But the stall owner seemed to have noticed that this family was dressed extravagantly and looked wealthy, so he wanted to squeeze a little more money out of them.
"Ah, I didn't expect not a single toy prize to be claimed today. These parents really don't understand what their children want."
As he wiped down the toy gun, the owner dropped pointed hints.
Leon suddenly stopped and looked down at Noa. "Do you want those teddy bears, Noa?"
Noa pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No."
When the eldest daughter said she didn't want something, it did not necessarily mean she truly did not want it.
Leon looked at Mu En again. "Do you want one, Mu En?"
"Um... Mu En doesn't, doesn't want one either."
Right. That meant she wanted one.
Leon guessed that Mu En had said she wanted the plush toy from the balloon-shooting game earlier, which was why Noa had pulled her over there.
Leon took Mu En's hand and turned toward the stall.
Noa froze, then looked up at Losweiser.
Losweiser smiled and nodded at her.
Only after receiving her mother's permission did Noa trot over.
"Ten more shots, Boss." Leon returned to the stall.
"Ten shots? Ten probably won't be enough, sir. This game looks easy, but it's actually very difficult. Your daughter didn't hit a single balloon just now." The owner tried to coax him along, clearly hoping Leon would spend more gold coins.
But Leon merely repeated flatly, "Just ten."
"Fine, fine. Ten shots."
The owner handed over the same toy gun from before.
Noa took several coins from her pocket and pushed them toward the owner.
"Thank you," Leon said.
"Mhm." Noa nodded.
Leon raised the toy gun. Magical energy flowed from his fingertips into its magazine.
Besides aiming, the Dragon Race version of balloon shooting also required a certain degree of precise control over magical energy.
Bang—
The first shot.
The bullet went wide.
The owner grinned. "Good, good, it's fine. Keep going, keep going."
Mu En tugged at Leon's clothes and looked up at him. "Daddy, how about we stop? It's okay if Mu En doesn't get that teddy bear."
Their family was not short on the money for a few rounds of shooting, and they could buy that teddy bear at a high price if they wanted.
But the owner's bad luck was that everyone in this family was stubborn.
Especially the one holding the gun right now.
Leon patted Mu En's little head. "It's okay. Daddy can do it."
"Yes, yes, yes, sir, you can definitely do it. Would you like to pay a little more for a few more—"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All three shots hit, and three balloons burst in response.
The owner's last word was swallowed by the explosions of the balloons.
Noa and Mu En's eyes lit up.
"Daddy is amazing! Go, Daddy!"
The owner had celebrated too soon.
Leon's first shot had missed only because he was testing exactly how much the gun had been tampered with.
Now, based on that test, Leon could recalibrate the gun.
Then he fired several more shots in succession.
All ten shooting chances were used up, and Leon hit nine targets.
The prize was two large teddy bears.
"Thank you, Boss. See? I told you ten shots would be enough."
Leon handed the two teddy bears to his daughters.
The owner wanted to cry but had no tears.
Where had this freak come from?
He could still shoot straight with the sights crooked?
Get out of my stall already!
Leon turned around in satisfaction and looked up at Losweiser.
The Dragon Queen had empty hands.
Then he looked at his two daughters, both returning with full arms.
After thinking about it—
Leon turned back around.
"Boss, ten more shots."
Leon raised the gun and started firing.
Every bullet hit a balloon, but each one felt more like it had slammed into the owner's heart.
He had run this stall for so long and tampered with the guns in so many ways, yet he had never seen anyone this accurate.
The owner glared at Leon, fury blazing in his heart.
However, someone else present felt the exact opposite of the owner.
In her eyes, the man before her was focused and serious—though a little stubborn, it was not a big problem.
Every time he pulled the trigger, a balloon burst, and he would reveal a confident, proud smile.
Although this guy was usually somewhat unreliable, whenever he got serious, he always possessed a special kind of charm.
"Daddy is so cool! So cool, so cool!" Mu En showered her father with praise from the side.
Noa also watched Leon's focused shooting with eager admiration.
See? From Mu En and Noa to Losweiser, they all felt that way.
By the time Losweiser came back to her senses, a large teddy bear had already been stuffed into her arms.
Soft, warm, and fluffy.
Although, in a dragon's mind, bears were merely unappetizing food not even worthy of filling one's stomach, this thing had been made into a plush pillow and was rather...
Cute?
The girls' reactions said it all.
Even Noa, who usually did not smile much, could not put hers down. She pinched its little paw and made it "fight" Mu En's bear, playing to her heart's content.
And this simple joy was something only Leon could bring them.
Her older sister Ischa had always told her that a family could not be without a man.
Back then, Losweiser had scoffed at those words, believing she could still live perfectly well without one.
But thinking back to what had just happened, if Leon had not been there, then with Losweiser's personality and status, she definitely would have lectured Noa and told her not to touch such childish games in the future, since they were nothing but a waste of time.
That was how a queen handled things.
Calm, decisive, and efficient.
They had no need to waste their time, energy, or emotions on something so trivial.
But Leon had clearly approached the matter as a man, as a father.
He did not want his daughters to have to learn some lesson while they were out having fun.
Those lessons could be taught afterward.
But right now, their dad had to stand up for his daughters.
That was probably a parenting philosophy Losweiser could not learn in a short time.
There was nothing wrong with it. She supported Leon doing things this way; it was all for the girls' sake.
Losweiser lowered her eyes, hugging the oversized teddy bear as she gently rested her chin atop its head.
When Leon had handed it to her earlier, she said she did not want it.
Leon said the money had already been spent, so should he throw it away?
She said no.
And so, the family of four—mother and three daughters—each carried a large teddy bear, drawing sidelong glances from the dragons passing by.
Naturally, the man with empty hands and an empty tail was the first to catch the attention of passersby.
Everyone could tell that this bountiful haul had come from the hands of that male dragon unwilling to show his tail.
Of course, the passersby's gazes eventually settled on the teddy bears.
Losweiser was accustomed to the worshipful looks of others, but she was not yet used to such envious gazes.
She even heard several young dragons point at the teddy bears in their hands and tell their fathers or mothers that they wanted one too.
Feeling the attention of the surrounding dragons, Losweiser could not help burying her face deeper into the teddy bear's soft head.
"Careful not to suffocate yourself," Leon suddenly said.
"Is it really that hard to get a kind word out of you?"
"Why should I say kind things to you? This teddy bear is worth a hundred nice words from me. Assuming I say twenty sentences to you every day, and one of them sounds nice, then I don't need to say anything nice to you for over three months."
"...Looks like your body has recovered. Even your tongue has gotten sharper, huh?"
Leon raised his hands in surrender, then made a zipping motion over his mouth, indicating that he would obediently shut up.
They had a wonderful time at Young Dragon Paradise that afternoon.
A few dragons also recognized Losweiser as the Silver Dragon Queen, likely princes or leaders from other clans.
Out of courtesy, Losweiser chatted with them for a few moments.
Near evening, they returned to Selena's photo studio to collect the photographs they had taken that morning.
The family portrait was relatively large, while the school-entry photos and various sister portraits were smaller. Selena had packaged them separately.
On the way back, the father and three daughters sat on Losweiser's back in her Dragon form.
Mu En could not wait to open the family portrait's wrapping, but Leon stopped her.
"We'll open it when we get home, Mu En."
"Okay~ I'll listen to Daddy~"
After several hours of flying, they returned to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary at around ten that night.
Head Maid Anna had prepared a late-night meal for them.
After simply filling their stomachs, the four of them went to the nursery where Leon usually slept, ready to unwrap the photographs.
The first one to be opened was naturally the family portrait.
Leon quickly tore open the packaging, and an exquisite family portrait of the four of them gradually appeared before everyone.
Their hands and tails formed hearts, and they looked blissfully happy.
It truly matched Losweiser's standards for this family:
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