“8. The Childcare Duty is Yours!”
Leon slowly opened his eyes.
Right in front of him was—
Oh.
A pair of eyes.
Light blue pupils, warm and sparkling, with long eyelashes fluttering like they were celebrating a moment of pure joy.
“Daddy, you’re awake~”
Little Moon was sitting next to Leon’s pillow in a perfectly cute duck-like position, eagerly awaiting him to wake up.
Upon seeing Leon’s eyes open, her cherubic face couldn’t hide her delight.
The little tuft of hair on her head and the tail behind her wiggled with excitement.
Leon shook off the remnants of sleep and tried to sit up.
Seeing this, Moon quickly rushed over to help him lean against the headboard.
Just as Leon was about to thank her, a sharp twinge shot through his hand.
He looked down to find his right hand wrapped in bandages.
This was from last night when he encountered a group of Dragon Slayers in the woods and intervened to stop Roswiser, only to get burned by her magical energy.
Wait, it’s actually already been bandaged up, huh…
“I helped Daddy wrap it! It was me!”
Little Moon, noticing Leon staring at the bandages, jumped in proudly.
Puffing out her chest, her little tail perked up even higher.
Leon managed a weary smile and ruffled Moon’s hair. “Yep, Moon is really great.”
Getting her head patted by Leon made Moon even happier; she nuzzled against his large palm like a kitten.
Squinting her eyes with glee, she seemed to relish every bit of this affection.
She viewed Leon with absolutely no hostility, completely considering him her father.
So even with all the obvious dragon traits on her, Leon couldn’t harbor any ill feelings; let alone the kind of loathing that would resonate with “rivals.”
Besides, she was an adorably bubbly little dragon girl.
If we’re judging purely on looks like “pretty” or “cute,” dragonlings definitely have an edge over humans.
They grow faster, develop their minds earlier, and their physical transformations happen way ahead of humans.
With this thought, Leon found himself wondering:
How on earth did Roswiser—the brooding, perpetually grumpy “Mother Dragon”—manage to raise such a cute and gentle daughter?
Despite dragonlings having a natural advantage in appearance, they typically display the brutality and dominance associated with dragons from an early age.
Leon had read plenty of papers by dragon scholars, all agreeing that a dragon’s life is one spent in violence and bloodshed, from the time they are little.
But looking at Moon, she seemed worlds away from “violent.”
Could it be… because she’s half-bl**d?
As Leon pondered, the door swung open.
No knock, no warning. It had to be the crazy Mother Dragon making her entrance.
Leon quickly withdrew his hand from Moon’s head and leaned back against the headboard.
The sound of high heels slowly clicked against the floor.
Roswiser strolled into the bedroom in her usual attire.
Her formerly meticulously styled silver hair was now casually draped over her shoulders, reminiscent of a silvery cape.
The makeup on her face was lighter than usual, but there was no denying that even without trying, Roswiser remained a top-notch beauty.
The fierce menace that had been in her silver dragon eyes last night had evaporated, replaced by a queenly languor.
“Good morning, Mother,” Moon hopped off the big bed, looking up at Roswiser.
“Good morning, Moon. How long has Daddy been awake?”
“Just woke up! Before Daddy woke, I helped to bandage him up just like you said, Mother!”
Roswiser nodded in approval, “Well done, Moon.”
Little dragon girl’s eyes lit up, “Thank you, Mother!”
As the old saying goes, “A kind mother and a strict father.”
But in Leon’s peculiar “family,” it seemed the roles were reversed.
Leon played the soft and gentle father, while Roswiser adopted the role of the stern mother.
Just a simple compliment from her was enough to make Moon so overjoyed.
Leon mentally cataloged this moment.
“Why don’t you go play in the backyard, Moon?”
“Hmm…”
Moon looked down, fiddling with her short fingers, mumbled, “But I want to stay with Daddy…”
“What did you say?” Roswiser asked nonchalantly.
“Ah, nothing! I’ll go to the backyard now!”
With that, the little dragon girl dashed out of the bedroom.
Left behind were just Leon and Roswiser.
The two locked gazes, a silence stretching between them.
After an awkward pause, Leon broke the ice, “Don’t you think you’re a bit hard on the kid?”
“Our dragon race has our own ways of raising children.”
“But she’s not entirely a dragon!”
Roswiser furrowed her brow, “Whose fault do you think that is?”
Leon raised an eyebrow, “Oh? You’re not happy now?”
Seizing on Roswiser’s discomfort, he continued to poke the bear, “How was I supposed to know I’d hit the jackpot, huh? But hey, at least the daughter we got is pretty cute, don’t you think?”
Roswiser pressed her silver teeth together, and the earlier laziness in her dragon eyes vanished, replaced by her usual chilly demeanor.
“She’s a dragon, Leon. ‘Cute’ is a derogatory term for dragons.”
“Well, you’re pretty cute yourself.”
“…I can’t communicate with you humans.”
“If you can’t communicate, why keep me around? Just toss me to the wolves in the mountains or k*ll me now; it’s that easy.”
Roswiser huffed and turned, sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to Leon. “I told you, I won’t let you d*e. You only live so I can keep tormenting you.”
Hearing this, Leon’s pupils flickered, and after a moment, he replied, “But isn’t seeing the man who took your virginity every day a form of torture for you too?”
Roswiser seemed unfazed. “So what? As long as I can make you squirm, that’s all that matters.”
Leon shrugged off the danger. “Well, then I’ll just hold back and let you disgust yourself.”
“You think I would be afraid of you?”
“Ha? You think I’d be afraid of you? I—”
Suddenly, Roswiser stood up, and Leon instinctively swallowed his unfinished words.
Whenever that dragon got this close, nothing good ever came from it.
But this time, Roswiser didn’t take the usual route of humiliating Leon through “int*rcourse.”
She walked over to the wardrobe and casually tossed a few new male outfits his way.
“Get dressed and go to the backyard to play with Moon.”
Leon looked at the neat clothing, feeling slightly embarrassed. “If you want to play with your daughter, you should go do it yourself. Why do I have to go?”
He didn’t just say this on a whim.
He actually noticed Roswiser was acting a bit… awkward.
Like how she had him bandaged.
She could easily have done it herself, but insisted Moon—who was just over a year old—do it for her.
And now it was the same deal.
Wanting to play with her daughter but refusing to say it directly and making Leon, a guy who’d only just woken up, do it.
No wonder dragon folks are so extreme; raised with this kind of parenting, it’s not just dragons that can turn dark, humans do too!
“What do you mean, ‘my daughter’? Isn’t she also your daughter?” Roswiser replied.
“Okay, I—”
That was indeed true.
Leon was momentarily at a loss for words.
“I’m the queen of the Silver Dragon Race. I can’t spend all my time like a common housewife taking care of kids. A queen has her own way of doing things, and I hope you understand that, Leon.”
“A queen doesn’t raise kids? Have you ever seen a Dragon Slayer taking care of kids?” Leon shot back.
“You’ve been slept with by a dragon, what kind of ‘Dragon Slayer’ does that make you?”
“…”
“You’re just my slave to unleash my anger on, Leon. Anyway, do you get what I’m saying? If you do, go play with Moon; she really likes being with you.”
With that ultimatum set, Leon had no choice but to give in.
He got up, changed his clothes.
After he was dressed, Leon noticed these were not any regular men’s clothes. They were designed more in line with dragon-like aesthetics.
He looked at himself in the mirror, feeling a bit off.
Roswiser walked over, took charge, and tidied up his outfit without asking.
Since he was a bit taller than Roswiser, every time he bent down for her to adjust his collar, his lips brushed against her fingers lightly.
That scene inadvertently stirred memories within Leon.
He remembered when he trained under his Master, every time his master went out, his wife would help him get dressed in the same manner Roswiser was doing now.
They were a loving couple; no matter how unreliable his old man was outside, in front of his wife, he was always a good husband.
“Almost done.”
Roswiser’s voice snapped Leon back, as she stepped back, scanned him up and down, and nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, go.”
Leon didn’t say anything and headed toward the door.
Watching his back as he left the room, Roswiser stayed put until the door slammed shut.
After a moment’s silence, Roswiser walked over to the window, taking a slow, deep breath, then exhaled.
A moment later, a dragon subspecies the size of a pigeon flew to the window.
“A Message Dragon…”
The dragon subspecies responsible for delivering messages among the various races was known as the Message Dragon.
This one had a small bamboo tube tied with a red ribbon on its back.
Roswiser took the bamboo tube, opened it, and pulled out a letter.
After reading two lines, Roswiser frowned slightly, “Why is my sister visiting at this time…?”
