"A child's thoughts… it's normal if we can't figure them out."
Rossweise said, "Maybe it's also because Noah suddenly brought back a new friend, and she's having trouble adjusting?"
"You're saying Luna dislikes Helena?"
"It's not quite 'dislike.' Luna's a good kid, she rarely shows that kind of hostility."
Rossweise said, "Once she gets more familiar, it should be fine."
"Mm, that makes sense."
"Speaking of sisterly bonds… actually, I was planning to take the kids to visit my sister this weekend."
Rossweise looked at a photo frame on the desk, it was a picture of her and Isa from a long time ago.
"Not long ago, in order to keep my sister from coming to support me, the Empire and Ravi's people stationed quite a few forces on the outskirts of Red Dragon Territory. My sister's been fighting day and night."
Rossweise said, "Now that the crisis has temporarily passed, I've been wanting to find time to go see her."
"Hmm… then let's go next week,." Leon said.
Rossweise nodded, but her gaze never left the photo on the desk.
Sensing a trace of melancholy in his wife's mood, Leon moved with a thought, then picked up the beauty in his arms and headed toward the study door.
Rossweise was caught off guard and instinctively tightened her hold around Leon's arm.
"What are you doing?", Rossweise asked.
"Going to bed, of course," Leon left the study and headed to the bedroom.
"I can walk myself. Put me down," She said that, but Rossweise didn't struggle at all, letting Leon carry her just like that.
Leon understood her little thoughts and only gave a faint smile, "How could I let Her Majesty the Queen walk to the bedroom herself? Just let this captive help out."
Rossweise rolled her eyes at him coquettishly, holding back a smile, and said nothing more.
As the night deepened, the two exchanged goodnights and fell asleep in each other's arms.
———
Saturday morning, Luna got up unusually early.
For one simple reason, to "guard the tower."
She couldn't let Noah and Helena be alone while she was still asleep.
At the academy, Luna couldn't interfere, not that she could even if she wanted to.
But every single second at this home, Luna had to keep an eye on her big sister as much as possible.
She absolutely couldn't let that newcomer steal her sister away.
Just imagining Noah cuddled up to that blue-haired big girl, chatting and laughing, made Luna feel uncomfortable from head to tail tip.
She had to keep her sister's love, and it started with monopolizing her from early in the morning.
Brimming with determination, Luna flung off the covers and leapt out of bed with a tiger pounce.
Coincidentally, she ran into Little Light stumbling out of the bathroom in a daze.
The pink-haired girl had a toothbrush in her mouth, foam spilling from the corners of her lips, her steps unsteady, clearly just woken up too.
Seeing Luna, Little Light blinked in mild surprise, "You're up this early, second sis? Normally, you should be getting up two hours later."
"A lot can happen in two hours. I have to make the most of every minute and second!", Saying that, Luna speedily freshened up, got dressed in her little skirt and white over-the-knee socks, quickly did her hair, and headed straight for the door.
Little Light peeked out of the bedroom, "Second sis, where are you going?"
"To find big sis. Do you know where she went?", Luna said while putting on her shoes.
"Seems like she took Helena to visit the back garden."
Luna froze mid-motion putting on her shoes, "Damn… still one step too late!"
She hurriedly finished putting on her shoes, unlocked the door, and sprinted toward the backyard garden like she was running a hundred-meter dash.
Little Light blinked her pretty pink eyes, her thoughts stirring, "Hmm… what a lovely day to watch some drama. Second sis, wait for me!"
———
Twenty minutes later, the little dragon girls were all gathered in the sanctuary's back garden.
Leon and Rossweise stood on the bedroom balcony, watching the scene unfold below.
After a while, Leon suddenly said, "I think… we should put off the idea of a fourth child for now."
Rossweise rolled her eyes at him, arms crossed as she looked forward. "I wasn't planning on giving you a fourth child anyway. Don't flatter yourself."
After a pause, seeing that Leon didn't retort, the queen couldn't help but ask, "Then… why don't you want a fourth child?"
"Didn't you just say you weren't planning on having one with me? Why are you asking now?"
"Can't I just ask out of curiosity?", Rossweise said righteously.
Leon gave a light chuckle, then nodded toward the girls in the garden.
"Look, when we only had three kids, we could evenly divide our attention among them. There were no gaps in our care and concern for each one."
"But the moment it becomes four, things start to get out of hand," He leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on the balcony railing and let out a breath, then continued, "Maybe it's just that I'm not ready yet to be a father of four. What about you? Are you ready?"
Rossweise's silver eyes flickered as she thought for a moment, then shook her head, "Not yet."
Leon shrugged, "So, dear wife, be sure to use proper protection after each time we're done."
Rossweise shot him a glare and flicked his butt with her tail, "Why don't you just touch me less?"
"Heaven above, who's the one initiating most of the time between us, huh? Who touches who?"
"You. It's you. You initiate more."
There she went again, being unreasonable.
Leon rolled his eyes and couldn't be bothered to argue.
"Why aren't you talking now? Got nothing to say?", Rossweise pushed her advantage.
In the past, she used to enjoy reasoning with Leon and arguing her point.
But after getting close, she found that being unreasonable worked better.
It both pissed Leon off and left him speechless.
Just as she was basking in her small victory, Leon said,
"You're becoming more and more like my master's wife."
Rossweise blinked, "What… do you mean?"
"She always talked to my master like that, completely unfiltered, acting spoiled when she wanted, being unreasonable when she felt like it."
Leon slowly turned to look at Rossweise, "If that's hard to understand, I can put it another way. You're becoming more and more like a real wife—mmph!"
Before he could finish, Rossweise reached out and covered his mouth.
"If you say that kind of nonsense again, I'll fulfill the duties of a real wife."
"What?"
"Domestic violence."
"Mmph, I'm so scared."
The couple teased each other, and before long, Leon pointed to the courtyard, "Hey, look, they're starting a game."
Rossweise looked down at the garden as well.
The four girls stood up, and Luna took a blindfold from a maid.
"Let's play blindfold ghost catch," Luna suggested.
"Okay."
Of course, Noah had no objections. Whatever Luna wanted to play, she'd accompany her. After all, it was her little sister, and she doted on her.
"Sure, no problem."
Little Light wouldn't miss any chance to watch some drama. Blindfold ghost catch was second sis's specialty, she was curious to see how Luna would "assert dominance" during the game.
"Mhm mhm, I'll follow your lead," The guest goes with the host. As a guest, Helena naturally agreed.
The girls played rock-paper-scissors to decide who'd be the "ghost" first.
In the end, Noah lost, so she was the ghost in the first round.
Luna helped her sister put on the blindfold, then stepped aside.
Little Light and Helena also spread out a bit.
"Ready? I'm coming~"
Noah lifted her arms, cautiously feeling her way forward.
Blindfold ghost catch didn't rely on skill, but rather…
90% hearing and…
91% luck.
Still, it remained a game children loved for family fun.
This round, Noah's luck wasn't bad. As she groped around, she got closer and closer to Luna.
Watching Noah draw near, Luna got excited.
'See that?'
'Even blindfolded, big sis still senses me first.'
'Don't underestimate the bond between me and my sister.'
Noah approached, and Luna smiled, ready to be caught in her sister's arms.
'Come on, sis, don't hold back! Catch me! Catch me!'
But just as Noah was about to catch her, she suddenly turned away.
Little Luna froze, blinking her beautiful eyes, shouting internally, 'I'm right here, sis! Just one more step forward, come on!'
Unfortunately, Noah and her little sister didn't have the kind of team voice chat their parents shared.
She kept turning, slowly drifting toward Helena.
Seeing this, Luna started to panic.
If Noah kept going that way, she'd definitely grab Helena.
'No! No! No! No! My sister's first hug of the day must be mine!'
Luna's brain, rarely used, began to think hard, 'Think fast, Luna, find a way to keep your sister.'
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