Knock, knock, knock—
"Coming."
Leon went to answer the door.
Outside stood Muwen and Noah.
"Mom—huh? Dad? Did you sleep in Mom's room last night?" Muwen's face was full of excitement and curiosity.
Leon smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. "Yeah, we stayed up late with your mom studying poetry, songs, and the mysteries of the universe. So I ended up sleeping here."
"Can Muwen join next time when Mom and Dad sleep together?"
"Of course, yes."
"Yay! Long live Dad!"
Muwen was about to jump on Leon, but he made a quiet gesture with his finger.
"Shh, Mom is sick and still sleeping. Do not wake her up."
Muwen's smile disappeared. "Sick? How did that happen?"
Leon opened the door wider. "You will see when you go inside."
The two kids glanced at each other and quickly walked into the room.
They saw immediately that Mom was lying still on the bed.
Muwen called out, "Mom," and ran over to her.
She stood by the bed, gently poking Rossweise's wrist, but there was no response.
"How did Mom get sick?" Noah turned to look at Leon.
Leon stood at the bedroom door, his hands in his pockets. He explained calmly, "We were talking on the balcony last night. We fell asleep without realizing it. The cold wind blew on us all night, and we caught a cold."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Perhaps it is a bit more serious than just a cold."
He knew Noah was smart and mature for her age. But no matter how bright she was, she was still a little dragon girl barely over a year old. Sickness was not something she knew much about. Leon was relying on this to tell his lie smoothly.
"But do not worry, Dad will take good care of Mom," Leon said.
Muwen held Rossweise's slightly cool hand. She sniffled, her voice full of worry.
"Mom, why are you so careless? You have to get better soon. When you do, Muwen will not make you angry again."
The mood in the room became sad for a moment.
Just then, the maid Anna knocked on the door.
Since Leon had not closed the door, Anna stood at the entrance holding some nutritional supplements.
"Your Highness, I brought the nutritional supplements you asked for," Anna said.
"Oh, good, thank you. Just put them by the bed," Leon replied.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Anna walked into the bedroom with the supplements. When she saw Muwen and Noah, she greeted them respectfully. "Good morning, Your Highnesses."
"Anna, my mom is sick," Noah said.
As Anna arranged the supplements, she said, "When I came to see His Majesty this morning, His Highness had already told me. I have done a full check. Her Majesty is very weak right now, but all her signs are normal. She just needs to rest for a few days. There should not be any problem. Your Highnesses do not need to worry too much."
After putting the supplements in place, Anna turned around with a smile. "I will handle the clan's internal affairs for these few days. If Your Highnesses and His Highness are interested, you can come and watch me work."
"Well, thank you for your hard work, Anna."
"Not at all. As long as I can help Her Majesty, it is no trouble. If there is nothing else, I will go and get busy, Your Highness."
"Alright."
After nodding to Leon and the two little dragon girls, Anna hurried away.
Leon stretched out his arms. "See, even Anna said Mom is fine. You should feel better now."
Then, he crouched down and wiped the tears from Muwen's eyes. "There, there. In a few days, you will see Mom full of energy again. Muwen, no more crying."
Muwen nodded hard. "Yeah, Muwen will not cry."
"Good girl. Stay here and keep Mom company, but do not get too close. Colds can spread, you know."
"Okay, Muwen understands."
With that, Muwen walked to the bedside. She kept a little distance and looked at her mom lying unconscious on the bed.
She was really the kind of obedient, well behaved, and innocent little girl. She could not hide her feelings, but that made her easier to comfort.
Right now, the tuft of hair on Muwen's head and her tail were drooping. They had none of their usual bounce.
Even though Rossweise was usually strict with them, she was still their mom. How could children act normal when their mom was sick?
Leon sighed quietly in relief. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Muwen's drooping tail.
He blinked, feeling like something was wrong…
What was it…
Suddenly, he remembered. When he was cleaning the bed earlier, he had not seen Rossweise's tail.
Leon opened his mouth, wanting to ask about it.
But he stopped himself. Neither Anna earlier, nor Muwen and Noah now, had acted surprised or curious about "Rossweise's tail being missing." That meant this was normal for dragons. There was no need to ask. If he did ask, it would definitely make… his eldest daughter suspicious.
Thinking this, Leon looked at Noah. Sure enough, the cool faced little dragon girl was watching him without any expression.
Leon scratched his temple. "What is wrong?"
Noah looked away. "Nothing."
Why did he just… stare at Muwen's tail? And then look a little surprised at Mom's waist?
Noah's mind was working, thinking quietly.
The two sisters stayed with Rossweise all morning. When it was time for lunch, the maid led them away.
But after a few steps into the corridor, Noah stopped. She turned back to look at Leon without saying a word.
Leaning against the doorframe, Leon asked, "Why are you looking at me like that again?"
Noah squinted her eyes slightly. She whispered, "Mom is still unconscious. Do you… have any plans?"
At first, this sounded a little strange. But Leon knew he could not take it lightly. His eldest daughter was very clever. She would not ask such a question for no reason. Maybe she had noticed something?
"No, I do not have any plans, Noah. I just want to take good care of Mom," Leon replied calmly.
There was no panic in his voice, and he did not try too hard to sound sure. He was as relaxed and natural as in a normal conversation.
Noah held his gaze for a second. Then she said in a quiet voice, "Is that so? That is good."
Then she left with Muwen and the maid. She did not look back again.
Watching Noah walk away, Leon sighed. "She really is too clever, my dear daughter. Hmm, just like me."
Even though he was praising himself, Leon and Noah were indeed very similar in how smart they were. This father and daughter pair were both very sharp.
Leon let out a breath, closed the door, and went back to the bedroom. He pulled a chair to the bedside, thought for a moment, and then lifted the blanket. He turned Rossweise onto her side.
The bottom of her nightgown was empty. Her usually useful and flexible tail was gone.
"Indeed, the tail is gone," he muttered to himself.
He turned Rossweise onto her back and tucked her in again. He thought, "But if the tail were still there, lying flat like this would be very uncomfortable, would it not?"
He tried to picture it. If he had a long thing sticking out from his tailbone, he would probably only be able to sleep on his side.
Leon did not think too much more about Rossweise's missing tail. Instead, he looked at the nutritional supplements on the bedside table.
When Anna came this morning, Leon had asked her to prepare supplements for Rossweise, like she did when he was unconscious.
Anna had said, "Actually, it is not needed. A dragon's body can go without food or water during hibernation. We store energy when we eat normally. But if Your Highness is worried about Her Majesty, I can prepare some supplements for her."
"Not eating or drinking is fine… that is impressive," Leon said as he picked up a bottle of the supplements.
If Rossweise did not need them, then he would take care of them himself. He decided he would take all these supplements.
That way, when Rossweise woke up, she would find a dragon slayer full of energy and ready for a fight.
Leon smiled and raised the bottle towards Rossweise as if making a toast.
"Cheers, my beloved wife."