Since she didn't forcibly shake off Leon's hand, that meant she was tacitly allowing Leon to hold her hand.
The things she said earlier were just part of the flirting.
"Your Majesty, if we keep pulling back and forth here, the sun will set soon," Leon said.
"Let it set then."
"The sunset is very beautiful."
"What's it got to do with me?"
"Of course it has to do with you, because a beautiful view goes with a beautiful woman."
She was coaxed into a good mood.
'Heehee~'
Rossweise's lips curled up, she lightly snorted, and tugged Leon's hand as they walked out of the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.
At sunset, just as Leon had said, the sunset was very beautiful, blazing and brilliant like fire igniting the horizon.
They exited from the backyard of the Silver Dragon Sanctuary and headed toward the tribe.
Along the way, many Silver Dragon Tribe members passed by, and upon seeing Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness the Prince, they all nodded politely.
"Why did you suddenly think of taking a walk through the tribe?"
Leon asked, "I thought just strolling around the backyard would be enough."
"Can just strolling around the backyard be called a date?", Rossweise looked straight ahead, replying calmly.
Leon paused slightly, looked down at their interlocked fingers, and reflected on that sentence, "Can strolling around the backyard be called a date?"
Oh... understood, this was a direct pitch from the mother dragon.
Indeed, a straight pitch. For a queen as proud and tsundere as her to say something like that, a phrase that just needed a slight mental twist to understand, that was already a straight pitch.
So since she had thrown a straight pitch, Leon ought to respond in kind.
But, note, the response was only for the sake of getting a next straight pitch, definitely not because he wanted to take this chance to say sweet things to his fake wife.
After a bit of thought, Leon replied, "I think... as long as two people like each other, whatever they do together can be called a date."
The hint was very obvious.
Rossweise was no fool, she naturally understood what the dog-man meant by those words.
But considering she had already taken the initiative tonight, and twice at that, she decided to push Leon a little more on this reply. So Rossweise replied in a calm tone, "Is that so."
'Hmm?'
That reaction was a little too plain, Leon thought to himself.
"Yeah."
After a moment of hesitation, Leon decided to add, "Just like us."
'Oho~ someone can't help but speak his true feelings now, huh~'
Rossweise was secretly pleased, but maintained a calm face, and asked in return, "Us? What about us?"
"We like each—"
Leon stopped mid-sentence just in time, then coughed twice and turned his head away, "Nothing."
Looking at his hesitant expression, Rossweise couldn't hold back her smile anymore.
She shook their interlocked hands, "Alright, I was teasing you. I get what you mean."
Now it was Leon's turn to 'not appreciate it'.
"You get what I mean? What did I mean? Say it."
"I'm not saying."
"If you don't say it, how do I know you got it?"
With a playful smile on her lips, the queen slightly turned her body, still holding Leon's hand in one hand, while her other hand wrapped around his arm.
A light and pleasant scent drifted over, and her soft chest pressed against his arm. She looked like a playful wife from next door.
"What I mean is~ you, Leon Casmodeous, like me."
Pause for one second.
Two seconds~
Three seconds~
Leon: "That's it?"
'Hello? Selective understanding of what I said or what?'
'Do you even understand what mutual liking means, huh?'
The queen's smile deepened, "And also~ I like you too."
'Like' is a serious thing. If someone else said it in such a casual tone, it would definitely come off as "irresponsible," "perfunctory," and the like.
But for this pair of mismatched couple, there was no such thing as frivolous or perfunctory.
Because they both knew that the other was the most stubborn and tsundere idiot in the whole world.
So when it came to love talk, either don't say it at all, or say the real thing.
The couple looked at each other, eyes locking, sparks seeming to fly in the air. The affection in their gazes was like water in a glass, about to overflow.
Mouths can lie, but eyes never do.
After a moment of intimacy, the two also calmed their emotions, saving it to vent later tonight back in the bedroom.
After all, they were on the main street of the Silver Dragon Tribe, with too many people passing by, not suitable for public displays of affection.
"Alright, the sun's down. Let's go back."
"Mm."
The couple held hands and walked toward the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.
When they were almost at the backyard, Rossweise suddenly spoke, "That walk helped relieve a lot of stress. Thank you."
The queen's praise, General Leon naturally accepted with both hands.
What a joke, this was well deserved.
"Actually, you don't need to worry too much about Constantine."
Leon said, "I just feel... the whole thing might not be as simple as it looks."
Rossweise raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What do you mean?"
"Although Constantine did succeed in seizing the Primordial Power, that's still the power of your dragon ancestors, could it really be so easily taken and used by someone?"
Leon analyzed, "If that Primordial Dragon King Noah left behind some kind of contingency, then that might be the key to defeating Constantine in the future."
After hearing Leon's reasoning, Rossweise said thoughtfully, "Since the Empire first revealed their ambition, every event has been full of uncertainties and unexpected variables. This time... it might also be like you said, not as simple as it seems on the surface."
"Mm. No one can predict the future, so there's no need to be anxious about it. Focus on the present, take every step well, that's what matters most," Leon said.
Rossweise nodded in agreement, then joked, "That was a good bowl of chicken soup from you, Prince. Where'd you copy it from?"
"Copied it from one of Noah's essays."
"Tch, even stealing your daughter's creativity. Shameless!"
"I'm Noah's guide on her journey of literary enlightenment. A little plagiarism is nothing."
Leon said with great righteousness, "Besides, when we cultured folks borrow ideas, can it even be called plagiarism? It's called 'reference'."
Rossweise pouted, "You sure are full of logic."
The couple bantered as they returned to the sanctuary.
As they were chatting, they saw a small figure walk out from the dining hall.
"Noah?"
Noah was carrying a big pile of bread and jerky. When she heard someone calling her, she turned around.
At that moment, Rossweise and Leon saw their beloved daughter still holding a piece of ham in her mouth.
"Didn't you get enough dinner?", The two walked over.
Noah let go of the ham in her mouth and nodded, "Mm, I got hungry again."
Leon looked at the pile of food in her arms, "You sure you can eat all that?"
Noah looked down at it too, "I probably... can? I've just been getting hungry a lot lately."
"I'll have Milan make you some more," Rossweise said.
"Oh, no need, Mommy. This is enough."
The family of three went upstairs.
They stopped first at Leon and Rossweise's bedroom. Noah obediently said goodbye, "Good night, Mommy and Daddy."
"Good night. Do a bit of exercise after eating before you go to bed," Leon reminded.
"Yes, Daddy."
The little dragon girl turned and carried her night snacks back to her room.
Leon withdrew his gaze from their daughter and looked at Rossweise, "Why's her appetite suddenly so big?"
Rossweise shrugged, "Might be a growth spurt. Dragons need to eat a lot when they're growing."
"Oh... I see. Then let's have the maids make more nutritious meals tomorrow."
"Sure."
The couple chatted as they entered the bedroom.
Meanwhile, in the sisters' room, Luna and Little Light looked at the pile of food Noah had brought back, a bit surprised.
"Big Sis, sneaking a midnight snack again," Little Light said.
"Here, have a piece of jerky," Noah generously offered a piece.
Little Light shook her head, "I'm just curious why you've been eating so much lately. Seems like it started after we came back from the Far North, right, Second Sis?"
No response.
"Second Sis? Hello?"
"Sis, I want!", Luna's eyes sparkled as she stared at the jerky in Big Sis's hand.
Little Light: "..."
Noah handed the piece of jerky to Luna.
She herself bit into some bread and thought for a moment, "I don't know what's going on either. I just keep getting hungry lately. Probably because I've been training hard... and also having trouble sleeping from weird dreams."
"Dreams? What kind of dreams?", Curious baby Little Light asked.
Noah scratched her head, "I can't really explain... not nightmares, but definitely not sweet dreams either."
She didn't tell her little sister everything, about the actual content of those dreams.
Because rather than calling them dreams, it would be more accurate to call them... memories.
Memories... stretching back more than ten thousand years.
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