Outside the temple, on a path lined with trees, the afternoon sun was bright. It streamed through the gaps in the leaves, painting dappled spots of light on the ground.
The couple, forced together by circumstance, had agreed to take a walk. But once outside, they were practically walking alone.
Rossweise kept to the left side of the path. Leon stayed on the right. The distance between them was so wide you could have fit a half-grown dragon in it.
"Good afternoon, Your Majesty, the Queen," a dragon maid with a broom said. She bowed slightly to her left toward Rossweise, then turned to her right to bow to Leon. "Good afternoon, Prince."
She was respectful on the surface, but the dragon maid couldn't help complaining in her head: Are these two crazy? They finally appear together and they have to keep such a distance? Even bowing to them is so inconvenient!
It wasn't just her. The other dragons watching from the sidelines were equally confused.
"It seems like Her Majesty the Queen and her husband… aren't very close."
"Don't talk nonsense.They have two little princesses. How could they not be close?"
"Then when have you ever seen a married couple walk so far apart?"
"Maybe…their Majesties just really value their personal space?"
"Do you even believe the words coming out of your own mouth?"
"Shhh!They're coming. Quick, hide!"
Several dragons who were enjoying the show quickly ducked into the nearby bushes. Leon and Rossweise walked past them.
Leon's body hadn't fully recovered. His brave act from three days ago had drained all the strength he had slowly built up. But his sharp senses remained. He noticed the sneaky watchers and heard most of their gossip. He touched his nose and glanced at Rossweise. With her power, she must have noticed them too. But since she didn't suggest they get closer, Leon decided to say nothing.
Maintaining the peaceful image of a fake family was her problem. He didn't care what the watching dragons thought.
"Hey," Rossweise suddenly spoke, her eyes still fixed ahead.
Leon glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Let's… get a little closer."
Leon hummed in agreement. He didn't refuse. "Sure, okay."
They silently drifted toward the middle of the path until they were walking about a meter apart.
"Is this good?" Leon asked.
"Yeah." Rossweise paused. "Do you want to get even closer?"
Hearing this, Leon's steps faltered. He grew cautious. "Mother dragon, are you planning something?"
"No. What I mean is, if you want to, I won't refuse. And I won't take the chance to make fun of you. This walk was a promise I made for you teaching Muen." This time, Rossweise moved her gaze from the path and looked directly at Leon.
In her silver dragon eyes, the usual coldness was gone, replaced by a hint of softness.
"So, do you want to get even closer?"
"Sure—"
Wait.
Something was definitely wrong. A strong feeling told him Rossweise was acting strange today.
"Actually, forget it. This distance is fine."
Seeing his rejection, Rossweise's face showed no emotion. She simply nodded. "Okay."
A familiar, cheerful voice chimed from up ahead. They both looked up to see the little dragon girl standing in the middle of the path, hands on her hips. The tuft of hair on her head swayed in the breeze, and her little tail wagged happily behind her.
"Muen? Aren't you playing with your sister in the room?" Rossweise asked.
"Uh… Sister asked Muen to come and check on you!"
"Noah would never ask you to do something like that." Rossweise saw through the little plan instantly. "You just wanted to follow us by yourself, right? You little sneak."
Her plan ruined, the little dragon girl stopped pretending. She marched over and planted herself between them. Then she raised her arms and grabbed one hand from Leon and one from Rossweise.
"Muen wants to take a walk with Dad and Mother!"
"Sure, sure." Leon was relieved that his obedient daughter had come to break the awkward atmosphere.
"No, Muen." Rossweise's voice was stern. "Dad and I are walking alone right now. Be good, don't cause trouble."
Muen's face fell. She knew her mother rarely changed her mind. So, she cleverly turned to Leon with pleading eyes.
"Really, Dad? If you go for a walk alone with Mother, and leave Muen all by herself in the backyard, Muen will be so, so sad. And who knows? A dangerous monster might sneak in, take Muen into the woods, and I'd never come back. Dad would never see Muen again, all because you wanted to walk alone with Mother."
"…Have you been reading that book 'Enlightening Stories for Young Dragons' a bit too much?"
"Muen doesn't care, Muen doesn't care! Muen wants to be with you! Dad, do you only love Mother and not Muen anymore?"
Agree with her! her eyes seemed to scream. She's so cute, why not just agree!
Leon felt his resolve crumble. "Don't worry, Muen. Dad's got your back today. You can walk with us. If your mom says no, I'll deal with her tonight!" Even though there was a high chance he would be the one getting dealt with, it didn't matter! Making his daughter happy was what counted.
.
.
.
"Muen, be good. Dad and I have already agreed." Rossweise's voice was softer now. She couldn't quite keep a straight face.
She had lived for two hundred years, and let alone holding someone's hand, even getting this close to Leon had taken courage. It was… unexpected.
For Leon, while he felt a little uneasy, his feelings weren't as complicated as Rossweise's. He was mainly just curious about one thing: he knew what a dragon's foot tasted like now, but what did a dragon's hand feel like?
.
.
.
The estranged couple finally accepted that their first time holding hands was in front of an audience.
On the other side, Muen ran away and hid behind a tree to secretly watch. Seeing Dad and Mother finally holding hands, she giggled to herself.
"You did that on purpose, Muen."
"Ah!——"
Noah had appeared behind her silently. She had her hands on her chest, imitating an adult's posture, just like Rossweise often did.
"Sister, you scared me!" Muen clutched her own chest, pretending to pout.
"Hmph, what's so interesting about holding hands?"
"It is interesting! It is!"
Noah stepped forward and pinched her sister's chubby cheeks. "You did that on purpose."
"Wuwu~Muen was wrong. Muen won't do it again. Sister, let go, let go~."
The two sisters played and laughed. Before leaving, Muen took one last, longing look in the direction of her parents.
She pouted and said, "Dad is really something. He needs Muen to teach him how to hold hands. Tsk—he doesn't know how to take the initiative at all!"
Noah followed her sister's gaze and thought silently, If only it could be like this all the time.