“Dad, Dad, wake up! It's time for lunch.”

Leon was groggily woken up by Aurora.

The moment he opened his eyes, a splitting headache hit him.

He forced himself to sit up despite the discomfort and managed to squeeze out a faintly apologetic smile. “Sorry, Aurora, Dad fell asleep accidentally.”

“It’s okay, Dad. Let’s go eat now.”

“Mm.”

Leon stood up. The noonday sunlight streamed in through the library’s floor-to-ceiling windows, scattering warmly across him.

Yet he felt no warmth at all.

In fact, the moment he got up—

“Achoo!”

That was his fourth sneeze of the day.

If his master's wife were here, she'd have hauled Leon off to the doctor's for an injection already.

Aurora grabbed Leon’s hand, looked up at him, and asked worriedly, “Dad, are you okay? Did you catch a cold?”

Leon shook his head, still wearing a smile on his face, though now it looked slightly forced.

His throat faintly hurt, his nasal passages were blocked, his lips were a bit dry and cracked.

And then there was the persistent headache that hadn’t improved at all—

He was probably really coming down with a cold.

“I’m fine. Let’s go eat first.”

“Are you really okay?” Aurora was still a bit uneasy.

“Yes, really,” Leon reassured her.

He started to crouch down to lift her, about to quip, “See, Dad’s strong enough to lift you up—nothing’s wrong!”

But then he realized if he really did have a cold, getting that close might infect his daughter.

So he gave up on that idea.

He held Aurora’s hand and left the library, heading to the dining room.

Roswitha and NoaMuen were already eating.

“Good afternoon, Mom! Good afternoon, big sis and second sis~”

Aurora greeted everyone enthusiastically before running over to Muen. With her second sister’s help, she successfully climbed into the children’s dining chair.

Although there weren’t booster cushions for kids in the dining room, there was always her reliable second sister.

Leon pulled out a chair and sat at one side of the table.

A plate of food, which the maids had prepared for him, was already in front of him.

He picked up his knife and fork but, after taking just a bite, began poking at the food absent-mindedly with his utensils.

Roswitha turned her head slightly to look at him. The dog-man had a dark expression on his face, but it didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood.

It was more like... he simply had no appetite?

“Does it not suit your taste?” Roswitha glanced away, slowly cutting her steak as she asked.

“No... I’m just not very hungry.”

Hearing this, Roswitha paused in her movements.

That voice didn’t sound quite right.

Why did it sound a bit hoarse?

“Are you sick?” She finally put down her fork and looked at Leon closely.

Leon propped his head up with one hand, his eyelids drooping, speaking in a listless tone. “No, I’m fine. I’m not sick.”

Across the table, Aurora blinked and immediately piped up, “Dad sneezed earlier!”

Roswitha’s brow furrowed slightly. “That’s a pretty clear sign of being sick, isn’t it?”

Leon scratched his nose but continued to deny it stubbornly. “It’s just a sneeze. No need to make a big deal out of it. I—”

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a cool sensation on his forehead.

It was Roswitha’s hand, resting lightly to check his temperature.

Realizing what she was doing, Leon immediately grabbed her wrist to push her hand away. “What are you doing...?”

“You’ve got a fever, and you’re still saying you’re not sick?”

“That’s just because your hands are cold. Everything feels warm if you touch it.”

Roswitha’s smile twisted into one that didn’t reach her eyes. “I thought you only acted stubborn when talking about feelings with me. Didn’t expect this extends to catching a cold too.”

Underneath the table, Leon lightly kicked the toe of her shoe and lowered his voice. “The kids are here; stop saying random stuff.”

“Oh, right, thanks for the reminder—the kids are here.”

Roswitha shifted her gaze to the three little ones across the table. Sitting upright and appearing very serious, she asked,

“Children, tell me, does being sick feel uncomfortable?”

Noa & Muen & Aurora: “Yes~”

“So, what should we do as soon as we get sick?”

Noa & Muen & Aurora: “Take medicine~”

Clap—

Roswitha clapped her hands together in satisfaction and smiled lazily. “What well-behaved children we have.”

Then, with lightning speed, she altered her expression, wiped the smile off her face, and turned to Leon. “See? Even little kids know what to do. You, a grown man, still trying to act like a hero?”

Leon snorted softly in amusement, muttering under his breath, “The way you said that made you sound like a newly-minted kindergarten teacher...”

Roswitha couldn’t be bothered to respond. “Finish your meal and take some medicine. There’s some on the bedside table in my room.”

“I’m not taking it.”

She raised an eyebrow, questioning, “How old are you? Do I have to coax you into taking your medicine?”

“…” Leon seemed to want to say something but stopped.

Actually, it wasn’t that he wanted to say something but couldn’t; it was more like... something awkward to explain.

Roswitha, noticing this, had a sudden inkling of what was going on and quickly pieced together the reason behind his stubbornness about not taking medicine.

“Are you... afraid of taking medicine?”

Hearing this, Noa jerked her head up. With food still unchewed in her mouth, she stared at her dad in utter shock.

OK, she found her next essay topic:

“My Dad, Who Can Defeat Constantine in One Move, But Is Afraid of Cold Medicine.”

Faced with Roswitha’s inquiry, Leon didn’t answer but instead looked even more uncomfortable.

That counted as a tacit acknowledgment.

It wasn’t exactly fear—he just had an intense aversion to taking medicine.

No particular reason, just an innate dislike of the taste.

If his master’s wife were here, she probably would have already dragged him to the clinic, as he’d absolutely refuse to step foot into a place like that on his own.

Roswitha lightly tapped the dining table with her fingers and decided not to push him further.

Stubborn as he was, he’d eventually cave and take medicine or go for a shot when the discomfort overwhelmed him.

Aurora glanced at her mom, then at her dad, her pretty pink eyes blinking.

If Dad doesn’t like taking medicine... maybe health supplements would work?

...

By evening, Leon’s cold had worsened.

The dragon-slaying hero lay in bed, a towel on his forehead, hot water at his side, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Roswitha stood at his bedside, arms crossed, holding cold medicine between her fingers, looking at him helplessly. “If you don’t take some soon, you might not survive the night.”

“Shh.”

Leon’s head throbbed with the intensity of the fever, his voice rasping as he muttered, “I think I see my great-grandma.”

“What great-grandma? Weren’t you adopted by your master? Where would you even have one?”

With Herculean effort, General Leon raised a trembling finger, holding up a single finger.

“It’s... uh... a figure of speech.”

Roswitha sneered, “When this cold kills you, I’ll have a thousand more ‘figures of speech’ to mock you with.”

“No... I firmly believe... I can defeat this illness.”

“First of all, you can’t. Second, a cold doesn’t count as an ‘illness.’ Losing an arm, a leg, or battling cancer—that’s real illness.”

“This is... also... a form of expression…”

Roswitha rolled her eyes, tossed the cold medicine onto his bedside table, and stopped bothering with him.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

She went over to open it—it was the three little ones.

Muen was the first to announce, “Mom, we’ve come to pay tribute to Dad!”

Roswitha: ?

"'Pay... tribute?'"

She arched an eyebrow. 'Looking to score some steak again, kiddo?

But you’re too early. Your dad’s still got some time before he meets his end.

Noa quickly pulled her younger sister back to clarify. “It’s Aurora. She crafted a kind of medicine—well, actually more like a health supplement.”

“A health supplement?”

Aurora nodded. “If Dad doesn’t like medicine, then surely he can take a health supplement instead. What’s most important is helping him recover.”

Roswitha’s eyes flickered thoughtfully.

The girls only had access to a limited range of harmless medicinal herbs.

Even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t hurt him.

And given that he was a shameless daughter-lover lying there, he’d be more than willing to play guinea pig for them, wouldn’t he?

“Alright, come in. Dad’s in the bedroom.”

The three little dragon girls ran into the room, and after Roswitha closed the door, she followed them inside.

Aurora, demonstrating the utmost concern for her father, pulled out a small box containing a single dark pill.

It looked more like a piece of chocolate candy than medicine.

Leon found it familiar somehow.

But he couldn’t quite place where he’d seen it before.

He intended to refuse, but noticing the expectant look on his daughters’ faces, his daughter-lover instincts kicked in.

Alright, fine. If I have to be the guinea pig, so be it. It’s for my daughters, after all.

Leon placed the chocolate-like pill into his mouth. There was no medicinal taste to it.

After swallowing it with water, he didn’t feel any immediate changes in his body.

Good—it probably wasn’t poison.

“Dad, do you feel better?” Aurora asked.

To ease their worries, Leon quickly replied, “Much better! It worked like a charm, Aurora! You’re amazing, crafting medicine already!”

“Well actually...' Aurora added earnestly, 'Big sis helped a ton, “Extracting impurities from the herbs required lightning magic. Big sister’s really good at that.”

Hearing this, Leon stiffened, a chill running down his spine.

A bad memory suddenly exploded in his mind, as if thunder had struck.

What kind of health supplement requires lightning magic to extract?

He struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching. “Sweetheart... did you follow the recipe from the book?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“The one in the nursery’s drawer?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“That medicine... it's not the legendary Dragon Vitality Pill, is it?”

“Uh-huh!' Aurora beamed. 'You got it all right, Daddy!”

Ha... just perfect. We're done for.