Shut Up, Evil Dragon, I Don't Want to Have Children with You Again

Next came the meticulous cleaning.

She still had everything well in hand, carrying it out with practiced ease.

Leon had thought that, as the Silver Dragon Queen, she would never do this sort of housework.

In a daze, he seemed to see a shadow of Mistress in Losweiser.

That simple, hardworking farm owner's wife had been just as serious and meticulous when doing housework.

Thinking of this, Leon's mood sank a little further.

Though his memories of last night were incomplete, he vaguely remembered saying that he... missed home.

More than two years had passed... How could he not miss it?

He wondered how Master and Mistress had been doing.

Leon rubbed his fingers together, hesitated for a moment, then finally said to Losweiser, "Um... do you remember the bet we made before? We'd have the daughters call you Mom and see whether they'd be happier?"

Losweiser temporarily stopped her chores and turned around. "Mm, I remember. Have you decided what you want to ask for?"

Hah, she agreed so readily. It seemed she herself was well aware that the daughters had become closer to her after changing what they called her.

"I have. Could you send someone to the Empire... to check on my Master and Mistress?"

Leon said, "I know dragons send spies into human countries. Your people have specifically trained dragons for that kind of work too, right?"

Losweiser's thoughts stirred slightly. "The Silver Dragon Clan isn't particularly good at infiltration missions like that. Those are usually handled by dragons skilled at disguising themselves. But if it's only to visit your Master and Mistress, that won't be a problem."

Leon's eyes lit up. "Really? Then tha—then, I'll have to trouble you."

Losweiser gave a snorting laugh. "For you to say the words 'thank you' to your archenemy really is quite rare, huh."

Leon looked away and said nothing more.

Losweiser silently resumed her housework.

Before long, the room was nearly cleaned.

Just then, Leon heard the lock turn.

A few seconds later, two tiny figures walked into the bedroom, one after the other.

"Good morning, Mom."

"Good morning, Mom!"

"Morning, Noa, Mu En."

The two little ones turned to look at Leon on the bed. Just as they were about to greet him, they noticed that their old father's complexion seemed off.

Mu En remembered that "chocolate candy" from yesterday.

Daddy had said it was medicine prepared for Mom;

but Mom had said that Daddy was actually unwell, except he couldn't say so and could only claim it was medicine for her.

Looking at it now...

Mom had been right after all!

Mu En hurried to the bedside, her little face full of worry.

"Daddy, are you feeling unwell?"

Leon looked blankly at his little daughter. "Ah... no, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"I know everything, Daddy. Don't force yourself."

Leon froze. "Y-you know what exactly...?"

As he spoke, he looked at Losweiser.

Could it be that this Dragon Queen had told the children?

Hey, have you lost your mind?!

How could she tell little children something like this?!

Didn't he, as their father, have any pride?!

When Noa heard that, a flicker of worry also crossed her icy little face.

But unlike Mu En, she did not show it too obviously and merely stood silently to one side.

"Daddy, yesterday you said Mom was sick, but actually you were the one who was sick, right?"

Mu En clutched Leon's sleeve, her voice carrying a faint sob. "Mu En knows Daddy is a man, and men can't say they're sick, but... but Daddy, your complexion is even worse now. Mu En is so worried about you."

"Don't cry, don't cry. Daddy's fine."

Leon hurriedly reached out, wanting to pull Mu En into his arms.

But he found that his body was truly too weak; even holding a little dragon girl took some effort.

In the end, Noa had to support her younger sister's bottom from the side before Mu En could sit on Leon's lap.

After helping out, Noa still stood off to the side coldly.

Yet her gaze never left Leon.

Leon raised a hand to wipe the tears from Mu En's eyes and said with a smile, "Daddy's really fine. If I weren't, I'd already be—gah—lying stiff on a board, never waking up again. Would I still be able to hold you and talk?"

He had thought a little joke would cheer his little daughter up like before, but Mu En's face remained full of worry.

"Daddy, you're lying to me. You're sick. You don't feel well."

Mu En sniffled. "Oh, oh, right! Didn't you prepare some medicine yesterday? Did you take it?"

"...I did. I took it."

"Then why aren't you better yet, Daddy, if you took medicine?"

"...Emmmmm."

"Was the medicine not strong enough?"

"..."

"Did you take too little?"

"..."

"Did you take the wrong medicine?"

Little padded jacket, one more question and you'll really be crossing the line. :)

"Daddy, say something, Daddy. Don't scare Mu En. Say something."

Noa looked at Leon's expression, blinked, and after a slight turn of thought, roughly understood what had happened.

This guy was probably genuinely not feeling well, then lied to Mu En and told her Mom was sick. But after taking the medicine himself, he discovered it had no effect—if anything, he felt worse than before he took it.

Simply put, it had backfired.

Then she looked at Mom's reaction.

Losweiser was silently doing housework over there, but at the same time, she seemed to be... holding back laughter?

Oh. So that was it.

At least this guy wasn't going to die.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mu En can't live without Daddy! Daddy, hurry and get better, waaah!"

Noa tugged her younger sister's tail. "Come down, Mu En. I'll go play with you. We'll come see him again tonight."

"No! If Daddy's days are numbered, Mu En has to stay with Daddy the whole time!"

"What do you mean, 'days are numbered'? Don't use idioms carelessly. Come down. He's fine, I guarantee it. By the time we have dinner together tonight, he'll definitely be bouncing around like nothing happened."

Mu En blinked her beautiful big eyes. "Really, eldest daughter? You're not lying to Mu En?"

"Mm. I'm not lying."

"Okay. Then Daddy, get lots of rest. We'll eat dinner together tonight."

"...Okay."

Mu En jumped down from Leon, and Noa took her hand as they left the bedroom.

"Daddy, you have to rest properly! Remember to take lots of medicine!" Mu En called into the room before leaving.

Click—

The door closed.

"Pfft—"

Losweiser had held it in for so long that she finally couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Leon's face darkened.

"Does anyone understand how I feel?"

Fortunately, thanks to the tempering he had received from Master when he was young, Leon's basic physical condition was fairly good. No matter how exhausted or weak he was, a few days of rest would restore him to seventy or eighty percent.

Though he still could not do overly strenuous physical labor, taking walks outside and reading with the children were no longer a problem.

The day was bright and sunny. Noa had gone off for physical training, and Leon finally had time to spend with his little daughter.

If Leon did not go remind Mu En of his existence soon, his daughter might really start believing her old father had ridden a crane westward.

He carried Mu En to the rear garden of the Holy Hall.

"Daddy, let's keep playing Dragon Knight~" Mu En suggested.

"Sure."

As he spoke, Leon moved to lift Mu En up so she could ride on his shoulders.

But halfway through, Mu En suddenly swished her tail. "Wait, Daddy."

"What's wrong?"

"Mom said your body hasn't fully recovered yet, so Mu En can't play Dragon Knight with Daddy. It'll affect Daddy's recovery."

Leon paused slightly. The little dragon girl was as considerate as ever.

He smiled. "It's fine. Mu En isn't that heavy."

"Still no."

Mu En spoke stubbornly, kicking her legs to signal for Leon to put her down.

Unable to refuse his daughter, Leon had no choice but to do as she said.

After setting Mu En down, Leon crouched in front of her and patiently asked, "Then what game should we play?"

Mu En pursed her little lips, thinking for a long while without coming up with any game that was both fun and didn't require much energy.

Seeing Mu En begin to struggle, Leon suggested, "Since Mu En can't think of any good games, how about Daddy makes you a toy?"

The little dragon girl's eyes lit up. "A toy!"

"Mhm."

"What kind of toy?"

"You'll find out once it's finished. Come on, let's go to the storage room and find some materials."

"Okay~"

Whether they played a game or made a toy made no difference to Mu En.

What mattered most was that she wanted to stay with Daddy.

A child's world was just that simple. As long as she could be with Daddy, she would be happy no matter what they did!

Leon took Mu En to the temple's storage room and gathered some parts and tools.

Once he had collected everything, Leon weighed them in his hand, then checked the number of parts.