Roswitha retracted her gaze. "Muen, has it been a long time since you last played with Sister Sherry?"

"Mhm, yeah."

The little dragon girl tiptoed and peeked around Roswitha at Sherry. "Long time no see, Sister Sherry!"

Sherry waved back. "Long time no see, Your Highness."

"Then let Sister Sherry play with you for a while. Mommy has some work to take care of."

"Okay~"

Muen skipped around Roswitha and dashed to Sherry's side.

Sherry patted the tuft of hair on top of Muen’s head, then looked at Roswitha.

"You've been working hard lately; take some time to rest." Roswitha said.

"Understood, Your Majesty."

With that, Sherry bent down to pick up Muen. "Your Highness, shall we go to the garden to pick some fruits?"

"Yay~"

Sherry carried Muen away.

Roswitha raised her eyes once more to glance at the balcony, then chuckled coldly. "Dumb man, I already know all your weaknesses. What comes next will not be easy for you."

The queen strode into the Castle.

Knock, knock, knock—

The door rapped sharply.

Leon's body stiffened as he hesitated before heading to the door.

Now, the enemy that had troubled him for a whole day and night was right behind this door.

All it would take was opening it for him to see her.

Leon pressed his lips together, ruminating over how to begin the conversation.

Should he act unfazed and casually say good morning? Or should he skip over the fact that she had been gone for an entire day and night?

While he struggled, a voice came from outside the door.

"I know you're standing right there. Open up."

Leon sighed and raised his hand to open the door.

Having returned from the Floating Cloud Valley, for the first time in days, Leon and Roswitha were face to face this close again.

Leon scrutinized her. She looked... a bit tired.

Had she flown for a long time?

Though weary, Roswitha's face still radiated a certain cheerfulness and joy.

Was she this happy just from going out?

So... her so-called clandestine Dragon Clan meeting went smoothly?

Did she get the outcome she wanted?

Or had she secretly gone to meet someone?

As Leon's mind wandered off in speculation, Roswitha strolled inside. "Why are you so slow?"

Leon broke from his thoughts and shut the door. "You've been gone for a whole day and night. The first thing you do after coming back is knock on my door. Shouldn’t I prepare my opening lines carefully?"

"So this is the carefully prepared opener you came up with?"

"No, what I actually prepared was, 'Welcome home, Your Majesty. I'm so relieved you remembered there are people in this house who depend on you to keep them fed.'"

Roswitha scoffed. "Why do you seem so fixated on the fact that I wasn't home yesterday? What, did you miss me?"

"Miss you? Why would I—a dragon slayer—miss a dragon?"

Leon said, "If anything, I'd be interested in your movements so you don't ambush me out of nowhere."

"Hmph, alright then. I was going to share my experiences from the past two days with you, but since you're so on guard against me, it truly wounds my heart. Forget it, I don’t want to share anymore. Goodbye."

With that, Roswitha turned to leave.

But the next second, she froze mid-step.

Her skirt's waistband was lightly tugged.

The force was feeble. Roswitha could easily walk away if she wanted to.

But if she left now, knowing someone was so stubbornly prideful, he’d rather let it fester than catch up with her.

A moment later, from behind came a hesitant voice asking, "Where... were you yesterday?"

Roswitha turned around, a meaningful smile on her face. "Want to know?"

A nod.

She crooked her finger at him. "Come a bit closer, and I'll tell you."

Instinct and experience warned Leon that this was a trap.

But curiosity nudged him forward.

By the time he regretted it, he stood before Roswitha.

Roswitha, full of smiles, pinched his ear, leaned close to his face, then raised her hand to lightly graze the bridge of his nose—

Hmm, her suspicion was confirmed. His master wasn’t lying—it really did have a slight curve inwards.

Then, with a gentle and teasing tone, her soft lips parted.

"I'm not going to tell you~ Figure it out yourself~"

Leon shook his head, waving her hand off. He backed away a step hurriedly. "Knew you'd trick me. Forget it, I don't care."

"You're my prisoner of war. Why would I tell you where I go?"

She smiled, clearly waiting to see how Leon would react to that statement.

And Leon immediately realized that Roswitha was capitalizing on his brief display of worry and concern just now to taunt him.

Ha! Dragon lady, between "getting the truth" and "arguing with you," my choice is always obvious—

Arguing with you.

"But your prisoner of war happens to be a Dragon Slayer who can cut through most of your forces without using magic. Are you really comfortable running off without explaining anything?"

Leon fixed his gaze on her silver eyes. "If you’re this careless, what if I—"

"And what? Hm?"

Roswitha interrupted Leon’s chant mid-sentence as she closed the distance between them.

She even deliberately puffed her chest slightly, forcing Leon to retreat yet another step.

"Go on, what are you going to do?"

Damn.

How could such a beautiful face adopt this aggressive stance?

What a waste of good looks!

Because his incantation had been disrupted, Leon floundered and could only muster, "Then I’ll just feed Muen steak three times a day for every meal."

Roswitha chuckled softly. "Don't drag our daughter into our little feud."

After a moment's thought, she added, "But you're right. I should take some precautions. Next time, when I go out, I'll make sure to—"

She stretched out the end of her sentence, deliberately creating suspense.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Inform me?"

"Lock you up."

"..."

Wow. Bravo, dragon queen. Just perfect.

"Alright, really, I had some private matters to handle. Nothing dangerous."

Truthfully, going to meet an esteemed and legendary Dragon Slayer alone was, in fact, somewhat dangerous.

But Roswitha wasn’t prepared to tell Leon about her meeting with his master just yet.

Let’s wait until I’ve had my fun.

After all, his master was currently safe, and Roswitha's real intention in these few days was to test out her newly acquired "Leon Casmod’s List of Weaknesses."

Seriously, back when they were staying at her sister’s place, not only had this guy seen her past, but she had been scared by a spider to the point of showing a less-than-dignified side of herself.

These blackmail materials would serve as powerful weapons for Leon in future "marital skirmishes."

And Roswitha knew very well there was only one way to shut Leon up:

Retaliate with the same tactics.

So yeah, master secrets? I know you're anxious to hear about them, but hey, let me have some fun first.

"Alright then," Leon said.

"Mhm."

Roswitha nodded and said no more.

The two fell silent.

Although she intended to use Leon's "embarrassing moments" to retaliate later, it wasn't something to rush into.

A perfectly executed moment of mortification needed buildup, prelude, and a gradual development before reaching its climactic peak.

Roswitha decided to wait patiently, letting her little captive step by step fall into her trap.

But before such an opportunity arrived, they were still at this... awkward point of "not knowing how to look each other in the eye after accidentally sharing their first kiss."

After a brief pause, Roswitha asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

"No."

"Alright, I'll go get Muen then, and we’ll all have breakfast together."

"Okay."

"I’ll let you know when it’s ready."

Leon nodded.

Roswitha left the nursery and returned to her own room to prepare breakfast.

Truly, the queen was a queen for a reason—after flying all night and finally returning home, she still had the energy to whip up a meal.

A real Dragon Clan commando operative.

She tied on an apron, washed and chopped vegetables, lit the fire—everything in an orderly manner.

"Muen’s beef sandwich, bread and milk for the prisoner and me, and maybe... a salad."

"Cucumber, tomato, onion... Let’s add a bit of dressing. Hm? Where did the dressing go?"

Roswitha rummaged through the pantry.

"Oh, here it is."

She reached for the bottle of salad dressing.

But just as she was about to grab it, she glimpsed a few...

Carrots.

Roswitha blinked. A playful smile crept across her face.

"Let’s keep things balanced and nutritious, Dragon Slayer."