Leon realized he had been completely defeated.
"You're not as strong as before," Rossweise had said.
"You really pleased me with your performance last night.Keep it up," she had said.
His defenses fell apart in front of Rossweise like they were made of paper. Once the words were spoken, they were shattered. Leon would rather fight this dragoness for three hundred rounds on a bloody battlefield than face her mental attacks in the bedroom all day.
Damn.
"They didn't have a 'How to Handle Mental Pressure' class at the Dragon Slayer Academy!"
Rossweise patted Leon's head. "Alright, get yourself together. We still have to tutor Noah later."
Leon moved his arms and legs, which felt almost useless. "My body feels like it's been reset overnight. Let's take a day off from the tutoring."
Rossweise nodded. She didn't force him. "Alright."
She was being so easygoing. It seemed she was truly satisfied last night.
Leon sighed inside again. The amazing medicine he worked so hard to make, and all its effects, had been used up.
How could she not be satisfied? Even if she was made of iron, she should be satisfied.
Rossweise put away her playful look and quietly started cleaning up the messy room. Leon tapped his fingers on the bed. He hesitated for a moment, then finally said to Rossweise, "Uh… do you remember the bet we made before? About having the daughters call you 'Mom' to see if they'd be happier?"
Rossweise stopped her cleaning for a moment. She turned around. "Yeah, I remember. Have you decided what you want for winning the bet?"
"Well, I have. Can you send someone to the Empire… to check on my master and mistress?"
"I know the dragon race sends spies to human countries. You have people trained for that, right?"
Rossweise thought for a second. "Spy missions aren't our Silver Dragon Clan's specialty. That's usually for dragons who are good at disguising themselves. But if it's just to check on your master and his wife, it shouldn't be a problem."
Leon's eyes lit up. "Really? Then, thank you—thank you so much."
Rossweise chuckled. "It's rare to hear 'thank you' from my greatest enemy, huh?"
Leon looked away and didn't say anything else. Rossweise went back to cleaning quietly. Soon, the room would be tidy.
Just then, Leon heard the door lock click.
A few seconds later, two small figures came into the bedroom, one after the other.
"Good morning, Mom."
"Good morning,Mom!"
"Morning, Noah. Morning, Muen."
The two little ones looked at Leon on the bed, ready to greet him. But they noticed Dad's expression didn't look right.
Muen remembered the "chocolate candy" from yesterday.
Dad said it was medicine for Mom. But Mom said it was actually because Dad was sick, but he couldn't admit it, so he pretended it was for her. Looking at him now… Mom was right after all!
Muen quickly ran to the bedside. Her little face was full of worry. "Dad, are you sick?"
Leon looked at his little daughter, confused. "Uh… no, I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"I already know, Dad. Don't try to be too tough."
Leon was shocked. "You… what do you know…"
As he said that, he looked at Rossweise.
She didn't tell the children, did she?
Hey, have you lost your mind? How can you talk to kids about things like that? Can't a dad have any dignity? He thought.
When Noah heard this, a little bit of worry showed on her usually cold face. But Noah didn't show it as much as Muen. She just stood quietly to the side.
"Dad, yesterday you said Mom was sick, but it's really you, right?"
Muen tugged on Leon's sleeve. Her voice sounded a little tearful.
"Muen knows. Dad, men can't admit they're sick. But your face looks even worse now. Muen is really worried about you."
"Don't cry, don't cry. Dad is fine."
Leon quickly reached out to hug Muen. But his body was too weak. Even hugging his little dragon daughter was hard.
In the end, Noah helped by supporting her sister from underneath, so she could sit on Leon's lap.
After helping, Noah just stood to the side again, not showing much emotion.
"Dad, you're lying. You're sick. You're not okay."
Muen sniffled. "Oh, right! Didn't you make a pill yesterday? Did you take it?"
"Yes, I took it."
"If you took the medicine, why aren't you better, Dad?"
Leon reached up and wiped the tears from Muen's eyes. He smiled and said, "Dad is really fine. If something was wrong, I couldn't lie here and talk to you like this, right?"
He thought making a little joke would cheer up his daughter, like it usually did. But Muen still looked very worried.
.
.
.
"Come down, Muen. I'll play with you. We can come back to check on him tonight."
"No! If Dad's time is short, Muen wants to stay with him all the time!"
"What 'short time'? Don't use sayings you don't understand. Come down now. He's fine. I promise he'll be full of energy when we have dinner together tonight."
Muen blinked her big, beautiful eyes.
"Really, Sis? You're not lying to Muen?"
"Yeah,I'm not lying to you."
"Okay.Then, Dad, you rest well. We'll have dinner together tonight."
Leon's face was covered in imaginary black lines of frustration.