The Queen smiled warmly, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

Leon couldn’t tell whether she was mocking him or simply amused by their earlier conversation.

Silently, he turned back around and continued revising the tutoring plan.

Sshhh—

The sound of fabric brushing against the sheets was followed by the approaching clicks of high heels.

A faint, delicate fragrance drifted toward Leon from behind.

It was Roswitha's scent—

One Leon had smelled countless times before.

She reached out and picked up a chili pepper from the table, brought it up to her nose, and gave it a sniff, immediately wrinkling her brow.

The pungent odor was indeed overpowering. For Roswitha, a member of the Dragon Clan, to find the scent too strong, it was absurd that Leon could treat it like an energizer.

He might be overdoing it a bit...

Roswitha put the chili down and reached for Leon's chin.

Before Leon could react, she suddenly gripped his chin, forcing him to turn his head and face her.

The heat of Roswitha's fingers spread through her touch. Up close, Leon's cheeks and lips were a vivid red, and faint traces of tears lingered at the corners of his eyes.

With her thumb, she lightly brushed against Leon’s warm lower lip, her movements gentle.

“If you need to stay awake, ask Anna for coffee or something. How is this any different from self-harm?”

“I drank coffee for six months back in school,” Leon replied. “Eventually, I built up a tolerance; it stopped working. Chili peppers are a lot more effective.”

“But this is Dragon Clan chili. You’re a human—you probably can’t handle it—”

“Stop underestimating me.”

Fine.

Once his stubbornness kicked in, he became just like Roswitha—so headstrong that even a team of oxen couldn’t pull him back.

Roswitha chuckled softly and withdrew her hand.

Leon pressed his numbed lips together, secretly enjoying these moments when Roswitha touched his face.

It wasn’t because he had any peculiar preferences, but Roswitha’s fingers were cool to the touch, a stark contrast to his feverish cheeks—it felt soothing.

Not like the sharp chill of an ice cube, but a gentle, refreshing coolness.

Though, asking her outright to touch his face more often was out of the question.

Just imagining it made him feel... creepy.

“Rest early. Don't eat too many peppers—if your mouth gets burned, you'll have to teach Noa using sign language.”

With that, the Queen clicked away in her high heels, leisurely leaving the bedroom.

The sound of the lock turning came next, streaks of light spilling in through the door cracks as Roswitha stepped out.

Leon sighed in relief. After confirming she had walked far enough away, he picked up the medical book again and resumed flipping through it.

Eventually, he found a medication in one of the later chapters that seemed to match what he needed.

The name of the medicine, however, was...

“Dragon... Black Dragon Bolus.”

Leon inhaled sharply. “This sounds even more cryptic than that Dragon Kidney Pill... Don’t tell me it’s also some kind of aphrodisiac?”

Thankfully, the description of the drug clearly stated that “Black Dragon Bolus” was a potent restorative medication with no connection to aphrodisiacs whatsoever.

Leon’s eyes brightened, and he immediately read on, hoping to find out where he could obtain Black Dragon Bolus.

But what he found next poured cold water over his excitement.

“The ingredients required to formulate Black Dragon Bolus are common, but even the most skilled apothecaries in the Dragon Clan have a low success rate in producing it.”

“As a result, despite being a highly sought-after restorative, Black Dragon Bolus often remains ‘priceless yet unavailable’ in Dragon Clan markets.”

Leon stroked his chin and read on.

The book included the method for concocting Black Dragon Bolus, but every passage emphasized how extraordinarily difficult it was to make.

Pressing his lips together, Leon flipped through a few more pages.

Apart from Black Dragon Bolus, none of the other medications seemed suitable for his current needs.

The medicinal herbs and preparation methods used by the Dragon Clan differed significantly from those of humans.

When in another's territory, one could only work with their resources.

After some hesitation, Leon picked up pen and paper, writing out a list of ingredients required to make Black Dragon Bolus.

He planned to hand the list to Anna tomorrow and have her gather the materials for him.

Since Leon couldn’t leave the house arbitrarily, this was his only option.

To cover his tracks, he also added some other herbs onto the list.

This way, no one would suspect he was planning to make Black Dragon Bolus.

“Geez, the name gets more bizarre the more I think about it. You Dragons give yourselves such poetic names—Moon, Hero, Galaxy—but when it comes to medicine, it’s always something like Kidney Strengthener or Power Tonic...”

Muttering to himself, Leon securely tucked away the list before heading to the bathroom for a glass of cold water.

His mouth still felt numb and spicy. When he exhaled, he noticed his throat stung slightly.

Warm air brushing against his throat caused a faint burning sensation.

“At this rate, I’ll really end up teaching Noa in sign language tomorrow.”

That was probably an exaggeration, but his throat definitely felt uncomfortable.

After a quick wash, Leon went to bed and drifted off.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Anna came to deliver breakfast to Leon, who handed her the ingredient list he had compiled the night before.

Anna didn’t ask any questions, merely saying she’d need until tomorrow to gather everything.

Leon replied it wasn’t urgent.

After Anna left, Leon took his breakfast back into the room: bread with boiled chicken breast and a glass of water.

Not much to get excited about, but for a prisoner of war, this level of provisions was already better than 99.9% could hope for.

He broke off a small piece of bread and popped it into his mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing.

However, as the bread went down his throat, a sharp, painful sensation spread.

Leon immediately took a sip of water to wash it down.

Touching his throat, he could feel the soreness through his skin.

“As expected… Too much chili.”

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone was at the door.

Leon set the bread down and went to answer it.

It was Noa.

She was alone.

“Morning, Noa,” Leon greeted her with a smile, ignoring the discomfort.

“Good morning.”

As usual, she skipped any form of title or address.

Leon was used to it.

He stepped aside to let Noa in.

The stoic little dragon girl held her homework from yesterday, following Leon into the bedroom.

They sat in their usual spots, and Noa handed him the completed worksheet.

Leon took it and had barely looked at it when Noa spoke up.

“Um…”

Leon set the worksheet down. “What is it?”

“This is for you.”

From her pocket, Noa pulled out a small box of…

“Candy?” Leon blinked. “What kind of candy?”

“Throat lozenges.”

Leon was stunned for a moment, as though he couldn’t believe it. “For me?”

“Yes, but it’s from Mom, not me.”

Even the most precocious children couldn’t completely hide their thoughts.

After saying, “It’s from Mom,” it was unnecessary for Noa to add, “not me.”

By saying so, she had actually drawn more attention to it.

But Leon didn’t call her out. He simply accepted the lozenges. “Be sure to thank your mom for me.”

“Mmh…”

To be fair, it was from her mom.

Noa thought back to what had happened earlier that morning:

Her mother had casually mentioned that Leon had eaten a ridiculous amount of chili peppers the previous night to stay awake. His throat was bound to suffer for it.

Noa had then asked why he needed to stay awake.

Her mother explained that he’d been working on some kind of study plan. Despite how scatterbrained he sometimes looked, he was actually a top student.

Staying up late to make a study plan... for her?

Noa had been stunned for a moment before she muttered something off-handedly about giving him throat lozenges.

Her mother had agreed.

Not fully grasping the weight of the situation, Noa said, “Alright, then you can give it to him later.”

Her mother shook her head, saying, “You take it to him.”

↑

And that was how the earlier scene had unfolded.

So… it wasn’t a lie to say it was her mother’s idea, right?

That’s how Noa rationalized it in her head.

With a lozenge in his mouth to soothe his throat, Leon began reviewing Noa’s worksheet.

“Hmm, not bad. You’ve completed most of it quite well. So, this morning, we’re going to focus on solidifying yesterday’s concepts. Ready to start?”

Noa nodded obediently. “Okay.”