Chapter 58: A Grand Gesture of Filial Piety
Noia sat on a bench in the training field, sweat trickling down her little nose and forehead after wrapping up a round of physical training.
During her break, Noia recalled her brief conversation with Leon from yesterday.
“Mom’s in a coma. Do you have any plans?”
“No, I have no plans, Noia. I just want to take good care of your mom.”
This question wasn’t out of thin air.
In fact, Noia had felt that something about her family was… well, off. It might not be as harmonious as it looked.
There was definitely something Leon and Mom were keeping from everyone.
This included Noia and Moon.
What could be so secretive that even their biological daughter couldn’t know?
Noia couldn’t figure it out.
But she had a nagging suspicion that Leon… perhaps didn’t belong here.
He had tried to run away once, and Mom, Moon, and she had all seen it.
But when Mom brought him back, and Noia asked where he planned to escape to, Mom just changed the subject.
Ever since then, Leon had been obediently staying in the Holy Temple, taking care of the kids and teaching, working diligently without any more thoughts of escape.
Yet Noia knew very well that this mysterious man was very clever.
No one knew if he willingly stayed here or was silently waiting for another chance to bolt.
So that response he gave Noia yesterday—
“I have no plans; I just want to care for your mom”—
was it true or just a cover? Only he knew.
When a love hides some unknown factors, Noia would rather steer clear of that love than become a tool used by someone else.
That’s why she felt there was something between her and Leon.
Leon’s love didn’t seem entirely pure in Noia’s eyes.
She tightly shut her eyes and shook her head, pulling her thoughts back.
Jumping off the bench, she decided to do one last round of physical training before heading back to rest.
But just as she stepped forward, she heard Moon’s voice.
“Sister! Sister!”
Moon rushed over in a panic.
Noia quickly met her, “What happened? Don’t rush, take your time.”
“My magic cube is broken! I wanted to find Dad to fix it, but I can’t find him anywhere!”
Noia furrowed her brow and instinctively tightened her grip on Moon’s hand.
Could her suspicions be true…?
But Noia didn’t want to jump to conclusions. She calmly said, “Let’s go look for him some more.”
“Okay!”
However, after searching high and low, they still couldn’t find Leon.
The sisters ended up in Roswiser’s room.
Looking at their mom, unconscious on the bed, Moon could no longer hold back her tears.
“Mom! Dad’s gone!”
No doubt, Noia’s worries were spot on.
Leon had indeed left!
Suppressing her disappointment and sadness, Noia waited for Moon to cry herself out before stepping forward to comfort her.
“Moon, don’t cry. Some people are good, but if they don’t belong here, they’re bound to leave eventually.”
“But… but Mom’s in a coma, and Dad’s gone! What are we going to do now?”
“Don’t worry. Big sister will take care of you and protect you. I’ve grown up a lot and can do many things.”
She had always prided herself on being an adult, and at that moment, she firmly took on the responsibilities of one—
Even though she didn’t even have a kindergarten diploma yet.
“So, what should we do now?”
Noia’s eyes flicked to the little bedside table where a family portrait sat.
“Well, since he’s gone, it means we need to start a new life. Let’s say goodbye to that guy properly.”
Noia took Moon back to their room and dug out a backup photo from when they took their school enrollment pictures.
Then she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut out the part of Leon’s image.
“What are you doing, Sister?” Moon asked.
“In the adult world, when someone leaves, you need to put their picture on a platform, and then surround it with flowers and set a fire.”
Noia explained with all seriousness, “And then toss anything you think is meaningful to them into the fire as a goodbye.”
Moon sniffled a bit, her voice choked, “I don’t understand.”
“Basically, it’s for our father’s sake.”
“Oh, okay! I’ll go find something that meant a lot to Dad!”
“Mm. Oh right, remember to change into a black dress later.”
“Why?” Moon asked.
“I don’t know, but adults always wear black when saying goodbye.”
“Got it! Moon understands!”
Once everything was settled, Noia tucked Leon’s picture away and crawled under the bed to retrieve her little wooden box.
Inside were a piece of black shard, a note with her name on it, and a handmade magic cube.
After a quick moment of nostalgia, Noia hugged the box and left the room.
About an hour later, behind the Holy Temple, two little dragon girls donned black dresses.
Moon held a plate of fried steak—
Since Dad seemed to like fried steak a lot, she planned to toss one into the fire as well.
In Noia’s hands was her little wooden box.
Besides that, they had also gathered some maids from the Holy Temple.
The maids looked bewildered at the princesses’ command.
“Uh, what’s going on?”
“No idea. Seems like the princesses are playing house or something?”
“Playing? It looks pretty serious, especially since they took down the prince’s picture.”
“Kids’ thoughts, who can understand? Just do what they say.”
“True.”
“……”
“Silence!”
Noia puffed up her little face, striking a serious pose. “We are now going to conduct a farewell ceremony for Leon Casmod. Please treat it with the seriousness it deserves.”
The maids straightened up, doing their best to cooperate with the princess.
“Looking back on the life of Leon Casmod, it was a brief life, a splendid life, and his departure has undoubtedly dealt us a heavy blow.”
The maids’ eyelids twitched slightly. “What kind of game is this? Why does it feel like… a funeral?”
“The prince didn’t say anything, so let’s not ask too much.”
“But if we go by this house game logic, the prince should be… you know, gone by now!”
“Shh! Quiet!”
“Wof.”
Noia imitated the adults’ serious tone, and once her speech wrapped up, she placed Leon’s picture on the table behind her—
Abstractly, she hadn’t found a picture holder, so she used an empty can instead.
Of course, that was Moon’s idea.
“Alright, you can start crying now,” Noia said.
“C-crying?”
“Yes! Aren’t you supposed to cry when saying goodbye?”
Just then, Moon’s voice rang out nearby,
“Dad! Why did you leave us? I miss you so much! I even made you fried steak! Come back and see me, Wu Wu Wu~”
Moon sobbed deeply, pouring her heart out.
Noia turned around and pointed at her sister. “See? Just like my little sister.”
Even though she didn’t quite understand why the princess wanted to play such an inauspicious house game…
But as they say: if the prince didn’t say anything, the maids should just follow along.
“Ah… Ah, um… Prince, please don’t go! Your two daughters are so cute! How can you bear to leave us?~”
“Prince, we can’t bear to let you go!~”
“……”
The maids joined in.
Noia also turned back and watched the fire that was starting to blaze.
“Moon, did you throw the steak into the fire?”
Moon nodded.
“Then why do you still have one in your hand?”
“Well… after the farewell, I might get hungry, so… Dad wouldn’t mind, right?”
Noia’s little face turned serious. “He should not.”
With that, she looked down at the wooden box in her hands.
This was her last connection with that man.
Burning it meant severing all ties with him.
Noia took a deep breath and slowly let it out, as if finally making a tough decision.
Farewell, Father—
But just then, a familiar voice chimed in next to her.
“Yo, whose send-off is this? I wanna join!”
The two little dragon girls turned their heads in unison towards the voice.
There, the familiar man knelt down by the table, bowing to the photo with two bows.
Then he stood up, grinning, and said,
“When I was a kid, my grandpa taught me how to play the suona. You know, it’s a mysterious instrument from the East, often played to honor the departed. Want me to show you what I’ve got?”
Before the two could express their surprise, they heard a maid shout from behind,
“Princesses’ filial piety moves the heavens; the prince has resurrected!”
(A certain slumbering dragon: What’s all this commotion?)
