The focus of the afternoon tutoring session was on the questions Noah had gotten wrong.
After looking at her mistakes, Leon found that his eldest daughter had a very clear understanding of her own abilities. Almost all the questions she got wrong were from the chapters she had marked as red, the hardest level, in the table of contents. The questions from the green and yellow chapters, she mostly answered correctly.
This saved them a lot of time. They didn't have to waste effort on things she already knew. Learning was like treating a sickness. It worked best when you targeted the specific problem.
(:)
The whole afternoon passed, and Noah learned a lot of new things. When she was finally leaving, she managed to say openly to Leon, "Thank you."
That "thank you" was a great comfort to the old father's heart.
Leon tried hard not to let his mouth curl into a big smile. "You're welcome. It's what I should do."
The eldest daughter nodded. She held the homework Leon had given her, turned around, stood on her toes, reached for the doorknob, opened the door, and left.
Leon let out a sigh of relief and looked out the window. It was almost dark. He quickly ate his dinner and then sat back down at his desk.
The basic books about medicinal herbs that maid Anna had brought were on the table. Also, at noon, he had asked Anna to bring him a few chili peppers.
Leon picked one up, looked at it, and muttered, "These chili peppers look no different from the ones my Master grows."
With that, he took a bite and started chewing.
Two seconds later —
"Water, water, water, water, water, water!!"
He scrambled to the sink, turned on the tap, and let cold water rush into his mouth. But it didn't do much to stop the crazy burning feeling from the chili.
Overwhelmed by the spiciness, Leon covered his mouth and rolled on the floor. It felt like someone had put a piece of red-hot charcoal in his mouth.
After fighting with his taste buds for a few minutes, the feeling eased a little. Tears streamed down his face, and his lips were completely numb—as if he couldn't feel them at all.
"If the food you dragons eat every day is this spicy, you'll all get hemorrhoids sooner or later!"
After complaining angrily, Leon got up from the floor and went back to his desk.
After this little adventure, the tiredness from the day was gone. Leon wiped his face, gathered his focus, and started preparing for tomorrow's lesson.
For a moment, it felt like he was back at the Dragon-Slaying Academy. He never let himself have free time, always either reviewing old lessons or studying new ones.
No wonder his roommate used to call him a bookworm. Back when he studied late into the night and felt too tired, Leon would chew on a chili pepper his master had given him. It was a great way to wake himself up. He had just woken up from a long coma and should be resting more. But Noah had her entrance test next month, so he had to use his time well to prepare lessons and make a strict, efficient study plan.
So, when his body felt too tired to continue, Leon had to force himself to stay awake by chewing chilies.
And when it came to dragon chilies… they definitely worked better than Leon expected. He was so focused on his studying that he didn't realize it was already past 11 PM when he finally decided to take a break.
He rubbed his tired, heavy eyes, felt the exhaustion, and grabbed another chili pepper from the desk, taking a bite.
The sharp, wake-up sensation hit him instantly, and all his tiredness vanished. Leon gripped his thigh tightly, enduring the fiery pain in his mouth. After the feeling eased a bit, Leon set aside the teaching plans he had prepared. Instead, he opened a drawer and took out those books on medicinal herbs.
To be honest, it was a bit embarrassing.
Rossweise's comment, "Your body is not as strong as before," felt like a sharp knife stabbing Leon's pride.
And it just so happened that all bookworms shared one common trait—they were stubborn and loved to argue over small details.
When he asked maid Anna for the herb books in the morning, it was to see if anything could work better than his current nutritional supplements. Just relying on supplements, it would take forever for his body to get back to normal. Leon couldn't let that mother dragon look down on him.
He wanted Rossweise to pay a painful price for her comment, "Your body is not as strong as before!"
With this thought, Leon felt his determination burn. He opened the herb book and started looking for the information he needed.
"Red Sap Dragon Fruit… the flesh is tasty, the seed can be used as medicine, helps regulate qi and blood… Hmm, not useful."
"Dark Lotus Grass, can be applied on the skin to help heal wounds, can be eaten to help digestion… Wow, your dragon herbs really have two uses."
"Dragon Kidney Protector, with—Wow, what a name! 'Dragon Kidney Protector'? It sounds so silly! At first glance, it's…"
He muttered, squinting his eyes as he read the description that followed.
Hiss… As expected, it really was what the name suggested.
But what Leon needed wasn't a medicine with such a direct and intense function like Dragon Kidney Protector. He wanted something more focused on "nourishing the body" and "rebuilding strength."
However, after looking through the book for a while, Leon still hadn't found the medicine he was looking for.
Just as he was about to check another book, the door lock suddenly made a sound.
Leon quickly hid the basic medicine book and put the materials for Noah's lesson tomorrow on the table.
The person coming in was Rossweise.
"Oh, still not asleep?"
She walked into the room.
"Yeah," Leon replied, pretending to be calm and cool.
Rossweise walked slowly to the edge of the bed and sat down. She lifted her long legs, leaned on one hand, and put the other on her knee, looking lazy and a little tired.
Leon pressed his lips together, feeling the dragon mark on his chest. Luckily, it wasn't reacting. It seemed the mother dragon wasn't here to pick a fight tonight.
Even so, Leon didn't start a conversation with her. Instead, he looked over the study plan he had made earlier, checking for any mistakes.
Rossweise's gaze moved slowly from Leon to the chili peppers on his desk.
She frowned and asked, "Why are you eating chili peppers?"
"To stay awake."
"Stay awake?"
"Yeah, Noah has her entrance test next month. Normally, you prepare for a whole year, but we don't have that much time. So, I'm staying up late to put in extra work," Leon said, organizing his teaching materials without looking back at her.
After a short pause, Leon added, "Also, I want to thank you."
Rossweise raised an eyebrow. "Thank me?"
"Yeah, thank you for giving birth to our daughter. She's so smart. I'm confident I can help her pass the test in one month."
The queen chuckled softly. "Noah takes after me."
Leon stopped what he was doing. He finally put down the plan and turned around with a serious face. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
Rossweise blinked, seeming a little surprised by Leon's question. "Ah, well, I am—"
"I entered the Imperial Dragon Slayer Academy at age ten. I graduated at fifteen with the top scores in both written and fighting tests. I got the highest-level scholarships for all five years. When I graduated, the principal gave me an award personally. I was the first person to graduate while still a minor in the academy's hundred-year history. After graduation, I won first place in every skills competition in the Dragon Slayer Army."
Leon looked straight into Rossweise's eyes and asked on purpose, "So, Your Majesty, what championships have you won?"
Rossweise was left speechless by his reply. Honestly, she had never expected Leon to be a top student. She had always thought he was just a brute who only knew how to fight and kill. But she wasn't going to praise him to his face.
In response to Leon's question, Rossweise just said casually, "So, you're pretty impressive, then."
"Of course."
"Then how did you end up as my prisoner?"
Leon: …
The room was filled with a deafening silence.