"What? What? I can't hear you, hubby. Just bear with it for a bit, and it won't feel bad anymore~"
She wasn't using much strength, and Leon's struggle wasn't at a life-or-death level either.
This was just part of their usual couple's antics.
But as Leon flailed his hands around, he suddenly felt something slightly hard on the back of the teddy bear.
His movements came to an abrupt halt, and his thoughts drifted back to a time long ago.
That was when Rossweise had used Blood Charm and fell unconscious. He had stayed by her side all day, taking care of her—wiping her face, cleaning her body, and such.
One day, Leon was exhausted and fell asleep right beside Rossweise's bed, his hand accidentally touching the teddy bear he had given her.
At that time, he seemed to have felt something hard as well.
'Normally, aren't teddy bears just filled with soft cotton?'
As he was thinking about this, the teddy bear that had been pressed against his face was moved away.
"Yo, hubby, you're pretty hard to kill, huh?", Rossweise teased as she looked at Leon's flushed face.
Leon ignored her and turned his gaze to the teddy bear beside him.
He glanced at Rossweise. Then, taking advantage of her momentary distraction, he suddenly grabbed the teddy bear and went straight for the zipper on its back.
Seeing this, Rossweise immediately wiped the smile off her face and lunged forward, trying to snatch the teddy bear back.
'Oh? Panicking like this?'
'Then there must be some kind of unspeakable secret hidden inside this teddy bear!'
Leon pulled off a Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell move, slipping right out from under Rossweise's legs.
Rossweise didn't even bother putting on her slippers—she jumped off the bed and chased after Leon in a hurry.
Leon obviously wouldn't let himself get caught so easily. He put on a whole Circling the Pillar performance for the dragoness.
The two of them ran around the bed, chasing each other like kindergarten kids playing Duck, Duck, Goose.
After a few rounds, Rossweise stopped on the left side of the bed, while Leon stood on the right.
They faced each other across the bed, locked in a standoff.
"Give me back the bear!", Rossweise demanded.
"No. The fact that you're this anxious means there must be something good inside."
"I'm not anxious!"
"Heh, you might as well have 'anxious' written all over your face."
As soon as he finished speaking, Leon seized the chance and bolted toward the balcony.
Rossweise took long strides, leaping over the bed and dashing after him barefoot.
But by the time she reached the balcony, the poor teddy bear had already been gutted by the vile dragon slayer.
And in Leon's hand was a photograph.
Seeing this, Rossweise quickly rushed forward and snatched the photo away.
Her face turned red as she hid the photo behind her back.
But she was sure—Leon had already seen what was on it.
Leon dropped his usual playful grin. He scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Didn't expect you to still have this photo."
Rossweise bit her lip and stiffly explained, "I just forgot to throw it away."
"Forgot to throw it away… but you tucked it inside the teddy bear I gave you?"
"I just forgot to throw it away."
With that, Rossweise bit her lip again, hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she threw the photo off the balcony.
The moment the photo disappeared into the night, her heart clenched violently.
But she quickly looked away and stared at Leon with a stubborn expression, "See? I just threw it away."
"Wait, you actually threw it?"
Leon grabbed the balcony railing and leaned forward to look down.
Unfortunately, it was nighttime. The lighting was too dim to see where the photo had landed.
"Of course I threw it. Hmph, so boring. I'm going to sleep."
She wore pink cartoon pajamas, stomped her feet in a petty huff, and dove into the messy blankets.
But Leon didn't go back inside.
He stood there, staring at where the photo had fallen, feeling the emptiness and loneliness that settled in as the "lively" night came to an end.
He had already forgotten why he and Rossweise were smiling at each other in that photo.
But the words on the back of the photo—he remembered them clearly, "May the silver radiance forever shine in the eyes of the one I love…"
———
Regret.
An overwhelming, twelve-out-of-ten level of regret.
Dragons always end up doing things they can't control when emotions take over.
Which ancestor engraved this stupid flaw into their DNA? It's been thousands of years, and it still hasn't changed?
At breakfast, Rossweise looked a little rough.
Her hair was unkempt, she had no makeup on, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Last night, after throwing away that photo in a panic, she lay in bed and couldn't fall asleep.
Leon also seemed to have only returned to bed at dawn, sleeping for barely half an hour.
Before Anna came to call them for breakfast, the couple lay in bed, backs facing each other.
They both knew the other was awake, but neither spoke first.
They weren't sure if this counted as a fight.
If it did, why wasn't it like before? Where they'd hurl sharp words at each other, then settle things with a passionate human-dragon battle and move on?
But if it wasn't a fight, then why did they both feel so unsettled?
At the breakfast table, Luna also noticed that something was off between her parents.
She quietly ate her breakfast, not acting cute or playful like usual.
The little dragon girl thought to herself, 'I'll just wait until later when Daddy teaches me magic, then I'll ask him what's wrong.'
She didn't understand what "stubbornness," "tsundere," or "marital conflict" meant. She only knew that when things were like this, her parents would only open up about their feelings when they were apart.
Leon took small bites of his toast, while Rossweise occasionally sipped her water, not touching the nutritious fruits on her plate.
It was the quietest breakfast the Melkvei family had in months.
Luna finished her meal, hopped off her chair, and said, "Daddy, I'll wait for you at the training ground."
Leon snapped out of his thoughts, "Huh? Oh… okay, Daddy will be there soon."
"Mm-hmm."
Luna left.
Leon glanced at Rossweise and gestured toward her plate with his chin, "You should eat a little. Otherwise, it'd be a waste."
"Mind your own business."
'Yep. She is really mad.'
B'ack then, when she got angry, it was in a very dragon-like way—more of a 'This queen doesn't have time to argue with you, you're not worthy, so I'll just blow you up' kind of vibe.'
'But this time, her anger feels more like a wife sulking at her husband.'
Leon sighed.
He had no idea how to cheer up a sulking dragoness.
He was good at coaxing donkeys—just give them two bundles of hay, and they'd happily go back to work.
But obviously, donkeys and dragons weren't on the same level.
Especially now that Rossweise was pregnant again, making her even more emotionally unpredictable.
As Leon was pondering, he noticed that Rossweise slowly finished the fruit on her plate.
Only then did he breathe a little sigh of relief.
But after finishing, Rossweise said nothing, simply got up and returned to the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Leon scratched his cheek and finished the last bite of his toast.
He debated whether to go talk to her, but knowing her, she'd probably just slam the door in his face.
He frowned.
To solve a problem, you have to find its root cause first.
Cheering up a girl wasn't something that could be done with words alone.
If it were before, he wouldn't have cared if she was mad.
'But… but isn't the mother dragon pregnant?'
'Getting angry is bad for the baby.'
'The sooner she calms down, the better for everyone—including the baby.'
After coming up with a plan and giving himself a perfect reason for his actions, Leon headed to the training ground.
Seeing her dad come alone, Luna ran over.
Leon put on a playful expression, bent down, and picked up his daughter, "What do you want to learn today?"
"Daddy, did you and Mommy have a fight?", Luna got straight to the point.
Leon froze, looking at his daughter's serious little face. It was clear that she had noticed something was off between him and Rossweise during breakfast.
Although his precious daughter usually focused on being cute, Leon knew that, just like Noah, she was a very perceptive person.
The only difference was that Noah tried to appear more mature, while Luna leaned more toward acting like a child.
Leon's mind stirred slightly. He smiled and reached out to pinch Luna's cheek, "No, Daddy and Mommy didn't have a fight."
In Luna's eyes, this family had to be harmonious, happy, and free of conflict.
This was something he and Rossweise had agreed upon from the beginning.
The love and grudges between them as a couple should never affect their daughters—they were innocent.
So Leon didn't tell the truth.
However, Luna was sharp, "Really, Daddy?"
"Really. Would Daddy ever lie to you?"
"But this morning, you and Mommy didn't say a word to each other. You always have lots to talk about."
Leon blinked, "We… talk a lot?"
Luna nodded firmly, "Yeah, yeah! Even though you don't see each other much during the day, the moment you do, you're always chatting nonstop, like there's an endless amount to talk about."
Leon had never noticed this before.
'Me and Rossweise… do we really start chatting endlessly the moment we see each other?'
'No… no way… Maybe Luna just remembered wrong,' Leon thought.
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