"We'll be together forever, won't we?"

As soon as the queen's words were finished, the sanctuary grew silent—so silent that only the sound of their intertwined breath could be heard.

Roswitha stood on the lower steps, gazing up at the half-naked man who was sitting on the throne.

Silver and black eyes looked into each other, causing a seemingly invisible spark to ignite in the air.

Seeing Leon's slightly odd expression, Roswitha hurriedly added,

"When I said together... I meant objectively living together, not...not that kind of being together."

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

In the end, Roswitha directly averted her gaze, staring at the gleaming floor, and quietly asked,

"Do you understand what I mean?"

"I do."

"Alright, then if you have understood—"

"You want to grow old with me."

Roswitha: ?

"You understand nothing!"

Roswitha stomped up the steps and stood in front of Leon, with hands on her waist, angrily defending herself, "Who wants to grow old with you? I wouldn't let you see what I look like when I'm old."

Leon was taken aback, "So... the reason why you're unwilling to grow old with me is because you don't want me to see what you look like when you're old?"

"Mind your own business. Anyway, the phrase 'grow old together'... is inappropriate."

Roswitha thought for a moment and quickly came up with another explanation.

"You're my captive. You should be bound to my side for life, working with me to develop different functions of the Dragon Mark. That goes without saying!"

*Clap—clap—clap—*

Leon couldn't help but applauded. "Brilliant, Your Majesty. Whenever you can't find a justification, you always claim that I'm your captive. This trick truly never fails, does it?"

Roswitha couldn't be bothered to argue anymore.

It was practically making the situation worse the more she tried.

After all, she had merely repeated what he had asked her to say earlier:

*We'll be together for a lifetime.*

What about that phrase? Was it amphibolous? Was it cheesy? Did it strongly imply romance between us?

Honestly, it represented nothing at all!

And yet, this idiotic man kept harping on it. I, the queen, had truly tolerated him too much.

Roswitha stepped forward and sat back down on Leon's laps.

This close posture elevated her perspective slightly above Leon's, allowing Roswitha to look down at him. She draped her silver eyes and entwined her arms around his bare limbs.

"Stop with the nonsense, idiot. If you can accept the method I mentioned earlier, we can plant the second Dragon Mark right now."

The current Dragon Mark only allowed Leon to fully use his power for ten minutes.

Although he could deal with six Dragon Kings during that time, it was Leon's absolute limit.

Afterward, he would descend into extreme weakness, relying on Roswitha to steady him just to walk a few steps.

And unexpected challenges were endless on battlefields. Enemies wouldn't be so considerate as to let him escape every time.

So... increasing his magic reserves was absolutely necessary.

Leon nodded. "Alright, I accept it."

"Oh? Really?"

Roswitha gently traced Leon's neck with her fingers, tilting her head slightly, causing her silver strands to fall loose. "Let me remind you, though, a second Dragon Mark will double the desires it brings. Don't come whining to me later. That will tarnish your dragon-slaying hero image."

Leon chuckled with a scoff, raising his hands to grip Roswitha's wrist before leaning in, close enough to touch his nose to her ear's curve.

Roswitha knew he was about to fire back some incredibly sharp retort, like *"Maybe you should worry about yourself first"* or *"I can perfectly control myself."*

She knew this ridiculous man far too well.

Thus, she had prepared to fight back.

However, Leon said,

"Then you should be careful, Melkevi. I'll make sure you're dizzy, just like the day you awoke from the Blood Delirium."

"......"

She had failed to predict.

And utterly countered.

Roswitha shoved his shoulders, pinning him back against the throne's backrest. "Stop bluffing. As the Dragon Queen, I have an exalted body. You think your meager human physique can subdue me? You're two hundred years too early."

"*I~have~an~exalted~body~*"

Leon mimicked Roswitha's words in a mocking tone before quipping, "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but your exalted Dragon Queen body already bears my human mark—"

"Shut up!"

Roswitha couldn't bare any more.

Caught between embarrassment and irritation, she punched Leon's arms.

Leon stopped teasing her, dropping his mischievous expression for a serious demeanor. "Alright, let's begin. Anything I need to do to cooperate?"

Roswitha shook her head. "Nothing. Just lie down like the time when I first engraved the Dragon Mark on you."

"Okay."

Just lay down and could have enhancements programmed in—this version's patch notes were made for me, Leon Cosmode!

Even if there might be some debuffs later, overall, it was a power boost.

Leon positioned himself properly in the throne seat.

Roswitha slowly raised her right hand, letting silver magical light swirl in her palm.

"Where do you want it?" Roswitha asked.

"Oh, I get to choose?"

"Of course. Dragon Clan magic is very humanized."

"Hmm..." Leon pretended to ponder deeply, then grinned, exposing his teeth. "How about on my buttocks? That way, it's harder to notice."

Roswitha rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Be serious, you idiot! Where do you want it? Say it quickly."

"Right below the current Dragon Mark, I guess."

"You mean... your abdomen?"

"Yep."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Roswitha clicked her tongue, shaking her head. With a look of "I can't believe you're that sort of person" flashing across her expression, her gaze tinged with disdain.

Leon blinked. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You sneaky man," Roswitha muttered in a tone of grievance.

Leon was even more confused. "Come on, how am I sneaky?"

"You just are! Shut up. I'm engraving it now—is the abdomen confirmed?"

Leon hesitated briefly, then decided not to argue further. "Yeah, confirmed."

"Alright, here it comes. It might feel a bit hot."

"Okay."

Roswitha pressed her palms lightly against Leon's abdomen.

Instantly, a faint burning sensation emerged, but it wasn't that painful.

Silver light flashed, and Roswitha withdrew her hand. The couple were stunned.

Leon’s abdomen... didn’t display the Dragon Mark.

"W-where is the Dragon Mark? Did the magic fail?" Leon questioned.

Roswitha was equally puzzled—

Oh, wait, considering things more accurately, most Dragon Clan members wouldn't encounter this kind of situation anyway...

After all, no normal couple would be as unusual as these two, strange enough to engrave not one, but *two* Dragon Marks on their bodies.

Roswitha's pupils shifted slightly, unintentionally catching a glimpse of Leon’s exposed right arm.

She stared at his arm in surprise.

"There... there it is..." She pointed out.

Leon turned his head to have a look.

Indeed, there was a silver Dragon Mark wrapped around his right arm.

Given Leon's solid arm muscles, the Dragon Mark looked quite fitting, blending strength with a touch of mystique.

"Looks impressive, but why did it end up there? Didn’t you engrave it on my abdomen?"

Leon flexed his arm, finding no discomfort at all.

Roswitha was also perplexed. "The texts say you can freely choose placement for Dragon Marks, so why did it shift?"

Leon pondered a moment before guessing, "Could the first Dragon Mark's location be freely chosen, but the second one...is random?"

The queen blinked. "That does seem possible."

Leon scoffed lightly. "So much for your Dragon Clan magic being humanized. Now you're telling me it's randomized?"

Roswitha poked his chest in rebuttal. "'Humanized' includes ‘anticipation and spontaneity for the unknown,’ got it?"

"Hmph..." Leon chuckled, then asked, "Now it's your turn to engrave. Let's see where your second Dragon Mark ends up," Leon said gleefully, adding with a mischievous smile, "If it shows up on your tail, it looks like that you’ll have to start tucking it away in public."

"Hah. What's wrong with that? Dragon Marks signify love between me and my husband. What’s there to hide?"

"Then, who is your husband?" Leon smugly inquired.

"You—!"

Roswitha declined further bickering. "Enough! Shut up, I need to focus on channeling magic now."

Leon shrugged and made a "zipper" motion over his lips.

Roswitha gathered magical energy in her hands again.

Moments later, she pressed her palms gently against her abdomen, while silently praying:

Please don’t randomly appear somewhere ridiculous!

Although she had confidently declared earlier that exposing the Dragon Mark was no issue, Roswitha deeply believed that...

If it did randomly show up in some absurd locations, then she would be unbearably awkward during their intimate time!

The burning sensation arose and faded.

After completing the engraving, Roswitha exhaled in relief.

She pulled her collar aside, lowered her head, and glanced toward her abdomen—

"Did it appear?" Leon asked.

Roswitha blushed and averted her gaze. "N-no, it hasn’t..."

"Huh? It hasn’t appeared?"

"It’s not that. It’s because... my chest is too plump, so I can’t see my stomach."

"...Well, that’s a reason I hadn’t anticipated." Leon was momentarily stunned.

Roswitha sighed and stood up, nervously clutching the hem of her dress. "Then... could you take a look for me?"

Leon couldn’t really comprehend why she was acting so shy. "Haven’t we all seen each other in... well, less than this plenty of times? Why are you hesitate now?"

"This is different!"

"Alright, alright. It's different, different. My apologies, Your Majesty. Please lift your dress and let me check your lower abdomen for the Dragon Mark."

It was her own request, yet the way Leon put it somehow made it sound... so strange.

To think that the dignified Queen of the Silver Dragons would have to expose her abdomen for someone else to examine if the Dragon Mark was there... Ugh, how utterly embarrassing!

Roswitha bit her lower lip. Her face turned red as she slowly lifted the hem of her dress bit by bit.

Her smooth, snow-white thighs gradually came into view, followed by the delicate black lace trim peeking out from underneath.

Higher still revealed her soft and flat abdomen—but there was no Dragon Mark to be found.

Leon shook his head. "Nope. Looks like it has been randomly placed somewhere else."

Roswitha let her dress fall back down, frowning as she inspected her arms, shoulders, and thighs. She even checked her tail, but still found no Dragon Mark anywhere.

Scratching her head in mild frustration, she muttered, "Where could it have gone...?"

Leon raised his hands to hint her to turn around.

Roswitha complied, turning her back to him.

Leon checked the nape of her neck and down her back, but there was no sign of the mark there either.

"Damn it. Don’t tell me it’s ended up on your... butt?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Roswitha huffed.

Barefoot, Roswitha hurriedly descended the staircase. "I’m getting a mirror to check it myself!"

Watching her flustered retreat, Leon couldn’t help but chuckled. He shook his head. Then, with a shrug, he got dressed and followed her.

They returned to the bedroom one after the other.

When Leon pushed the door open, he saw Roswitha already sitting on the edge of the bed. Her face showed a picture of utter despair.

Approaching her, Leon asked, "What happened? Your expression tells me the Dragon Mark isn’t on your butt after all."

Roswitha’s face was beet red as she hung her head low. Her hands were pressed together between her knees, and she mumbled in a tiny voice:

"It’s... it’s on my waist..."

Hearing this, General Leon turned red immediately.

"My, my, Your Majesty, you’re quite... coquettish. Come on, let me have a look!"