Vol. 3 Ch. 30

After the battle, Isha was methodically directing the Red Dragon guards as they cleaned up the aftermath.

“Take down that mammoth leg hanging on the gate. Check if the meat is still good—maybe we can roast it.”

“Redo the entire lawn, since there’s barely any of it left intact.”

“And rebuild the pavilion. Get the materials and funds from my sister. Won’t approve it? She wouldn’t dare! Her husband destroyed it, so their family should compensate!”

“And that... Konstantin’s head. Just bury it somewhere—looking at it brings bad luck.”

The Red Dragon Sanctuary had been wrecked inside and out, and fixing it would take days, if not longer.

Leon and Rosvisser stood a short distance behind Isha, quietly watching her command the scene.

After a moment, Rosvisser lowered her voice, “It seems like my sister really didn’t suspect you.”

“Of course not. My excuse earlier may have seemed rough, but in reality—”

“In reality, it was even rougher,” Rosvisser retorted.

Leon shot her an annoyed look, countering, “In reality, it was airtight! There’s no flaw in that reasoning for your sister to question.”

In a way, Leon was right.

His excuse had been simple, but simplicity often made it harder to spot loopholes. Overcomplicating the truth with too many lies would only raise more suspicion, and it would be impossible to backtrack later.

The phrase "some mysterious organization" may have been vague, but it left room to build a larger story if needed. He could fill in the blanks later if the subject came up again.

“Mom! Dad! Aunt Isha! Are you okay?”

The voices of their daughters rang out from behind them.

The couple and Isha turned around.

Escorted by Red Dragon maids, the little dragon girls were safe and sound.

Leon crouched down and scooped up Moon. “Mommy and Daddy are fine. How about you? Were you scared?”

Moon’s little face still showed a trace of lingering fear, but she bravely shook her head. “Moon wasn’t scared. Big sister protected me and Aurora the whole time.”

Leon pressed his cheek against his daughter’s, knowing full well that his little girl had been terrified. She was just trying to avoid making him and Rosvisser worry.

But he didn’t force Moon to admit her fear. Sometimes, fear is something you need to process on your own.

“Moon, you’re amazing. Noa, Aurora, you two were great too,” he praised, turning to the other daughters.

Isha also stepped forward, picking up Aurora.

With the three parents each holding one of the three children, the scene looked almost complete. If their grandmother had been there, the entire Melkvey family would have been together.

Isha, holding Aurora, glanced around at the wreckage of her sanctuary and sighed. “There’s a lot of work to be done after the battle. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take you all to Sky City for photos tomorrow.”

Aurora blinked her big pink eyes, looking past her aunt’s shoulder to her parents.

Rosvisser read the silent plea in her daughter’s gaze and smiled, giving her a slight nod, signaling her approval.

Aurora immediately snuggled back into her aunt’s embrace, playing with Isha’s red hair and speaking in her sweet, childlike voice.

“We’re not in a hurry, Aunt Isha. We can go after your work is done~”

Since it had been planned as a family outing from the start, there was no reason to change their plans just because of an unfortunate, failed revival match.

“This... won’t delay Moon and Aurora’s school entrance, will it?” Isha asked.

“It won’t, Auntie,” Moon answered from her father’s arms. “We still have a month before school starts. We can wait a few more days for the photos. Maybe by then, Grandma will be back too! Then we can take one suuuuuper big family photo!”

“Exactly, sis,” Rosvisser chimed in. “It’s fine to wait a few days. What matters most is that the whole family is together.”

Leon pursed his lips, glancing over at his eldest daughter in Rosvisser’s arms.

Coincidentally, Noa was looking back at him.

Father and daughter exchanged a glance, and in that moment, it felt like both could read the same thought in each other’s eyes: *“What’s left for us to say? They’ve already said everything!”*

After silently communicating through their looks, both Leon and Noa simply closed their mouths.

Isha nodded. “Alright, I’ll have everything rebuilt in a week, and then we’ll all go together.”

“Mm.”

As they were chatting, a Red Dragon guard suddenly came running toward them in a panic.@@novelbin@@

He rushed up to Isha and knelt down, gasping for breath. “Y-Your Majesty! There’s a problem! Just now, when we were about to dispose of Konstantin’s head, something happened!”

Before Isha could ask, Leon interjected, “What happened? Did someone steal his head?”

After the spatial rift crisis had ended, Leon had noticed that Konstantin’s dragon head, which had once hung at the Silver Dragon territory’s border, had disappeared.

After tonight’s battle, Leon had no doubt that it had been stolen by the Empire’s forces.

Now that Konstantin had failed his "revival match" and Blythe’s heartscale had been destroyed, the Empire had no reason to take his head again.

But... the Empire never played by the rules.

If they could create such a monstrous stitched-up creature, there was no telling what else they might be capable of.

“Yes, Prince Leon. We were preparing to transport Konstantin’s head to the border for incineration, but midway, a dragon moving at incredible speed appeared, injuring two of our transport team members and stealing Konstantin’s head.”

Isha’s pupils contracted. “Did you get a look at what the dragon looked like?”

The guard hesitated, thinking for a moment before replying, “It was too dark to see clearly, Your Majesty, but I can confirm that the dragon’s wings were a metallic bluish-gray, and they shimmered under the moonlight, almost like they were made of metal.”

“Bluish-gray wings... a metallic sheen... extremely fast...”

Isha murmured, “Could it have been the Ironwing Dragon King...?”

Leon and Rosvisser exchanged glances.

They both suspected the culprit behind stealing Konstantin’s head was none other than Ironwing Dragon King, Feir.

Principal Olette had mentioned before that Feir had interfered with the dragon clan’s reconnaissance mission in the far north.

At the time, Leon had deduced that Feir, like Konstantin and Ravi, had secretly colluded with the Empire.

Now that Feir had stolen the head of this costly stitched-together monster, it seemed all the more likely.

“We’ve already sent people to pursue them, but...” The guard bit his lip, hesitant to continue.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Isha didn’t press further. “It’s alright. The speed of the Ironwing Dragon King can rival that of the Silver Dragon Clan. It’s normal that you couldn’t keep up. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The guard left.

Isha turned her gaze back toward the sanctuary, muttering to herself, “Why would the Ironwing Dragon King steal Konstantin’s head? Could it be related to that mysterious organization you mentioned, brother-in-law?”

Leon inhaled sharply.

His sister-in-law’s deductive reasoning was shockingly sharp—and accurate.

No wonder she could keep up with me in all those card games and puzzles, Leon mused.

“Maybe... or perhaps he took it for some other reason.”

Leon offered a vague reply, unable to say more.

Tonight had been chaotic, one problem after another, and even Leon couldn’t craft a flawless excuse on the spot.

So, his best option was to muddle through, acting clueless and throwing out smoke screens.

As long as he didn’t lead Isha to suspect the Empire, it should be fine.

Isha let out a long sigh. “I don’t know when the world became so chaotic.”

Leon glanced at her, feeling a pang of guilt, silently answering her in his head:

*Ever since I married your sister.*

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TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars for the translation - I'd really like to see how far Leon goes and how far we can increase the number of chapters. Thanks~!