Vol. 1 Ch. 151

Regret.

A deep, overwhelming regret.

When the dragon clan is caught up in their emotions, they often do things that even they cannot control.

What ancestor ingrained this bad habit into their DNA? Why hasn’t it changed over the millennia?

During breakfast, Rosvitha appeared disheveled.

Her hair was uncombed, she wore no makeup, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.

After impulsively throwing out the photo of her and Leon last night, she lay in bed, unable to sleep.

Leon, too, seemed to have only returned to bed around dawn, sleeping for barely half an hour.

Before Anna came to call them for breakfast, the couple lay back-to-back in bed. They both knew the other was awake, but neither took the initiative to speak.

They weren’t sure if this counted as a quarrel.

If it did, why wasn’t it like before? Why weren’t they using sharp, cutting words to attack each other, culminating in a passionate “dragon and human battle” that would settle the matter?

But if it didn’t count as a quarrel, how could they explain the tumultuous emotions they both felt?

At the breakfast table, Muen seemed to sense that something was off with her parents.

She quietly ate her breakfast, not acting cute or playful as she usually did.

The little dragon girl thought to herself that she would ask her father what was going on when he taught her magic later.

She didn’t understand what it meant to be stubborn, what it meant to be tsundere, or what marital conflicts were. She only knew that when such situations arose, it was only after her parents separated that they might speak their minds.

Leon was nibbling on his slice of bread, while Rosvitha occasionally sipped some water, leaving the supplements and fruits on her plate untouched.

This was the most silent breakfast the Melkvi family had experienced in months.

Muen quietly finished her meal, jumped off her chair, and said, “Daddy, I’ll be waiting for you at the practice field.”

Leon snapped out of his daze. “Ah? Ah… alright, Daddy will be there soon.”

“Okay, okay.”

Muen left the room.

Leon withdrew his gaze, glanced at Rosvitha, and then nodded towards the supplements and fruits on her plate. “You should eat some, otherwise it’ll go to waste.”

“None of your business.”

Great, she was really angry.

She had been angry with Leon before, but that kind of anger was very “dragon-like,” with a sort of regal disdain that said, “This queen is too lazy to reason with you, you’re not worthy of hearing it, so this queen will just blow you away.”

But this time, her anger gave Leon the distinct impression of a martial master’s wife throwing a tantrum.

He recalled a time when his master had promised to take his wife shopping. She had dressed up beautifully, even wearing a lovely dress she rarely had the heart to put on.

But on that day, his master got caught up with other matters and stood her up.

For three days afterward, she didn’t speak to him, no matter what he did to try to make amends. Her responses were limited to one word:

“Oh.”

It wasn’t so much anger as it was sulking.

Leon found this situation to be the most troublesome—his master and the  Dragon Slayer Academy had never taught him how to cheer up a sulking female dragon.

He had soothed a donkey before, and quite successfully. Give the donkey two bundles of hay, and it would wag its tail and start working again.

But clearly, a donkey and a dragon were not on the same level; they couldn’t be compared.

Moreover, with Rosvitha now pregnant with their second child, her emotions were even more unpredictable, making it even harder for Leon to handle.

As he fretted over the situation, he noticed Rosvitha slowly eating the few pieces of fruit on her plate. Only then did Leon feel a slight sense of relief.

However, after finishing the fruit, Rosvitha didn’t say anything. She stood up, returned to the bedroom, and closed the door behind her.

Leon scratched his cheek and finished his last bite of bread.

He considered whether he should go talk to Rosvitha, but if things went as expected, Rosvitha probably wouldn’t even open the door for him.

Leon knew her well—once she got stubborn, not even eight dragons could pull her back.

Frowning in thought, Leon realized that even when treating an illness, you had to first find the root cause. He needed to address the underlying issue causing Rosvitha to sulk.

Making a girl happy requires more than just words.

If this were the past, Leon wouldn’t have cared whether she was angry or not. Even if she got as puffed up as a pufferfish, he wouldn’t have been concerned.

But…but now the female dragon was pregnant.

Being upset was bad for the baby.

The sooner she calmed down, the better it would be for everyone, including the baby.

Having figured out a plan and giving himself a perfect reason for his actions, Leon headed to the practice field.

Muen saw her father coming alone and ran over to him.

Leon put on a small smile and bent down to pick up his daughter. “What do you want to learn today?”

“Daddy, did you and Mommy have a fight?” Muen went straight to the point.

Leon was taken aback. Seeing his daughter’s serious little face, it was clear that she had noticed the tension between him and Rosvitha during breakfast.

Although his precious daughter usually focused on being cute, Leon knew that, like Noia, she was very perceptive. The difference was that Noia tried to appear more mature, while Muen leaned more towards a child’s perspective.

Leon’s thoughts shifted slightly, and he smiled, pinching Muen’s cheek. “No, Daddy and Mommy didn’t have a fight.”

In Muen’s eyes, the family had to be harmonious, happy, and free of conflict. This was an understanding that he and Rosvitha had agreed upon from the beginning. The love and hate between the couple shouldn’t affect their daughters; they were innocent.

That’s why Leon didn’t tell the truth.

But Muen was clever. “Really, Daddy?”

“Really. Would Daddy lie to you?”

“But this morning, neither you nor Mommy talked to each other. You usually have so much to say to each other.”

Leon blinked. “Do we usually… talk a lot?”

Muen nodded confidently. “Yes, yes! Even though you don’t see each other much during the day, whenever you do, you always have endless things to say to each other.”

Leon had never noticed this.

Did he and Rosvitha really chat endlessly whenever they met?

Reflecting on it, Leon realized that Muen might be right. Their conversations, whether mundane or heated, had a rhythm and connection that was second nature to them. Maybe it was precisely this familiarity and constant exchange that made the silence at breakfast so jarring and noticeable to their daughter.

Maybe… maybe not, Leon thought. His daughter might be mistaken.

“Maybe Mommy just isn’t feeling well today, so she’s talking less.”

Leon rubbed Muen’s little head. “I promise you, by tomorrow morning, Daddy and Mommy will be back to normal.”

He silently prayed that he could manage to cheer up the mother dragon within twenty-four hours.

Muen blinked her beautiful big eyes, hugging Leon’s neck with a serious tone.

“Daddy.”

“Yes?”

“I think you and Mommy are like two hedgehogs,” Muen said with a look of earnest seriousness.

Leon was stunned. What kind of strange analogy was that?

How were they like hedgehogs?

“Why do you say that?” Leon asked.

“Both you and Mommy have prickly exteriors, but you’re soft inside.”

“Uh… interesting, okay.”

Leon didn’t know how to respond to a child’s whimsical analogy, so he could only say it was “interesting.”

However, Muen’s next words unexpectedly struck a chord in Leon’s heart.

“If neither of you puts your prickles away, you can’t truly hug each other. Either you prick Mommy, or Mommy pricks you.”

Using the simplest childlike language, Muen articulated a truth that Leon had never considered.

“So, only if you both put away your prickles can Daddy and Mommy hug, right?”

Leon was momentarily taken aback by the wisdom in his daughter’s words. It was a simple yet profound observation that he had overlooked.

In their interactions, he and Rosvitha had always kept their defenses up, not realizing that this prevented them from genuinely connecting and comforting each other. Muen’s innocent insight gave Leon a new perspective on how to approach his relationship with Rosvitha.

Leon stood frozen, speechless for a moment.

He and Rosvitha had always tried to show enough love and harmony in front of Muen and Noia, but did Muen still see them as a pair of “hedgehogs”?

Leon had overlooked an interesting fact: the inner world of children is pure and untainted, allowing them to feel the most genuine emotions. These feelings can’t be faked, no matter how well the facade is maintained, there will always be flaws that only children can perceive.

Leon didn’t know exactly how his daughters viewed their relationship, but it was clear that it wasn’t as perfect as they thought.

They had underestimated their daughters and oversimplified this elaborate charade of a happy family.

Leon held Muen in his arms, silent for a long time before he slowly exhaled and said, “I understand what I need to do now. Thank you, Muen.”

Hearing this, Muen’s serious little face finally broke into a smile. “You’re welcome, Daddy!”

“But where did you learn such a peculiar analogy? Daddy doesn’t remember teaching you that.”

“From ‘Little Dragon Enlightenment Stories,’ the ‘Hedgehog Couple’ story,” Muen replied earnestly.

It sounded like one of those short stories found in primary school language books.

However, the simplest stories often contain the most profound truths—truths so complex that adults struggle to understand them, while children can grasp their essence.

Thanks to the author of ‘Little Dragon Enlightenment Stories,’ and thanks to the ‘Hedgehog Couple’ story!

With his thoughts now in order, Leon and Muen began their lessons for the day.

…

At midnight, the man beside her was already fast asleep. Rosvitha slowly sat up, lifted the blanket, and carefully got out of bed.

She was wearing pink couple’s pajamas and dragon-wing slippers, tiptoeing out of the bedroom. With winter approaching, the temperature outside was a bit low. Rosvitha wrapped her pajamas tighter around herself as she sneaked past the guards at the back door of the sanctuary, heading quietly to the nearby bushes.

She looked up to confirm that directly above was the balcony of her bedroom, then she lowered her head and began searching for something.

The photo.

Her sulking wasn’t entirely because of Leon. Part of it was because of herself.

Why was she so stubborn? Why did she care so much about her pride?

If she had softened a bit and told Leon, “I just want to keep this photo, why do you care?” she could have kept the photo without any issue.@@novelbin@@

Now she was stumbling around in the dark looking for it.

Ah, a moment of tsundere joy, a lifetime of regret. The sins you create, you must repay slowly.

“Once I find that photo, I’ll hide it in a place where he will never find it!” Rosvitha thought to herself.

But it had been over twenty hours since the queen had tossed the photo, and a breeze had blown since then. Who knew where the photo had ended up?

And now it was night, making it impossible to see anything on the ground.

After searching for about twenty minutes, Rosvitha still hadn’t found even a glimpse of the photo. Feeling a bit dejected, she squatted down, slowly wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her arms.

The surrounding cold crept in, and her silver tail drooped powerlessly to the ground beneath her.

The photo was a candid shot, one of a kind in the world. If it was lost… it would be gone forever.

She didn’t even know why she cared so much about that photo. Initially, she didn’t know how to deal with it, but as time passed, the photo seemed to take on a new significance for her. It was hard to explain, difficult to put into words.

Maybe, only by finding it, could Rosvitha figure it all out.

However… she feared she might never find it again—

“Are you looking for this?”

A familiar voice sounded beside her.

Rosvitha’s body stiffened, and she slowly lifted her face from her arms.

The photo she had been desperately searching for was now right in front of her.

In the photo, she and her captive were looking into each other’s eyes, smiling. The sunlight streamed through the window of the photo studio, illuminating her silver hair and reflecting off the man’s dark eyes, making them bright and striking.

The man squatted down beside her, joining her at her level. He held the photo between them. “I found it while practicing with Muen today. Just so you know, I picked it up by chance. I wasn’t deliberately looking for it like you.”

Rosvitha suppressed a smile. “I wasn’t deliberately looking for it either. I was just… taking a walk.”

“Oh, Your Majesty, taking a walk into the bushes? Did you get lost?”

“Go to hell.” Rosvitha bumped his shoulder.

Because they were squatting, it was hard to keep their balance, and Leon fell back on his butt.

He sat down on the floor as well, looking down at the photo in his hand, muttering, “Ah, do you know what Muen said about you?”

“What did he say?”

“He said you’re like a hedgehog.”

The queen rolled her eyes and chuckled, “Don’t lie to me. Muen must have been talking about both of us.”

“Haha, darling, you’re so smart.”

“Shut up, who said I’m your darling.”

Rosvitha stood up, lifted her foot, and kicked Leon’s butt, then walked toward the door of the sanctuary without looking back.

Leon also got up swiftly and followed her.

When the guards at the back door saw the queen and the prince returning in their pajamas in the middle of the night, they thought they were seeing things.

“Good evening, Your Majesty, Your Highness!” the guard greeted me.

Rosvitha nodded slightly and made a soft sound of agreement.

As Leon passed by, he patted the guard’s shoulder. “Hmm, the queen and I are here for an inspection. You’ve done well, you’ll be promoted tomorrow.”

Oh, you two are doing inspections in your couple’s pajamas?

The guard stood up straight, chest puffed out. “Thank you, Your Highness!”

The couple returned to their bedroom one after the other.

“Where are you going to put that photo?” Leon asked.

“Put it wherever you want,” Rosvitha replied, slipping into bed.

“Hmph, I try to be nice, and you treat me like a fool. If you don’t care, then neither do I.”

Leon casually tossed the photo he had painstakingly retrieved during the day onto the bedside table before slipping into bed himself.

That night, the couple slept soundly.

The next morning, Leon woke up slowly.

Rosvitha was already at the dressing table, getting ready.

He sat up slowly, casting a glance at the bedside table out of the corner of his eye.

The photo of him and Rosvitha was now framed delicately and placed next to a family portrait of the four of them.