Knock, knock, knock—

"Coming."

Leon went to answer the door.

Outside stood Muen and Noa.

"Mom—wait, Dad? Did you sleep in Mom's room last night?" Muen's face lit up with curiosity and a mischievous grin.

Leon scratched his head sheepishly and chuckled. "Yeah, your mom and I stayed up late discussing poetry, philosophy, and the mysteries of the universe. I ended up crashing here."

"Then next time you and Mom sleep together, can I join you?" Muen asked excitedly.

"Of course, you can," Leon replied without hesitation.

"Hooray! Dad, you're the best!" Muen squealed, about to throw herself into Leon's arms. But Leon held up a finger to his lips in a shushing motion.

"Shh~ Mom's sick. She's still sleeping. Don't wake her up."

Muen's grin froze, replaced by a look of concern. "Sick? What happened?"

Leon opened the door wider. "Go in and see for yourselves."

The two little ones exchanged a glance before scurrying quickly into the house.

When they reached the bedroom, sure enough, Mom was lying rigid on the bed.

"Mom!" Muen called out as she ran to her side.

Standing by the bed, she gently poked Roswitha's wrist, but there was no response.

"How did Mom get sick?" Noa turned back to look at Leon.

Standing in the doorway with his hands tucked casually in his pockets, Leon explained calmly, "We stayed out on the balcony talking for a long time last night, and before we realized it, we fell asleep out there. A whole night of cold wind led to a cold, obviously."

Then, pausing for a moment, Leon added, "It might even be a bit more severe than just a cold."

He knew Noa was smart and precocious. But no matter how brilliant or mature she seemed, she was still just a little dragon girl barely past her first year of age. The realm of illness was still relatively unfamiliar to her.

Leon banked on that lack of knowledge, maintaining his composure as he told this little white lie.

"Don't worry, though. I'll take good care of Mom," Leon reassured them.

Muen held Roswitha's slightly cool hand, sniffled, and spoke with a voice full of worry, "Mom, how could you be so careless? You have to get better soon, okay? If you get better, I promise I won't make you angry anymore."

For a moment, a heavy atmosphere hung over the room.

It was at this time that Anna, the maid, knocked lightly on the doorframe.

Since Leon had left the door open earlier, Anna stood at the entrance, holding some nutrient supplements in her hands.

"Your Highness, I’ve brought the nutrient supplements you asked me to prepare."

"Ah, great. Thanks, just leave them by the bed."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Anna walked into the bedroom with the supplements and, upon seeing Muen and Noa, curtsied respectfully. "Good morning, Your Highnesses."

"Anna, my mom's sick," Noa stated matter-of-factly.

As Anna placed the supplements by the bedside, she responded, "This morning, when I came to check on His Highness, he informed me about it. I also conducted a brief examination of Her Majesty. While she is indeed very weak right now, all vital signs are normal. With a few days of rest, she’ll be fine. There’s no need to worry too much, Your Highnesses."

After arranging the supplements, Anna turned around and smiled. "For the next few days, I’ll be temporarily handling the clan affairs on behalf of Her Majesty. If Your Highnesses or His Highness are interested, you are welcome to observe and even supervise my work."

"Got it. Thanks, Anna."

"It’s no trouble at all. It's my duty to serve Her Majesty. If there’s nothing else, I’ll excuse myself for now, Your Highness."

"Alright."

After bowing to Leon and the two little dragon girls, Anna quickly left.

Leon stretched his arms out with a sigh. "See, Anna said Mom will be fine. You can relax now."

As he spoke, Leon squatted down and gently wiped the tears from Muen’s eyes. "There, there. In just a few days, you'll see Mom bouncing around again. No more crying, okay?"

Muen nodded vigorously. "Muen won’t cry anymore."

"Good girl. Then stay here and keep Mom company, but don’t get too close. Colds are contagious, you know."

"Okay, Muen understands."

With that, Muen moved to stand at the bedside, maintaining a cautious distance as she gazed at her still-unconscious mother.

She really was such an obedient, sweet, but incredibly simple little girl.

Her emotions were written all over her face, making her easy to read—and easier to console.

At the moment, Muen’s little tuft of hair and her tail drooped lifelessly.

She looked so dejected and spiritless.

Though Roswitha was often strict with the girls, she was still their mom.

And when your mom was sick, how could any child be indifferent?

Leon sighed softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Muen’s tail drooping behind her, and something struck him as odd.

What was it...

Ah...

Suddenly, Leon remembered. When he had tidied the bed earlier, he hadn’t noticed Roswitha’s tail.

Leon opened his mouth to ask what had happened.

But the words stuck in his throat.

Because neither Anna earlier nor Muen and Noa now had shown any surprise or curiosity about Roswitha’s missing tail.

That meant this was something entirely normal for the Dragon Clan.

No need to ask about it specifically.

If Leon brought it up, it would likely—

—Draw his elder daughter's suspicion.

With this in mind, Leon glanced at Noa.

As expected, the icy, stoic little dragon girl was already observing him with a neutral yet piercing gaze.

Leon scratched his temple awkwardly. "What's wrong?"

Noa averted her gaze. "Nothing."

But in her mind, questions swirled. Why had he been staring at Muen’s tail? And after that, why had his eyes flickered to Mom’s waist with a hint of surprise?

Noa pondered silently.

...

The two sisters stayed by Roswitha's side all morning.

When lunchtime came, a maid came to take them away.

But before they had gone far down the hallway, Noa stopped. She turned back to look at Leon, saying nothing.

Leaning casually against the doorway, Leon teased, "Why are you staring at me again?"

Noa narrowed her eyes slightly and asked in a low voice, "Mom’s unconscious now. Do you... have any plans?"

At first, the question seemed inexplicable.

But Leon didn’t dare take it lightly.

His eldest daughter was exceedingly sharp. She would never ask such a question without cause.

Had she noticed something?

"I don’t. No plans at all, Noa. I simply want to care for your mom," Leon answered smoothly.

There was no panic in his voice, no overly earnest pledge of innocence.

Just a calm and natural tone, as if this were any ordinary conversation.

After a brief moment of staring him down, Noa finally said quietly, "Is that so? Then that’s fine."

With that, she turned to follow Muen and the maid down the hallway.

Not once did she look back.

As he watched her retreating figure, Leon sighed and muttered to himself,

"Too clever for her own good, my brilliant little daughter. Heh, she takes after me."

Though his self-praise might seem a bit indulgent, Leon and Noa truly were cut from the same cloth when it came to intelligence.

Both father and daughter possessed razor-sharp insight.

Leon let out a breath of relief and closed the door before returning to the bedroom.

He pulled a chair to the bedside, thought for a moment, then lifted the blanket to turn Roswitha over.

Under the hem of her nightgown, her back was smooth and devoid of the usually agile and "multi-purpose" tail.

"As I thought, the tail’s gone."

Murmuring to himself, Leon turned Roswitha back over and tucked her in once more.

"Although, if her tail were still there, lying face-up like this would probably be uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?"

He tried imagining for a moment, picturing having a long, protruding limb at his tailbone. Yep, side-sleeping would be the only way to manage.

Leon didn’t dwell too much on Roswitha’s missing tail. Instead, his eyes turned to the array of nutrient supplements placed on the bedside table.

That morning, when Anna had come by, Leon had inquired whether Roswitha should be given some supplements—just like he had when he was in a coma.

Anna had replied, "It’s really not necessary. Dragons don’t require food or drink during rest periods; their normal meals are just to store energy. But if it would ease Your Highness’s concerns, I can prepare some supplements for Her Majesty."

"Not needing food or water... Pretty amazing," Leon mused as he reached for one of the supplements.

If Roswitha didn’t need them, well, he’d take them himself.

He decided he’d down every last one of them.

That way, when Roswitha woke up, she’d be met with an energetic, battle-ready Dragon Slayer.

Leon smirked and lifted one of the bottles in a toast toward the unconscious Roswitha.

"To you, my dearest wife."