"But—"
"No buts, Leon. I have no reason to lie to you. The grudge between us has nothing to do with whether I'm disappointed or not."
Losweiser paused, suddenly remembering that Leon only believed in himself and loved to overthink things.
So no matter how much she explained, he probably wouldn't fully believe her, would he?
Thinking of this, Losweiser didn't continue preaching at him. Instead, she teased, "If I had to say there was something I was disappointed about... then it would be—"
"It would be?"
She looked at Leon, a smile curling at the corner of her lips. "You practiced Dragon's Might too little. Why did you only practice it once?"
"...From now on, I'll treat Dragon's Might like a daily meal. Don't regret it!"
After staying up several nights, the couple had finally figured out every detail about each other.
Their average score on the practice tests had reached above eighty. As long as they performed normally, there shouldn't be any problem with their family assessment.
Losweiser wasn't actually someone who often stayed up late. Once midnight came around every night, her body clock would urge her straight to bed.
The reason she had persisted in staying up late to prepare for the exam, aside from "for our daughter, any hardship is worth it," was also because...
Listening to Leon's embarrassing past was just too entertaining.
Who would have thought that a human's short twenty-year life could be both so exciting and so absurd?
But compared to that, her more than two hundred years of dragon life had been tedious and monotonous almost every day, apart from her childhood.
After becoming the Silver Dragon Queen, that tedium had seeped into every part of her life.
Yet somehow, at some point, a trace of amusement had appeared in that tedious life.
Since her daughter had been born?
Or since... Leon had awakened?
Well, it had nothing to do with tomorrow's test. Losweiser shook her head and stopped thinking about it.
In any case, after several nights of cramming, they had finally reviewed all the family assessment test questions from recent years.
They had also gained a deeper understanding of each other.
On the night before they set off for the academy, the doomed couple sat at opposite ends of the sofa.
Leon looked completely drained, while Losweiser wore a grave expression.
The room was quiet, with only the repetitive mechanical ticking of the grandfather clock audible.
Moonlight and a faint chill drifted in through the window, making Leon wrap his clothes tighter around himself.
He rubbed the tip of his slightly cold nose and stole a glance at Losweiser.
She leaned quietly against the sofa, supporting her forehead with one hand. Her brows were faintly furrowed. Beyond exhaustion, she seemed to be under considerable pressure.
It was normal for her to be stressed...
After all, this concerned whether Noa could successfully enroll in Saint Hiss Academy—
Leon opened his mouth, intending to check on her.
But the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.
After sitting there for a while, Leon said, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."
But before he could stand, he heard Losweiser say, "Wait."
"What is it?"
Losweiser closed her eyes and asked flatly, "You've worked hard these past few days."
"Mm... it was fine. I'm used to it."
"Are you tired?"
Leon gave a small shrug. "A little."
Losweiser gave a soft hum, then raised her hand and pointed toward the bathroom in her room. "Go take a shower and relax."
Leon froze. "Take... a shower? In your room?"
"Mm."
"No. I'm not used to showering in someone else's room."
Especially not in this Dragon Queen's room.
Losweiser propped her cheek up with one hand, her pretty brows drawing together slightly. There was a hint of impatience in her voice as she urged him, "Hurry up. Once you're done, you can go back."
Leon slowly got to his feet, then crept into the bathroom on tiptoe.
He took off his clothes and turned on the hot water. Warm streams of water sprayed down, flowing slowly from the top of his head.
Leon braced one hand against the cold tiles, unable to understand what kind of madness this Dragon Queen was up to again.
For no reason at all, she insisted on making him shower here.
He couldn't shake the feeling that this was unsafe.
Click—
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the bathroom lights instantly went out.
Leon's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly shut off the hot water.
Then, in the dark bathroom, a faint purple glow flickered to life.
"Dragon Mark?... Hiss—This is bad!"
Sure enough, that Dragon Queen was forcing open the door—she was up to no good.
Leon hurriedly felt around in the dark for his clothes, but before he could put them on, the bathroom door suddenly flew open.
The light from the living room poured in, outlining a tall figure.
The figure was slender and graceful, with a voluptuous silhouette.
Purple light was also glowing from her chest.
The figure slowly stepped inside, her pale bare feet landing on the bathroom tiles.
"Losweiser...?"
Click—
She shut the bathroom door, and the light was immediately cut off.
Leon could only roughly judge her position by the faint glow of the Dragon Mark and the sound of her footsteps.
That glow drew closer and closer before finally stopping in front of him.
"Once the Dragon Marks resonate, you won't be able to run away," Losweiser whispered in the darkness.
Leon swallowed. "So, what's the excuse this time?"
"An excuse? I haven't thought of one yet. I'll think of it after we're done."
With that, she gave Leon no chance to keep asking questions. She reached out and wrapped an arm around his neck.
Her Dragon Mark lightly pressed against Leon's burning chest, while her long, flexible tail had somehow coiled around his waist.
In the darkness, the sound of water gradually surged, while skin scraped against tile with clear, audible sounds.
Who knew how long had passed.
Leon lay in the bathtub, his already weakened body drained once again.
Losweiser lay across from him, staring blankly at the water's surface.
After a long silence, the Dragon Queen finally said faintly,
"I understand now."
Leon tilted his head back and stared at the bathroom ceiling, responding in despair, "What do you understand?"
"I understand the excuse this time."
"I'm all ears, Queen."
"I was under too much pressure."
Splash—
Leon abruptly sat up. "If you were stressed, then be stressed! Why did you put all that pressure on me?!"
Losweiser gathered her wandering thoughts and returned to her usual indifferent expression. "There are two main ways to relieve stress: transferring it and releasing it. I transferred my stress to you, and I was relieved. It's perfect. Besides~"
The Queen slowly raised her long, pale arm, stirring ripples through the water. "You told me before that you'd won some kind of championship. What's wrong with adding a stress-resistance championship to the list now?"
"You—"
"Besides, wasn't that the mindset you came here with a few days ago?"
Leon gritted his teeth. "I need a harsher word than sexually frustrated to describe you, Dragon Queen."
"I'll give you two: moderate stress relief and balancing work with rest."
As Losweiser spoke, she stretched her beautiful body and sighed. "Anyway, I feel great now. Thank you, Leon."
After their tryst, she felt refreshed, and the pressure from all these days of "exam preparation" had indeed been briefly relieved.
"So, dear Dragon Slayer, are you staying to help me relieve more stress, or are you going to dry yourself off and go back to sleep?"
Her answer came in the form of splashing water as someone fled in panic, along with the words, "Just you wait, Dragon Queen."
The next morning, in the front courtyard of the Holy Temple.
"Mom, why does he look like he hasn't slept all night?"
Noa looked at Leon, who seemed—no, who truly had been completely drained, and asked.
Losweiser looked refreshed and rosy-cheeked. She greedily inhaled the fresh morning air, then gave a satisfied stretch.
"Mom doesn't know either. Leon, didn't you sleep well last night?"
"...Don't you know damn well whether I slept well or not?" Leon muttered through gritted teeth.
Losweiser waved her hand. "Alright, alright. Cheer up. We're going with Noa to take the test today."
With that, Losweiser spread her wings and transformed into her Dragon form.
Leon also patted his own face, forcing himself to wake up a little more.
Father and daughter climbed onto Losweiser's back one after the other.
The Silver Dragon Queen flapped her wings and shot into the sky.
They hadn't brought Mu En along for this test, since they weren't going out for fun.
Mu En had obediently agreed to stay home and wait for Dad, Mom, and Sister to return.
The family of three could therefore head to Saint Hiss Academy without worry.
The academy was located deep within Dragon race territory, an extremely safe place.
How safe was it?
Even if all the races joined forces and leveled one Dragon city a day, it would still take them a year and a half to reach the gates of Saint Hiss Academy.
Although the Dragon Race had split into more than a hundred small tribes long ago, whenever it concerned shared places such as Sky City and Saint Hiss Academy, they would still unite against foreign enemies.
It would take several hours to fly from the Silver Dragon Sanctuary to the academy.
After flying for some time, Leon had more or less recovered from his drained state.
He lifted his eyes and looked at Noa sitting in front of him.
Her little face was as cold as usual.
But she was clearly carrying a little more worry and anxiety than before.
Leon carefully chose his words, planning to give his eldest daughter one final pep talk.
Of course, he wasn't going to say things like, "Don't pressure yourself. It's alright even if you don't pass."
Before you continue