She said it's fine, that means it's not fine;
She said she's not angry, not jealous, that definitely means she's "adding vinegar to the fire."
Leon asked, is this how Mistress is too?
Master said, nonsense, otherwise how do you think I summed it up?
Leon asked again, so you have to listen to women in reverse?
Master thought for a bit, replied, not necessarily, when she tells you to get in bed, you don't have to listen in reverse, because she really does want you in bed.
Back then, Master didn't go too deep. After all, these kinds of things between an old couple are easily understood with just a nudge, and at that time Leon was still too young, so Master just brushed it off with a laugh.
Pulling back his thoughts, Leon let out a slow sigh, then stood up, turned off the study's lights, and went to the bedroom.
He lifted the covers and lay down.
The blanket had already been warmed by the body heat of the beauty beside the pillow, warm and fragrant.
Leon turned his head. Rossweise was lying with her back to him, the shoulder strap of her nightgown had slipped from her shoulder, casually resting on her pale, lotus-like arm.
Leon opened his mouth, wanting to explain again about the female classmate.
But after thinking about it, he gave up.
'Let's explain it properly tomorrow...', Leon thought to himself.
Yet just as he was about to close his eyes and sleep, a faint voice came from beside him, "Just going to sleep like this?"
"...What else do you want, my queen?"
"Idiot."
Rossweise's tone carried a hint of grievance, "If you want to sleep, sleep. Good night."
Leon's thoughts stirred slightly.
'No, wait.'
She let him get into bed, and then proactively asked "just going to sleep like this?", aren't all these actions hinting at one thing:
She's waiting for Leon to give her a clear answer?
General Leon's brain rarely worked this hard on coaxing his wife.
He turned onto his side, looking at Rossweise's delicate back, her silver hair shining like a river of stars under the moonlight.
After a long time, Leon spoke, "There's nothing at all between me and that girl classmate, the most ambiguous thing was just one dance. After the ball, I barely spoke to her again."
"Mm."
A flat response.
Meaning Leon still hadn't hit the point.
General Leon's brain continued spinning rapidly.
Moments later, he added, "I can't even remember her name now. Back then, it's even more impossible that I had any interest in her, right?"
"Oh."
'Still not hitting the point?'
Leon scratched his mouth corner.
This time, he thought very carefully for a long while before opening his mouth, "You're the first woman I ever hugged, held hands with, and kissed."
"Mmhm, is that so?"
'A reaction!'
'This is it!'
Her tone even carried a hint of suppressed pride.
"Yeah," Leon said, "Back in school, I was pretty dull, kind of stubborn too, always thinking I had to find the perfect girl in my mind to be with. But so-called 'perfect' barely exists in this world."
"That silver-haired classmate only matched my ideal of 'perfect' in appearance a little bit, which is why I tried to approach her."
"But after interacting, I found she was completely different from what I imagined."
"Not that she or the others were bad, it's just that in getting along with me, they all lowered themselves too much, and I didn't like that."
"What I wanted was a relationship with back-and-forth, not one-sided compromise and tolerance."
"For a long time, I thought I'd never meet someone like that."
"Until... I formed this fake family with you."
"Although saying something like 'you're the one I've been looking for' is kind of... cheesy."
"But..."
Leon pressed his lips together, searching his mind for suitable words and phrases.
Yet nothing fit.
Hesitating slightly, he chuckled at himself, then immediately said seriously,
"But you are the one I've been looking for, Rossweise," After Leon finished speaking, he felt a bit unsure.
Because during the entire time he was talking, Rossweise had no reaction.
He bit his lip, unable to stop thinking whether he said something wrong again.
If it were before, he'd never care so much about Rossweise's mood.
But after spending so much time together, plus the scenes he saw in the future, it's hard not to care about the woman beside him.
His heart isn't made of iron, he could feel for Rossweise, feel sorrow or joy, or all sorts of other emotions.
Leon didn't know if this counted as so-called "love," anyway... he didn't dislike it.
And Rossweise's side...
'I am actually almost overwhelmed by the dog man's sweet words.'
'Is this something I can listen to?'
'Hey hey hey, I'm a dragon, your nemesis, and you're just... just saying such disgustingly sweet things to me like this?'
'Mmm~'
'Well said!'
This was her goal in bringing this up tonight.
The key was never his relationship with the female classmate, because Rossweise trusted his character.
The key was... Rossweise's place in his heart.
She wanted to hear, with her own ears, Leon say she was his first;
She wanted Leon to admit with his own mouth how important she was to him;
Those sweet, ambiguous words. No matter how many times, they weren't enough.
"Finished?", Rossweise asked, holding back her smile.
"Ah... finished."
"Mm. Hug me, then."
"Ah... ah?"
"Don't understand? I said, hug me."
"Oh..."
Leon squirmed over behind Rossweise and gently wrapped his arms around her fragrant shoulders from behind.
"Just hugging the shoulders?", Rossweise asked.
"Or... what else?"
"Hmph, idiot."
With that, Rossweise grabbed Leon's hand and placed his palm on her waist.
"When you hug me from behind, it should be like this. From now on, always this way. Got it?"
Leon blinked, 'Oh~ got it, she's happy now.'
'Since she's happy, this general doesn't need to be polite with you anymore.'
His hand "invited itself" from her waist to her soft belly.
Rossweise quickly pressed his wrist, "What are you doing?"
"Just... want to hold you tighter," Leon leaned in at her neck, his breath wrapping her completely.
And of course Rossweise only half-heartedly stopped him.
"Don't touch me, it tickles, you dog man... hey don't go down—mm~"
Leon gently kissed her nape and whispered into her ear,
"Won't go too late, Silver Dragon Jealous Queen, after all you have to teach them tomorrow."
———
Early the next morning, when Rossweise arrived at the Temple's public library, it was already packed.
The temporary address of the romance tutoring class was here, very scholarly atmosphere.
And everyone's enthusiasm for learning was extremely high.
Just that Her Majesty was... a bit late today.
Rossweise knew she was late, and her expression showed a trace of subtlety.
Milan saw this and asked with concern, "Is Your Majesty feeling unwell?"
Rossweise averted her eyes, "N-no..."
To think she believed that dog man's nonsense last night, saying it would only be once, it wouldn't delay her class the next day.
After once, came another.
Rossweise indulged him, followed him, like coaxing a child, though she herself didn't really want to stop either.
And so.
Once, then once more, and each time claimed it was the last.
But under the double dragon-mark buff, their motto became "as long as we don't die, keep going till we drop."
Thankfully Rossweise had a workaholic constitution. This morning, she still managed to drag her thoroughly exhausted body up, wash and dress herself, and come here to share her romantic experience with her people.
She originally intended to stress what Leon said last night, about the importance of "respecting each other's boundaries" in a relationship.
But after a night of fierce battle, she only wanted to say: Stay away from dragon marks, treasure your life.
The queen sighed silently in her heart, shook her head, and cleared away the messy thoughts.
Though physically tired, it didn't affect her ability to explain to her people her and Leon's understanding of love.
"Good morning, Your Majesty."
"Good morning! Your Majesty~"
"Your Majesty, morning~"
Tribesmen and maids warmly greeted Rossweise.
Rossweise nodded and smiled in response, one by one.
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