The queen let out a faint laugh-hum, "Of course I know you missed me too. But that's not what I wanted to say."
"Mm? Then what is it?"
"I want to tell you, don't treat my longing as your burden. Don't think that not being by my side all this time is unfair to me."
Rossweise reached out again, both soft palms gently holding her husband's slightly clenched fists. She felt the scars and calluses on them, still just as reassuring.
"My longing should be your drive to keep fighting, to keep moving forward."
"I hope that when you face difficulties, when you feel weak and dejected, just by thinking of me, you can pick yourself back up and keep going."
"If it's like that, then I can..."
She moved her arm, fingertips tracing across the back of Leon's hand, finally resting lightly on his cheek.
"Then I can miss you with no worries, understand?"
She always managed to find the best way out when Leon's feelings accidentally got stuck in a dead end.
The reason was nothing else, Rossweise knew this idiot too well, better even than she knew herself.
So of course, every time, she could untie the knots in this fool's heart.
Hearing his wife's words, General Leon suddenly felt clear and open inside.
The tension on his face finally melted into a smile.
"Alright, I understand."
"Good that you do."
"Mmhm!"
"I'll settle accounts with you tonight."
Leon: ?
"S–settle what accounts..."
"You've been away so long. Of course I have to make an unreasonable fuss with you."
"..."
When she said this, her expression was so serious. Serious as if "making a fuss" was like handing in homework, a necessary procedure for a reunion.
And Rossweise was a workaholic, always taking necessary procedures very seriously.
'Alright, alright, alright.'
One second she was the considerate, virtuous wife. The next, after showing her care for her husband, she immediately exposed her true colors.
What was this called?
This was called first courtesy, then force.
Her Majesty the Queen had great methods.
Watching the mutt-man's expression change instantly from "paradise of a good wife" to "jealousy hell," Rossweise was very satisfied.
But she still chose to stab with the last blade, "And it's going to be... a big fuss~"
'I really should've gone with Old Con to stay at the Crimson Flame Dragon's for a few days, to dodge the storm,' so General Leon thought to himself.
"Clicking your tongue? I'm flirting with you here, why so silent? Say something."
Rossweise pretended to be impatient, gently bumping his knee with her leg.
Leon finally snapped back, "Oh, so it was flirting. I thought it was announcing my death sentence, to be executed tonight."
The queen rolled her eyes with a teasing smile, "Losing your gloom so fast and immediately turning it back on me, huh?"
"Doesn't Your Majesty love bantering with me the most?"
"So what? I'm pregnant now. Remember what status you had back when I was carrying Little Light?"
'Oh no—'
Unpleasant memories flooded in. Leon almost blacked out and fell backward.
"Say it. What status did you have back then?"
"Can I not say..."
"No. Hurry, say it. I want to hear."
"Weren't you going to wait until tonight to start making a fuss? It's only afternoon."
"If making a fuss had a set time, how would it still be called unreasonable?"
"Wow, such good reasoning, Your Majesty. I can't even refute you."
"What? You were actually thinking of refuting me?"
"..."
"You don't love me anymore."
"No—"
"You don't care about me anymore."
"Uh—"
"I'm going to make a fuss."
"Mother dragon, you—"
But just as the couple were bickering, suddenly from the bed came a shout, "Adam, I want your life!!"
The two froze, quickly rushing forward.
"Noah? Noah, did you have a nightmare?"
"It's alright, Noah, don't scare Mommy."
After that shout, Noah also sat up.
But her eyes were still shut, and her mouth kept muttering, "Adam, you dare scare Helena, I'll take your life."
And, "Daddy... your Thunder Dash back then wasn't fast enough, wasn't fierce enough. Look at mine..."
Then—
Thud!
She fell back down and fainted again.
Noah: ×皿×
"Was that... really a nightmare?", Leon still wasn't at ease. He lifted his daughter's little hand, checked her pulse and heartbeat. Both gradually steadied.
It really did seem like just a nightmare.
The couple let out a sigh of relief.
But while they looked away, Noah, who had "fainted," secretly opened one eye.
"Geez, if the volume queen hadn't stepped in just now, Daddy would've been nagged to death by Mommy."
Silver Dragon's number one support was still outputting.
Closing her eyes again, Noah continued pretending to sleep, thinking that there shouldn't be anything else requiring her intervention now.
The couple also calmed down.
"So where were we?", Rossweise asked, with the look of one about to settle accounts after the autumn harvest.
"I forgot."
"Hmph, idiot."
Of course Leon remembered where they had left off.
But could he say it?
Absolutely not.
After so many years of married life, General Leon had long since mastered the "Art of Dragon-Taming." In situations like this, he must never say.
If he did, the mother dragon would seize the momentum and keep wrecking his state of mind.
Of course, Rossweise didn't continue "pressing" either.
Whether it was the gentle, understanding wife mode just now, or the jealous queen making a fuss, it was all just to help Leon relax.
Now that the goal was achieved, it was time to do something serious.
She looked at Leon, crossed her legs, curled her finger, "Come here."
"What for?"
"Prince, after all the long journey, surely you're parched. Isn't it right for me to... moisten your lips?"
And so, the still-pretending-to-sleep Noah heard the following conversation, "In our daughter's room, isn't that... not good?"
"What's not good? Hmm? Then come over. Once we get back to our room, I'll properly serve my prince~"
Then came the sound of rising.
The sound of hugging.
The sound of walking toward the door.
And along with it, a kind of sound Noah couldn't describe.
She had only ever heard something similar when Luna ate jelly.
The volume queen frowned, realizing this was no simple matter.
"Hiss..."
"So strange... gotta listen again!"
———
Rossweise leaned softly against Leon's body, kissing along the corner of his lips, neither close nor distant, like savoring a rare delicacy in small bites.
She wasn't in a hurry to lose herself in a deep kiss with Leon. She only wanted to slowly and leisurely enjoy these most wonderful hours after reunion.
All the months of longing for this man had turned into the physical closeness of this moment, and she had no wish for it to end so quickly.
Because she was pregnant, Leon didn't press down on Rossweise, but let her rest on top of him.
This way, Rossweise's scent enveloped him fully, without a single gap.
He sniffed that good smell, seemingly with a faint trace of a woman's unique scent during pregnancy.
Richer. More intoxicating.
Noticing Leon inhaling her scent, Rossweise smiled, lifted her hand, and pinched his nose.
"My scent, does it smell good?"
"Good."
Leon, for once, was unusually straightforward, not stiff-mouthed.
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