'Why are we jumping straight into the deep end like this?'
Leon looked at the red wine in his glass, wondering, 'This isn't some liquid version of Dragon Power, so why does it hit so hard?'
"W-Wasn't it agreed that you wouldn't force me to say weird things like this?"
"I didn't force you, I was just asking, have you fallen in love with someone?"
Rossweise was calm and reasonable, "I didn't even name names, why are you panicking?"
Leon was speechless.
'Fine, fine, fine, you said everything already, what else can I do?'
General Leon, face flushed red, lowered his head and stared at the balcony floor, replying in a deep voice, "Yes."
"Louder, I can't hear you."
"Yes!"
"Yes what? Say the whole thing."
"...During these two years, I have fallen in love with someone."
The Queen squinted her eyes and smiled in satisfaction, "Aww, so hard to guess, who could this someone be~"
'Haha, Your Majesty, you're so funny,' Leon grumbled in his heart.
"Your turn, ask away," Rossweise said grandly.
"Then what about you? Have you fallen in love with someone?", Leon turned the question right back on her.
Rossweise seemed to have expected he would ask her the same question.
She calmly took a sip of red wine, then softly countered with a question of her own, "What~ do~ you~ think~?"
She always had good alcohol tolerance, but she still blushed easily.
After one glass, a ring of red was already blooming on her fair cheeks.
Rossweise looked at Leon with half-lidded eyes, two silver crescent moons flowing with endless flirtation and charm.
Leon was burned all over by her scorching gaze, feeling like he was sitting on needles.
He quickly looked away and blurted, "H-How would I know if you've fallen for someone..."
"You know. You definitely know. Say it."
"Say what?"
"Say whether I've fallen in love with someone."
'Wait a second—'
'Wasn't I the one asking you questions?'
'Why do I have to answer for you?'
"Mother dragon, can you be reasonable? I was the one asking," Leon tried reasoning with her again.
"I don't care, I don't care, I just want to hear you say it," Rossweise had mastered the art of being unreasonable to divine perfection.
"Have I fallen in love with someone? Answer me, Leon."
'Ah...'
'This feels so weird.'
If he said no, no doubt about it, the mother dragon would flip the table and start a fight;
If he said yes, then this so-called "someone" would be way too obvious...
And seriously, this way of answering is just so embarrassing, okay?
"Say it, Leon, have I fallen in love with you—ah no—I mean—fallen in love with someone."
The Queen: Had a bit of wine and almost blurted out her inner thoughts, hehe :)
Leon couldn't win against her. He sighed and nodded.
"You have, Rossweise. Over these two years, you've fallen in love with someone. Satisfied?"
"Hmph. Next question..."
What 'compatibility test', what 'truth round'.
It's just part of the little couple's fun playtime~
———
After tutoring Luna and Little Light for a few days, things went exactly as Leon had expected. The daughter loved to learn, the father loved to teach, and with this mutual effort, their progress was very fast.
Also, the two little dragon girls acted as study buddies for each other, which somehow created a subtle sense of competition.
Given how close the two sisters were, it wasn't like they wanted to beat each other or outdo each other, rather, in anything they did, keeping just a bit of a competitive edge helped improve efficiency.
Back then, Noah studied all by herself. With her amazing talent and her naturally overachieving body, she passed the Saint Seath Academy test with the highest score in just a month.
Now, with Luna and Little Light, Leon believed they'd also get some pretty good results.
Of course, even if they ended up with average grades, Leon wouldn't blame them or be the least bit disappointed.
After all, the Melkvei family stood for mutual love and affection, excluding me and that mother dragon.
The father and daughters pushed forward with their schedule in an orderly fashion.
That weekend, Noah came home for her break.
This time, she didn't bring any friends back.
Just as well. During dinner, Rossweise brought up visiting Isa.
"Are we going to Aunt Isa's house?", Luna's eyes sparkled as she asked excitedly.
"Mhm, Aunt Isa said in her letter that she really really misses you all," Rossweise said.
"Yay~ Going to Aunt Isa's house~"
Although Isa didn't have children of her own, she dearly loved the three little dragon girls of her younger sister's family.
Naturally, the kids responded warmly to their aunt's love. Every time someone mentioned going to Isa's house, they would all get very excited.
"But... wasn't Aunt Isa's place caught up in war recently?", Amid the joy, Noah showed a bit of concern for her aunt's situation.
"It's fine, things have settled down now," Rossweise said, "We can visit her with peace of mind."
Noah nodded, "Okay."
Luna blinked like she thought of something, then asked, "By the way, Mom, don't we have to submit a family photo for the entrance test?"
Hearing this, Rossweise also remembered, Saint Seath Academy did indeed have such a rule.
"Right, but there's no rush. We can take it in a few days," Rossweise said.
Luna thought for a bit and suggested, "How about this, Mom? When we go visit Aunt Isa this time, let's bring her along and take a family photo together. How about that?"
Luna's suggestion wasn't bad.
Rossweise glanced sideways at Leon.
Leon nodded slightly, signaling he had no problem with it.
At this point, Leon had no resistance left toward things like taking photos.
After going through Holding Hands with the Dragon, Kissing the Dragon, and Having Kids with the Dragon, what's Taking Photos with the Dragon?
'I'm already the "Hero of the Dragon Race", what's there to be afraid of?'
"Sounds good. We'll go to Sky City together with Aunt Isa."
"Yay~"
———
After dinner, Leon and Rossweise returned to their room.
Rossweise headed straight to the study, and pulled a photo out from the desk drawer.
Leon followed over, leaning against the study doorway with arms crossed, "What's that?"
Rossweise flipped the photo to show him while answering, "Our first family photo."
Leon narrowed his eyes slightly and examined it.
The photo was well preserved, no yellowing, but it still showed some signs of age.
In it were himself, Rossweise, and Noah and Luna, a group photo of four.
However, among these mere four people, there were three stone-cold faces.
Back then, his relationship with Rossweise was still pretty bad, barely held together by their daughters;
And Noah was still guarded against him, even hugging her required permission.
If not for the entrance test, the three of them would never have appeared in the same frame.
Leon walked over, took the photo from Rossweise, and studied it carefully.
"In just two years, Noah and Luna have changed so much."
Back then, the two little ones were classic loli height and appearance, and hugging them felt amazing.
Now, after two years, they'd both grown a lot taller.
This kind of growth rate wasn't possible for human children.
"Dragon cubs grow very quickly. Around eleven or twelve, their bodies will fully mature, and they'll enter the second stage of internal development," Rossweise said.
"Internal... development?"
"Mhm, like strengthening bones, meridians, organs, and magical circuits. The second stage of development finishes around age twenty. By then, their bodies will be strong enough to support dragon transformation."
'Dragon form...'
Leon remembered, when he visited the future, Noah and the others were around twenty. Even future Little Light said she had just learned how to turn into a dragon and couldn't fly for long.
'How nice, to grow wings and fly freely just twenty years after birth.'
When General Leon was twenty, he was still camping out on harsh battlefields with Rebecca and Martin, chewing on tree bark.
Rossweise came over and stood beside him, looking at that first group photo with him.
After a moment, Rossweise asked, "What were you thinking at that time?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean, when we took that photo, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking about you, wife."
Rossweise rolled her eyes and lightly elbowed his chest, "Don't get all greasy now. I'm being serious."
Leon recalled the scene and replied, "I guess I was thinking... how long would we have to keep up this fake family? I hoped it would all... just end soon."
Hearing his answer, the Queen's pupils trembled slightly.
She wasn't the type to dig up the past or get mad about it;
Leon's words just made her a little emotional.
Emotional about how times had changed. The prisoner who was forced to stay here back then had become an irreplaceable part of this family.
Rossweise lowered her silver eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly without realizing.
Leon noticed the small motion and raised an eyebrow, "What are you smiling about?"
"Hm? Nothing, I wasn't smiling," Rossweise quickly reverted to her usual icy expression.
Leon clicked his tongue, then asked, "What about you? What were you thinking back then?"
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