Losweiser smiled and nodded. Naturally, she would not reject anything that could torment Leon.
Mu En looked at Leon again. "Daddy, isn't my suggestion good? Why aren't you smiling again?"
Leon: Good daughter, guess why I'm not smiling. :)
If there was a family dinner like this every day, Leon figured he would lose at least thirty years off his life.
Dinner was supposed to be the best time of day for family members to talk and bond.
But here, it had become Losweiser's means of torturing Leon.
What was more, there was now Noa, that sharp little iceberg Dragon girl, joining in. Leon was completely facing two against one.
There was no way to fight this!
He was just considering how to make Mu En abandon the idea.
Then Noa suddenly spoke.
"No, Mu En."
Mu En's little face fell as she looked at her sister. "Why not?"
"I want to study in the Young Dragon Department at Saint Hiss Academy."
As she spoke, Noa looked to Losweiser, seeking her opinion.
Losweiser was slightly surprised by her eldest daughter's idea as well.
She knew Noa was very mature for her age and had a decent talent for magic.
But the dragons who normally enrolled in the Young Dragon Department were around four or five years old.
Noa was only one year and two months old. Even in terms of height, she was far smaller than a four- or five-year-old young dragon.
Losweiser set down her knife and fork, lifted her eyes to her eldest daughter, and asked seriously,
"Why are you in such a hurry to enroll?"
"Because I want to defeat more—"
"More?"
"Dragon Slayers."
"Pfft—cough, cough... cough—"
Leon had wanted to take a drink of water to calm himself down, but the moment it reached his mouth, he heard his eldest daughter say that she wanted to defeat him.
What a filial daughter.
Noa looked at Leon disdainfully. "Mind your table manners."
Oh, look at you, acting like such a grown-up.
Leon wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Dragon Slayers are all very brave. Daddy is afraid you'll get hurt."
"You can't grow without getting hurt."
Fine. Now that was a truly stubborn little mule.
Leon wanted to say something else, but Losweiser cut in,
"I think Noa's idea is quite good. The sooner she learns these skills, the sooner she can fight Dragon Slayers. Besides, I think Dragon Slayers are just a bunch of idiots. They're nothing special. Some of them might even get so scared by a sip of water that they spray it everywhere. Don't you think so, Leon?"
"..."
"Good. It seems your father has no objections either."
Losweiser smiled. "Saint Hiss Academy has entrance tests twice a year. The next test is one month from now, so we'll need to make some preparations for enrollment during this month."
"Yes, Mother."
"Mm. We'll discuss the details tomorrow. Eat first."
The two little ones lowered their heads and continued eating.
Losweiser glanced sideways at the utterly despondent Leon and asked with feigned concern,
"Why aren't you eating, Leon? Is my cooking not good?"
"It's good... it's good..."
"If it's good, then eat more. You need to fill up so you'll have the strength to... do other things."
There was a deeper meaning behind those words, "do other things."
Leon felt a chill run through his crotch.
Why did he suddenly feel like a piglet being fattened up every day, only to be slaughtered at New Year?
Leon lowered his head to look at the steak on his plate and unconsciously tightened his grip on his knife and fork.
He could feel Losweiser's contempt and disdain for him.
In her eyes, he was no longer the valiant Dragon Slayer from two years ago, one worthy of being called her archenemy.
Perhaps, in Losweiser's eyes, the current Leon was merely a tool for raising children, a plaything she could use to vent her anger whenever she pleased.
She wanted to give the children real fatherly love, which was why she had spared Leon's life.
Leon had once said that she could destroy his dignity and pride, but she could never kill his faith.
Was that merely the boast of a Dragon Slayer who had been stripped of his personhood?
No...
That was not it.
He would never let Losweiser take anything more from him.
Silently, he cut the steak on his plate to pieces.
The faint flame in his heart that had been on the verge of dying out seemed to awaken once again.
An hour later.
The family dinner ended.
Noa took Mu En back to their room, while Leon volunteered to stay behind and wash the dishes.
Losweiser said that such things could be left to the servants.
But Leon said that a husband and wife doing the post-dinner cleanup together made things feel more like a family.
Losweiser did not object. She simply tied on an apron and went to the kitchen, preparing to wash the bowls and plates.
Only she and Leon remained in the room.
Clear water flowed from the faucet as Losweiser stood before the sink, carefully wiping each dinner plate.
"Hey, when are you going to help? Didn't you say we were washing together? You—hiss..."
Before she could finish, Losweiser suddenly felt a wave of heat in her chest.
The sensitive nerves in her body were stirred at once.
She tugged her collar open slightly and discovered that the Dragon Mark on her chest was flashing with a dark purple glow.
"Leon... you—"
She wanted to go out and question what Leon was up to this time.
But the instant she turned around, the Dragon Mark's reaction suddenly became even stronger.
Losweiser's legs gave out, and she fell forward.
Fortunately, she caught the doorframe in time. Otherwise, she really would have fallen right there.
Even so, the Dragon Mark's reaction continued to erode her body and reason.
Her vision grew hazy, her mouth went dry, and her desire to reproduce became increasingly urgent.
She swallowed. In the end, she could not resist the ever-strengthening resonance of the Dragon Mark. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping heavily without pause.
Thud—thud—
Footsteps sounded before her.
Losweiser looked up.
It was Leon.
Cold moonlight poured in through the nearby window and fell across Leon's profile.
He wore no expression as he looked down at Losweiser.
Yet anyone who looked closely could see the beads of sweat on his forehead.
Clearly, he too was fighting with all his strength against the resonance of the Dragon Mark.
"What... what are you going to do..." Losweiser asked in broken breaths.
At that moment, two powerful urges battled within her mind.
One was her vigilance toward the man before her. The other was the instinctive desire to make love with him.
She knew Leon was feeling the same way she was.
"Losweiser, when we were in the dungeon two years ago, I told you something. I wonder if you still remember it."
Leon slowly crouched down until his gaze was level with Losweiser's.
He reached out and gently lifted Losweiser's chin, looking at her flushed cheeks and unfocused, seductive eyes.
"Never be alone with a strongest Dragon Slayer who has undergone rigorous training."
Losweiser met his cold gaze and said with a smile,
"Heh... stop forcing yourself, Leon. You want to use the Dragon Mark's reaction to weaken me, then take the chance to escape. It's a good idea, but let me tell you, it's impossible."
"The Dragon Mark affects you and me equally. And you just woke up from a two-year coma, so you have barely recovered any strength at all. Even if I become weak, there's no way you can escape from here—"
Leon interrupted her. "Who said I was going to escape?"
"W-what..."
He leaned closer slightly, then reached out and lifted the weakened Losweiser into his arms.
Her long silver tail hung down as the Queen leaned against this bastard's chest, staring at him in astonishment.
"Leon, what are you doing? What are you doing?!"
"I did just wake up from a coma, and my stamina and physical condition haven't fully recovered. But... they've improved somewhat over the past few days. It's enough."
As he spoke, Leon carried the Queen toward the entryway.
"Enough... for what? Leon, answer me. Enough for what?"
Once they reached the entryway, Leon set Losweiser down on the floor, positioning her head toward the door and her tail toward himself.
Then he crouched down and grabbed Losweiser's tail.
"Don't, Leon—"
When the Dragon Mark resonated, a Dragon Race member's tail became an extremely sensitive area.
Just a gentle squeeze could have a considerable effect on the other person's sensitive nerves.
At that moment, Losweiser lay weakly on the floor like a kitten being held by the scruff of her neck by fate.
"Let go of my tail... Leon..."
With what little consciousness she had left, Losweiser said, "Otherwise, when tonight is over, I'll definitely kill you. I swear..."
"That will be something to deal with after tonight, Losweiser. Besides, I've never feared death. You know that."
As he spoke, Leon tightened his grip.
A numbing sensation shot from her tail through Losweiser's entire body.
She tilted her head back slightly, doing her best to restrain the restlessness in her body.
"The Dragon Race craves conquest, craves the destruction of everything, craves control over everything."
"You're the same, Losweiser."
Before you continue