"How could Noa have a fragment of the Black Gold Chariot?"

Leon was momentarily at a loss.

In this Silver Dragon Castle, the only one who knew his human identity was Roswitha.

And one of the key pieces of evidence proving him to be human was the Black Gold Chariot.

Back in the day, General Leon would don the Black Gold Chariot, leaving carnage in his wake—no dragon survived his path.

During his service in the Dragon Slayer Army, he was either slaying dragons or on the way to slay them.

Apart from a few teammates like Rebecca, the one thing that accompanied him the most was this powerful set of enchanted battle armor.

Among the Dragon Clan, those lucky enough to survive an encounter with him didn’t know his real name, but they had come to silently agree on a title for him:

The Man in Black Armor.

Though the nickname was somewhat cumbersome, most of the Dragon Clan would shudder when they heard it.

During the peak of Leon’s dragon-slaying career, he had become a veritable nightmare for the entire Dragon Clan, and his Black Gold Chariot became an indelible mark in their memory.

This was also why, when Leon later crossed swords over Constantine and Star, he took the precaution of disguising the Black Gold Chariot with a coat of paint.

It wasn’t so much because he feared being recognized by the enemy—they had come to confront him already knowing his identity.

Leon was more concerned about being recognized by the Silver Dragon Clan.

If they realized who he really was, he would no longer be able to stay here, gathering information and intelligence.

And, of course, the most important aspect of that disguise was to prevent his daughters from discovering the truth—that their father was, in fact, a human.

Leon had weighed the pros and cons of this situation many times. Keeping his human identity a secret was undeniably the safest choice for now.

But then why would Noa have a fragment of the Black Gold Chariot in her small wooden box?

"Do you think Noa knows your identity already?" Roswitha asked, her tone laced with worry.

Leon had previously shared his concerns with her. She fully understood and had pledged to help him keep his secret.

It wasn’t just so that he could continue operating within the Dragon Clan under the guise of the “Silver Dragon Prince” and dig up more information about the Empire’s conspiracy.

More than that, it was to preserve the family they had worked so hard to cultivate.

Leon stared at the fragment, lost in thought for a moment, before slowly shaking his head.

"I don’t think Noa knows I’m human yet. But..."

"But?"

"But she’s definitely aware that her father has... a skeleton in the closet."

With a serious expression, Leon turned the small fragment over in his hand.

"A long time ago, when you first brought me to the warehouse behind the mountain to show me the Black Gold Chariot, I noticed a gap in the breastplate. If my guess is correct, that gap was caused by Victor’s enchanted dagger during his assassination attempt on me."

Victor, a traitor aiming to kill Leon, used an enchanted dagger made from the ivory of polar mammoths. The material possessed extremely high compatibility with enchantments.

At close range, the dagger had the capacity to pierce even the breastplate of the Black Gold Chariot.

However, ivory from polar mammoths was exceedingly rare, and the enchantment process was complex. A single misstep could ruin a precious piece of ivory.

As a result, such materials were more commonly crafted into jewelry or collector’s items rather than weapons.

But, to assassinate the former top-tier Dragon Slayer of the Empire, sacrificing a few pieces of ivory seemed worthwhile.

Ultimately, though, the attempt failed.

Years later, Leon even ended up destroying Victor’s prized Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale, an incident that seemed almost laughable in hindsight.

Roswitha gave the matter some thought before adding,

"After that battle, when we recovered your Black Gold Chariot during the cleanup, this fragment must have been amongst the pieces collected. But I didn’t personally check every item. I only... came to see it once afterwards."

The two exchanged glances, then quickly averted their eyes, their faces reddening simultaneously.

They both knew what Roswitha meant by "afterwards."

The Blood Fever.

The beginning of everything.

Every time they thought back on it, it evoked a mixture of absurdity and a sort of death-defying legendary quality.

"When you went to check on it, did you notice the fragment?" Leon asked.

Roswitha shook her head. "No... not really."

"Wow, seriously? You didn’t notice such a shiny fragment, my lady?"

Roswitha rolled her eyes. "At the time, the only thing on my mind was how I was going to torment you once you woke up. Just preserving your Black Gold Chariot was giving you a lot of face, alright? Who cared about such small fragments..."

It wasn’t just an excuse. The fragment really wasn’t that large.

A dagger designed for assassination wouldn’t leave a large gap—its strength lay in depth, not width. As long as it could puncture the target’s heart, it did the job.

"Did you later bring Noa there?" Leon asked.

"No," she replied firmly. "I’ve never taken her to that place."

"That fragment is solid proof of your ignoble human identity. Why would I ever risk exposing it by bringing our daughters there?"

Leon’s face darkened. "Do you have to preface my ‘human identity’ with a derogatory term like that?"

"I’m just channeling my old feelings about you. Back then, I couldn’t stand you."

"I was unconscious for a whole two years! The fact that you didn’t smother me with a pillow while I was out—well, I appreciate that, Your Majesty."

"You’re welcome; it was my pleasure."

Leon chuckled, waved a hand, and steered the conversation back to the fragment of the Black Gold Chariot.

"So, this fragment somehow ended up in Noa’s possession without you knowing. And yet, she’s never once mentioned it over the years."

Leon’s thoughts churned. He continued,

"In the future, Noa claims that everything in this box represents her most cherished memories. That makes this fragment one of them. Looking at the timeline, she likely acquired the fragment during the two years I was unconscious."

"To be more precise, subtract the ten months of pregnancy, plus three to four months of postnatal development... By this calculation, Noa would have obtained the fragment roughly a year before I woke up. Am I right?"

Roswitha reviewed Leon’s reasoning and nodded. "Yes, that’s about right."

Leon’s theory solidified—the idea that Noa had long suspected her father’s past wasn’t as straightforward as it appeared.

However, for the past four years, Noa had never brought this up.

Why?

Given her intelligence and curiosity, it was impossible for Noa not to wonder about the fragment.

Which could only mean one of two things:

Either she already knew enough secrets and saw no need to dig further into the fragment’s origins...

Or...

She was silently protecting this secret alongside Roswitha and Leon.

Without fully understanding the past, the child had grasped that investigating the truth could disrupt their family.

It might even change her life—and that of her sisters—irrevocably.

So, she chose to guard the secret in her own way, while keeping the truth close at hand.

Out of the two possibilities, Leon leaned towards the latter.

Gazing at the fragment in his hand as sunlight reflected off its surface, he quietly placed it back into the wooden box and slid the box under the bed.

"So... what’s your plan?" Roswitha asked softly. "Will you probe Noa, try to figure out how much she knows, or...?"

"Probe her?" Leon shook his head. "No need."

"Our eldest daughter is very smart, Roswitha. The moment we try to test her, she’ll know something’s up."

"And if that happens, regardless of how much she knows, our relationship with her will change... I don’t want that."

"So let’s keep things as they are for now."

"Alright... no problem."

The Queen breathed a sigh of relief and added gently,

"You know, Noa does care about this family deeply. About us, and about Muen and Aurora. That kind of love can’t be faked—there’s no question she loves us."

"Maybe we’re overthinking it. No matter how she got her hands on that fragment, she hasn’t used it to confront us. That shows her restraint. Don’t you think?"

Leon nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Such a mature child..."

Roswitha raised an eyebrow, expecting him to finish the sentence with something like "is truly rare."

But of course, this man always managed to leave her speechless.

"Such a mature child—just like me."

The Queen almost rolled her eyes to the heavens.

"Like you? Like the kid who wrestled wild dogs at five, broke megalith with his chest at seven? Or the clueless, stubborn, foolish straight-laced guy?"

"Ridiculous. How could I ever ask my precious daughters to break cinderblocks with their chests? That’s something only my old, eccentric master would do."

Leon spoke with mock seriousness. "As for the ‘stubborn’ part... I noticed an interesting phrasing in your earlier comment."

"What phrasing?"

"You said Noa’s affection for us couldn’t possibly be faked."

"Yes, and?"

"Well... your care for me... that's something you can't fake, right?" Leon asked with a smile.

Roswitha snorted coldly and whipped her tail across his face.

"I don't need to fake it, Leon, because I don't care about you at all, I never—"

"Ow, your tail hit me and it hurts!"

"Ah, I didn't mean to! Are you okay?"

Leon: 😋😋🤣🤣

Roswitha: 😅😅