"Is that so..."
"Mm... and also—"
Leon pursed his lips and glanced at Rossweise beside him.
Rossweise gave him a slight nod.
Leon understood the signal.
"And also... Dad's going out with Mom again tomorrow, and it might be a few days before we come back."
"Ah~ why is it like this, Daddy Mommy, but you two just got back, Luna doesn't want you to go out."
The grilled steak on Luna's plate instantly lost its flavor.
Leon hurriedly patted his daughter's little head, "Luna, be good, when Daddy comes back in a few days, I'll bring you something tasty."
Even saying so, Luna's mood was still a bit down. Her little mouth muttered, "But... but Luna missed you..."
In the past, when Leon and Rossweise had to leave for a few days, Luna would also act reluctant like this.
Leon would use the promise of "bringing tasty food" to comfort Luna, and Luna would obediently accept it.
But as she grew older, that trick gradually stopped working so well.
Whether or not she got to eat... to Luna now, wasn't that important anymore. She more hoped that Daddy and Mommy could spend more time with her during the summer break, along with her sisters, and Little Light.
Leon felt troubled too.
Looking at his daughter's pitiful little expression, he could only continue speaking,
"Daddy promises you, once I come back this time, I'll stay with you all the time, not going anywhere, alright?"
Little dragon girl's eyes lit up, "Really, Daddy?"
"Mm, really."
"Yay~ Long live Daddy~"
"What about Mommy?"
"Long live Mommy too~"
Noah narrowed her eyes slightly.
For some reason, she felt like suddenly, there were a lot of flags planted on Daddy.
———
The next morning, Leon and Rossweise had everything packed, and before setting off, they went to their daughters' room once more.
Leon gently pushed open the bedroom door; the three little ones were still sleeping.
The eldest lay naturally on her back, the second hugged the eldest, the third was nibbling the second's tail;
Though their sleeping positions were vastly different, it still barely counted as harmonious.
Leon tiptoed forward, gently took Luna's little tail tip out of Little Light's mouth, and set it aside.
Little Light mumbled a couple of dream words. Without anything to hug, she instinctively stretched her hands and unconsciously grabbed Leon's wrist.
Leon was briefly stunned, then smiled in relief.
He gently pulled Little Light's hand away and tucked her small arm into the quilt, then softly touched her slightly baby-fat face.
This little one, usually so chirpy, was actually quite quiet in her sleep.
Leon withdrew his gaze and looked to the side.
Rossweise was also helping Luna adjust her sleeping posture, making sure she didn't have her arms and legs all piled on top of her older sister.
But clearly, while awake Luna was a sis-con, asleep she was still a sis-con, and not as easy to "arrange" as Little Light.
Just like a cat that follows the "paw must be on top" principle, no matter how many times Rossweise moved her, she would always hug Noah again.
In the end, Rossweise could only smile helplessly and gently pinch her daughter's nose tip, "You, you... when will you stop clinging to your sister so much."
"Mm... Sister... smells good...", Luna muttered sleepily, rubbing her face into Noah's neck.
Leon and Rossweise retreated to the bedroom door and took one last look at their sleeping daughters.
"Let's go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can come back to be with them," Leon whispered.
Rossweise's gaze still lingered on the girls. She nodded, "Okay."
She withdrew her gaze, and the couple quietly closed the door.
A few minutes later, a silver dragon took off from the front yard of the Silver Dragon Temple, flapping her wings and flying toward the distance.
Unbeknownst to them, on the balcony of the sisters' room, a small figure was quietly watching that silver silhouette until it disappeared beyond the horizon.
———
At dusk, near the forest on the border of the human Empire.
Rossweise lifted the invisibility magic and hid with Leon on a treetop.
Leon was very familiar with the terrain of this forest. In his earlier years while studying at the Dragon-Slaying Academy, the school would often send them here for combat assessments.
He also clearly understood the Empire's defensive layout around the forest. Some of the outposts were even personally set up by him back then, so he could easily lead Rossweise to avoid the patrols' sight.
Leon crouched on the treetop, looking toward the city wall entrance.
"Recently, with frequent wars, the Empire has reduced the number of patrols."
Leon said, "Which is perfect for our infiltration."
"How do you plan to sneak in?", Rossweise asked.
"Of course, we wait for a merchant caravan to pass through the gate, then sneak under one of their wagons and ride the chaos in."
That trick really worked every time. Past, present, or even twenty years in the future, Empire security never checks under wagons.
"Truly... an unexpected infiltration method, but thinking it's something you'd do, it all makes sense," Rossweise teased slightly.
The couple then waited for the arrival of a merchant caravan.
But luck didn't seem to be on their side today, even into the evening, no caravan had passed by.
Leon scratched his temple, "Why's nobody coming to do business with the Empire? Everyone already made enough money...?"
"Many factors affect trade. Seasons, population shifts, frequency of war, etc. As you said, the Empire's been very active on the battlefield lately, so of course they can't spare resources for foreign trade," Rossweise explained.
Leon paused, then looked at his wife, "Why didn't you ever teach me this money stuff?"
Rossweise blinked, then smirked mischievously and said, "Afraid you'd secretly stash away a private fund."
"..."
Sure enough, private money is a hurdle every married man must face.
But seriously, it wasn't that Rossweise didn't want to teach Leon more. There was just so much, she had to do it gradually.
She couldn't possibly dump everything she'd learned over fifty years of ruling onto Leon all at once, right?
This idiot's pig brain would fry.
"So, with no merchant caravans, what do we do?", Rossweise asked.
"Wait for the right moment," Leon replied seriously.
Rossweise thought for a moment, then hit the nail on the head, "So basically you haven't figured out how to get in, right?"
"...Come on, you think the Empire's your backyard? You can just walk in whenever you want?"
Leon had a point. This was the strongest nation in human territory. No matter how sloppy their security was, they weren't blind.
The times Leon managed to sneak into the Empire in the past did involve some luck.
In fact, the first time they escaped the Empire, he, Master, and Rebecca brute-forced their way out.
Since Lady Luck wasn't on Leon's side this time, they had no choice but to quietly wait for a chance.
Leon sighed inwardly, just hoping that chance would come quickly.
He turned to chat with Rossweise, but found the mother dragon no longer beside him.
Leon stood up and looked back. Rossweise was standing on a tree branch, scanning the surroundings, as if looking for something.
"What are you looking for?", Leon asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's been so long, I wonder if that tree's been chopped down."
Leon became even more curious. He quickly walked over and stood beside Rossweise, following her gaze elsewhere.
But looking out, all he saw were similar giant trees. None looked different.
"What tree?", he asked again.
"The one we were on when I thoroughly humiliated you in front of the Empire you swore allegiance to."
Leon: "....."
The imagery was too vivid. Even if Leon didn't want to remember, the scenes of "branches swaying, creaking sounds" flashed rapidly through his mind.
"Your Majesty, you really are the nostalgic type," Leon said through gritted teeth.
Rossweise lightly snorted and ignored him, continuing to look for the tree where their dreams began.
Soon, Rossweise exclaimed joyfully, "Oh, found it!"
She excitedly pointed it out to Leon, "There, see it?"
Naturally, Leon didn't remember such detail. Five years ago, he wanted nothing more than to execute Rossweise on the spot.
So Leon just glanced casually and snorted, "Looks no different than the others. You're just randomly pointing, aren't you?"
"No way. I'll take you there to see."
With that, Rossweise spread her dragon wings and flew with Leon to that tree.
Landing on the highest treetop, Rossweise stepped on the branch. The branch creaked.
"Familiar sound, Leon?", Rossweise smiled and asked.
"...The war's almost here, Mother Dragon. Can you not dig up bad memories for me."
After a pause, Leon asked again, "Also, you still haven't told me how you recognized this tree."
"Simple."
Rossweise said, stepping to the treetop, then raised her hand and pointed toward the Empire, "This is the best spot to observe the Empire. Back then, to let you clearly see your Empire, I specifically chose this tree."
"Well aren't you thoughtful, Your Majesty," Leon couldn't help but complain.
Just as the couple were about to continue bickering, Leon suddenly thought of something.
He quickly raised his hand, signaling Rossweise to stay silent, then crouched down and warily looked toward the base of the tree.
"What is it?", Rossweise asked.
"This area's within the patrol range of the Dragon-Slaying Army."
Leon said, "Remember after we finished last time, we ran into a dragon-slaying squad? Their captain even gave me a signal flare, told me to use it if I was ever in danger."
Rossweise recalled it, indeed, that had happened.
Which meant this tree really was in patrol range.
"Let's head back to where we were earlier. It's safer there," Leon said.
"Okay."
Flirting aside, they couldn't delay the mission.
But just as they were about to leave, they heard footsteps coming from below the tree.
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