### Chapter 118: Feeling So Good
They returned to the Silver Dragon Temple before dinner.
As soon as Moon heard noise in the courtyard, she scampered out on her little legs, eager to snuggle with her sister.
They did this every week and never tired of it.
Roswiser explained before that since most of the Dragon Race are only children, once they do have siblings, they cherish and rely on each other fiercely.
Leon thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “Did you do that with Isar when you were little too? It’s hard to imagine you begging for sister cuddles.”
Roswiser gave him a kick.
Back to the matter at hand.
Although Noia didn’t get any concrete placement in this essay competition, let’s be honest, the champion was still a champion—
After all, the honorary title of “Champion of the Void” counts, right?
And it was acknowledged by the headmaster!
So, a celebration was definitely in order.
At the lavish dinner table, Moon eagerly asked for her sister’s essay and read it several times from beginning to end.
Then, shaking her little tuft of hair, she pointed at the content and questioned, “Sister, why is the word ‘little sister’ hardly in your essay? Why! Don’t you love Moon anymore?!”
Noia didn’t answer but instead shoved a chicken leg in her sister’s mouth. “What do you think?”
Moon’s taste buds, along with the part of her brain that harbored jealousy, were instantaneously conquered by the scrumptious chicken leg. She put down the essay, nodding eagerly, mumbling with a mouthful of chicken, “Sister loves Moon! It’s all in the chicken leg!”
Noia ruffled her sister’s little tuft and returned her essay, setting it aside.
Dinner was a joyous affair.
After eating, Noia took Moon back to their room.
Having eaten a little too much chicken, Moon lay on the bed in a star shape, slowly digesting.
Noia quietly pulled out her little wooden box from under the bed.
Seeing the light dust covering the box, Noia felt a pang in her heart. It seemed she hadn’t added anything to it in ages.
A child surrounded by love hardly has the extra energy to prove they are loved, right?
Noia blew the dust off, then opened it.
Inside lay a black metal fragment, a note with her name, and a handmade simple magic cube.
She adjusted these items around, made some room, and carefully placed her essay inside.
Satisfaction washed over her as Noia admired her handiwork, locked the box, and shoved it back under the bed.
Just as she stood up, Moon sighed from the bed, “Sister… my tummy hurts~”
“Of course it hurts lying down after eating so much,” Noia replied, tugging at her sister’s wrist. “Come on, let’s take a walk and circle back.”
After grumbling in bed, Moon slid off, put on her shoes, and took Noia’s hand as they made their way to the temple’s backyard.
Meanwhile, Leon and Roswiser were busy cleaning up after the dinner chaos.
Same old job distribution: he scrubs, she rinses.
When Leon gets old, he might just write an autobiography about his days of being captured by the Silver Dragon Queen, and when asked how he endured it, he could simply say, “I washed dishes.”
Prisoners have to tread sewing machines; being captured just means washing dishes.
Looks like being a captive might actually be the easy gig.
Leon shook his head, snapping out of the endless thoughts.
“Did you put away that pen Noia gave you?” Leon asked, searching for something to chew on.
“Yeah, why? Having regrets and want it back?” Roswiser teased.
Leon scoffed, “Do I strike you as someone so petty? Besides, you heard the daughter say it: she listened to Dad and gave the gift to Mom.”
Leon leaned closer to Roswiser, proudly reiterating, “She listened to Dad~”
Roswiser splashed some water from her hand onto Leon’s face.
Leon instinctively recoiled, wiping his face haphazardly, “See? I’m not wrong about you being petty.”
Roswiser shot him a glance. “Idiot, get back to work.”
“But speaking of gifts…”
Leon counted the days, “Next Tuesday is your birthday, right?”
During their last date, they encountered a fortune teller named Afu, who revealed zodiac fortunes. That’s when Roswiser mentioned her birthday was on October 25.
Leon wasn’t bringing it up out of any special regard for Roswiser’s birthday.
He just wanted to make sure, so on her actual birthday, while the entire Silver Dragon Temple was chaos, he as the “king” wouldn’t be completely clueless. That wouldn’t bode well for their pretend family!
Roswiser’s mind flickered.
Next Tuesday was indeed her birth date.
But it wasn’t really a “birthday.”
The way Dragons celebrate their birthdays is a tad different from humans.
Since Dragons live so long, celebrating every year would mean they end up celebrating hundreds or even thousands of times in their lifetime—talk about being fed up!
So, Dragons celebrate once a year until they come of age; after that, it’s once every ten years.
By the way, Dragon adulthood isn’t like human adulthood at eighteen; it’s actually at twenty.
At twenty, Dragons have the physical strength, logical reasoning, and magical proficiency needed to start a long-life journey.
Roswiser did some quick mental math; next Tuesday she would be two hundred eighteen years old, with two more years until her next birthday.
She glanced at Leon, deciding not to mention the ten-year birthday thing.
Because she wanted… to mess with his mind a bit.
“Yeah, it’s my birthday, what’s it to you? You planning to get me a gift?” Roswiser asked.
“I’ll gift you a ticket to leave, far, far away. How about that?” Leon retorted.
“Pfft, Dog Man, if you’re not getting me a gift, don’t even bring it up.” Roswiser pouted.
Leon shrugged, not too phased.
After all, since when did captives give birthday gifts to their conquerors, right?
“But since you’re not giving me a gift… you at least need to show some kind of effort, right?” Roswiser asked again.
Leon blinked, “What kind of… effort?”
Roswiser feigned deep thought, and then a lightbulb moment struck, “You could… organize my birthday this year!”
Leon froze, pointing at his own nose. “Me? Seriously?!”
Roswiser nodded.
“You’ve got so many people in the Silver Dragon Temple, and you’re the queen! Surely, plenty of folks would line up to celebrate for you without needing my help!”
He resisted.
This whole birthday planning idea clearly made him uncomfortable.
Good.
If he’s uncomfortable, then she’s comfortable.
The Silver Dragon Queen thought smugly.
“Why wouldn’t I need it?”
Roswiser set her plate down, hands on hips, twisting to face Leon.
“Last year you were unconscious on my birthday, and the kids were little, insisting that Dad wake up, making the birthday feel bland. This year, you’re awake, isn’t it only fair you make it up to us?”
“Hey you—”
Roswiser interrupted Leon’s protest, “Besides, to put it nicely, as a model husband in a family, throwing a birthday celebration for your wife isn’t that normal? You wouldn’t want others thinking our relationship is rocky, would you?”
“…” Leon was at a loss for words, but he mulled over Roswiser’s words and caught onto a key phrase—“to put it nicely.”
Curiously, he asked, “And what if you were to put it harshly?”
“To put it harshly, what qualification does a captive like you have to bargain with me? Just do what you’re told.”
Ah, now that hit the nail on the head.
Leon finally understood why all that earlier spiel sounded so pitiful and didn’t feel like something Roswiser would say.
Until that last line, that familiar flavor of sarcasm in a captive’s voice.
Seeing Leon’s expression, Roswiser felt quite satisfied.
After a few days of serene days, she finally got a chance to stir him up again.
Leon sighed and nodded, “Fine, I’ll make it up to you.”
Had Roswiser not mentioned the kids, Leon might have just brushed her off.
But since she brought that up, even if it was not for her, he had to consider the kids’ feelings.
Noia had just written in her essay how sincere her parents’ love was, believing they were a couple very much in love.
Leon couldn’t disappoint his daughter.
But!
Not disappointing her was one thing; actually listening to Roswiser and dutifully throwing her a birthday party? That was another matter entirely.
He looked at Roswiser and said, “Let’s do a human-style birthday celebration. I’m quite good at those.”
Roswiser shrugged, “Sure, whatever. But if I’m not satisfied at the end of it… then you better have something else lined up, got it?”
Leon chuckled, raising his hand, “I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”
Roswiser glanced at the palm in front of her, hesitated little, then reached out to clasp Leon’s hand.
And just like that, a pact was made.
