Leon woke up, feeling completely worn out. Warm sunlight streamed through the window. There was no sign of last night's storm. Under him was a soft but very messy bed.
Messy was too nice a word for this bed. "Wrecked" was better. He lifted his hand to rub his sore head, but even that simple movement made his arm joints crack. Right after that came a burst of sharp, explosive pain.
"Ah—"
Leon groaned. Then he tried to remember what happened last night. He remembered that before he passed out, Rossweise had come to him asking about the "Dragon Power." Then she said a human body couldn't handle dragon medicine.
Leon, in his confused state, took the medicine.
And then…
There was no "and then." His memory had a big blank spot!
Rustle. The sound of fabric moving. Leon turned his head toward the noise.
In front of the desk was an elegant, graceful figure. Silver hair fell loosely down her back. The thin straps of her nightgown rested on her shoulders.
"You're awake," the silver-haired beauty said softly, her back still to him.
Leon pressed his lips together and asked carefully, "Did you just get here this morning… or did you never leave last night…"
"I never left."
Alright. Then Leon probably knew why the bed was such a mess.
"There was no way to leave, even if I wanted to."
Rossweise turned around slowly. She leaned on one arm and looked at Leon with a lazy gaze, her legs crossed.
Leon frowned. "This is your temple. Can't you go wherever you want? Why couldn't you leave?"
"You…you really don't remember anything?"
She looked a little surprised, but her reaction was more like "I thought so."
"Remember…what?"
Rossweise smiled. She took a plate of pastries from the desk and put it on the small table next to Leon's bed.
"Anna brought these this morning.Have some."
"What is it?"
"Cream puffs.Have you ever had them?"
"I've had them.I just didn't know you dragons ate this stuff too."
"Hmph,I don't usually. But these pastries might help you remember something from last night."
Leon blinked, confused. How could a few cream puffs bring back memories? Was that stubborn dragoness playing tricks again?
Thinking this, Leon shook his head. "I'm not hungry. And I don't really want to remember what happened last night…"
"It's not that easy to forget,Dragon Slayer."
With that, Rossweise picked up a cream puff and took a bite.
Thick, creamy custard spilled out. Some dripped from the corner of her mouth without her noticing. She raised her hand and wiped it away gently. But she didn't get it all.
The leftover custard slid down her perfect jawline. Finally, it dripped, drop by drop, onto the dragon mark on her chest. Leon stared at this scene, completely bewildered.
What was this?
What was she doing with this early morning performance?
Hmph.
Childish!—
Two seconds later.
Wait a minute.
Suddenly, several pictures flashed in Leon's mind. They were like broken pieces of memory. There were many, but they didn't connect into a full story.
Rossweise with custard on her mouth and chest. Her struggling. The intense joining of human and dragon during the wild storm.
And how, when Rossweise was too tired and wanted to stop, Leon held her gently and coaxed her to go again… and again… and again…
"Oh..."
Leon raised his hands in despair. His fingers dug into his hair.
"NO!!!Ugh—"
Before he could finish yelling, Rossweise stuffed the cream puff she had just bitten into his mouth. The creamy taste still had a hint of her lip balm on it.
"I didn't even scream. What are you yelling for?" Rossweise said, sounding unimpressed.
Leon took a couple of bites of the cream puff, then put it back on the plate. He asked quickly,
"What,I mean, what did we do last night?"
"We did everything there was to do.Oh, and you begged me to do it with you."
After a short pause, Rossweise corrected herself. "No, wait. You coaxed me into doing it with you. Ah—no, that's not it either…"
She frowned, put her hand on her chin, and thought about the right word.
After a moment, Rossweise's face lit up. "Oh~~ I should say, a mix of coaxing and tricking."
Leon blinked, still confused. How could a few cream puffs trigger memories? Was that stubborn dragoness up to something again? Thinking this, Leon adjusted his attitude and said, sounding a little proud,
"I admit I might have gone a bit too far last night.I hope I didn't hurt you too much?"
Rossweise crossed her arms. She looked at his smug face and immediately knew what he was thinking.
"It's fine,"Rossweise replied casually.
"Oh,come on, how could it be fine with something like this? Miss Rossweise Melkvey, I sincerely apologize. I accidentally let my true power out."
Leon pretended to look sorry, but then his tone changed completely. "Well, now you should know exactly how strong my body is, right?"
He kept enjoying his proud moment.
Rossweise narrowed her eyes. She lowered her arms and walked closer to him. Leon stopped smiling and leaned back a little.
But Rossweise still grabbed his chin and made him lift his head to look at her.
"I was pleased with your performance last night, Dragon Slayer. I hope you can keep this up in the future."
Leon: …