Chapter 44: The Unexpected Gain of the Great Cleaning
Roswetha shook her head, “This is something I want to do as a mother, not as a queen.”
She often acted on impulse, doing whatever came to mind.
And she wasn’t the type to lose interest after three minutes. Once she decided to do something, she would absolutely do it to the best of her ability.
Leon scratched his head, “Well… I’ll wash up and then go to the sister room to join you. We’ll do it together.”
“Mm.”
With that, Roswetha left with broom in hand, her energy high.
Leon rubbed his aching temples, “Ah, if I had known it was going to be a big cleaning today, I wouldn’t have stayed up so late last night…”
What was that nonsense about striving for the future? Men really could say anything in the name of procreation—Leon Kasmod thought.
He threw off the covers, got dressed, and quickly washed up. Afterward, he grabbed the cleaning tools that Roswetha had prepared for him and went to the sister room of Noya and the others.
By the time he arrived, Roswetha had already opened all the windows for ventilation.
She stood on the balcony, one hand holding the broom, the other on her hip. It was rare to see her in flat shoes, and she even wore an apron tied around her waist for cleaning.
Looks like she came prepared, Your Majesty.
“Can I take a photo of you?” Leon asked with a smile.
“Why?”
“I’ve seen so many of your stunning outfits, queen gowns, bunny girls, and little nurses… but I’ve never seen you as a cleaner. It’s really interesting.”
Roswetha squinted at him, “You either help me clean right now, or you go to the temple hall and replace Anna to handle today’s work for me.”
Leon shrugged, grabbed a broom, put on a mask, and walked into the room.
“I’ll handle the bedroom, you handle the balcony?” he suggested.
“Okay.”
The couple got straight to work.
Leon was quite good at cleaning.
When he was young, he often helped his teacher’s wife with housework, so he became quite proficient in it over time.
And Roswetha, of course, was also capable of doing all kinds of household chores. Leon had noticed this a long time ago.
This only further proved that the position of the dragon queen wasn’t something she inherited; she truly worked her way up from the grassroots level.
With their combined effort, the room was quickly transformed.
However, just as they were finishing, Leon discovered a small wooden box under the bed of their daughters.
He didn’t think much of it and assumed it was just a box of random things. So he opened it to see what was inside.
But once he opened it, he froze.
At this moment, Roswetha had finished cleaning and turned to see Leon staring at the wooden box in a daze. Curious, she walked over to see what he was looking at.
Inside the box were various small items.
“A Rubik’s cube, a note, a… composition? And two photos—one is the first family portrait, and the other was taken a few days ago.”
Roswetha’s gaze eventually fell on the item at the very bottom of the box. “This… what is this? A magical material?”
It was a black crystal, shining with a metallic gleam under the sunlight.
“Where did you find this?” Roswetha asked.
“Under the bed.”
“Is it… Muen’s?”
Leon shook his head. Memories flooded back, and he gently touched the wooden box, murmuring, “It’s Noya’s. Before I came back from the future, Noya had burned this box.”
Roswetha raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“She said… everything in this box held extraordinary meaning for her, but when tragedy struck, these items, which should have been a source of comfort, became a torment. If I hadn’t been able to change the past and set things right, then there would be no meaning in keeping this box.”
Leon continued, “This Rubik’s cube was something I made for her and Muen a long time ago. This note has her name on it—when I taught Muen how to write, we wrote it together. And this composition is about our first date at Sky City. She even won an award for it.”
Noya had a certain trait that was similar to Roswetha—on the surface, she appeared indifferent and aloof toward everything, but in reality, both of them were very sensitive and meticulous. They would carefully protect anything they held dear.
Even the smallest details had to be perfect.
Just like how she had kept the Rubik’s cube, the note, and the composition that carried their first beautiful memory together.
“That girl… cares about this family more than we thought.” Roswetha smiled.
“Mm…”
Compared to her peers, Noya was indeed more mature and thoughtful. Her mind was full of complex thoughts.
At the same time, this also made her emotional journey more difficult than other young dragons.
Whether in the future or now, Noya was always the most understanding one.
As for fatherly love, Leon gave equal love to all his daughters. He cherished each one as if they were jewels.
But if anyone deserved more, it was… Noya.
It was his failure to handle the relationship with Noya well in the beginning that made this thoughtful child feel that her family was on the brink of collapse, pushing her to constantly strive to keep the family together.
Her stubborn and awkward personality was like his own, just like Roswetha’s.
“Hmm? What’s this fragment?” Roswetha pointed at the black crystal shard and asked.
“I’m not quite sure.”
Leon picked up the fragment and examined it closely. “I saw something like this in her box when I was in the future, but I didn’t have time to ask. Our eldest daughter burned it all with a single fire. So she must be quite skilled with fire element magic.”
Roswetha chuckled. “So… now do you see what this is?”
Leon furrowed his brow. “It feels very familiar, both in texture and in sensation…”
As he thought carefully, it suddenly hit him.
“No way… could it be…”
“What?”
Leon slowly turned to Roswetha, disbelief in his eyes, and said:
“This… is a fragment of the Black Gold War Chariot.”
