14 Light the Fire
Evening arrived, and there was quite a commotion in the courtyard.
Leon was holding Moon, gazing down from the balcony.
The Red Dragon Queen, flanked by her guards, was leaving the Holy Temple.
Well, today’s visit was wrapped up nicely.
“Is that Aunt Isar?” Little Moon pointed at the queen in the red dress.
“Are you familiar with Aunt Isar?” Leon asked.
Moon shook her head. “No, I’ve only seen her in the family portrait in Mother’s room, but she’s easy to recognize in all that red!”
“Family portrait?”
You Dragon folks have family portraits?
“Yeah, it was taken with Mother, Aunt, and Great Ancestor!”
Before Leon could fully process the idea of a ‘Dragon Family Portrait,’ Moon dropped another bomb.
On Roswiser’s family portrait, it only featured her sister and grandma?
Where are the others?
Did they bite the dust?
Just as Leon’s mind was spiraling, Moon cozied up and said, “Daddy~ We should take a family portrait too when we have the time!”
“Oh, um… sure, no problem.”
“Yay~ Daddy’s the best~ muuuuua~”
The little dragon girl planted a big smack on Leon’s face, her tail practically wagging its way to the ceiling.
Leon felt pretty good about that.
In the days to come, when Roswiser would surely make his life miserable, this half-dragon daughter of his would probably be his only solace.
The father-daughter duo was chatting when a knock sounded at the door.
Leon put Moon down, took her hand, and opened the door together.
Standing outside was Head Maid Anna.
“Your Royal Highness, dinner for the Princess is ready,” Anna said.
“Oh, let’s go then.”
With that, Leon turned to lead Anna out of the room.
But Anna raised her hand to stop him.
“Apologies, Your Majesty instructed that you cannot leave this room. We’ve brought you your dinner as well.”
Anna waved, and another maid stepped forward with a portable food box placed before Leon.
It was filled with dishes galore, meat and veggies, the whole nine yards.
“But Moon wants to have dinner with Daddy,” the little dragon girl pouted.
“Your Highness, this is your mother’s order, please don’t make it difficult for us,” Anna said respectfully.
“Ugh… fine. Daddy, I’ll come find you right after I finish eating.”
Leon nodded, “Alright.”
He suddenly realized, little Moon was quite the sensible girl.
Even though she was just a child with stubborn wishes and demands, she would immediately scale back when treated with kindness and reason.
She really didn’t seem to like causing trouble for others.
Hmm—
That trait definitely comes from her father.
Leon chuckled inwardly.
The maids took Moon away.
Leon grabbed his food and returned to his room.
Instead of seating himself at the table, he casually plopped down on the floor beside the bed and opened the food box, the aroma wafting up enticingly.
They must’ve really studied human cuisine.
Because Leon had heard that Dragon cuisine primarily consisted of various beasts and Dangerous Species meat, and veggies were pretty much nonexistent.
But this dinner of his had a decent mix of everything.
Leon let out a contented sigh, picked up his fork, and began to dig in.
Moments later, the door swung open.
As Leon peeked over the edge of the bed, he thought it was Moon returning.
But what greeted his eyes was a pair of silver high heels.
Instantly, the smile vanished from Leon’s face.
He ducked his head back down and continued trying to finish the food in his box.
Roswiser casually removed her silver crown, placing it aside.
Then she methodically took off her necklace, earrings, and other jewelry one by one.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Leon sitting on the floor, eating, and was momentarily surprised, but kept silent.
She pulled over a chair, plopped down in front of Leon, crossed her long legs, leaned back with a casual air, and looked down at him.
As she crossed her legs, the high heel on her dainty foot wobbled perilously for a moment before it clattered to the floor.
Leon held the food box, locked in a staring contest with her. Eventually, he couldn’t bear that disdainful, condescending look from Roswiser any longer and decided to put the food box aside.
“What’s going on?” Leon asked.
“Is it good?”
“It’s alright.”
“I asked if it’s good. Answer either ‘delicious’ or ‘not good,’ don’t give me an ‘it’s alright.’”
Got it.
The temperament of this Mother Dragon was as unpredictable as the weather in June.
Leon pursed his lips, not wanting to sacrifice too much face, and finally squeaked out, “Delicious.”
“Is the meat good?”
Leon frowned, choosing silence.
Roswiser snorted, propping her head in her hand, leaning slightly off to the side, lazily inquiring, “Do you know what kind of meat it is?”
Leon’s heart sank, like he’d just realized something, and a wave of nausea rushed to his stomach.
Roswiser watched his reaction, clearly enjoying it.
“It’s beef, what? Can’t tell?”
“Boring.” Leon lowered his head, not wanting to meet her gaze.
But Roswiser wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
With Moon absent, she had all the means to torture Leon.
Roswiser slowly extended her foot, playfully nudging Leon’s chin with the top of her foot, forcing him to look at her.
From this awkward angle, Roswiser’s queenly aura hit maximum capacity.
Her lazy eyes, playful smile, and the faint weariness on her brow.
Too bad.
Leon was completely uninterested.
He hated being treated like a doormat—no matter how pretty the feet or their owner might be.
“I suddenly remembered, aside from this morning’s little incident, the Dragon Pattern hasn’t reacted at all the rest of the day.”
Roswiser said casually, “So, this one time, you did it on purpose, right?”
Leon, seeing this, stopped being stubborn. “So you know I did it on purpose, yet you’re not angry?”
“Ha, it would take more than me getting angry to get you to remember.”
With that, Roswiser exerted a bit of pressure with her foot on Leon’s neck, pushing him down at the edge of the bed.
Then, her delicate toes trailed down his neck to his chest, then to his stomach, and continued downward—
Leon quickly grabbed her ankle, trying to halt her descent.
“What are you doing?”
“I not only want to get angry, but I also want to light the fire. Let go of my foot.”
Leon gritted his teeth, unmoving.
Roswiser’s tone turned stern, her tail twitching, “I said let go, Leon.”
A wise man avoids immediate loss.
Leon slowly released his grip.
Roswiser continued her leisurely exploration downward.
Her intent lined up perfectly with what Leon was thinking.
He should have guessed what she intended to do the moment she extended her foot.
If he had known this was coming, why even bother with dinner?
He should have just gone for it from the get-go.
He’d had pig hoof, cow hoof, and sheep hoof, but never dragon hoof.
But it was too late to think about hooves now.
Leon braced his arms, clenching the bed sheet behind him.
He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling, trying hard to ignore the strange, pleasurable sensation creeping in.
But it was impossible.
Roswiser’s foot was warm and soft, her toes were incredibly nimble.
What’s more, she seemed to genuinely enjoy this odd method of play.
“How many dragon corpses have you stepped over to flaunt your glorious achievements?” the queen teased.
Leon remained silent.
“Hmph, you never expected one day to find yourself stepped on by a dragon, huh?”
“So, how does it feel?”
“Speak, Leon, what’s—your—feeling?”
She applied a little more pressure.
Leon let out a grunt of pain but kept his mouth shut.
“Not telling? Fine, then just keep enduring.”
Leon instinctively moved his hand, but the moment his fingertips brushed against her foot, Roswiser flicked it away with her tail.
“Keep your hands to yourself; did I say you could touch?”
Leon turned his head aside, silent.
About ten minutes passed (all edited out).
Roswiser huffed, glancing down at her flawless foot,
“Really filthy, Leon, see? It’s all yours.”
“How can you be so shameless? Shouldn’t you be chopping off my foot to take credit?”
“Why do you have to mess it up so much? Huh?”
Leon hung his head, the weakness of his body and affront to his dignity left him unwilling to respond to Roswiser.
“Don’t think that not talking will let you off the hook. Go get a bowl of hot water from the bathroom, and wash it clean for me.”
Great.
From a pleasure tool to a foot-washing slave.
Leon rose silently, trudged to the bathroom, filled a bowl with hot water, and brought it back.
“Too hot.” Roswiser said.
“You already know it’s too hot without even putting your feet in?” Leon grumbled.
“When I say it’s too hot, it’s too hot. Go get me another bowl.”
“Sheesh, can’t you show any sense?”
“Dare you to argue with a woman? Moreover, I’m not a woman; I’m a dragon.”
Leon was left speechless.
What a mess.
This was a disaster born from that one poke he made!
Reluctantly, he had to go fix up another bowl.
“Too cold.”
“Mother Dragon, are you ever going to be satisfied?”
Roswiser barely held in her laughter, “Not obedient? You want to do this again?”
At her words, Leon caved immediately, rushing off to change the bowl again.
“Hmm, perfect this time, let’s get washing.”
Leon supported Roswiser’s foot with one hand while pouring warm water over the back of her foot with the other.
The first rinse cleared off the “dirty bits,” and the second wash had him filling yet another bowl, washing both feet together.
It wasn’t that Leon was adept at foot-washing to the point of pity;
It was just that this was all Roswiser’s funky requests.
That cursed Mother Dragon sure knew how to enjoy herself.
The more Leon thought about it, the angrier he got.
From the strongest dragon slayer reduced to a Mother Dragon’s foot-washing slave—that was a level of disgrace he’d never dare even dream about.
He lifted Roswiser’s foot, looking at her delicate little foot as it slowly inched toward his mouth.
“I can’t hold back anymore.”
Roswiser panicked, instinctively pulling her foot back. “W-what are you doing?! You don’t have some disgusting f*tish, do you?”
Leon being this proactive threw Roswiser off guard.
This human brat wouldn’t want to follow up on what just happened and aim for her foot…
But, dear heavens, please no!
How utterly twisted!
“Dinner will be on the house tonight.”
“Huh?”
“Raw dragon claw.”
“Wait—what are you going to do—”
Crack—
“I swear!”
The Silver Dragon Queen gritted her teeth, feeling the sharp pain wrack her ankle.
“Leon Casmod, I’m going to tear you apart!”
…
The next morning, Moon stared with her big, sparkling eyes at this pair of troubled souls.
“Mother, why are you limping when you walk?”
Roswiser: …
“Daddy, why does your face look like a patchwork quilt?”
Leon: …
Moon blinked, then her eyes lit up with realization.
“Oh~ you both must have played some fun game without me, huh?”
