After chatting for a while, the conversation drifted back to their daughters.

Leon thought of the fleeting glance Noa gave him this morning when he returned home, as if she were asking, "Daddy, you won't leave me, right?"

Though young, the little one always played the role of the "mature older sister," which inevitably caused her to carry more worries on her small shoulders.

This time, Leon and Roswitha had been away from home for five days. Although Anna was there to take care of them, someone as sensitive as Noa probably noticed something was amiss.

So Leon wondered if he should find a chance to talk with Noa properly.

But if he approached the subject too directly, her personality would almost certainly lead her to overthink even more.

After mulling it over for a long while, Leon came up with another idea.

"Didn't we say we’d go to the seaside last time? Let's pick a date and go," Leon suggested.

Roswitha, leaning on the headboard and fiddling with a stuffed bear, spoke slowly, "Isn't Detective Cosmod still busy uncovering the conspiracy between the Empire and the Dragon Clan? How does he find the time to take us to the beach?"

Leon pushed at Roswitha's shoulder in mock annoyance. "Stop teasing me."

Roswitha chuckled, set the bear aside, and looked at Leon. "Going to the beach is fine, of course. After all, we did promise the girls. But we should prepare some new swimsuits."

"New swimsuits?"

"Yeah, all we have left are the ones we wore that time we went to the hot springs."

The hot springs.

Oh—

Leon suddenly remembered.

It was that seemingly ordinary swimsuit that turned out to be one of those seductive, dissolvable-in-water black gauze swimsuits.

Just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine.

If it hadn't been for that swimsuit back then, he and Roswitha wouldn't have initiated that whole "Dragon Mark No Display Challenge" in the hot spring;

If they hadn't done that challenge, they wouldn't have ended up kissing passionately;

And if they hadn't kissed passionately, by now they wouldn’t be sneaking kisses from time to time, simply to satisfy their lingering cravings.

"Yeah, we definitely need to buy new ones."

After a pause, Leon asked, "So... that swimsuit from before... did you throw it away?"

"Why?"

The queen smirked mischievously. "Want me to put it on for you again?"

His face reddened.

Recalling the scene of Roswitha wearing that fiery, sexy swimsuit in the hot spring, the memory was still as vivid as ever.

Her naturally enviable figure, combined with her usual cold aloofness, was a stark contrast to the seductive allure she exuded in moments of intimacy. It was a memory that was both breathtaking and unforgettable.

Leon shook his head to dismiss the wayward thoughts. Finally, he replied, "I don't—no, I wasn't thinking that. Don't make things up."

Indeed, Roswitha had been stunningly beautiful in that swimsuit back then. But if Leon had to go through that experience again, he certainly wouldn't volunteer.

A naughty little dragon, Trying to corrupt my resolve with a sexy black swimsuit, you little devil?

Impossible!

No way!

"Alright, to be honest, I kept the swimsuit. But since you don't want to see it, I'll just throw it away then."

"Nice try! Go ahead and throw it away—see if I care!"

"Oh? So principled! Just don't go rummaging through my trash later, you big weirdo."

Leon rolled his eyes at her, unwilling to argue any further, and got up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Roswitha asked.

"To play with the girls."

"Come with me to the tribe this afternoon to buy clothes."

"Go by yourself."

"If I go by myself, what's the point of having a husband in name only like you?"

Leon waved his arm dismissively as he walked toward the door. "Fine, fine, what time in the afternoon?"

"Around two. Don't forget to come back."

"Okay."

The master had once told him that in this world, you can refuse any request from anyone. But when a woman asks you to go shopping with her, there's no way to refuse.

Leon asked why.

The master explained that when a woman asks you to go shopping, it's not a question but a notification. If you were to stubbornly refuse, your days afterward would surely be miserable.

The master, having been through it all, was clearly an expert in this area. Leon decided it was best to heed his advice.

Though he did wonder how much of his master's accumulated wisdom had been earned at the expense of his poor master's wife...

Ah, humans—forever growing up through generations of lessons like this (he mused with a sigh).

Leon headed to the garden behind the sanctuary, only to find Muen playing a game of making funny faces with Aurora. Noa was nowhere to be seen.

Leon walked over and asked, "Muen, isn’t your sister playing with you two?"

Muen looked up at his dad. "Sister said she went to the training grounds."

Oh, the Involuted King was at it again.

Leon ruffled his daughter’s hair. "Alright, you keep playing with your little sister. I'll go find your sister."

Muen nodded obediently. "Okay~"

Leon turned and walked toward the training grounds.

Sure enough, Noa was there practicing the new magic that Leon had taught her not long ago.

The new magic was extremely complex, difficult even for adolescent dragons to master in a short time.

Even with Noa's extraordinary talent, she wasn’t achieving immediate results in the early stages of practice.

Try after try. Start again and then fail again. The little dragoness's face was covered in sweat.

"Take a break, Noa."

Hearing his voice, Noa stopped channeling her magic and turned to look at him. "Daddy..."

Leon walked over slowly and crouched down in front of her. "Overtraining can harm your body. You need to balance effort with rest."

As he spoke, he gently took Noa's small hand in his own.

Her arm was trembling faintly, a sign of the strain her muscles and magical circuits had endured from sustained practice.

Leon had pushed himself like this in his youth, so he deeply understood how taxing it could be on one's body.

More importantly, Noa was only two years old. Her body was still in a critical stage of development, and she simply couldn’t afford any permanent damage.

"Being an Involuted King is fine, but you have to do it scientifically and in moderation—otherwise, it’ll backfire."

While massaging her arm, Leon looked up into her eyes with concern. "Besides, you’re already far ahead of your peers. You don’t need to push yourself so hard."

Noa lowered her gaze to Leon's broad, warm hands. She murmured, "I'm not doing this just to be stronger than anyone else..."

Leon blinked. "Then what are you working so hard for?"

Clutching the hem of her clothes, she balled her tiny fists. Her teeth lightly bit into her lip as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t bring herself to.

After a long pause, Noa finally muttered, "It's nothing. I'll be sure to rest, Daddy. I'm done for today."

Since she didn’t want to say, Leon wouldn’t force her.

Seeing her dust-covered face, Leon smiled and reached out to gently wipe it clean. Then he told her some good news.

"We’re going to the beach in a few days."

Her previously tired eyes instantly lit up. "Really, Daddy?"

"Mm-hmm, really. Mommy and I are going to the tribe this afternoon to buy swimsuits. Is there anything you'd like? I can bring it back for you."

Noa thought for a moment but didn’t express any particular desire. Instead, she asked, "Is this a date, Daddy?"

"Huh? No, it’s not a date... It’s just regular shopping."

Noa tilted her head. "That’s a date, Daddy. Girls don’t go shopping with just any boy. So, this is totally a date."

Your mom is over two hundred years old and still calls herself a girl?

Leon pinched her little nose. "Alright, alright. It’s a date, it’s a date. Satisfied now, you little smarty-pants?"

When he was with his dragoness wife, he could afford to be a little defiant.

Because he wasn’t whipped.

But when it came to his daughters? His resolve was as soft as cotton.

Because he was utterly henpecked—by them.

Noa giggled. "Then don't worry about buying anything for me, Daddy. Just focus on your date with Mommy!"

Leon scoffed before scooping her up in his arms. "Come on, let’s go find your sisters to play with."

"Okay~"