In the evening, the backyard garden of Flowing Cloud Valley had just wrapped up an outdoor barbecue party.

Next on the agenda was the long-anticipated fireworks show for Leon’s family.

They picked a stone staircase with a decent view and sat down quietly to await the performance.

Next to Leon lay a camera and the little teddy bear Roswitha had gifted him earlier in the day.

Sitting with his legs crossed and arms resting at his side, Leon tilted his head back to gaze at the night sky.

The moon was bright, and stars were sparse—ideal conditions for fireworks.

“Hey, hey! Over there! They’re starting! Sis, let’s hurry!”

Muen hopped off the step, grabbed Noa’s hand, and dashed toward the show.

Watching his daughters' lively and adorable figures from behind, Leon couldn’t help but smile warmly.

He reached to pick up his camera to immortalize this beautiful moment, but his hand fumbled around—there was no sign of it.

Panic swept over Leon as he turned and glanced back.

The camera was now in Roswitha’s hands.

*Click!*

Roswitha aimed the lens at their daughters’ retreating backs and pressed the shutter. She then examined the magically projected preview and gave a satisfied nod.

Leon instantly tensed up, nonchalantly edging closer to her. “Um... how about I take pictures of you all instead? You go and play with the girls.”

Without looking up, Roswitha busied herself adjusting the camera. “No need. I want to see what you’ve been up to with this today—how your shots turned out.”

“Ah, well... I think they’re fine. You can look when we get home, after they’ve been developed.”

“I’ll just check now and delete any that don’t look good.”

Roswitha began scrolling through Leon’s photos from the day.

Leon stood beside her, anxiety hitting its peak.

The current situation feels a lot like you spent the whole summer having a blast, only to realize you didn’t do any of your reading assignments, and now the teacher is going down the list, checking everyone’s work, and your turn is coming up soon.

The only difference? A student caught unprepared wouldn’t dare engage in a showdown with the teacher.

Leon, on the other hand, would.

Worst case? He might get screwed,—but who knows, maybe he’d emerge victorious in some unexpected twist, too?

Still, these photos represented his secret "trump cards." If he could avoid exposure, he should.

Swallowing hard, Leon glanced nervously at Roswitha. She had now scrolled to the pictures taken that afternoon at the pedestrian street.

The next batch would be from this morning.

And beyond that... the Bunny Girl photos!

His secret weapon to use against Roswitha had suddenly become a ticking time bomb ready to blow up in his face!

Think, Leon! Think!

What would Master do in this tense moment?

Ah, but then again, Master—no matter how brazen—would never take Bunny Girl photos of his Wife. So equating his master's tactics wasn’t going to be remotely helpful here.

Biting his lip, Leon darted his eyes about and settled on a candy he had bought earlier in the day. He picked it up.

“Want one?”

Roswitha, still glued to the magical projection of the photos, absentmindedly opened her mouth. “Ah~”

Leon muttered to himself, exasperated. Begrudgingly, he slipped the candy into her mouth.

Roswitha, cheeks now slightly puffed with the candy, looked surprisingly adorable—

But now was *not* the time to admire the cuteness of his dragon wife!

If he didn’t stop her soon, she would see a far more “adorable” Bunny Girl surprise!

“Leon,” Roswitha’s tone slightly sharpened, “what’s this photo about—”

“That’s exactly what it looks like!” Leon straightened his spine, bracing himself as if for certain doom.

Roswitha paused, blinking as she crushed the candy in her mouth. “Why so defensive? It’s just a little off-center in the composition, isn’t it?”

“Huh…?”

Roswitha pointed at the photo on the camera. “Look here. My face is almost cut out of the frame.”

Leon coughed twice, trying to cover his embarrassment. “That—uh, that’s probably because you’re so tall.”

Roswitha didn’t dwell on it. “Oh, okay.”

Murmuring briefly, she resumed flipping through the pictures.

The previous photo had already been from the entrance of the pedestrian street, taken around noon.

At this moment, the fate of the next seven days of their vacation hung on this camera’s contents.

Would peace reign, or would there be chaos? Only time would tell.

“Why are you standing so close to me?” Roswitha suddenly asked, still not glancing up.

Leon reflexively stepped back. “I’m not—I wasn’t!”

“Come here.”

“Huh?”

“I said, come here.”

Awkwardly, Leon moved closer, inch by inch.

Roswitha held up the camera, aimed it at herself and Leon, tilted her head slightly toward him, and then clicked the shutter.

Afterward, she checked the photo’s magical projection preview. “Hmm, not bad. This will save us from the girls asking why we didn’t take a couple shot together.”

Leon teased, “Your Majesty is remarkably forward-thinking.”

And if she were to flip a bit further, she'd see much more than just this couple shot!

Done with the photo, Roswitha handed the camera back to Leon. “I’m going to join the kids now. Keep taking pictures of us, won’t you?”

“With pleasure, my dear wife!”

Roswitha gave him a sideways glance, not bothering to retort. She turned, heading off toward the fireworks show.

Leon exhaled a heavy sigh of relief.

“Phew, crisis averted.”

He looked down at the camera in his hand. The screen remained on the recent couple photo Roswitha had taken.

In the image, the two of them faced the lens, Roswitha leaning subtly against him, flashing a playful peace sign.

She hadn’t bothered with any special angles or poses. The natural expressions in the photo resembled those of a young couple deeply in love.

Leon scratched his temple, murmuring, “Two hundred years old and still posing with a peace sign... childish!”

Conveniently forgetting that in their Bunny Girl photos together, his own peace signs had been equally excessive.

Picking up the camera again, Leon resumed photographing the mother and daughters in the distance.

The fireworks burst overhead, dazzling and magnificent.

After some time, Muen returned and softly sat beside Leon.

“What’s wrong, Muen?” Leon asked.

The little dragon girl snuggled into Leon’s lap, wrapping her tail around her waist. “Muen is tired. Muen needs to rest.”

Leon chuckled and draped his jacket over her small frame. “Alright.”

Lifting his gaze, he saw Roswitha and Noa laughing and playing ahead. Both held sparklers in their hands, and there was even one wedged in Noa’s tail.

Seeing such a scene, Leon sighed, “Those two are so serious most of the time. It’s rare to see them enjoying themselves like this.”

Hearing this, the little dragon girl resting in his lap slightly curled up, murmuring,

“Because Big Sis is busy with school, and Mommy is always working too hard. They rarely get to play together like this. Daddy… you worked so hard to win the seven-day tour, so Muen thinks Mommy and Sister should spend more time together.”

Leon was momentarily stunned, touched by her words. This little one didn’t just come back here because she was tired—she wanted to give Noa and Roswitha more time together.

With a gentle smile, he affectionately pinched Muen’s ear. “You’ve grown, Muen.”

But Muen shook her head.

“Muen hasn’t grown up and doesn’t know what growing up means. Muen only wants Sister to be happy and Mommy and Daddy to be happy, too. Hmm…”

Warmth flooded Leon’s heart.

He softly caressed his daughter’s cheek, marveling at how, despite their wildly different personalities, Muen and Noa both loved their family wholeheartedly.

They loved each other, and they loved their parents.

“Muen, you really have grown—”

“Hmm... huh...”

Looking down, Leon realized Muen had already fallen asleep on his lap.

Oh, so in the end, being tired *was* most of it.

Leon allowed himself a small teasing grin, then discreetly took a photo of Muen’s peaceful sleeping face with the camera.

Moments later, Roswitha and Noa returned.

From the look on Noa’s face, she seemed to be a bit worn out, too.

“She fell asleep?” Roswitha asked in a low voice.

Leon gently scooped Muen up. “Yeah. Time to head back?”

Roswitha nodded, reaching for Noa’s hand.

But then she crouched and asked, “Want Mommy to carry you too?”

Noa’s tired little face lit up with a smile. “Yes, please!”

Roswitha picked her up, following Leon as they left the backyard.

The parents tucked the sisters into bed.

“You rest well. I’ll take care of Muen,” Noa murmured wearily.

Roswitha patted her head. “Alright, but make sure to rest well too—no staying up late.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Mommy.”

Pausing, Noa turned her face to the door where Leon stood. “Goodnight, Daddy.”

Leon grinned, waving. “Goodnight.”

After exchanging goodnights, the couple returned to their room.

Leon slid off his shoes, stretched, and wandered toward the bed.

“Ah~ What a busy day~”

Collapsing onto the soft hotel bed, Leon sighed.

Roswitha nudged his calf with her foot. “So, are we sleeping together tonight?”

Leon immediately shot up as if electrocuted. “No—not at all! I’m, uh, going to soak in the hot spring!”

“How long will you be?” Roswitha inquired.

Leon shrugged. “An hour or so. Why? Were you thinking of joining?”

“Mm. You go first; I’m not in a hurry.”

“Got it.”

Whenever they were forced to share a room, the couple quietly adhered to an unspoken agreement: take things one step at a time, procrastinate where possible.

After all, between the pre-soaking prep and the actual soak, two hours could easily slip away.

As for what would happen afterward, well, they’d deal with it when the time came.

Stripping off his shirt and donning the swim trunks Roswitha had bought him yesterday, Leon grabbed the camera and discreetly snuck off to the hot spring behind their room.

The warm water enveloped his entire body, washing away the exhaustion and weariness of the day.

Leon closed his eyes, leaned against the edge of the hot spring's wall, spread his arms wide, and let out a long breath, savoring this rare moment of relaxation.

However, he had barely enjoyed ten minutes of comfort when he heard the sound of a sliding door opening behind him.

The next moment, a pair of high heels appeared in the corner of his vision.

Leon’s heart tightened. Could it be that this dragoness really intended to go back on her word...?

"Where’s the camera?" Roswitha asked.

Leon froze for a moment. "C-Camera? What do you need the camera for?"

"The grand finale of the fireworks show is about to start. I figure since there’s nothing to do now, I might as well go downstairs and take some photos. Where’s the camera? Oh, here it is."

"Wait a second!—"

Too late. Roswitha had already bent down and picked up the camera Leon had left next to the hot spring.

"What is it?" Roswitha asked.

Leon pursed his lips, stammering but unable to find the words.

Seeing his silence, Roswitha said, "If you’re not saying anything, then I’ll leave now."

With that, she turned and headed toward the back door of the room.

But then, there was a loud splash behind her—

"Let’s soak in the hot spring together!"

Roswitha stopped in her tracks, standing still with her back to Leon for several seconds before slowly turning around.

"What did you just say?"

Leon’s face turned beet red. "I said… *ahem*… let’s soak in the hot spring together."

There was no way he could let this dragoness take the camera. Otherwise, all of Leon’s hard-earned efforts would fall into enemy hands.

Compared to losing his precious progress, sharing the hot spring seemed like a small price to pay!

The couple stared at each other—one tall, one short—while fireworks erupted in the night sky. The dazzling display of colors in the air masked the slight flush on a certain someone’s face.

Roswitha’s eyes scanned Leon’s exposed upper body. Water droplets rolled down his solid muscles and scar-riddled skin, gliding slowly.

She swallowed imperceptibly before replying with a calm demeanor:

"You said it yourself. I’ll go get changed."