Regret.
A deep, overwhelming regret.
When dragons are caught up in their emotions, they often do things beyond their own control.
Which ancestor ingrained this troublesome trait into their very bloodline? Why hadn't it evolved away over millennia?
At breakfast, Rossweise looked disheveled.
Her hair was unkempt, her face free of makeup, and faint dark circles shadowed her eyes.
After impulsively throwing away the photo of her and Leon last night, she had tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
Leon, too, had only returned to bed near dawn, managing barely half an hour of rest.
Before Anna came to wake them for breakfast, the couple lay back-to-back. Both knew the other was awake, yet neither broke the silence.
They weren't sure if this could be called a fight.
If it was, why didn't it feel like before? Where were the sharp, cutting words, the verbal sparring that usually escalated into a passionate, conflict-resolving "battle" between dragon and human?
But if it wasn't a fight, how could they explain the churning turmoil in their hearts?
At the breakfast table, Muen seemed to sense something was off with her parents.
She ate her breakfast quietly, forgoing her usual playful antics and cute expressions.
The little dragon girl decided she would ask her father what was happening during their magic lesson later.
She didn't understand concepts like stubbornness, tsundere attitudes, or marital disputes. She only knew that when such situations arose, her parents often only spoke their true minds after being apart.
Leon picked at his slice of bread, while Rossweise occasionally sipped water, leaving the nutritional supplements and fruits on her plate untouched.
It was the quietest breakfast the Melkvey family had experienced in months.
Muen finished her meal quietly, slipped off her chair, and said, "Daddy, I'll wait for you at the practice field."
Leon snapped out of his thoughts. "Ah? Ah… alright, Daddy will be there soon."
"Okay, okay."
Muen left the room.
Leon withdrew his gaze, glanced at Rossweise, and then nodded toward the supplements and fruits on her plate. "You should eat some. It's a waste otherwise."
"None of your business."
Well, she was truly angry.
She had been angry with Leon before, but that anger had been very "dragon" – a regal, dismissive fury that said, "This queen cannot be bothered to reason with you; you are unworthy of my words, so I shall simply blast you away."
This time, however, her anger struck Leon as distinctly wifely, like a master's spouse throwing a tantrum.
He recalled a time when his master had promised to take his wife shopping. She had dressed up meticulously, even wearing a beautiful dress she usually treasured too much to wear.
But that day, his master got caught up with other matters and stood her up.
For three days afterward, she refused to speak to him, no matter how he tried to appease her. Her responses were limited to a single word:
"Oh."
It wasn't so much anger as it was sulking.
Leon found this the most troublesome situation. Neither his master nor the Dragon Slayer Academy had ever taught him how to coax a sulking female dragon.
He had soothed a donkey before, quite successfully. Give the donkey two bundles of hay, and it would wag its tail and get back to work.
But clearly, a donkey and a dragon were not on the same level; the comparison was absurd.
Moreover, with Rossweise pregnant with their third child, her emotions were even more volatile, making it harder for Leon to handle.
As he wrestled with this, he noticed Rossweise slowly eating the few pieces of fruit on her plate. Only then did Leon feel a slight sense of relief.
However, after finishing the fruit, Rossweise said nothing. She stood up, returned to the bedroom, and closed the door behind her.
Leon scratched his cheek and finished his last bite of bread.
He considered whether he should go talk to Rossweise, but if past experience was any guide, she probably wouldn't even open the door for him.
Leon knew her well—once she dug her heels in, not even eight dragons could pull her back.
Frowning in thought, Leon realized that to cure an illness, one must first find the root cause. He needed to address the fundamental reason for Rossweise's sulking.
Making a girl happy required more than just words.
If this were the past, Leon wouldn't have cared whether she was angry or not. Even if she puffed up like a blowfish, it wouldn't have concerned him.
But… but now the female dragon was pregnant.
Being upset was bad for the baby.
The sooner she calmed down, the better it would be for everyone, especially the baby.
Having formulated a plan and given himself a perfectly sound reason, Leon headed to the practice field.
Muen saw her father approaching alone and ran over to him.
Leon forced a small smile and bent down to pick up his daughter. "What do you want to learn today?"
"Daddy, did you and Mommy have a fight?" Muen got straight to the point.
Leon was taken aback. Seeing his daughter's serious little face, it was clear she had noticed the tension between him and Rossweise during breakfast.
Although his precious daughter usually focused on being adorable, Leon knew that, like Noah, she was very perceptive. The difference was that Noah tried to act more mature, while Muen viewed things from a more childlike perspective.
Leon's thoughts shifted, and he smiled, pinching Muen's cheek. "No, Daddy and Mommy didn't have a fight."
In Muen's eyes, the family had to be harmonious, happy, and free of conflict. This was an understanding he and Rossweise had agreed upon from the beginning. The love and hate between the couple shouldn't affect their daughters; they were innocent.
That's why Leon didn't tell the truth.
But Muen was clever. "Really, Daddy?"
"Really. Would Daddy lie to you?"
"But this morning, you and Mommy didn't talk to each other. You usually have so much to say."
Leon blinked. "Do we usually… talk a lot?"
Muen nodded confidently. "Yes, yes! Even though you don't see each other much during the day, whenever you do, you always have endless things to say to each other."
Leon had never noticed this.
Did he and Rossweise really chat endlessly whenever they met?
Reflecting on it, Leon realized Muen might be right. Their conversations, whether mundane or heated, had a rhythm and connection that felt natural. Perhaps it was this very familiarity and constant exchange that made the silence at breakfast so stark and noticeable to their daughter.
Maybe… maybe not, Leon thought. His daughter might be mistaken.
"Maybe Mommy just isn't feeling well today, so she's talking less."
Leon rubbed Muen's head. "I promise you, by tomorrow morning, Daddy and Mommy will be back to normal."
He silently prayed he could manage to cheer up the mother dragon within twenty-four hours.
Muen blinked her beautiful big eyes, hugging Leon's neck with a serious expression.
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"I think you and Mommy are like two hedgehogs," Muen said with earnest gravity.
Leon was stunned. What kind of strange analogy was that?
How were they like hedgehogs?
"Why do you say that?" Leon asked.
"Both you and Mommy are prickly on the outside, but soft on the inside."
"Uh… interesting, okay."
Leon didn't know how to respond to a child's whimsical analogy, so he could only call it "interesting."
However, Muen's next words unexpectedly struck a chord in Leon's heart.
"If neither of you puts your prickles away, you can't truly hug each other. Either you prick Mommy, or Mommy pricks you."
Using the simplest childlike language, Muen articulated a truth Leon had never considered.
"So, only if you both put away your prickles can Daddy and Mommy hug, right?"
Leon was momentarily stunned by the wisdom in his daughter's words. It was a simple yet profound observation he had overlooked.
In their interactions, he and Rossweise had always kept their defenses up, not realizing this very act prevented them from genuinely connecting and comforting each other. Muen's innocent insight gave Leon a new perspective on how to approach his relationship with Rossweise.
Leon stood frozen, speechless for a moment.
He and Rossweise had always tried to show enough love and harmony in front of Muen and Noah, but did Muen still see them as a pair of "hedgehogs"?
Leon had overlooked an interesting fact: a child's inner world is pure and untainted, allowing them to sense the most genuine emotions. These feelings can't be faked; no matter how well the facade is maintained, there will always be cracks only children can perceive.
Leon didn't know exactly how his daughters viewed their relationship, but it was clear it wasn't as perfect as they thought.
They had underestimated their daughters and oversimplified this elaborate performance of a happy family.
Leon held Muen, silent for a long time before he slowly exhaled and said, "I understand what I need to do now. Thank you, Muen."
Hearing this, Muen's serious little face finally broke into a smile. "You're welcome, Daddy!"
"But where did you learn such a peculiar analogy? Daddy doesn't remember teaching you that."
"From Enlightening Tales for Young Dragons, the story 'The Hedgehog Couple'," Muen replied earnestly.
It sounded like one of those short stories found in elementary school language textbooks.
However, the simplest stories often contain the most profound truths—truths so complex that adults struggle to grasp them, while children understand their essence intuitively.
Thank you to the author of Enlightening Tales for Young Dragons, and thank you to the story of 'The Hedgehog Couple'!
With his thoughts now clear, Leon and Muen began their lessons for the day.
.
.
.
At midnight, the man beside her was fast asleep. Rossweise slowly sat up, lifted the blanket, and carefully got out of bed.
She was wearing her pink couple's pajamas and dragon-wing slippers. She tiptoed out of the bedroom. Winter was approaching, and the temperature outside was chilly. Rossweise pulled her pajamas tighter around herself as she slipped past the guards at the sanctuary's back door and quietly made her way to the nearby bushes.
She looked up to confirm that directly above was their bedroom balcony, then lowered her head and began searching for something.
The photo.
Her sulking wasn't entirely because of Leon. Part of it was directed at herself.
Why was she so stubborn? Why did she care so much about her pride?
If she had softened a bit and told Leon, "I just want to keep this photo, is that any of your business?" she could have kept the photo without any issue.
Now, here she was, stumbling around in the dark looking for it.
Ah, a moment of tsundere satisfaction, a lifetime of regret. The sins you commit, you must atone for slowly.
"Once I find that photo, I'll hide it somewhere he'll never find it!" Rossweise vowed to herself.
But it had been over twenty hours since the queen had tossed the photo, and a breeze had blown through since then. Who knew where it had ended up?
And now it was night, making it impossible to see anything on the ground.
After searching for about twenty minutes, Rossweise still hadn't found even a trace of the photo. Feeling dejected, she squatted down, slowly wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in them.
The cold seeped into her surroundings, and her silver tail drooped listlessly to the ground.
The photo was a candid shot, one of a kind in this world. If it was lost… it would be gone forever.
She didn't even know why she cared so much about that photo. Initially, she hadn't known how to handle it, but as time passed, the photo seemed to have taken on a new meaning. It was hard to explain, difficult to put into words.
Perhaps only by finding it could Rossweise figure it all out.
However… she feared she might never find it again—
"Are you looking for this?"
A familiar voice sounded beside her.
Rossweise's body stiffened, and she slowly lifted her face from her arms.
The photo she had been desperately searching for was now right in front of her.
In the photo, she and her captive were looking at each other, smiling. The sunlight streamed through the window of the photo studio, illuminating her silver hair and reflecting in the man's dark eyes, making them strikingly bright.
The man squatted down beside her, meeting her at eye level. He held the photo between them. "I found it while practicing with Muen today. Just so you know, I picked it up by chance. I wasn't deliberately looking for it like someone else."
Rossweise suppressed a smile. "I wasn't deliberately looking for it either. I was just… taking a walk."
"Oh, Your Majesty, taking a walk into the bushes? Did you get lost?"
"Go to hell." Rossweise bumped his shoulder.
Because they were squatting, it was hard to maintain balance, and Leon fell back onto his rear.
He simply sat on the ground, looking down at the photo in his hand, and muttered, "Ah, do you know what Muen said about you?"
"What did she say?"
"She said you're like a hedgehog."
The queen rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Don't lie to me. Muen must have said that about both of us."
"Haha, darling, you're so smart."
"Shut up, who's your darling."
Rossweise stood up, lifted her foot, and lightly kicked Leon's backside, then walked toward the sanctuary door without looking back.
Leon also got up swiftly and followed her.
When the guards at the back door saw the queen and the prince returning in their pajamas in the middle of the night, they wondered if they were seeing things.
"Good evening, Your Majesty, Your Highness!" the guard greeted.
Rossweise nodded slightly and made a soft sound of acknowledgment.
As Leon passed, he patted the guard's shoulder. "Hmm, the queen and I were just doing an inspection. You've performed well; consider yourself promoted tomorrow."
An inspection? In your couple's pajamas?
The guard straightened his posture, chest puffed out. "Thank you, Your Highness!"
The couple returned to their bedroom one after the other.
"Where are you going to put that photo?" Leon asked.
"Put it wherever you want," Rossweise replied, slipping into bed.
"Hmph, I try to be nice, and you act like this. If you don't care, then neither do I."
Leon casually tossed the photo he had painstakingly retrieved during the day onto the bedside table before getting into bed himself.
That night, the couple slept soundly.
.
.
.
The next morning, Leon woke slowly.
Rossweise was already at the dressing table, getting ready.
He sat up slowly, casting a glance at the bedside table out of the corner of his eye.
The photo of him and Rossweise was now delicately framed and placed next to a family portrait of the four of them.