Roswitha had indeed been in a rather poor mood these past few days, but she never let it show in front of her daughters.

At the dinner table, she continued to patiently listen to Noa and Muen, the two sisters, chattering non-stop.

Muen excitedly shared how skilled she was at hide-and-seek that day, finding all the hiding maids in under a minute.

Meanwhile, Noa spoke about the new magic she had learned.

As for the youngest daughter...

She was still in the babbling phase and couldn't yet join her sisters' conversations.

Leon, while eating dinner, kept an eye on Roswitha's emotions.

Earlier in the backyard, he had asked Roswitha whether her bad mood these past few days was because of him.

She hadn’t answered. Usually, when Roswitha didn’t respond, it meant silent confirmation.

But Leon was utterly baffled-what could he have done recently to upset her royal highness?

Could it be...because of that banquet several nights ago?

That time when he praised the female cannoneer in his team, saying she was beautiful—right in front of Roswitha?

Was she still holding a grudge over that?

Leon thought it over and dismissed the possibility.

Roswitha wasn't the type to get jealous for no reason. Besides, she knew him so well—she must have known he was just joking.

Even if that comment had annoyed her, she would’ve already taught him a "lesson" that night, ensuring he knew not to praise any other woman as beautiful in her presence。

There was no reason for her to now sulk in silence and bear all this suppressed unhappiness alone.

Sigh.

He just couldn't figure it out.

"Dad."

Muen's voice pulled Leon back to reality.

He subconsciously shook his head lightly and then looked at his daughter. "What is it, Muen?"

"Remember what we talked about? Mom said after having our little sister, we'd go to the beach. Do you still remember?"

Leon chuckled. "Of course, I remember. But your little sister's still too young to take on a long trip. Let’s wait until she’s a bit older, and then we’ll all go to the beach together. How about that?"

Muen nodded sensibly. "Okay~"

The little dragon girl turned towards her baby sister, teasing the tiny girl with the flexible tip of her tail.

The baby sat in her high chair, a bib tied around her neck to keep her clothes clean. Her big eyes were glued to the tail tip as she waved her chubby little hands, trying to grab it, but never quite managing to catch it.

Across the table, Roswitha rested her chin on one hand, her eyes downcast, silently watching this scene.

Leon stole a glance at her and was surprised to find something rare—she was smiling.

And it wasn't a forced smile. It was a genuine, heartfelt one.

"Little sister, you need to grow up quickly. Then we can all go to the beach together as a family~"

Just as Leon was beginning to feel slightly relieved to see Roswitha’s rare smile, Muen's words made the smile instantly vanish.

She froze for a moment, then immediately averted her gaze from the children and lowered her head, silently continuing to eat the food left on her plate.

Leon caught this subtle shift immediately.

Whenever the words "as a family" were mentioned... why did she react so strongly?

Logically, this artificial family they had built through great effort was meant to provide their daughters with a complete childhood, with both maternal and paternal love.

And now that Muen had developed a strong sense of "family" and "connection," it showed they had done a good job maintaining this family.

But why did Roswitha seem not only less pleased about this but even... resistant?

She hadn’t acted this way before.

Women were so impossible to understand, Leon thought to himself with a sigh. Even after pretending to be "married" for so long, he still couldn’t figure out why Roswitha was acting like this.

There was no helping it—him sitting here and speculating wouldn’t solve anything. He could only wait until she was ready to speak up and explain the full story.

After dinner, Noa and Muen went back to their rooms, while the baby stayed with her parents for the night.

The "couple" stood side by side in the kitchen, washing dishes, just as they always did.

The entire time, neither of them spoke a word. Still, their movements were perfectly in sync.

After scrubbing the last dirty dish, Leon handed it over to Roswitha, as her side of the sink was for rinsing.

But this time, Roswitha didn’t take it as she had with the rest. Instead, she stood there in silence, as if wrestling with some kind of decision.

Leon awkwardly held the dish in mid-air and tilted his head. "What’s wrong?"

Roswitha closed her eyes and let out a long breath, as though finally making an important decision.

"Leon, go... spend some time with the girls."

Leon didn’t get it. "What?"

"I said, go play with the girls—hide-and-seek, teach magic, read with them, or... hold them."

The more Leon listened, the more confused he became.

Still, he didn’t press further. Perhaps Roswitha just wanted some time alone and used the girls as an excuse to send him away.

Leon set the dish down by the sink, took off his apron, dried his hands, and left the room.

As evening deepened, the sunlight faded quickly. The dim kitchen grew darker, casting the silver-haired woman’s figure into an ever more desolate and lonely silhouette.

Drip—drip—drip—

Water dripped rhythmically from the faucet into the basin, splashing outward.

Roswitha turned her gaze slightly, looking at the apron Leon had just taken off.

A plain blue household apron, unremarkable in design.

Yet he had worn it for so very long—its yellowed stains were proof enough.

She looked down at the one she was wearing—a matching pink version.

When had they even bought these...?

She couldn’t remember anymore.

Had she and Leon... really been together for this long?

A year and some change—an almost infinitesimal amount of time for the Dragon Clan and their long lifespans.

And yet, to Roswitha, it felt so, so long—as though she had forgotten it could possibly end one day.

Silent for a while, she slowly reached out her hand, her fingers trembling slightly, and picked up the dish Leon had left by the sink. Turning on the faucet, she wordlessly washed it.

The cold water flowed through her fingers. She clenched them, but found there was no way to hold the water back.

And what she couldn’t hold onto... wasn’t just the water...

...

Sometime after 9 PM, the sound of the door unlocking echoed.

Leon walked back down the hall to the bedroom.

The youngest daughter was already sound asleep on the bed, while Roswitha sat on the sofa.

She wasn’t wearing her nightclothes tonight but rather a formal dress.

Standing by the door, Leon scratched his head. "I... just spent some time with the girls. Taught Noa a bit about magic. Gave each of them a hug before I left."

Roswitha, eyes downcast, stared at the tips of her shoes and gave a silent nod.

"So... what do we do now?" Leon asked.

Roswitha slowly lifted her gaze toward Leon.

Their eyes met. And in that single exchange, it felt as though thousands of words had been spoken silently.

But alas, there was no time left to say them out loud.

After a long pause, Roswitha was the first to break the silence.

"Leon, exactly one year ago tonight... I met your master..."