Anna was stunned, "Fast? Your Majesty… are you in a hurry?"
The queen's pretty face turned red, and she quickly averted her eyes.
"No, no rush at all. It's just that our clansmen are about to return, so finishing the reconstruction quickly would be a nice surprise for everyone."
Anna suddenly understood, "I see. Understood, Your Majesty."
"Mm, go ahead then."
Anna nodded in salute, then turned and withdrew.
Rossweise secretly let out a breath of relief.
But suddenly, she felt someone gently tugging at her skirt hem.
Rossweise looked down and immediately smiled, bending over and scooping up the little one into her arms.
"What's wrong, Little Light? Did you need something from Mommy?"
"Mommy, are you going to rebuild the throne?", Little Light asked.
"Yes… This throne has been around for so many years, it's time to refurbish it," As she spoke, Rossweise sat on the throne with Little Light in her arms.
Looking at the empty hall of the sanctuary below the throne, Little Light pondered for a moment and said, "Mommy, compared to other clans, isn't our Silver Dragon tribe a bit too small?"
Rossweise was slightly taken aback, her silver eyes quivering.
'Even Little Light has noticed this...'
Indeed, the continuous wars had drastically reduced the Silver Dragon tribe's population.
The dragon race had always adopted a "small but elite" development method. While this approach could efficiently produce powerful individual warriors, if the frequency of war exceeded what the race could bear, then unlike humans or other large races, dragons couldn't recover in a short time.
And once a tribe faced destruction, most Dragon Kings would choose to disperse the tribe. This was one of the ways to preserve the tribe's fire for a future comeback.
Fortunately, Leon had returned in time this round. Otherwise, with Rossweise's order of dispersal going out for too long, it would have been hard to gather back many clansmen.
Little Light's unintentional words made Rossweise realize this problem even more deeply.
As the queen of the Silver Dragons, she had to deal with the issue of insufficient population as soon as possible.
"Mm, it is a bit too few. But Mommy will solve it."
"How does Mommy plan to solve it?"
"Uh…"
This was easier said than done.
The most common reproductive method among dragons was cocoon-birth, which didn't require a mate or ten months of pregnancy.
But the downside was that after creating a dragon cocoon with their own power, dragons would fall into a state of extreme weakness.
At such times, it was easy for other races to take advantage.
The Silver Dragon tribe was already in a post-war recovery phase. Leon was also in an empty-blue state. If someone with ill intent seized the opportunity…
Then it would be real trouble.
"This isn't something I can explain in just a few words. If Little Light is interested in learning about the tribe's development model, wait until you're a bit older. Then Mommy will teach you, okay?"
Little Light's eyes lit up, "Okay! Thank you, Mommy!"
Rossweise smiled and rubbed her nose tip against Little Light's, then put her down, "Go play with your sisters. Mommy still has things to do."
"Got it, Mommy."
After Little Light left, Rossweise sat alone on the throne, looking at the vast and desolate sanctuary hall, her delicate face full of worry.
She lightly bit her lower lip, sighing in her heart.
"How can I raise the population count…", Rossweise murmured softly, her palm unintentionally brushing over her lower abdomen.
The next second, the queen suddenly sat up straight, the corners of her mouth slowly rising, "I've got a way!"
———
A few evenings later, Rossweise solemnly sought out Leon, saying she had an important matter to discuss.
Leon was sitting in her study, flipping through various ancient books, "What is it? Why so mysterious?"
"My Silver Dragon tribe needs to expand its population," Rossweise said bluntly.
Leon paused, put down the book in his hand, and looked up at her, "So? I can help slay some dragon kings, but asking me to help expand your population? That's not something I can help with."
"Who says so? You can help," Rossweise said confidently.
"How can I help you? I've never studied tribal management. Besides, I mean, wait a minute… expand the population…"
General Leon's brain quickly worked, carefully analyzing the female dragon's words.
'Hiss~'
"No way… You're not thinking of having a fourth child or something, are you?", Leon asked.
Rossweise was also stunned. She didn't answer, but countered with a question, "Why would you say that? Could it be… you really want to have another one with me?"
"Are you kidding, female dragon. I, the mighty Dragonslayer, already had three kids with you, that's defying the heavens. How could I possibly go for a fourth one!"
Leon spoke firmly, neither humble nor arrogant.
"I, Leon, would rather die, die outside, than have another child with you!"
Rossweise snorted with a smile, crossed her arms, tilted her head slightly, and said slowly, "Whether to have a child with me isn't up to you, it's up to me."
Leon blinked, not understanding, "What do you mean by that?"
"The initiative of the contraceptive magic after intimacy is in my hands."
Rossweise lifted her tender jade-like finger and lazily admired it under the study's lamp light, "That is to say, whether to conceive or not depends on whether I use the contraceptive magic."
Leon's mind moved slightly.
He remembered now. Rossweise got pregnant with Little Light because, after using Blood Charm to take revenge on Leon, she passed out directly and didn't have time to use contraceptive magic.
So what Rossweise said was true. Whether there would be pregnancy after "handing in homework," the choice lay in her hands.
"But even if that's the case, do you think you can manipulate me? Naive," Leon said.
The queen raised an eyebrow, grinning mischievously, "Oh? So you're saying, from now on you won't touch me at all, right?"
"..."
"You don't want me to light up your dragon markings again?"
"..."
"You don't want to kiss my ankles and the backs of my knees anymore?"
"Enough…"
"You don't want to see me dress as a bunny girl for you again?"
Smack!
Leon slapped the table, "Alright, Melkvei! Don't use the homework excuse to threaten me. I, Leon Casmodeous, am not the kind of man who would sell his soul for a moment of physical pleasure and let you have your way."
Rossweise smiled faintly, stepping slowly toward the desk behind which Leon sat.
As she walked, she slipped off her slippers, revealing her clean, fair jade-like feet.
Her skin brushed against the wooden floor, her steps silent and light.
She came before Leon, bent down, her eyes rippling.
"You… are not that kind of man?"
"I… am."
He could endure anything, but not being able to see the bunny girl anymore? That was unbearable.
In General Leon's heart, Bunny Girl Rossweise was on par with his Donkey.
Rossweise smiled and pinched his cheek.
"Alright, no more jokes."
Leon could tell she had come to him for a serious matter, so he dropped the playful mood and asked seriously,
"Then… about expanding the Silver Dragon population, what can I do to help?"
"Publicity."
"Publicity?"
Rossweise patted Leon on the shoulder, "Yes, Casmodeous. You and I being together is the best publicity."
———
A few days later, at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, the tribe's people had mostly been recalled.
Rossweise stood at the podium, delivering a passionate victory speech.
The clansmen below listened with blood boiling.
One had to admit, even though she disliked showing her face in public, as a queen, she was very good at stirring emotions in her followers.
Leon was also listening quietly in the audience.
All around him, Silver Dragon clansmen were trying to get closer to the Prince.
"Hey, you're crowding me!"
"I was standing here first, okay? You're the one pushing me!"
"What do you mean you were here first? I was! Prince, wasn't I here first?"
"Prince, it was me, I even greeted you earlier."
Leon smiled helplessly, "Everyone, calm down, calm down. Let's listen to Her Majesty's speech properly."
Inner OS: 'If you don't listen carefully to my wife's speech, I'll hang all you second-class contributors up and beat you!'
After Leon's perfunctory reassurance, the nearby Silver Dragons quieted down and listened to Rossweise's speech.
After her victory summary, Rossweise didn't paint a big rosy picture for the clansmen.
After all, she'd always been a doer, not a talker. And the issue this time truly required the full cooperation of the entire Silver Dragon tribe.
"Look at your fellow clansmen around you, have any of you noticed something?", Rossweise asked.
The clansmen looked around, but no one spoke up.
This was an unspoken rule during leadership speeches. Even if the leader asked a question, you shouldn't actually answer.
Because the leader only asked the question to naturally lead into what they wanted to say next. They didn't need anyone to help bridge the topic.
Of course, if the leader really wanted someone to respond, they would arrange it beforehand or designate someone to answer.
Rossweise's gaze swept across the clansmen below and she continued,
"Perhaps you've already noticed. Compared to a few years ago, our numbers have dropped significantly."
"War after war has drastically reduced the Silver Dragon population. If this continues without change, when the next war comes, we may not even be able to preserve our final fire."
Rossweise went straight to the point and laid bare the crisis facing the Silver Dragon tribe.
As expected, the clansmen below began whispering and discussing.
"Her Majesty is right. If we want to defend our homeland, we must ensure we have the numbers."
"But from the dragon race's reproductive traits, there's no way we can recover to previous levels in a short time."
"Should we borrow troops from Princess Isa?"
"Princess Isa's side is just like ours. Just finished a war and currently recovering. As for borrowing troops… I'm afraid that's beyond her means."
"Then… cocoon-birth, how about that?"
"With cocoon-birth, the mother becomes extremely weak after forming a cocoon. If an enemy attacks then, it'd be big trouble. So cocoon-birth can't be used for large-scale population growth either."
"This is… really a headache."
"..."
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