### 22. A Scholar’s Self-Cultivation
No, no, no!
This is not just wrong; it’s twelve times wrong!
As everyone knows, whenever Roswiser has a new scheme or playful idea, she resorts to her terrible beauty tricks to lower Leon’s defenses and achieve her dastardly goals.
The moment she leaned in, Leon snapped back to reality, silently thanking the stars that he almost fell for this female demon’s charm.
He pushed Roswiser’s shoulder away, a stern expression on his face. “Mother Dragon, respect yourself! I’m perfectly focused on my studies and have no interest in women. Don’t mess with my peace of mind!”
Oh my, look at the Dog Man trying to act all serious.
What is this talk about being focused and avoiding women? If no one knew better, they might think he converted to a religion or something!
As Leon spoke, he turned his head away, determined to stop looking at Roswiser.
Because while her beauty tricks may be cheap, her beauty itself is anything but!
When he’s with Roswiser, Leon not only has to watch his mouth but also needs to be wary of what trouble could come flying out of his eyes.
That delicate little face flirting with him? Who could resist?
Seeing this, Roswiser didn’t rush in but simply played along with Leon’s words.
“If you really are so focused, then why won’t you look at me?”
Not getting any closer, she lifted her hand gently to rest on his shoulder.
“I was only casually mentioning that I’d like a bigger throne. It would be much more comfortable to sit on, and there are other things I could do too… like take a nap.”
With a playful smile, she used her finger to lightly tease his earlobe, “Where’s your mind wandering off to? It better not be into some wicked thoughts!”
“I’m not—”
Leon started to refute but suddenly remembered he didn’t come to Roswiser to discuss ‘The Wonders of the Throne.’ Instead, he was there to ask about where the daughters had gone.
Now that he knew where the daughters were, there was no need to waste time with the Mother Dragon.
He couldn’t afford to keep serving as her stress relief tool.
He needed to focus on getting Little Light to say “Daddy”—that was far more important!
With that thought, Leon shook off her hand and stood up. “I wasn’t thinking about anything. You carry on; I’m off to find the daughters.”
Hiss—
After all that talk, the Dog Man still had his mind set on ‘brainwashing’ Little Light.
No way, she had to keep him there.
However long it takes, drag it out!
“Sit back down!” Roswiser commanded.
Leon shrugged, “I’ll just distract you while you’re working.”
“Not at all, it won’t disturb me.”
She peeked at the reports on her desk, her mind working quickly. “Perfect! I just wanted to teach you a few things!”
Leon raised an eyebrow, “Teach me what?”
Roswiser pointed at the papers on the table, her chin high. “Here! I’ll teach you how to handle these.”
Leon’s face turned into a question mark. “What do you mean? Why would a human like me deal with your Silver Dragon matters? You don’t even pay me!”
“In my eyes, you’re human; but to Anna and the others, you’re His Royal Highness! Remember our jailbreak plan when I was pregnant with Little Light?”
Nostalgia hit Leon hard, and he quickly recalled the jailbreak plan she mentioned.
Back then, Roswiser was pregnant, and Anna, worried for Her Majesty’s safety, wouldn’t let her leave the Holy Temple.
So, they concocted a jailbreak plan together!
It sounded foolproof and perfect, but sadly, it was a flop.
The reason for the failure was that Anna caught on to the fact that someone who usually shied away from politics—His Royal Highness—was suddenly interested in her work. She sensed something was off, and bam! She swooped in and captured the soon-to-be “escaped” Queen.
Leon nodded. “I remember. What’s your point?”
“It was because you were so lackadaisical about checking in on Anna’s work that it made her suspicious and got me caught!”
“Hey, wasn’t that your idea? I didn’t say anything; I was just going along with you! And this whole ‘lackadaisical’ nonsense isn’t even my job in the first place! Where do you get off saying that?”
“You…”
Leon was so adamant that the Queen momentarily lost her retort.
As the Dog Man prepared to leave the Holy Temple to find their daughters, Roswiser bit her lip, her brain whirring as she thought of ways to keep him there.
If reason didn’t work, then it was time to play the emotional card!
“Alas!” The Queen sighed dramatically, appearing utterly worn out.
Leon, who had just turned, caught her exhausted sigh and halted in his tracks, turning back to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Roswiser leaned her forehead against her hand and flipped through the mountains of documents on the desk. “Oh, it’s nothing. My husband is busy with his affairs; how could I, as a wife, not be understanding? Oh, it’s okay. I can handle this myself, but it might be a bit tiring.”
Then she peeked up at Leon, squinting with a smile. “You go on and spend time with the daughters, don’t let me hold you back. Once I finish my work, I’ll prepare lunch for you guys.”
“……”
Excuse me, Mother Dragon! Who do you think you’re talking to?
Do you think I can’t hear the heavy hint of guilt in your words?
Fine, I can afford to put off Little Light calling me “Daddy” for now, but I’m not about to let you just sit there chatting away as if I don’t care about you at all—
Even though I really don’t want to care too much, if you wear yourself out, the daughters will worry too.
Leon went back to his mental excuses for caring about Roswiser and plopped himself back down beside her. “Alright, fine! Teach away; I’m all ears!”
Roswiser beamed, quickly grabbing some reports that weren’t confidential and mostly dealt with everyday matters. Letting Leon look through them was perfectly fine.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Leon or was afraid to share secrets with him; it was just that the nature of these issues was rather “dark,” and seeing them would only add to his troubles.
Plus, he was a rookie in power struggles; Roswiser knew she couldn’t rush it and needed to gradually introduce him to the world of politics.
Honestly, aside from not wanting him to chase after Little Light, Roswiser didn’t understand why she felt the urge to teach Leon these things.
He was human, after all, and had once been her rival…
As the saying goes, teaching a disciple might leave the master starving; what about teaching a sworn enemy? That’s basically raising a tiger in your house!
So what was her motivation for wanting to teach him about power dynamics?
Was it… hope that he could navigate future conspiracies and undercurrents with wisdom and poise?
Or something else entirely?
She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Anyway… better just start teaching him!
It’s not like this oblivious guy could master all this knowledge overnight.
With her scattered thoughts reeled back, Roswiser focused on showing Leon how to handle daily affairs.
Even though Leon had just claimed that this wasn’t his obligation, he was all in once the learning began.
He was like that—whatever he set out to learn, he would dive in fully. It was a scholar’s self-cultivation, after all.
The couple engaged in a low-voice back-and-forth, occasionally tossing in some light jokes.
The usually cold Silver Dragon Temple suddenly felt a lot warmer.
