Leon: "Cohabitation?…"
Rossweise: "Cohabitation?"
Muen: "Cohabitation!!… What does that mean?"
The little dragon girl's big eyes were filled with confusion.
Noah glanced at her sister and earnestly explained, "Cohabitation refers to when two people who love each other reach a certain stage in their relationship and move in together to live in the same house."
Muen suddenly realized, "Oh~~ So that's what it means. Come to think of it, Dad does indeed always sleep in that small room and rarely sleeps with Mom."
"If I sleep with your mom a few more times, this house might collapse," Leon thought to himself.
Noah looked at Leon and Rossweise, calmly expressing her thoughts, "Now that Mom is pregnant, she needs someone to take care of her all the time."
"But when I came back, I noticed that Anna and the others haven't done anything to prepare for Mom's pregnancy, so I assume you haven't planned to tell the maid team yet, right?"
"The reason Mom did this might be that she doesn't want to disrupt her daily work. I can understand that, but she's pregnant after all, and she can't be alone. Muen is still young, and I'm usually at the academy, so Dad is the most suitable choice."
After a well-reasoned analysis, the couple couldn't find any counter arguments.
Despite their usual sharp tongues and quick minds, they were both speechless when faced with their eldest daughter's reasoning.
"Noah, actually, your mom is still—" Rossweise tried to explain.
But Noah continued, "And also, after the baby is born, won't you have to move them to Dad's current nursery? Dad will still have to move in with you, sooner or later, right? Whether it's sooner or later doesn't make a difference, right?"
Leon was surprisingly persuaded, murmuring, "That makes sense…"
It's true, indeed it is true. But for this couple, each harboring their own concerns, living together is not something that can be done simply because it makes sense.
They have always slept separately. If it were an ordinary human couple, still sleeping in separate rooms after marriage is uncommon, and inevitably invites gossip; Leon initially worried that even though they had a child, continuing to sleep apart might raise suspicions.
But Rossweise says that among the dragons, there aren't such strict requirements in this regard, or rather, even deeply in love dragon couples highly respect each other's personal space.
Because of absolute loyalty to their spouses, there's no need to worry even if they sleep apart. Just a hint when they feel like doing something as a couple is sufficient.
But that doesn't mean dragons don't cohabit. In the eyes of everyone, including their two daughters, Leon and Rossweise are a loving couple, so for them, living together is only natural; not living together would be strange.
The couple never imagined that despite their painstaking efforts to maintain a beautiful family, it would lead them into the abyss of 'cohabitation'.
They exchanged a glance, and Rossweise decided to debate with her daughter.
"Noah, actually, Mom is just pregnant for less than two months, it doesn't affect anything, and there's no rush for Dad to move in with me."
Implicitly suggesting that they could reconsider this later.
But Noah, with a stern face, stubbornly shook her head, "Pregnancy is something that must be taken seriously; there can be no mistakes."
Listening to her daughter's words and observing her determined demeanor, Rossweise couldn't quite comprehend. Why was Noah so concerned about her pregnancy?
Noah's earnestness caught Rossweise's attention without a doubt. If possible, Rossweise even thought Noah might consider taking a leave of absence from school to stay home and take care of her.
Despite being precocious for her age, Rossweise had never seen Noah so obstinate about anything before. Noah's concern stemmed from past events.
During the time when their father was in a coma shortly after giving birth to her two sisters, Rossweise was often melancholic, and Noah caught glimpses of her sadness.
Though Noah was even younger at that time, her innate sensitivity allowed her to sense her mother's unhappiness, her despair, and her low spirits.
Noah didn't have much life experience back then and didn't know what had happened between her parents.
Nonetheless, she silently swore to herself that if such a situation were to arise again in the future, she wouldn't allow her mother to display that despondent expression ever again.
Now, with her mother pregnant, Noah knew she might have to face some of the past troubles again. That's why she strongly suggested having her father move in to take care of her mother.
Children don't understand the intricacies of adult conflicts and destinies; Noah simply didn't want her mother to be sad and upset anymore.
Seeing that no one at the dinner table was making the final decision, Noah proposed, "If Mom can't decide, how about we have a family vote?"
"A family vote?"
"Yeah, all four of us raise our hands to vote whether we agree for Dad and Mom to live together." Noah was the first to raise her hand.
Muen followed her sister's example, raising his arm high.
Leon didn't immediately express his opinion; instead, he looked at Rossweise.
Only to see Rossweise standing there hesitating, Leon rarely sees her so indecisive.
It's understandable. After all, they were originally a fake couple, a fake family. The only real things in the whole house are their two lovely daughters. Everything else is just for show, so there's really no need to live together.
Leon guessed that Rossweise would definitely vote "against."
Then he might as well vote against too. In the end, it would be a 2:2 tie, and the result would be to maintain the status quo or decide later.
Rossweise probably thinks the same way, to drag things out.
However, Rossweise's answer surprised Leon a bit.
"I… abstain."
The father and daughters were stunned. Did she really abstain from voting?
Leon squinted at Rossweise, wondering what she was up to.
However, if she abstained, wouldn't that mean Leon's final vote would be completely meaningless…
After a brief surprise, both daughters looked at their dad.
But Leon wasn't particularly shaken. Because living with Rossweise didn't have a big impact on him.
In terms of "getting the job done," they were now evenly matched. As long as he didn't fall into her trap like he did the other night and get morally pressured first, Leon was basically safe.
And from another perspective, living together had its benefits too. At least he didn't have to sneak into Rossweise's room anymore to work on the prenatal plan.
He could just wait until she fell asleep at night and then enthusiastically instill human culture into their third child.
With that in mind, Leon shrugged. "Now with two votes in favor and one abstention, it doesn't matter which one I choose; I can't change the outcome."
Hearing her dad say this, Noah's tense little face finally showed a smile. "Okay, then Dad, you can move to Mom's room later."
"Oh, so soon…"
"Mm-hmm."
"Okay, I'll move later."
"Yay~ Mom and Dad are going to live together!" Muen happily raised her hand, wagging her tail.
The couple looked at each other simultaneously.
Rossweise's expression was somewhat complex, and it was hard to tell her exact attitude towards living together.
But undoubtedly, the estranged couple would enter the cohabitation stage starting tonight.
There was no time to reminisce about the nights spent sleeping apart. It was time for husband and wife to cohabit!
Meanwhile, our professional dragon slayer, Leon Cosmodeous, was already contemplating how to strategize for tonight's first move.
Less than a day after Rossweise's "7 PM prohibition" was declared, it had already proven to be more of a formality. Well… okay, then tonight, let's start with this and make our first move against her!
.
.
.
That night, after putting their daughters to bed, Leon moved his belongings into Rossweise's room.
The queen sat on the edge of the bed, watching Leon organize his things, a complex expression on her face.
"Don't think that just because we're living together, you can do whatever you want," Rossweise warned.
Leon shrugged, "Of course not. I'm just here to take care of you."
He placed the last piece of clothing in the closet and turned to look at Rossweise. "So, how do we arrange the sleeping situation?"
Rossweise glanced at the large bed. "You sleep on the left, I sleep on the right. No crossing the midline."
"Sounds fair," Leon agreed readily.
But in his heart, he was already planning how to carry out his prenatal education plan without Rossweise noticing.
As night fell, the couple lay side by side on the large bed, each lost in their own thoughts.
Leon waited until Rossweise's breathing became steady and regular, then quietly took out the Memory Stone from under his pillow.
He was about to begin tonight's prenatal education session when Rossweise suddenly spoke.
"Leon, are you asleep?"
Leon quickly hid the Memory Stone. "Not yet. What's wrong?"
"Nothing… just feeling a bit nauseous."
Leon hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently patted her back. "Is this better?"
Rossweise was slightly taken aback, then nodded. "Mm, a little."
The two fell into silence again. In the quiet night, only their breathing could be heard.
Just as Leon thought Rossweise had fallen asleep and was about to resume his plan, she spoke again.
"Leon."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being willing to live with me."
Leon was silent for a moment, then replied, "It's what I should do."
Rossweise turned to look at him. In the moonlight, her silver eyes seemed especially bright.
"Actually… I'm a little scared."
"Scared of what?"
"Scared of going through what happened last time alone again."
Leon looked at her, a rare moment of vulnerability in her eyes. He sighed softly.
"This time, I'm here."
Rossweise smiled, a genuine, relieved smile. "Yeah, you're here."
She closed her eyes, and soon her breathing became steady again.
Leon looked at her sleeping face, the Memory Stone in his hand feeling somewhat heavy.
Perhaps… the prenatal education could wait until tomorrow.
He put away the Memory Stone, lay down, and closed his eyes.
On their first night living together, there was no scheming, no confrontation, only two people slowly learning to coexist.
But Leon knew that this was only the beginning. The battle over the "Third Child Plan" had just officially begun.