Chapter 18: You two, try showing off your love again
Leon closed the book and finally looked up at Roseweiser, saying, “It’s not too late to invite me now.”
As he spoke, he gently placed his large hand on Roseweiser’s leg.
Roseweiser raised an eyebrow and slowly extended her hand.
Leon thought the mother dragon was going to respond to his flirting, but instead, she came closer and snapped his hand back with a sound, then said,
“Don’t touch me. Is the body of the queen something you can touch casually?”
Leon smiled and withdrew his hand, “I understand, Your Majesty, no touching through clothes.”
Roseweiser clicked her tongue, using her tail to lightly brush his cheek.
“Stop saying such strange things. It’s as if our daily lives aren’t shameless enough.”
Leon shrugged, “Then you just said you wanted to invite me to bathe together; isn’t that shameless?”
“I’m a woman, and women can say yes, but men can’t say no.”
“You’re not just a woman, mother dragon, you have double standards.”
“So what if women have double standards? I still gave you children!”
“You say that as if you could have given birth without me.”
“Our noble dragon race can give birth on our own!”
The couple continued their usual banter. After a few exchanges, Roseweiser managed to leave Leon speechless.
They sat, one in a chair holding an ancient book,
The other casually leaned on the edge of the desk, her arms crossed, droplets of water still hanging from her hair.
They exchanged a brief gaze, and both of them burst into laughter.
Leon placed the ancient book on the desk and then reached out to grab Roseweiser’s wrist, pulling her toward him.
Roseweiser feigned resistance but eventually obediently settled on his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, playing with her damp silver hair, and asked,
“Where did you learn so many strange ideas?”
“Some garbage I came across while studying foreign cultures.”
Roseweiser leaned comfortably against his strong body, her legs lazily swaying, her feet almost losing her slippers as she gently rocked.
“Well, although it’s not a popular theory, as a woman, it does sound pretty good.”
Having lived for over two hundred years, the queen was naturally not easily fooled by such nonsense.
She just found it amusing and thought it might be effective in annoying her pretend husband.
As it turned out, Roseweiser’s prediction was correct.
Even after decades of effort, not even General Leon could withstand it.
Leon chuckled, then switched to a serious topic,
“By the way, what do you think of Noa’s classmate?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… I don’t quite understand your dragon race’s social customs, so from your perspective, Noa’s friend doesn’t seem to have any issues, right?”
Roseweiser blinked her beautiful silver eyes, then nodded,
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Doesn’t it involve any… dragon race diplomacy or anything?”
“That depends on which dragon clan Helena comes from. If she’s from a tribe that often causes wars, I’d ask Noa to be cautious, but I wouldn’t force her to cut ties with Helena.”
Roseweiser hooked her arm around his and gently caressed his cheek with her thumb, continuing, “Friends are hers to make; no one else can make decisions for her, right?”
“Oh, you’re quite open-minded,” Leon complimented.
“Learned it from you.”
Roseweiser lightly poked Leon in the chest, “Letting our daughter grow up healthy requires respecting her, doesn’t it?”
Leon smiled. “Then why don’t I feel respected?”
“Why should I respect a prisoner?”
“Ah, alright, alright, another prisoner. I’ve never seen a prisoner treated like this.”
As he spoke, he tested her weight on his lap, then hugged her a little tighter.
Roseweiser hummed in dissatisfaction, “Now you’ve seen it; this is how we Merkwy family, treat prisoners.”
After some playful teasing, the topic shifted back to Noa and Helena.
“I’m glad Noa has made a friend like Helena.”
Roseweiser said, “That girl seems very sensible, and her manners reflect a distinguished upbringing. She’s older than Noa, so she can take care of her emotionally and mentally.”
This last sentence hit the nail on the head.
Leon nodded in agreement. “Noa, that stubborn little mule, finding someone to rely on emotionally isn’t easy for her.”
“Exactly. That’s why we shouldn’t interfere with our daughter’s friendship.”
Roseweiser said, “She can tell right from wrong and knows who to form deep relationships with and who to keep at arm’s length.”
“Yeah. But…”
Roseweiser raised an eyebrow, “But?”
“I think Mun has been acting a little… strange? During dinner, she deliberately had Noa cut her steak for her and then kissed Noa after a long time.”
Leon mused, “Sisterly affection should come later, when they’re back in their room, right? Why did it start so early at the dinner table?”
Roseweiser also remembered Mun’s odd behavior at the table.
“Children’s thoughts… It’s normal not to understand them.”
Roseweiser said, “Maybe it’s just because Noa brought back a new friend, and Mun isn’t used to it?”
“Are you saying Mun might dislike Helena?”
“Not exactly ‘dislike. ‘ Mun is a good child; she rarely shows any hostile emotions.”
Roseweiser said, “After getting to know Helena better, things should be fine.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Speaking of sisterly affection… This weekend, I planned to take the kids to see my sister.”
Roseweiser looked at a photo on the desk, a picture of her and Isa from a long time ago.
“Recently, the Empire and Lavie sent many people to the outskirts of the Red Dragon territory to prevent my sister from coming to support me. She’s been dealing with them day and night.”
Roseweiser said, “Now that the crisis has temporarily passed, I’ve been meaning to visit her.”
“Yeah… Then we’ll go next week,” Leon said.
…
Footnotes:
- Merkwy: Refers to the royal family or dragon clan in this context, likely an ancient or noble name.
- Primordial Magic: A term referring to ancient, powerful magic in the story.
- Double Standards: A cultural reference to a situation where different rules or standards are applied to similar situations depending on who is involved.
