Noah sat on a bench in the training ground. Sweat dripped from her small nose and forehead. She had just finished a set of physical exercises.
During her break, Noah remembered the short talk she had with Leon the day before.
"Mother is still unconscious. Do you have any plans?"
"No, I have no plans, Noah. I just want to take care of Mother properly."
She had asked that for a reason. For a long time, Noah had felt that something was… strange about her family. It might not be as happy as it seemed.
Leon and Mother seemed to be hiding something from everyone, including Noah and Muwen. What could be so secret that even their own daughters could not know?
Noah did not understand. But she had a faint guess that Leon might not belong here. He had tried to run away before. Mother, Muwen, and she had all seen it. But when Mother caught him and brought him back, and Noah asked where the man wanted to run to, Mother had avoided the question.
Since then, Leon had stayed quietly in the temple, taking care of them and teaching, with no sign of trying to escape. But Noah knew very well that this mysterious man was very clever. No one knew if he stayed because he wanted to, or if he was secretly waiting for another chance to run.
So, his answer yesterday—"I have no plans, I just want to take care of Mother"— whether it was true or not, only he knew.
When there were unknown reasons behind love, Noah would rather stay away from it than be used by someone.
So, she always felt there was a distance between her and Leon. In Noah's eyes, Leon's love did not seem completely pure.
Noah shut her eyes tightly. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and jumped off the bench. She planned to do one more set of exercises before going back to rest.
But as soon as she took a step, she heard Muwen's voice.
"Sister! Sister!"
Muwen came running over in a hurry. Noah quickly went to meet her. "What is wrong? Do not panic. Tell me slowly."
"My Rubik's Cube is broken. I wanted to find Dad to fix it, but I cannot find him anywhere."
Noah frowned. Without thinking, she held Muwen's hand tightly.
Could her guess be…
But Noah did not jump to conclusions. She said, "Let us go look for him again."
"Okay."
However, after looking everywhere, they still could not find Leon. The two sisters went to Rossweise's room. Seeing their mother lying unconscious on the bed, Muwen could not help crying.
"Mom! Dad is gone!"
There was no doubt about it. Noah's guess and worry were correct. Leon, he had really left!
Holding back her own disappointment and sadness, Noah comforted her crying sister.
"Muwen, do not cry. Some people are good, but if they do not belong here, they will leave sooner or later."
"But… but Mom is unconscious now. Dad is gone. What are we going to do in the future?"
"It is okay. Sister will take care of you and protect you. Sister has grown up a lot and can do many things now."
She always said she was like an adult. Now, she finally had to firmly take on an adult's responsibility— even though she did not even have a kindergarten graduation certificate.
"So what should we do now?" Muwen asked.
Noah's eyes moved. She saw a photo on the bedside table. It was a small family portrait they had taken before.
"Since he is gone, it means we have to start a new life. Let us say goodbye to that guy properly."
Noah took Muwen back to their room. She found a spare photo from when they started school. Then she took a pair of scissors and cut out the part with Leon in it.
"What are you doing, sister?" Muwen asked.
"In the adult world, when someone leaves, you put their photo on a stand. Then you put some flowers and light a fire next to it," Noah explained seriously. "Then you throw everything you think was meaningful to him into the fire as a farewell."
Muwen sniffled, her voice choked. "Muwen does not understand."
"Anyway, it is for Dad's own good."
"Oh, okay. Then Muwen will find something meaningful for Dad."
"Yeah. Oh, and remember to change into a black dress later."
"Why?" Muwen asked.
"I do not know, but adults wear black clothes when they say goodbye."
"Okay, Muwen understands."
After making the plans, Noah put away Leon's photo. Then she crawled under her bed and took out her small wooden box. Inside was still a piece of black fragment, a paper with her name on it, and a handmade Rubik's Cube. After thinking for a moment, Noah walked out of the room with the wooden box.
About an hour later, in the backyard of the temple, the two dragon girls were wearing black dresses. Muwen held a plate of fried steak— because Dad seemed to really like fried steak, so she planned to throw the steak into the fire later.
Noah held her small wooden box. They had also gathered some of the temple maids.
The maids were confused by the princesses' orders.
"W-what are we doing?"
"I do not know. Maybe the two princesses are playing a pretend game?"
"A game? It looks very grand and serious to me. They even took down the prince's photo."
"Ah, children's thoughts, how can we understand? Let us just follow along."
"True."
"Quiet!"
Noah had a serious expression. "We are now holding a farewell ceremony for Leon Cosmodeous. Everyone, please take this seriously."
The maids stood up straight, trying their best to cooperate with the princesses.
"Looking back on the life of Leon Cosmodeous, it was a short but brilliant life. His leaving is without a doubt a heavy blow to us."
The maids' eyes twitched a little. "What kind of pretend game is this? Why does it look like… a funeral?"
"The prince did not say anything, so let us not ask too many questions."
"But in this pretend story, does that not mean the prince is dead?"
"Shh! Be quiet!"
"Ah."
Copying how adults spoke, after she finished her speech, Noah put Leon's photo on the table behind her— she could not find a real photo stand, so she used an empty tin can instead. This was Muwen's idea.
"Okay, you can start crying now," Noah said.
"C-cry?"
"Yes, do not people cry when they say goodbye?"
As soon as she finished, Muwen started sobbing beside her. "Dad! Dad, why do you not want us anymore? Muwen misses you so much! Muwen even made fried steak for you. Please come back and look at Muwen~"
Muwen cried with real feeling, completely into her role.
Noah turned her head and pointed at Muwen. "See, just like my little sister."
Even though they still did not really understand why the princesses would play such an unlucky game…
But as they said: since the prince did not object, the maids should just go along with it.
"Ah… um… Prince, please do not leave. Your two daughters are so lovely. How can you bear to leave us?"
"Prince, we cannot bear to see you go~"
The maids started to play along.
Noah also turned to look at the bonfire in front of her. "Muwen, did you throw the fried steak into the fire?"
Muwen nodded. "But why do you still have a piece in your hand?"
"Um… after the farewell, Muwen might get hungry, so… Dad probably would not mind, right?"
Noah's face was serious. "I guess not."
With that, she looked down at the wooden box in her hands. This was her last connection to that man. Burning it would cut all ties with him. Noah took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if she had finally made a decision. Goodbye, father—
But at that moment, they suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Oh, who are we saying goodbye to? Let me join in."
The two little dragon girls turned their heads toward the voice at the same time. They saw the familiar man kneeling there. He bowed twice to the photo on the table.
Then he stood up, smiling. "When I was little, your grandfather taught me how to play the suona. Do you know what a suona is? It is a mysterious instrument from the East, often played at ceremonies. Would you like Daddy to play it for you?"
Before the two little ones could react, the maids behind them exclaimed, "The princesses' love has moved the heavens! The prince has come back to life!"
(Sleeping Dragon: What is all this noise?)