Chapter 58: Filial Piety

Noia sat on a bench in the training ground, sweat trickling down her small nose and forehead. She had just finished a set of physical training.

During her break, Noia recalled the brief conversation she had with Leon yesterday.

“Mother is still unconscious, do you have any plans?”

“No, I have no plans, Noia. I just want to take care of Mother properly.”

This question was not without reason. In fact, for a long time, Noia felt that there was something… strange about her family. It might not be as harmonious as it appeared.

Leon and Mother seemed to be hiding something from others, including Noia and Muen. What could be so secretive that even their own daughter couldn’t be told?

Noia couldn’t understand. But she faintly guessed that Leon might not belong here. He had tried to escape before, and Mother, Muen, and she had all witnessed it. But when Mother caught him and brought him back, and Noia asked where the man wanted to escape to, Mother avoided the question.

Since then, Leon had obediently stayed in the temple, taking care of the children and teaching, without any intention of escaping. But Noia was very clear that this man, who was full of mysteries, was very clever. No one knew if he willingly stayed here or secretly waited for the next chance to escape.

So, the reply he gave Noia yesterday— “I have no plans, I just want to take care of Mother”—whether it was true or false, only he knew.

When there were unknown factors behind a love, Noia would rather stay away from it than become a tool used by others.

So, she always felt there was something between her and Leon. In Noia’s eyes, Leon’s love didn’t seem so pure.

Noia tightly closed her eyes, shook her head to clear her thoughts, and jumped off the bench, intending to do one more set of physical exercises before going back to rest.

But as soon as she took a step, she heard Muen’s voice.

“Sister! Sister!”

Muen hurriedly ran over. Noia quickly met her halfway. “What’s wrong?

Don’t panic, tell me slowly.”

“My magic cube is broken, and I wanted to find Dad to fix it, but I can’t find him anywhere.”

Noia frowned, unconsciously gripping Muen’s hand tightly.

Could her guess be…

However, Noia didn’t jump to conclusions but said, “Let’s go and look for him again.”

“Okay.”

However, after searching around, they still didn’t find Leon. The two sisters went to Rosvitha’s room. Seeing their mother unconscious on the bed, Muen couldn’t help but cry.

“Mom! Dad’s gone!”

There was no doubt that Noia’s speculation and worry were correct. Leon, he had indeed left!

Suppressing her disappointment and sadness, Noia comforted her sister when she cried herself out.

“Muen, don’t cry. Some people are good, but if they don’t belong here, they will leave sooner or later.”

“But… but Mom is unconscious now, Dad is gone, what are we going to do in the future?”

“It’s okay, sister will take care of you, protect you. Sister has grown a lot and can do many things.”

She always boasted about being an adult, and at this moment, she finally firmly took on the responsibilities of an adult— even though she didn’t even have a kindergarten graduation certificate.

“So what should we do now?” Muen asked.

Noia’s eyes flickered, catching sight of a photo on the bedside table. It was a shrunken family portrait they had taken before.

“Since he’s gone, it means we have to start a new life. Let’s bid farewell to that guy properly.”

Noia took Muen back to their room, then found a backup photo they had taken when they started school. She then took a pair of scissors and cut out Leon’s part.

“What are you doing, sister?” Muen asked.

“In the adult world, when someone leaves, you put their photo on a stand, then place some flowers and light a bunch of fire next to it,” Noia explained seriously. “Then you throw in everything you think is meaningful to him into the fire as a farewell.”

Muen sniffled a bit, her voice choked up. “Muen doesn’t understand.”

“Anyway, it’s for the good of our father.”

“Oh, okay. Then Muen will find something meaningful for Dad.”

“Yeah. Oh, and remember to change into a black dress later.”

“Why?” Muen asked.

“I don’t know, but adults wear black clothes when saying goodbye.”

“Okay, Muen understands.”

After making arrangements, Noia tucked away Leon’s photo, then crawled under the bed to retrieve her small wooden box. Inside was still a piece of black fragment, a paper with her name on it, and a handmade magic cube. After reminiscing for a moment, Noia walked out of the room with the wooden box.

About an hour later, in the backyard of the temple, the two dragon girls were dressed in black skirts. Muen held a plate of fried steak—because Dad seemed to really like fried steak, so she planned to throw the steak into the fire later.

Noia held her small wooden box. In addition, they had gathered some maids from the temple.

The maids were puzzled by the orders of the two princesses.

“W-what are we doing?”

“I don’t know, maybe the two princesses are playing some kind of make-believe game?”

“A game? It looks very grand and serious to me. They even took down the prince’s photo.”

“Ah, children’s thoughts, how would we understand? Let’s just obediently follow along.”

“True.”

“Quiet!”

Noia had a serious expression on her face. “We are now conducting a farewell ceremony for Leon Cosmod. Everyone, please take this seriously.”

The maids stood upright, trying their best to cooperate with the princesses.

“Looking back on Leon Cosmod’s life, it was a short but splendid life. His departure is undoubtedly a heavy blow to us.”

The maids’ eyes twitched slightly. “What kind of make-believe game is this? Why does it look like… a funeral?”

“The prince didn’t say anything, so let’s not ask too many questions.”

“But according to this make-believe scenario, shouldn’t the prince be dead by now?”

“Hush! Be quiet!”

“Ah.”

Imitating the emphasis of the adults, after her speech ended, Noia placed Leon’s photo on the table behind her—abstractly, she couldn’t find a photo stand, so she used an empty tin can instead. Of course, this was Muen’s idea.

“Okay, you can start crying now,” Noia said.

“C-cry?”

“Yes, don’t people cry when they say goodbye?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Muen’s voice came from beside her, sobbing, “Dad! Dad, why don’t you want us anymore? Muen misses you so much! Muen even made fried steak for you. Please come back and look at Muen~”

Muen cried with such fervor, truly immersed in her role.

Noia turned her head and pointed at Muen. “See, just like my little sister.”

Although she still didn’t quite understand why the princess would play such an inauspicious make-believe game…

But as they said: since the prince didn’t object, the maids should obediently follow along.

“Ah… um… Prince, please don’t leave. Your two daughters are so adorable. Can you bear to leave us?”

“Prince, we can’t bear to see you go~”

The maids began to cooperate.

Noia also turned around, looking at the bonfire in front of her. “Muen, did you throw the fried steak into the fire?”

Muen nodded. “But why do you still have a piece in your hand?”

“Um… after the farewell, Muen might get hungry, so… Dad probably wouldn’t mind, right?”

Noia’s expression turned serious. “I guess not.”

With that, she looked down at the wooden box in her hand. This was her last connection with that man. Burning it would sever all ties with him. Noia took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, as if she had finally made a decision. Farewell, father—

But at that moment, they suddenly heard a familiar voice nearby.

“Oh, who are we bidding farewell to? Let me join in.”

The two little dragon girls turned to the direction of the voice in unison. They saw the familiar man kneeling there, bowing twice to the photo on the table.

Then he stood up, smiling. “When I was young, your grandfather taught me how to play the suona. Do you know what a suona is? It’s a mysterious instrument from the East, often played during ceremonies. Would you like Daddy to show you?”

Before the two little ones could react, the maids behind them exclaimed, “The princesses’ filial piety moves the heavens! The prince has resurrected!”

(Sleeping Dragon: What’s all this noise?)