Noah sat on a bench in the training ground, sweat dripping from her nose and forehead. She had just finished a set of physical exercises.
During her break, she remembered the short talk she had with Leon the day before.
"Mother is still unconscious. Do you have any plans?"
"No, I have no plans, Noah. I just want to take care of Mother properly."
She had asked for a reason. For a long time, Noah had felt that something was strange about her family. It might not be as happy as it seemed.
Leon and Mother seemed to be hiding something from everyone, including Noah and Muen. What could be so secret that even their own daughters couldn't know?
Noah didn't understand. But she had a faint guess that Leon might not belong here. He had tried to run away before. Mother, Muen, and she had all seen it. But when Mother caught him and brought him back, and Noah asked where the man wanted to run to, Mother had avoided the question.
Since then, Leon had stayed quietly in the temple, taking care of them and teaching, with no sign of trying to escape. But Noah knew very well that this mysterious man was very clever. No one knew if he stayed because he wanted to, or if he was secretly waiting for another chance.
So, his answer yesterday—"I have no plans, I just want to take care of Mother"—whether it was true or not, only he knew.
When there were unknown reasons behind love, Noah would rather stay away from it than be used by someone.
So, she always felt there was a distance between her and Leon. In her eyes, his love didn't seem completely pure.
Noah shut her eyes tightly. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and jumped off the bench. She planned to do one more set of exercises before resting.
But as soon as she took a step, she heard Muen's voice.
"Sister! Sister!"
Muen came running over in a hurry. Noah quickly went to meet her. "What's wrong? Don't panic. Tell me slowly."
"My Rubik's Cube is broken. I wanted to find Dad to fix it, but I can't find him anywhere."
Noah frowned. Without thinking, she held Muen's hand tightly.
Could her guess be…
But she didn't jump to conclusions. "Let's go look for him again."
"Okay."
However, after looking everywhere, they still couldn't find Leon. The two sisters went to Rossweise's room. Seeing their mother lying unconscious on the bed, Muen couldn't help but cry.
"Mom! Dad is gone!"
There was no doubt about it. Noah's guess was correct. Leon had really left!
Holding back her own disappointment and sadness, Noah comforted her crying sister.
"Muen, don't cry. Some people are good, but if they don't belong here, they will leave sooner or later."
"But… but Mom is unconscious now. Dad is gone. What are we going to do in the future?"
"It's okay. Sister will take care of you and protect you. Sister has grown up a lot and can do many things now."
She always said she was like an adult. Now, she finally had to firmly take on an adult's responsibility—even though she didn't even have a kindergarten graduation certificate.
"So what should we do now?" Muen asked.
Noah's eyes moved. She saw a photo on the bedside table. It was a small family portrait they had taken before.
"Since he is gone, it means we have to start a new life. Let's say goodbye to that guy properly."
Noah took Muen back to their room. She found a spare photo from when they started school. Then she took a pair of scissors and cut out the part with Leon in it.
"What are you doing, sister?" Muen asked.
"In the adult world, when someone leaves, you put their photo on a stand. Then you put some flowers and light a fire next to it," Noah explained seriously. "Then you throw everything you think was meaningful to him into the fire as a farewell."
Muen sniffled, her voice choked. "Muen doesn't understand."
"Anyway, it's for Dad's own good."
"Oh, okay. Then Muen will find something meaningful for Dad."
"Yeah. Oh, and remember to change into a black dress later."
"Why?" Muen asked.
"I don't know, but adults wear black clothes when they say goodbye."
"Okay, Muen understands."
After making the plans, Noah put away Leon's photo. Then she crawled under her bed and took out her small wooden box. Inside was a piece of black fragment, a paper with her name on it, and a handmade Rubik's Cube. After thinking for a moment, Noah walked out of the room with the wooden box.
About an hour later, in the temple's backyard, the two dragon girls were wearing black dresses. Muen held a plate of fried steak—because Dad seemed to really like it, so she planned to throw it into the fire later.
Noah held her small wooden box. They had also gathered some of the temple maids.
The maids were confused by the princesses' orders.
"W-what are we doing?"
"I don't know. Maybe the two princesses are playing a pretend game?"
"A game? It looks very grand and serious to me. They even took down the prince's photo."
"Ah, children's thoughts, how can we understand? Let's just follow along."
"True."
"Quiet!"
Noah had a serious expression. "We are now holding a farewell ceremony for Leon Cosmodeous. Everyone, please take this seriously."
The maids stood up straight, trying their best to cooperate.
"Looking back on the life of Leon Cosmodeous, it was a short but brilliant life. His leaving is without a doubt a heavy blow to us."
The maids' eyes twitched. "What kind of pretend game is this? Why does it look like… a funeral?"
"The prince didn't say anything, so let's not ask too many questions."
"But in this pretend story, doesn't that mean the prince is dead?"
"Shh! Be quiet!"
"Ah."
Copying how adults spoke, after her speech, Noah put Leon's photo on the table behind her—she couldn't find a real photo stand, so she used an empty tin can instead. This was Muen's idea.
"Okay, you can start crying now," Noah said.
"C-cry?"
"Yes, don't people cry when they say goodbye?"
As soon as she finished, Muen started sobbing beside her. "Dad! Dad, why don't you want us anymore? Muen misses you so much! Muen even made fried steak for you. Please come back and look at Muen~"
Muen cried with real feeling, completely into her role.
Noah turned her head and pointed at Muen. "See, just like my little sister."
Even though they still didn't really understand why the princesses would play such an unlucky game…
But as they said: since the prince didn't object, the maids should just go along with it.
"Ah… um… Prince, please don't leave. Your two daughters are so lovely. How can you bear to leave us?"
"Prince, we can't bear to see you go~"
The maids started to play along.
Noah also turned to look at the bonfire. "Muen, did you throw the fried steak into the fire?"
Muen nodded. "But why do you still have a piece in your hand?"
"Um… after the farewell, Muen might get hungry, so… Dad probably wouldn't mind, right?"
Noah's face was serious. "I guess not."
With that, she looked down at the wooden box in her hands. This was her last connection to that man. Burning it would cut all ties. Noah took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if she had finally made a decision. Goodbye, father—
But at that moment, they suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Oh, who are we saying goodbye to? Let me join in."
The two little dragon girls turned their heads toward the voice at the same time. They saw the familiar man kneeling there. He bowed twice to the photo on the table.
Then he stood up, smiling. "When I was little, your grandfather taught me how to play the suona. Do you know what a suona is? It's a mysterious instrument from the East, often played at ceremonies. Would you like Daddy to play it for you?"
Before the two little ones could react, the maids behind them exclaimed, "The princesses' love has moved the heavens! The prince has come back to life!"
(Sleeping Dragon: What is all this noise?)