When Rossweise woke up, it was already afternoon.
Isha was gone. She could not stay for long. Without their Dragon King, her clan was easy to harass.
A warm afternoon wind blew through the window, making the thin curtains flutter softly.
Beside her, there was a light smell of baby milk.
Rossweise turned her head and saw her little daughter lying peacefully by her pillow, sleeping soundly.
Her chubby little fists were tightly closed, resting on her chest. Her round face was calm and cute. Just looking at her made Rossweise feel very soothed.
On the other side of the baby was Leon.
Rossweise looked past the baby at Leon's face.
His breathing was even, his eyes lightly closed. His black hair fell over his forehead, partly covering his eyes.
On this strong and firm face, there seemed to be a new, shallow scar.
Rossweise was not very aware of her own beauty, but she was quite confident in her taste.
Three years ago, when she first saw Leon, she had said that scars were the best accessory for his handsome face.
All the softness was stripped away, leaving only a man full of male charm.
Deep down, the dragon race loved to conquer. But at certain times, Rossweise also wanted to be conquered.
She disliked those dragon nobles and lords. She felt they were all tacky and pretty.
If you really wanted to conquer her, you would need a face full of hormones like Leon's, right?
Oh, of course, that did not mean Leon had conquered her.
Just kidding, if he wanted to conquer her, this guy would need another two hundred years of practice. But that did not stop Rossweise from secretly admiring her prisoner's looks.
This queen admitted it—she was shallow and liked good looks! And he just happened to hit her preference.
What was wrong with looking? Looking did not mean anything.
Rossweise slowly reached out her hand. Her arm went over her youngest daughter's head. Her warm, soft palm gently pressed against Leon's hair.
Her fingertips moved slowly downward, tracing his forehead, his earlobes, the tip of his nose, the space between his nose and lip, his lips, and his chin.
"I really want to give you a tail massage," Rossweise whispered softly.
"I really want to cut your tail off."
Her slender fingers stiffened slightly. After a dazed moment, Rossweise pulled her hand back at the speed of light.
"Y-you were not asleep?"
"I woke up when you started peeking at me."
"Who was peeking at you? Have some shame. I was looking at my daughter."
"I~ was~ looking~ at~ my~ daughter~~~" Leon repeated Rossweise's words in a teasing voice.
Rossweise gritted her teeth. If their daughter was not lying between them, she would have kicked him already.
Pretending to be asleep—if he liked sleeping so much, he could sleep forever when he was dead!
Rossweise ignored him, turned over, and snorted.
Rustle—
She heard movement behind her. Leon sat up and leaned against the headboard. He let out a tired breath.
He scratched his head, trying to clear his mind. Then he said with a sigh, "This morning was really dangerous. Your sister almost saw through us."
Rossweise's eyes widened a little. She sat up too.
The couple leaned against the headboard, starting their afternoon chat.
"My sister is very smart. But I did not expect your nonsense to actually work. She believed it."
"That was not nonsense. It was all based on reality."
Rossweise raised an eyebrow and looked at him from the side. "Based on reality?"
"Yeah, every word in that story can be matched to something real."
Rossweise thought about his forced love story. "We will meet in a special place and get to know each other in a special way. How does that match reality?"
"Did we not meet in the dungeon of your Silver Dragon Clan? I got to know you because you were drunk and came to torture me," Leon said with a shrug.
"That is pretty special."
Rossweise pressed her lips together. "Then what about 'You traveled across the entire Dragon Clan, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers'?"
Leon spread his hands. "I graduated from the Dragon Slayer Academy at fifteen. I had been in the military for five years before I met you. I have killed more dragons than a butcher has killed pigs. That counts as traveling across the entire Dragon Clan."
Rossweise gasped and narrowed her eyes slightly. "So that is your idea of traveling? Fine, fine, you are unbeatable, you dog."
Leon let out a deep breath and stared ahead. He returned to their earlier topic. "Your sister is really smart."
Rossweise pursed her lips, remembering how she and Leon had exchanged looks that morning. This dog of a man had even suggested getting rid of Isha completely.
She knew he was just talking nonsense. Leon would never actually do it. Even if he did not care about her feelings, he would think of their daughter. That was her aunt, their daughters' own aunt—how could he hurt her?
But Rossweise decided to use this chance to question him.
"Just because my sister is smart, you thought about killing her to keep her quiet this morning, did not you?"
"Of course not. I was just talking nonsense to lighten the mood."
Leon said, "Besides, if being too smart could get you killed, I would have been chopped into pieces long ago."
"…Constantine would never believe he died at the hands of such a shameless man."
"What do you mean, mother-dragon? Are you saying I am not smart?"
Rossweise smiled a sarcastic smile. "Oh, you are smart, very smart. You are the smartest of all."
Leon was about to keep arguing with Rossweise, but a serious look suddenly came over his face. He frowned, deep in thought.
Rossweise noticed the change. "What is wrong?"
Leon played with his fingers and said quietly, "Your sister almost found out I am human. But Constantine… he really did find out."
Hearing this, Rossweise felt a chill down her spine. She became tense.
"How could Constantine know who you are? Was that not your first time meeting?"
Leon nodded. "It was our first meeting. I had only fought members of the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan before. I had never met their Dragon King."
Rossweise thought for a moment. "A Dragon King lives a very long time. He might not appear on the battlefield for decades. You have only been in the Dragon Slayer Army for five years. It is normal that you never met him."
"Yeah, but how did he know I am human…" Leon sighed.
"Did he recognize my black-gold war chariot? But I disguised the armor. And it was dark at night. It is not likely he recognized it."
The couple fell into silent thought. Suddenly, Rossweise realized something.
Constantine had started causing trouble within the Dragon Clan and taking over smaller tribes about a year ago. By chance, it was also a year ago that she and Leon's master, Tiger Lawrence, had agreed Leon should stay away from the empire for a year.
These two "one year" periods… was that too much of a coincidence?