Chapter 70: The Truth About Everything
“Then, since you already knew I was human…”
Leon looked at his youngest daughter. “Why did you keep asking me to transform into a dragon just now, Xiaoguang? Can I? Can I really transform?”
Aurora chuckled silently.
General Leon paused for a moment, then suddenly realized.
“Le… Leziren…”
When he first met this future version of Xiaoguang, hearing her cold tone, Leon thought the past twenty years had changed her personality.
After all, his youngest daughter had once refused to speak for two whole months just to watch her parents bicker more often.
But now— Jiang shan yi gai, ben xing nan yi,* as the saying goes.
[*”**Jiang shan yi gai, ben xing nan yi (江山易改，本性难移)” – *Mountains and rivers may change, but one’s nature is hard to alter.* An idiom meaning that people’s inherent traits are difficult to change.]
The troublemaker was still the same troublemaker. She had just become prettier, matured into a lady, and put on a white coat.
“Mom used to enjoy watching you suffer, Dad. I guess I just inherited that from her,” Aurora explained logically.
“So… when will you take me to see your mom and Mu’en?”
“We can go right now. But I thought you’d have a lot of questions, like what the current situation is,” Noya said.
Leon’s eyes flickered, and he responded, “I can ask questions along the way. And… no matter how dire the situation is, I can handle it. Right now, I just want to see your sister and mom as soon as possible.”
Hiss—
Aurora took a sharp breath. “If anyone else said that, I’d think they were bragging, but when you say it, Dad… I actually believe you can do it.”
That matched her first impression upon reuniting with Leon a few hours ago:
Dad’s back. The strongest man is back. All problems will be resolved.
Noya also smiled knowingly. The old bastard was just as confident as she remembered—maybe even a little bit chuunibyou.*
[*” Chuunibyou** (中二病) – A Japanese term for “eighth-grader syndrome,” referring to young teens who think they are special or have hidden powers. Used here to humorously describe Leon’s overconfidence.]
“Alright, let’s go,” Noya stood up and started walking toward the cave’s exit. “Xiaoguang, you must be tired after flying all the way here, right?”
“Yeah, pretty tired.”
Aurora rubbed her shoulder. “I just learned how to transform into a dragon, flew such a long distance, and even carried a 77-kilogram idiot on my back.”
“Did you have to be that precise about the number…”
“It’s called a scientist’s respect for numbers, Dad.”
Leon chuckled.
Talking with his youngest daughter felt a lot like the back-and-forth banter he used to have with Rosvitha.
That only made Leon more excited to meet the Rosvitha of twenty years later—assuming the dragons didn’t punch him as soon as they reunited.
His daughters’ punches he could barely withstand, but one from Rosvitha, the Dragon King’s punch? That might just shatter General Leon’s duodenum…
Lost in his thoughts, the father and daughters arrived at the cave’s exit.
Noya spread her dragon wings, transforming into her draconic form.
Her dragon form was also entirely silver, as expected from the Silver Dragon race.
However, because of her half-human bloodline from Leon, some of her scales were black.
Not a jarring black, but a smooth, gradient transition.
Apart from being much smaller than Rosvitha, there wasn’t much difference.
Leon and Aurora climbed onto Noya’s back, and Noya flapped her wings, soaring out of the cave.
As they left the mountain gorge, Leon glanced back, recalling how Xiaoguang had told him that Noya had been waiting for him here just a few hours ago.
“Waiting…”
Leon thought for a moment, then asked, “Noya, you’ve been waiting here the whole time for me, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then… Xiaoguang waited for me at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary?”
“Yes, Dad,” Xiaoguang, sitting next to him, said. “Those were the only two places you might come back to, so we had no choice but to split up and wait.”
Leon carefully considered his daughter’s words.
She only mentioned that they had waited for him in separate places, deliberately leaving out the fact that they had waited for twenty years.
Aurora liked playing the carefree troublemaker, but her mind was just as sharp.
Leon scratched his temple and asked, “But what if… I never came back?”
“Then—”
“Then we would keep waiting,” Noya finished her sister’s sentence for her.
Leon looked at the silver dragon beneath him.
His daughters had grown up, yet in some ways, they hadn’t.
They had become strong, mature, and steady, but they still clung to a childlike stubbornness.
Waiting for someone without knowing whether they would ever return—that was the most torturous thing in the world.
Leon buried his face in his hands and let out a heavy sigh.
Aurora watched him silently, saying nothing.
Under the cover of night, the silver dragon flew toward a hidden part of the dragon territories.
There, the truth behind everything awaited them.
……
After eight or nine hours of flying, Noya finally began to slow down.
Beneath them was a dense forest, and they hadn’t seen any dragon tribes along the way.
Noya descended slowly, landing in the forest.
After transforming back into her human form, she turned to the two behind her. “Let’s go.”
Leon nodded and followed her along with Aurora.
They were now far, far away from the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, and judging by the surroundings, there didn’t seem to be any signs of war.
Leon didn’t know whether they had left the sanctuary on their own or had been chased out by someone.
But whatever the case, he would soon meet Rosvitha and Mu’en. He would soon learn the full truth behind everything.
Following Noya, they ventured into the heart of the forest.
At one point, they wound through a narrow, twisting path—so complex that anyone without a guide could easily get lost here.
After walking for another twenty minutes, the three of them arrived at a massive stone.
The path ended here.
Noya slowly raised her hand and gently pressed it against the stone.
The next moment, the stone began to flicker irregularly, and then it disappeared.
Illusion magic.
And high-level illusion magic at that—Leon hadn’t even noticed it. He thought there might have been some hidden switch on the stone.
Behind the illusory boulder was a tunnel.
His two daughters stepped inside, and Leon followed closely behind.
Once they were all inside, the stone reappeared.
Their footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel. Noya bent down, picked up a torch from the corner, and lit it with dragonfire.
The fire illuminated the path ahead.
Leon was slightly surprised.
Noya’s elemental attribute was the same as his—lightning.
Although it was common for people to learn a secondary elemental magic later in life, it usually took much more time to master.
But Noya’s precise control over fire elements was far beyond what someone her age should be capable of.
Leon thought, Looks like the overachiever hasn’t changed one bit.
“Let’s keep going,” Noya’s voice broke Leon’s thoughts.
“Alright.”
The three of them passed through the tunnel, which ended at a spiraling staircase leading underground.
Descending the stairs, they arrived at a well-crafted underground space.
Noya placed the torch beside a wooden door, then reached out and pushed the door open.
At the sound of the door, a cheerful voice identical to Noya’s rang out from inside:
“Sis, Xiaoguang, you’re finally back!”
“What did you find this time?”
“Mom’s still the same, and I’ve been keeping her company, chatting with her.”
“Sis, I want steak, can you make me some later—Dad, Daddy?!”
It’s so touching how much the daughters love their parents and family that they don’t even care about their hybrid origin.
Leon and Rosvitha really are blessed with lovely daughters!
How will that little “cotton ball” turned out after 20 years….I think something big happened to Rosvitha, the way muen was talking about her.
Was kind of hoping for more of a reaction on the secret being revealed
Well, it has been 20 years, the children are all grown up now. Time to make more.