Leon left the room and walked down the corridor toward the rear garden of the Castle.

On the way, he encountered at least a dozen Dragon Clan guards.

Far more heavily secured than when he secretly snuck out after waking up yesterday.

This clearly meant that his smooth escape from Silver Dragon Castle yesterday was entirely deliberate on Roswitha's part.

She had purposely let him go as part of a scheme to bring him to the Empire's doorstep, allowing him to witness his homeland that he could no longer return to.

While he endured the despair of being unable to go home, she would heap humiliation upon him.

This was why Leon thought Roswitha was a completely crazy dragoness.

Underneath her elegant and austere appearance lay a craving for madness and morbidity.

Leon simply considered himself unlucky.

Of all the hands to fall into, why hers?

He couldn't escape; death wasn't an option either. He was nothing more than an outlet for Roswitha's frustrations—

And even had to take on the additional "childcare duties."

Still, Leon didn't think of himself as completely defeated.

Because for Roswitha to disgust him, she had to go through considerable effort to devise ways to torment him.

But for Leon to disgust Roswitha? He didn't need to do a thing—merely existing in her line of sight was enough.

After all, considering the history of both humans and dragons, Leon was probably the only human capable of getting a Dragon Clan member pregnant.

From a human perspective, this event was absurd; in Roswitha's mind, it was outright revolting.

Even so, Leon had not abandoned the thought of escaping.

As he'd said the previous night, Roswitha might strip away his dignity and pride, but she could never kill his belief as a Dragon Slayer.

If an opportunity arose, Leon was determined to flee this hellhole.

As he mulled over his next escape plan, Leon turned a few corners in the corridors.

When he was nearing the back door of the Castle, he suddenly spotted a familiar petite figure standing at the end of the hallway.

Thick, dark hair streaked with silver highlights, a small tail drooping near her feet, dressed in an ornate skirt suit, with sheer, delicate white stockings visible beneath the hem.

It was Muen.

Leon instinctively raised his hand to greet her, but then noticed something unusual.

Muen's face was utterly devoid of expression. She just stared at Leon icily, as though harboring some deep-seated hatred.

Though his interactions with Muen had been brief, her soft, warm gaze had left an impression on Leon—this kind of cold indifference was entirely uncharacteristic of her.

Leon pressed his lips together, wondering—could he have walked too slowly and kept Muen waiting too long, making her upset?

After some hesitation, Leon waved his hand and spoke, "Muen, sorry for keeping you waiting. Your mom asked me to play with you, so we—"

Before he could finish, Muen turned and ran through the back door into the garden.

Leon quickly gave chase, but by the time he got outside, Muen was nowhere to be seen.

Scratching his head, Leon muttered, "Kids are so unpredictable. No wonder Roswitha pawned off babysitting duty to me while she takes it easy."

Despite his complaints, Leon headed toward the rear garden, hoping to find Muen there.

After navigating a few winding paths, Leon reached the garden and saw Muen playing games with a group of dragon maids.

But the little dragon girl didn't seem to be in particularly high spirits.

"Your Highness, you have to keep the blindfold on—no peeking~"

"Your Highness, I'm over here! Come catch me~"

"Careful, Your Highness, don't trip!"

The maids were playing a game of blindfolded tag with her.

After missing a few attempts, Muen pulled off the blindfold, tossed it to the ground angrily, and stomped her little feet. "This is not fun—I'm done! I want Mom and Dad to play with me!"

An older-looking maid approached and crouched down to speak gently to Muen.

"Your Highness, Her Majesty works tirelessly, handling all the affairs of the clan. She can't spend as much time with you as she'd like. You need to be an understanding and considerate princess, so your mother doesn’t worry."

"Mm... Muen understands," the little dragon replied, her voice filled with pitiable dejection.

Bending down, she picked up the blindfold herself. "Anna, let's continue."

"What a good girl," praised the maid named Anna, standing back up and helping Muen put the blindfold back on.

The childish game of hide-and-seek resumed.

Muen missed her targets repeatedly, relying on the chaotic sounds of footsteps to guess where the others were.

But at some point, the maids grew quiet.

Muen didn’t notice and assumed this was part of the game, continuing to fumble her way around.

"Anna? Anna, where are you? Why aren’t you saying anything?"

"Your Highness—"

Before Anna could finish speaking, Muen grabbed hold of someone.

Overjoyed, she tore off the blindfold. “Muen got you! You’re—Dad?! Dad, why did you come down here…?"

Leon crouched down slowly and pinched the baby fat on Muen's cheeks. "To play games with you, of course."

Hearing this, Muen’s large eyes sparkled with delight. "Really, Dad?!"

Leon smiled and nodded. "Really."

"Hooray~ Dad’s going to play with me!"

The little dragon princess gleefully spun around Leon in circles.

Her small tail flicked past Leon's vision with every loop, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

The Muen in the hallway earlier… and the Muen standing in front of him now—why were they so different?

How could her mood shift so dramatically in just a few minutes?

"Muen, did you go back to the hallway just a moment ago?" Leon asked.

Muen paused her spinning, thought for a moment, and answered earnestly, "Nope! Muen's been in the garden the whole time."

"Ah, I see…"

"Dad, why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing."

Maybe I just imagined it, Leon thought to himself.

After all, he had just recovered from a vegetative state and hadn't had a chance to rest properly before being wildly ravished by Roswitha. Feeling dazed was only a mild symptom.

Feeling lightheaded or seeing things? That would be the least of his problems.

The fact that Leon could even get out of bed was a testament to his resilience.

"Alright, Muen," Leon changed the subject. "What do you want to play? Do you want to keep playing hide-and-seek?"

Muen pouted and shook her head after some thought. "No, Muen’s not good at it—I can never catch anyone. How about… how about we play Dragon Knight~?"

Leon blinked. "Dragon Knight… how do you play that?"

One minute later.

Muen was perched atop Leon’s shoulders, her tail draped lightly across his back.

Leon kept his hands slightly raised, firmly holding her small ankles to prevent her from falling.

Muen had one hand gripping a lock of Leon’s hair and wielded a tree branch in the other, imagining it as an enchanted holy sword.

"Charge, Dad, charge~"

"Alright, alright—charging!"

Only then did Leon understand.

Dragon Knight wasn’t about knights riding dragons—

It was about dragons riding knights.

Well, so be it.

If his daughter wanted to ride him around, so be it—he would spoil her.

It’s not as if Roswitha, that sour-faced mother dragon, would ever play such games with Muen. What a laughable thought.

"Dad, Dad, let’s go to Anna! She’s playing as the human guard now! If we defeat her, we can reclaim the territory!"

Leon nearly pulled a muscle in his back hearing that.

Good grief, sweet daughter. You really know how to stab your father where it hurts.

Do you even realize who you’re riding on right now?

You’re riding on the (former) strongest Dragon Slayer of the human race, for crying out loud!

And of all the roles Anna could play, why did it have to be a human?

Couldn't she play an orc, an elf, or even a werewolf?

Leon silently cursed the Dragon Clan’s twisted education system. It has to be Roswitha’s doing!

Still, since he’d already promised Muen to play along, Leon couldn’t very well go back on his word.

Following her cue, Leon jogged toward the maids.

The maids did not disappoint, each one giving an Oscar-worthy performance.

The second Muen swung her "enchanted sword," they dropped like flies.

Some even went the extra mile, adding dramatic flair:

"Ah~ How powerful the little princess of the Dragon Clan is~ She defeated me with one strike~"

Or:

"No! How could we humans lose to the noble and mighty Dragon Clan? I’m so unwilling! So unwilling~"

Leon: “Unwilling, my ass…”

Despite having a thousand complaints in his mind, Leon kept them all to himself.

Small sacrifices now would pave the way for his escape later; for now, he needed to focus on taking care of Muen.

After an hour of the "Dragon Knight" game, Leon’s body began reaching its limit.

No.

It wasn’t just reaching his limit anymore.

His recently recovered body, still far from its peak condition, grew weak from even mild activity, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

Leon crouched down slightly, letting Muen hop off his shoulders. Concerned, she asked, "Dad, are you tired?"

"Yeah, a little—"

"Dad’s not tired."

A voice interrupted from the direction of the Castle.

Leon and Muen turned toward the source to find Roswitha standing on the balcony, gazing at them leisurely.

"Muen, your dad isn’t tired at all. He’s full of energy; you can keep playing any game you want with him," Roswitha said breezily.

"Really? That’s great! I thought Dad was tired," Muen exclaimed, turning back to Leon. "Dad, let’s keep playing~"

"..."

Leon stood up, locking eyes with Roswitha on the balcony.

For once, Roswitha smiled at him.

But that smile…

It was the grin of a fox reveling in its successful scheme.

"Roswitha!" Leon bellowed at her, a look of defiance in his eyes, as though prepared for a final standoff.

"What?"

"You‘re really..."

Leon grit his teeth, running through all the curse words he could think of in his mind, but considering there was a child nearby, he could only force out a single word in the end:

"Adorable."

Adorable, a derogatory term in the Dragon Clan's eyes—Silver Dragon Queen, Roswitha.