not." "Call me papa", the dragon coerced. Rina's face became as red as a cooked shrimp as she stammered, " P- pa- papa." Rina felt very embarrassed after all it was her first time addressing someone that way.
[A/N: This is my first novel so please forgive if there were any typos. Thank you.]