Leon's mind reeled.
The family he had sacrificed everything to save was now a mystery standing before him. The pink-haired woman who claimed to be his daughter, Aurora, looked to be his own age.
If she's Little Light, does that mean I became a father when I was just one or two? he thought, bewildered. I was impressive enough to take down the neighbor's vicious dog at five, but not that impressive.
The crackling campfire cast flickering shadows on his stunned face.
Seeing his disbelief, Aurora pushed down her own turbulent emotions. Her voice was calm and cool, carrying a researcher's mechanical precision, much like Rossweise's tone when Leon first met her.
"If you don't believe me, ask me anything about the Melkvey family."
Leon took a moment to collect himself. It was a reasonable suggestion. He decided to test her.
"What's Rossweise's birthday?"
"October 25th. Scorpio."
"Noah's?"
"February 16th. Aquarius."
"Muen's—"
"They're twins. Same birthday."
Aurora answered smoothly, then shifted into a rapid-fire monologue.
"You, Leon Cosmodeous, were born on August 5th, a Leo. 1.9 meter tall, 77 kilograms. No strong favorite foods, but you hate eggplant and carrots the most."
"Mom likes oranges, but her real favorite is still that orange-flavored ice cream you bought her at the Sky City Theater. She says it was the best she ever had."
"On her 218th birthday, you got her a huge cake with 218 candles."
"You have an older sister-in-law, Isha, our aunt, the Red Dragon Queen. The first word I said was 'Aunt Isha.' I found it amusing to watch you and Mom bicker, so I just never spoke up before that."
"Constantine is the only Dragon King you remember killing because I was born that day."
"I can keep going."
Leon was stunned again, watching her recite his life like a menu.
.
.
"You... you investigated me!" he finally blurted out.
Aurora sighed, a hint of helplessness breaking her cool facade. "I told you, I'm Little Light. This is all family stuff to me. You can't uncover this just by following someone, right?"
"...True."
Despite everything, he felt that innate, familial warmth—a bond that made trust come easily, even for someone as cautious as General Leon.
But—
"No! That can't be right!" he protested, gesturing with his hands. "When I entered the spatial rift, Little Light was only five or six months old!" He measured the tiny memory with one hand, then gestured at the 1.7-meter-tall woman before him. "How did you get this big in one sleep?"
Dragon genes were impressive—Noah commanding thousands of birds at age two was proof—but this was ridiculous.
Aurora raised a delicate eyebrow. "One sleep? You must have slept for a very long time."
"How long?"
She rested her chin on her hand, holding up two fingers.
"Two days?"
She shook her head.
"Two years?"
Another shake.
Leon's mouth twitched. "...Twenty years?"
"Correct~" Aurora brought her hands together, a smile touching her lips even as her tone remained icy. "To be precise, twenty years, four months, and eight days."
Dragons lived long lives and rarely counted days so meticulously. But Aurora had remembered every single one.
Seeing his continued shock, she went on, "To be honest, I'm feeling pretty mixed up myself. I don't know how to face this."
"For you, the battle with the Star Wanderer Dragon King and stopping the spatial rift was just yesterday."
"But for me, it's truly been twenty years."
She let out a long breath, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples. "So... tsk."
The suppressed emotions finally began to surface. For twenty years, her father had been gone. Now, his sudden return left her feeling unmoored. The overwhelming feeling was relief—finally, she had someone to lean on again. Her memory of Leon was of a gentle, powerful, deeply responsible man. If he was here, things could be fixed.
But after that relief came a heavy, helpless silence. There was too much to explain, too many grievances to share. She didn't know where to start.
She took off her glasses, quickly wiped the corners of her eyes, sniffled, and put them back on.
Leon watched her, his lips pressed tight. He could see her struggle and confusion. As much as he wanted answers about these "twenty years," his fatherly instincts told him to comfort his daughter first.
He glanced at her black-framed glasses. "You... are nearsighted?"
Aurora nodded. "Yeah, have been for a long time. I read a lot."
Leon hummed in acknowledgment, his eyes drifting to her white lab coat. He remembered her childhood dream.
"When you were little, you said you wanted to be a scholar or a scientist. So now... did you achieve your dream?"
"Sort of... I guess."
"Sort of?"
"Yeah. What I research can't be made public. I'll never get academic recognition from the dragon tribe."
Leon blinked. "What are you researching?"
Aurora didn't answer. Instead, she asked an unrelated question. "When did you wake up?"
"Today."
Aurora lowered her gaze, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Today... then that means there are still six months left."