Chapter 22: Congratulations to the male and female guests for successfully holding hands.

Outside the temple, on a tree-lined path, the afternoon sun was bright, shining through the gaps in the leaves and forming light spots on the ground.

A certain pair of wronged couples, although they agreed to take a walk together when they really got outside, turned into a ‘walk separately.’

Rosvitha walked on the left side of the path, while Leon walked on the right. The distance between them was even wide enough to accommodate a half-grown dragon.

“Good afternoon, Your Majesty, the Queen,” the dragon maid with a broom bowed slightly to the left and then turned to the right, “Good afternoon, Prince”.

On the surface, respectful, but the dragon maid couldn’t help but complain inwardly,

Were these two crazy?

They finally appeared together on the screen and had to keep such a distance.

Even bowing was so inconvenient!

Actually, it was not just this dragon maid who wanted to complain. Even the onlookers who were ready to enjoy the show were puzzled.

“It seems like Her Majesty the Queen and her husband… aren’t that familiar.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. They’ve even had two little princesses. How could they not be familiar?”

“Then where have you seen a married couple walk so far apart during a stroll?”

“Maybe… their Majesties value their personal space a lot?”

“Do you believe the words coming out of your mouth?”

“Hush~~ Here comes their Majesties. Quick, hide!”

Several dragons enjoying the show quickly hid in the nearby bushes. Leon and Rosvitha walked past them.

Leon’s physical condition hadn’t fully recovered yet, and the heroic feat from three days ago depleted the health he had painstakingly accumulated, but his insight hadn’t diminished.

He noticed the sneaky behaviour of those dragons enjoying the show and caught most of the gossip they were chatting about. Leon touched his nose and looked at Rosvitha. With her abilities as a mother dragon, she should have noticed, right?

She didn’t suggest getting closer, either. Leon decided to keep quiet.

Maintaining the peaceful facade of a fake family was her concern. Leon wasn’t bothered by how the dragons watching would perceive their current situation.

“Hey”, suddenly Rosvitha spoke up.

Leon glanced at her sideways.

Rosvitha still looked ahead, her steps slow and rhythmic. “Let’s… get a bit closer.”

Leon hummed and didn’t refuse, “Sure, okay.”

They silently moved towards the middle of the path. Finally, they stopped about a meter apart from each other.

“Is this good?”Leon asked.

“Yeah, do you want to get even closer?” Rosvitha asked in return.

Upon hearing this, Leon’s steps faltered, and he became a bit cautious, “Mother dragon, are you up to something?”

“No, what I mean is, if you want, I won’t refuse, and I won’t take the opportunity to tease you. After all, this walk is also a promise from before when I taught Muen to write her name.”

This time, Rosvitha withdrew her gaze and turned to look at Leon.

In her silver dragon eyes, there was no longer the coldness and aloofness of the past. Instead, a hint of gentleness appeared.

“So, do you want to get even closer?”

“Sure—”

Wait.

Something was definitely off.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with Rosvitha today.

“Actually, forget it. This is fine.”

Seeing Leon reject her proposal, Rosvitha didn’t show emotion but nodded, “Okay.”

A familiar child’s voice appeared ahead. The two looked up. The little dragon girl was standing in the middle of the path, hands on her hips, the tuft of hair on her head gently swaying with the breeze, and her small tail wagging happily behind her.

“Muen? Aren’t you playing with your sister in the room?” Rosvitha asked.

“Uh… sister Noia asked Muen to track you!”

“Noia would never ask you to do such a thing.”

Rosvitha immediately exposed Muen’s scheme, “Actually, you just wanted to follow us, right sneakily?”

Seeing her plan instantly foiled by her mother, the little dragon girl didn’t bother pretending anymore. She went straight between the two of them.

Then she raised her arms and held the hands of both Leon and Rosvitha, one on each side.

“Muen wants to take a walk with Dad and Mother!”

“Sure, sure.”

Leon wished for his obedient daughter to come and ease the awkward atmosphere between him and Rosvitha.

“No, Muen.”

Rosvitha sternly said, “Dad and I are walking alone, Muen. Be good, don’t cause trouble.”

Hearing this, Muen pouted. She knew that her mother never changed her mind easily, so she cleverly sought help from Leon with her eyes.

“Really? Dad, if you go for a walk alone with Mother, leaving Muen alone to play in the backyard, Muen will be super sad. And who knows, Muen might get snatched by a dangerous species sneaking in, then taken into the woods and never returned. Dad will never see Muen again, all because you want to walk alone with Mother.”

“…Have you been reading that book ‘Enlightening Stories for Young Dragons’ too much?”

“Muen doesn’t care, Muen doesn’t care! Muen wants to be with you! Dad, do you only love Mother and not Muen anymore?”

Agree with her! Agree with her!

She was so cute, why not agree with her!

“Today, Dad’s got your back. You follow us. If your mom doesn’t agree, I’ll deal with her tonight!”

Even though there’s a high probability that she’ll be the one dealing with me, it doesn’t matter! The most important thing is that the daughter is happy! He thought.

“Muen, be good. Dad and I have already agreed.”

Rosvitha couldn’t quite hold it on her face. She had lived for two hundred years, and let alone holding someone else’s hand, even getting so close to Leon just now took a lot of courage.

Unexpected, indeed.

On Leon’s side, while he was a bit uneasy, it wasn’t as complex as Rosvitha’s feelings.

He simply wanted to know,

The dragon hoof had been chewed on, so what did a dragon claw taste like? The estranged couple accepted that their first time holding hands was in front of outsiders.

On the other side, Muen ran away and hid behind a tree to secretly observe.

Seeing Dad and Mother holding hands, Muen secretly chuckled.

“You did that on purpose, Muen.”

“Ah!——”

Noia appeared behind Muen at some point, hands on her chest, imitating the manner of an adult like Rosvitha.

“Sister, you scared me!” Muen covered her chest and complained playfully.

“Hmph, what’s so interesting about holding hands?”

“It is, it is.”

Noia stepped forward and pinched her sister’s chubby cheeks, “You were deliberate, after all.”

“Wuwu~ Muen was wrong. Muen won’t do it again. Sister, let go, let go~.”

The two little ones played and laughed, and before leaving, Muen cast a lingering glance in that direction.

She pouted, “Dad is really something. Needs Muen to teach him how to hold hands. Tsk—doesn’t know how to take the initiative at all!”

Noia followed her sister’s gaze and silently thought, If only it could be like this all the time.