Title: Tsundere for a Minute, Happy for a Lifetime
Regret.
So much regret, it’s overflowing.
When dragons get emotionally charged, they tend to do things even they can’t control.
Which ancestor etched this nasty habit into their DNA? Come on, it’s been tens of thousands of years!
During breakfast, Roswiser looked a right mess.
Hair unbrushed, makeup nonexistent, and sporting two faint dark circles under her eyes.
After tossing that family portrait of her and Leon out in a fit of urgency last night, she couldn’t catch another wink.
Leon seemed to come back to bed just as the sun was rising, and only managed to doze off for a little over half an hour.
When Anna came calling for breakfast, the couple was still in bed back-to-back, both fully aware they weren’t asleep, yet neither felt like breaking the silence.
Were they fighting? If so, why weren’t they at each other’s throats like usual? No sharp words exchanged, no satisfying “dragon duel” at the end to just wipe the slate clean.
But if it wasn’t a fight, how could they explain the swirling emotions in the air?
At the breakfast table, Moon could tell something was off with her mom and dad.
She dutifully ate her breakfast, behaving way too well, unlike her usual antics.
Thinking to herself, she decided to ask her dad about it when he taught her magic later.
She didn’t get the concepts of stubbornness, tsundere vibes, or couple squabbles; all she knew was that when such moments arose, her parents would probably spill their feelings after some distance.
Leon was nibbling on his bread, while Roswiser just took the occasional sip of water—her plate of medicinal fruits entirely untouched.
This was the quietest breakfast the Melkway family had seen in months.
Moon finished her meal and hopped off her stool. “Dad, I’ll wait for you at the practice field!”
Leon blinked. “Huh? Oh… okay, Dad will be right there.”
“Mhm!”
And off she went.
Leon glanced at Roswiser, then nodded toward her untouched fruits. “You should eat some; it’ll go to waste otherwise.”
“Like you care.”
Oof, that was a real anger there.
She’d been mad at Leon before, but those moments had a certain “dragon style” flair to them; a kind of aesthetic that screamed, “I can’t be bothered to explain to you, you don’t deserve to hear this, so I’m blowing up!”
But now, this anger… it gave Leon the distinct impression of a master’s wife just throwing a fit.
He vividly remembered that time when the master had promised to take his missus shopping. She’d dressed to the nines, slipping into a dress she rarely dared to wear.
But on that very day, the master got caught up with something else and flaked on her.
For three whole days, she didn’t utter a word to the master, no matter what he tried. Her only response was a singular word:
“Oh.”
Not so much angry as a child simply pouting in a game of defiance.
Leon found such situations most tiresome—because neither the master nor the Dragon-Slaying Academy had taught him how to appease a sulking mother dragon.
Sure, he could sweet-talk a donkey just fine; toss it two bundles of hay and it’d be all tail-wagging and back to work.
But clearly, donkeys and dragons were miles apart.
And with Roswiser pregnant again, her emotions were even more unpredictable, leaving Leon even more clueless.
Just as he was contemplating this, he noticed Roswiser slowly starting to eat her fruit.
A little sigh of relief washed over him.
Yet after she finished, Roswiser didn’t say much. She simply stood up and retreated to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Leon scratched his cheek, finishing his last golden bite of bread.
Should he go chat with Roswiser? But let’s be real, if things went according to plan, she’d likely not even crack the door open.
He knew her well; once she decided to dig her heels in, not even eight dragons could pull her back.
He frowned, pondering that to treat the ailment, one must first find the root cause—so he needed to address what made Roswiser sulk in the first place.
Cheering up a girl wasn’t done with mere words.
In the past, he wouldn’t have given a hoot if she was mad; he’d let her be fuming like a pufferfish, completely uninterested.
But… she was pregnant.
Anger wasn’t good for the baby.
The sooner they cooled off, the better it’d be for everyone.
With a plan in mind and a perfect justification for himself, Leon headed to the practice field.
When Moon saw Dad arriving alone, she ran up to him.
Leon put on a bright smile and bent down to scoop her into his arms. “What do you want to learn today?”
“Dad, did you and Mom have a fight?” Moon shot straight to the point.
Leon froze, taking in his daughter’s serious little face; it was clear she’d noticed the tension at breakfast.
Though she loved to act cute, Leon knew she was as perceptive as Noia.
While Noia liked to cover her thoughts with a mature façade, Moon retained a more childlike simplicity.
Feeling a soft rush of emotion, Leon chuckled and pinched Moon’s cheeks. “Nope, Mom and Dad didn’t have a fight!”
In Moon’s eyes, this family had to be harmonious, happy, and problem-free.
That was something he and Roswiser had agreed on from the get-go.
The love and conflict between the couple shouldn’t burden their daughters; they were innocent.
So Leon didn’t tell the truth.
But Moon was clever. “Really, Dad?”
“Really! Would I lie to you?”
“But during breakfast, you and Mom didn’t talk at all! You two usually have so much to say.”
Leon blinked. “Do we… usually talk that much?”
Moon nodded vigorously. “Yeah, uh-huh! Even though you see each other less during the day, when you’re together, you just talk and talk like you never run out of things to say!”
Leon had never noticed that.
Did he and Roswiser really chatter on like that when they met?
No, no way… surely Moon was mistaken.
“Perhaps Mom just wasn’t feeling well today, so not much was said.”
He ruffled Moon’s head. “I promise tomorrow morning, Mom and I will be back to our usual selves.”
Let’s hope he could charm that mother dragon back to normal within 24 hours; Leon silently prayed.
Moon blinked those wide, sparkling eyes, hugging Leon’s neck, her tone suddenly grave,
“Dad.”
“Yeah?”
“I think you and Mom are like two hedgehogs.” Her face was all serious.
Leon did a double-take.
What a peculiar metaphor!
How on earth were they like hedgehogs?!
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“You and Mom have prickly exteriors, but inside, you’re really soft.”
“Uh… interesting.”
Leon didn’t know how to respond to his daughter’s quirky metaphor, so he settled on “interesting.”
But what Moon threw out next hit Leon right in the feels.
“If either of you doesn’t put your prickles away, you can’t really hug each other. Either you hurt Mom or she hurts you.”
Moon spoke the simplest of childlike truths—wisdom Leon hadn’t even contemplated,
“So, only if you both put away the prickles can you hug each other, right?”
Leon stood there dumbfounded for a moment, absolutely speechless.
He and Roswiser had clearly shown enough love and harmony in front of Moon and Noia, yet in Moon’s mind, did she still see them as a pair of “hedgehogs”?
Leon seemed to have overlooked something fascinating: the pure hearts of children allow them to sense the truest emotions.
Those feelings can’t be faked; even with the best facade, certain cracks still show that only a child can perceive.
Leon had no idea how his daughters viewed the two of them as a couple.
But it was painfully clear—it wasn’t what they thought.
They were simplifying their daughters’ perspective, and this whole game of pretend was nowhere near as simple as they believed.
Leon hugged Moon tightly, lost in thought for some time before finally exhaling slowly, “Yeah, Dad knows what to do now. Thank you, Moon.”
Hearing this, Moon’s serious face cracked into a smile, “You’re welcome, Dad!”
“But where did you learn such a strange metaphor? I don’t remember teaching you anything like that!”
“From ‘Little Dragon Enlightenment Stories’—the ‘Hedgehog Couple’!” Moon replied, all serious.
Sounded like something out of a primary school textbook.
Yet, the simplest stories often embody the most intricate truths.
So complex that adults can’t grasp them, but children effortlessly decode the nuances.
Kudos to the author of “Little Dragon Enlightenment Stories,” and cheers to the Hedgehog Couple!
Gathering his thoughts, Leon and Moon began their study session for the day.
…
At midnight, the man next to her was fast asleep, Roswiser slowly sat up, tossing off the covers, and carefully got out of bed.
She was dressed in pink bedding-themed PJs, dragon-wing slippers adorning her feet, tiptoeing out of the bedroom.
With winter approaching, it was a tad chilly outside, so Roswiser wrapped her sleepwear tighter around her and stealthily snuck around the back of the Holy Temple.
She looked up, confirming that directly above was her bedroom’s balcony, then bent down to search for something.
That photo.
Her reason for being upset wasn’t solely about Leon.
A part of it stemmed from herself.
Why was she being so stubborn?
Why was she being so prideful?
If she had just softened a little and told Leon she wanted to keep that photo, would it have really been so hard?
She could have kept it without any fuss!
So why was she now prowling around in the dark looking for it?
Ah, be tsundere for a moment, happy for a lifetime, and then always regret it.
This mess was of her own making; she’d just have to deal with it.
“If I find the photo, it absolutely must be hidden in a place he’ll never uncover!”
Roswiser thought to herself.
But it had already been over twenty hours since she dramatically tossed the photo, and with the wind blowing a little, who knew where it had ended up?
Now, it was night, and there was no way to see the ground properly.
After searching for about twenty minutes, Roswiser hadn’t even spotted a trace of the photo.
She squatted down in disappointment, wrapping her arms around her knees, burying her face in her arms.
The coldness of the surroundings seeped in, slick silver tail limply drooping to the ground.
That photo was a candid capture—one of a kind in the world; if it was lost… it’d be gone forever.
She wasn’t even sure why she cared so much about it.
At first, it was just being unsure how to handle it, but as days passed, that photo seemed to take on a whole new significance for her.
Unutterable, incomprehensible.
Perhaps it was only by retrieving it that Roswiser could find clarity.
Yet… it was more than likely lost forever—
“Are you looking for it?”
A familiar voice came from beside her.
Roswiser froze and cautiously peeked out from her arm.
Right before her eyes was the photo she desperately sought.
In it, she and her captive shared an intimate gaze, both smiling.
Sunlight streamed through the photo studio window, glistening off her silver hair, reflecting in that man’s inky black pupils—bright and captivating.
The man beside her squatted down, joining her side.
Holding the photo, he placed it before their line of sight. “I picked this up while taking Moon to practice today. Now listen, I just casually picked it up. I didn’t go out of my way like you did.”
Roswiser fought a grin. “I wasn’t searching for it deliberately! I was just… taking a stroll.”
“Oh, Your Majesty, a stroll that led you to the bushes? Lost, are we?”
“Go d*e.” Roswiser nudged Leon’s shoulder.
In her crouched position, it was tough to maintain balance, resulting in Leon taking a little tumble.
But he simply adapted by sitting cross-legged on the ground, gazing down at the photo, muttering, “You know how Moon describes you?”
“How?”
“She says you’re like a hedgehog.”
Roswiser raised an eyebrow, chuckling. “Don’t trick me; she must be talking about both of us.”
“Ha ha! Wife, you’re really clever.”
“Shut up, who’s your wife?”
Roswiser rose to her feet, playfully kicked Leon’s rear, then marched toward the Holy Temple entrance without a backward glance.
Leon scrambled to stand, sprinting to catch up with her.
The guards at the back door caught sight of their majesties in their PJs returning at this late hour, and for a moment, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, good evening!” the guard said.
Roswiser gave a slight nod and murmured a soft “mhmm.”
As Leon passed by, he patted the guard’s shoulder. “I’m just here with your Majesty to check in. You’re doing well; I’ll recommend you for a promotion tomorrow.”
Oh, you two are really checking in wearing matching PJs at night?
The guard stood tall and straight. “Thank you, Your Highness!”
The couple returned to their bedroom, one right after the other.
“Where should we put that photo?” Leon asked.
“You put it wherever you like.” Roswiser dove into the covers.
“Hmph, such kindness turned into disinterest. If you don’t care, then I won’t either.”
Leon casually tossed the photo he’d spent his afternoon retrieving onto the bedside table before also diving into bed.
That night, the couple slept soundly together.
The next morning, Leon stirred awake slowly.
Roswiser was already up, meticulously getting ready at her vanity.
He sat up and glanced over at the bedside table.
Right there, their once-lost family portrait was now in a lovely frame, sitting next to the family portrait of the four of them.
