Losweiser frowned. "What's wrong with the word 'mother'?"
"Then what do they call me?"
"They call you Dad."
Leon spread his hands. "See? Normally, Dad always goes with Mom. Mu En is willing to call me Dad instead of Father, which means she prefers the more affectionate form of address."
"Is 'mother' not affectionate?" Losweiser asked seriously.
"Of course it isn't—well, no, that's not it. It's just too... formal. It makes people seem a little distant."
Losweiser's thoughts stirred. She did not answer immediately, silently considering Leon's words.
After a pause, Leon added, "How about we make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"Have Mu En and Noa start calling you Mom, and see whether they become more willing to be close to you than they are now."
After a brief moment of thought, Losweiser nodded. "All right."
"You're not going to ask what the stakes are?"
"There's no need. If I lose, you can do whatever you want."
After thinking for a moment, she added, "Except letting you go home."
Leon gave a scornful laugh but said nothing.
Losweiser lowered her head and muttered, "Mother and Mom... is there really such a big difference?"
Leon did not continue discussing the subject with her.
After all, he had spoken from the heart. If they wanted to maintain this fake family in front of the children, affectionate forms of address were a necessary part of it.
Besides, hearing Little Mu'en and Noa call her "Mother" all day really did feel strange.
They were clearly family, so why did they have to act like such polite strangers?
After the topic of names ended, they remained silent together for more than twenty minutes.
Losweiser slowly rose to her feet. "Let's go. There's somewhere else we need to visit."
"Where?"
"Well... I didn't ask you out this time just for a walk. There's also something I wanted to show you."
Losweiser said, "I can't let you go home, but this thing should be able to ease your troubles a little."
Leon did not ask what it was. He merely narrowed his eyes and studied Losweiser. "You've been acting very strangely today, Dragon Queen."
Losweiser shrugged. "If you don't trust me, forget it. We can go back now."
With that, Losweiser turned around and started down the path they had come from.
But before she had taken two steps, Leon called out behind her.
"Hey, take me to see what it is."
With her back to Leon, a smile appeared at the corner of Losweiser's lips.
Finally, he had taken the bait!
The sensation brought by the double Dragon Marks was doubled as well.
Just brushing her fingertips lightly across Leon's skin was enough for an exaggerated effect, like thunder igniting a blazing fire.
Leon bit his lower lip, his brows tightly furrowed, his hands clenched into fists as he desperately suppressed his instincts and urges.
But the current brought by the Dragon Marks battered his crumbling reason like a raging flood.
Losweiser did not even need much foreplay. Simply looking down at him and smiling was enough to set the fire in his heart burning fiercely.
"Double Dragon Marks... what kind of experience is that, Leon? Can you tell me?"
She smiled, seductive and enchanting, like a soul-stealing temptress.
When the Dragon Race became excited, there were only two things in their minds:
Destruction and conquest.
They did not think about anything else at all.
And Losweiser was in precisely that state of excitement.
Leon was restraining his urges, and likewise, Losweiser was suppressing her own Dragon Race instincts.
How she wanted to merge flesh and blood with the prey before her. How she wanted to destroy his body, his will, and his dignity completely. How she wanted to force him to beg bitterly before her by the most unbearable means, venting the desire for conquest in her heart to her fill.
But she could not yet.
She wanted to take it slowly, bit by bit, and savor every part of ruining the person beneath her.
His endurance, his resistance, and the way he clearly wanted to abandon reason and drown in the Queen's tenderness, yet bitterly held to his bottom line because of the Dragon Slayer's pathetic pride—all of it was a trophy of revenge to Losweiser.
Losweiser reached out and gently brushed the back of her hand over Leon's burning cheek.
She admired that stubborn yet resolute face and sincerely praised her husband in name.
"You're still as handsome as you were two years ago, Leon. The scars on your face have faded a little, but you've gained a touch of weariness and age. You have even more of a mature man's charm now."
The simple touch had already stirred the fire deep within Leon's heart.
He gritted his teeth and held fast to his last shred of reason.
But he also knew that, in the end, he would still be unable to resist the resonance of the Dragon Marks.
What was more, Losweiser had tampered with his armor and added another Dragon Mark to it.
Under the double impact...
No one could endure it.
And they were in the back mountains, far from the Holy Temple, with not a soul nearby.
Losweiser could freely unleash her wild nature without any more restraint or concern.
"Ugh! Damn it—"
Leon growled. The Dragon Marks' reaction became increasingly intense, and he no longer had the strength to keep resisting.
Losweiser's eyes curved into crescents, brimming with endless intimacy and tenderness.
"Leon! Leon~ Leon..."
The Dragon Marks were eroding Losweiser's reason as well, and she had even begun calling Leon's name unconsciously.
Suddenly, the Queen's waist went limp, and she instantly collapsed against the chestplate of the Black-Gold War Chariot.
Her full breasts were slightly deformed by the hard armor pressing against them.
Leon secretly rejoiced that a layer of armor still separated him from Losweiser. Otherwise... the Dragon Marks on their chests would truly be pressed together right now.
However, Leon had celebrated too soon.
Losweiser slowly moved closer to his face. Silver strands of hair fell from the side of her face, their tips lightly tickling Leon's forehead and the tip of his nose.
It felt soft and itchy.
But what itched even more was Leon's heart.
Their lips were only the width of an index finger apart.
Leon could even feel Losweiser's scorching breath against his face.
She had never taken the initiative like this before.
She was so close, so very close.
Close enough that if either of them breathed a little more deeply, their lips would touch.
"Losweiser..."
"Leon... I, I—"
Her eyes trembled, gentle as water, as if she wanted to say something.
But she hesitated and stopped herself.
At last, she straightened her waist and said coldly,
"Hmph. This is only revenge, Leon."
It was unclear whether she was truly saying those words to Leon, or to herself as well.
Leon's vision grew increasingly blurred, and his breathing became heavy.
Before the Dragon Marks completely devoured his consciousness, the last thing he saw was Losweiser's tender, emotional dragon eyes.
Flesh and armor, burning heat and icy cold, intertwined and merged without restraint in that secluded cabin in the mountains.
In the forest, the leaves of thousands of ancient trees swayed in the breeze, birds chirped in waves, cicadas sang without pause, and everything seemed to provide thorough cover for the man and woman inside.
After an unknown amount of time, Leon slowly woke.
Every part of his body ached painfully. Even the slightest movement made his joints crack.
It felt as though someone had broken every bone in his body and then put them all back together.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he sat up and leaned against the cold wall behind him.
Looking ahead, Losweiser seemed to have only just recovered from her exhaustion. She stood there, calmly and methodically putting on her clothes.
The glow of the Dragon Marks flickered twice like a campfire at dawn before finally going out.
Once she was dressed, Losweiser picked up the scattered pieces of the Black-Gold War Chariot one by one and placed them back into the box.
She handled them gently, her movements extremely careful.
After returning the box to its original place, Losweiser slowly walked to a spot about three meters in front of Leon and gradually sat down beside a display rack.
The Queen looked exhausted as well. The flush on her face had not completely faded, her tail lay limply at her side, and her silver long hair was slightly disheveled.
Leon rested the back of his head against the cool stone wall. Though his eyelids felt unbearably heavy, he still met Losweiser's gaze.
The atmosphere between them was strange, as if the pleasure they had just shared had never happened at all.
"I want to rest for a while before we head back," Leon said.
"Mm."
Her voice sounded somewhat hoarse.
She must have gotten too carried away just now and shouted herself hoarse.
Leon looked at her weary appearance and noticed that her mood seemed somewhat low as well.
Through their several "encounters," Leon had already noticed this.
But thinking about it carefully, it was only natural.
Because while humiliating Leon in this way, she was also destroying her own bottom line and her own heart.
The thrill of revenge existed only in the moment, not afterward.
Still, Leon did not take the initiative to ask about or show concern for Losweiser.
In a few minutes, she would be fine. She would return to being that cold, scheming Silver Dragon Queen again.
Leon silently leaned in the corner, lowered his head, and said nothing.
Rustle—
It was the sound of fabric brushing against skin again.
Before you continue