"Is he dead?"
Noah stood on the bed, lifted her foot, and kicked Leon in the head.
Little Muen hopped up and down by the bedside, her small voice full of concern. "Sister, you can't kick Dad like that. It's not polite."
"Adults are talking. Kids shouldn't interrupt."
"Hmph!" Muen pouted, crossing her arms.
She then looked at Rossweise, who stood silently to the side. "Mother, Dad was fine two days ago. Why did he suddenly faint again?"
Rossweise gazed at Leon's unconscious form, her face unreadable. "Perhaps he suddenly became sick."
From her perspective, the man had simply lost his mind three days ago. He knew the consequences of his rebellion, yet he had done it anyway—and seemed happy about it.
Could she let that slide? Absolutely not.
She just hadn't expected one punch to leave him unconscious for three whole days.
"Dad won't sleep for another two years, will he?" Muen's voice trembled with worry. "By the time he wakes up, I'll be a big dragon! He won't be able to carry me anymore!"
"No matter how big you get, he will still be able to carry you." Rossweise's reply was soft but firm. "Now, you two, go out and play."
"Yes, Mother."
Noah turned to jump off the bed, but after a moment's thought, she deliberately stepped on Leon's stomach on her way down.
Muen gasped and covered her eyes. If a step like that didn't wake him up, then Dad really wasn't pretending…
After hopping off, Noah pulled a reluctant Muen away. The little girl looked back at her unconscious father. "Dad, when you wake up, remember to wash your face…"
The door clicked shut, leaving Rossweise alone with Leon. Her cold eyes remained fixed on him.
"If you keep pretending, the next thing stepping on your stomach won't be Noah's foot."
"I swear, it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts—!"
As if jolted back to life, Leon suddenly sat up. He clutched his stomach, rolling on the bed in exaggerated agony. "That little girl, she's so small! Why is her foot so heavy?"
"The bone density of dragon-kind is much higher than a human's. Didn't you feel it when you were carrying Muen?"
"I felt it."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Do you have to answer just because I asked? Did I force you to?"
"...You'd better die, Leon."
Rossweise raised her hand, and dangerous magical energy glowed around her fingers.
Leon quickly grabbed a pillow, holding it in front of him like a shield. He knew it was useless against magic strong enough to level a mountain, but he hoped for at least a comfortable pillow to rest on when he died.
Rossweise just snorted coldly, waving her hand to dismiss the energy. Seeing the danger had passed, Leon slowly lowered the pillow. Deep down, he knew she wouldn't kill him. If she wanted him dead, she could have done it three days ago. Why wait for him to wake up?
The truth was, after his act of defiance, the energy he had stored for so long was completely drained. It wasn't just her punch that knocked him out; he was so exhausted that even Noah could have pushed him over.
"Can you tell me what you were thinking at that time?" Rossweise asked, her voice calm.
"What do you mean? A dragon slayer uses any method he can to fight a dragon king. Is that so hard to understand?"
"You're still thinking about resistance at this point?"
"Why shouldn't I resist?"
He expected a harsh punishment for such a rebellious answer. But to his surprise, the mother dragon's eyes showed more surprise than anger. After a moment, a faint, cool smile touched her lips.
"Good. I'll give you credit for that, dragon slayer."
She said the words "dragon slayer" with a tone of sincerity, a stark contrast to the mocking disdain she had used at the banquet. Leon realized she had learned a lesson. Her scorn was what had driven him to his insane act. Now, after their confrontation, she felt a new caution towards him, and perhaps even a sliver of respect.
"I have to admit, Leon, you truly deserve the title 'the strongest.'" She admired his determination to protect his pride, even in captivity. Of course, this only made her more interested in tormenting him in her own way. The more he resisted, the more she enjoyed breaking him.
"Stop fooling around. Get dressed and come with me."
"Huh? Go out with you? Why?"
"I promised you before that if you taught Muen to write her name, I would allow you to walk with me."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're actually keeping your word?"
Rossweise chuckled. "Think of it as taking the dog for a walk. It's also a chance to show our people we are a couple. It will stop them from getting suspicious." Her tone was light, but the underlying command was clear. "Finish getting dressed quickly. We'll go down in a moment."
"Oh."
(:)
About ten minutes later, Leon and Rossweise walked out of the Silver Dragon Temple side by side. The Silver Dragon clan members outside couldn't hide their surprise.
If they remembered correctly, this was the first time the Queen and her mysterious husband had appeared together in public. The Queen had initially kept their marriage a secret. She had described her male dragon king as an excellent partner—one who didn't smoke, drink, or fool around.
But then, not long after the wedding, he had suddenly fallen ill, remaining unconscious for two whole years.
"The Queen also said, 'It's nothing. I love him. He loves me. Let's live in peace and quiet,'" one might recall. Her words… well, it was better not to think about them too much.
No matter what the Queen had said, it wasn't very convincing. But now she had finally brought her husband out for a walk in the sunlight, and the clan members were happy to finally watch the show!
(:)
The audience wasn't just limited to the clan members. The two little ones were watching from a balcony above.
"Hey, sis, look! Dad and Mom are taking a walk!" Muen leaned on the railing, excitedly pointing at the two figures in the courtyard below.
Noah glanced at them. Even though she wanted to keep watching, she immediately looked away and said, "It's not interesting at all."
"But they look really good together, sis."
"Oh."
Seeing that her sister wasn't interested, Muen began to tease her with a little song. "Dad loves Mom, loves Muen, and also loves sis~."
Noah paused. She raised an eyebrow and snorted. "Loves me?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Loves me? He doesn't even know my name, and you say he loves me."
"Yeah, but it was you who told him my name back then. Otherwise, he wouldn't even know what I'm called." Muen blinked, then jumped down from the railing. "Hmph, even if he knows now, he doesn't care."
A thought seemed to strike Muen. "Sis's name…" she began, trailing off.
"Not bad, Muen," Noah said, giving a rare word of praise before turning to leave.
"Oh, I found it! Sis, look!" Muen held up a piece of paper she had been hiding. On it, a name was written in neat, elegant handwriting: Noah C. Melkvey. It was quite beautiful.
(:)
After making sure her sister had left, Noah quietly returned to her room. She went to her bed, bent down, and pulled a dusty wooden box from its hiding place beneath the frame.
She blew the dust off the top, then used a small key to unlock it.
Inside the box lay a single, ominous piece of black metal fragment.
Noah carefully, almost reverently, placed the paper with her name on it into the wooden box beside the fragment.
Then she locked the box and tucked it back into the darkness under her bed.
Once it was safely hidden, Noah returned to the balcony. Her eyes found the two figures walking together below.
Her gaze lingered on Leon's back.
After a long, quiet while, she whispered a question to the empty air, her voice barely audible, "Do you really love us?"