Chapter 16: Why Does the Little Dragon Girl Have Two Faces?
Apart from during her “revenge” phase, Roswiser rarely initiated conversations with Leon.
Of course, Leon wasn’t exactly rushing to initiate conversation either.
To outsiders, they might appear as a respectful couple, leading a busy yet harmonious married life.
But behind that harmonious facade, they both knew there was a torrent of issues lurking beneath.
Leon and Roswiser exchanged glances for a long while, neither daring to make the first move.
Roswiser, fed up with wasting time, turned to leave.
“Hey!”
Leon’s voice suddenly echoed from above.
Roswiser paused in her tracks and looked up.
“I want to go for a walk,” Leon declared. “I’m suffocating in this house.”
Before he finished his sentence, Roswiser had already zipped out to the balcony.
She flapped her dragon wings to hover in mid-air, her long silver tail dangling down to maintain balance.
Leon nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking he had accidentally angered the Mother Dragon with his words.
“You can only leave this room when you’re playing games with Moon,” Roswiser coldly remarked.
“But… but won’t Moon think it’s weird?”
“Weird? What’s weird about it?”
“She’s only seen her Dad leave to play with her. The rest of the time he’s stuck indoors—she’s bound to get suspicious!”
“Dad is unwell and can’t go outside freely. That reason is more than enough.”
“……You really do think things through.”
“Just play the role of a good Dad. Don’t think about anything else and definitely don’t act on it. Got it?”
Leon shrugged and stayed silent.
If even going outside was a luxury, what was there left to discuss?
He waved his hand, turned around, and walked toward the bedroom.
Watching Leon’s wan and lonely figure fade away, Roswiser’s pupils flickered slightly, and a fleeting smirk crossed her otherwise cold expression.
“Leon,” she called back to him.
Leon halted, half turning, “What?”
“Moon will come looking for you in the afternoon. You need to teach her how to write her name.”
Leon frowned slightly, “And then?”
“Tonight, I’ll check her learning results. If she gets it right, tomorrow you can walk in the garden with me for an hour.”
Leon blinked, grasping a key phrase, “Walk with you…? ”
Roswiser paused for a moment, but didn’t betray her anxiousness, responding nonchalantly, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I just want to keep an eye on you. You’re sly enough that if it were anyone else, they might just let you slip away.”
Leon snorted, “Teaching a kid to write her name? How hard can it be?”
“I never said it was her own name.”
Roswiser shot back, “You need to write all our family names.”
“Including mine?”
“Of course! Aren’t you her Dad?”
“……Alright, it’s a deal. No backing down!”
Roswiser huffed, “I don’t need to promise you anything, Leon.”
“Mother Dragon, you’re impossible.”
Roswiser ignored Leon and glided away.
Leon turned his gaze back inside, but after taking a couple of steps, he suddenly realized a very serious issue. He rushed back to the balcony and shouted down at Roswiser,
“Hey, Mother Dragon, what’s your last name?!”
……
“Leon Casmod.”
“Roswiser Melkway—”
“Gah… what a mouthful.”
Leon complained while jotting down his and Roswiser’s names on a piece of paper.
He added “Moon Melkway” underneath.
Honestly, he had intended to trick Moon into thinking she shared his last name.
But then he considered that if Roswiser caught onto his little scheme tonight, he’d be in for a whole day of trouble.
So he resolved to avoid provoking the Mother Dragon over something so trivial.
Thus, his task for the afternoon was to teach the little dragon girl how to write these three names.
Generally speaking, human tots start learning basic writing skills around three years old.
But one would assume that a half-dragon child would be smarter than the average human kid.
So starting her on the basics when Moon was just over a year old didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Thinking this over, Leon couldn’t help but feel grateful for waking up when he did.
If he’d woken up any earlier, Moon wouldn’t even be walking yet, and he wouldn’t be this exhausted;
And if he had woken up any later, Roswiser would’ve found someone else to teach her the basics, and Leon wouldn’t have to babysit every single day.
It’s hard not to suspect that Mother Dragon deliberately picked the right moment to revive him.
Shaking his head, Leon snapped back to the present.
He stared at the three names he had just written down, pondering how to teach Moon to write them.
“Melkway… Melkway…”
Even though it was a tongue-twister, as Leon repeated it, he seemed to make a connection.
“Melkway—Oh~ so that’s the transliteration of ‘Galaxy’!”
Who knew the Dragon Race knew a thing or two about romantic names?
As he was musing, he heard some rustling at the door.
He set down the paper and got up to open the door.
“Oh Moon, you finished eating that fast?”
The little dragon girl outside raised her head, staring up at him.
Her cute little face wore an expression that was hard to read.
“Mu…oon…” she mumbled her own name.
“C’mon in, Daddy will teach you something new this afternoon.”
As he spoke, Leon bent down and scooped her up.
The little dragon girl didn’t protest; she merely glanced at the hands that were wrapped around her waist and coldly asked, “Who gave you permission to touch me?”
Leon: ?
Wait a minute. Why does that sound so much like Roswiser?
Just this morning, he taught her about “dual faces,” and here Moon was acting out that lesson right after lunch with her old man!
Leon decided not to irritate himself further and set Moon down.
Moon adjusted the wrinkles in her dress before looking back up at Leon,
“From now on, you can’t touch me or hold me without my permission, got it?”
Leon gasped.
If that earlier line “Who gave you permission to touch me?” had her sounding like Roswiser;
Then this “Got it?” was practically a carbon copy of the Mother Dragon’s commanding tone.
Authoritative, without room for negotiation, ordering him not to touch her!
“Moon… what’s up with you?”
“Hmph, idiot.”
“Huh?”
The little dragon girl shot him a glare, ignoring him completely, and kicked the door closed behind her as she stomped off.
Her stubborn little footsteps faded into the distance, leaving Leon alone in the entrance, utterly confused.
Once he regained his bearings, Leon approached the door to see what had just happened.
But the moment he took a step forward, the door swung open from the outside.
“Daddy, I’m back~”
“Wha—”
Little dragon girls truly come with superpowers; one swing of the door sent her old man flying three meters away.
“Ah, Daddy, are you okay!”
Moon rushed over, worried, helping Leon back up.
Leon was left feeling dizzy from that little collision, but thankfully his master had taught him some solid fighting skills; if he could withstand chest punches, surely he could handle a tiny dragon girl’s door attack!
Just give it a second, and he’d be fine.
“I’m sorry, Daddy! Did I hurt you?” Little Moon gripped Leon’s sleeve, her eyes wide with guilt.
Leon was flabbergasted.
Just a minute ago she had declared he wasn’t allowed to touch her, and now it hadn’t even been a full minute before she was backpedaling?
Could it be that…
Being half-dragon comes with a flaw of split personalities?
