Chapter 122: Need to pay more

The next morning, after studying for over an hour, Leon took Muen for a walk in the temple’s backyard to take a break.

The father and daughter sat on a bench under the shade of a tree, discussing what they had just learned.

Not far away, several dragon maids were chatting while each holding a piece of cake.

Because the birthday cake Leon prepared for Rosvitha yesterday was excessively large, even with just the two of them plus Muen, they wouldn’t finish it even if they delayed it until next week.

So this morning, Rosvitha arranged for Anna to cut the cake into small pieces and distribute them to the maids.

However, there was still a lot of cake left.

Rosvitha said, “Leon, this is extravagant.”

Leon replied, “Mother dragon, this is throwing good money after bad. This is burning the bridge after crossing the river. This is drinking water and forgetting who dug the well. This is reading the scriptures and then hitting the monk – ungrateful.”

Rosvitha didn’t know where he got so many idioms and didn’t bother to argue with him.

Besides, she had a happy birthday yesterday, even though it wasn’t a formal birthday that only comes every ten years, it still had a sense of ceremony.

So she decided to indulge Leon for these two days, to avoid him accusing her of being ungrateful.

Muen fluttered her pretty big eyes, staring at the delicious cakes in the hands of the maid sisters, grumbling and swallowing saliva.

In the little dragon girl’s mind, cakes were the second most delicious food in the world – the first being pan-fried steak (made by Mom).

But she had already eaten a piece in the morning. Dad said not to eat too much cream for breakfast and to wait until lunch or afternoon to eat.

But the temptation of the small cakes was too great, and Muen, in a rare form, started to use her little brain in an unusual way.

After a moment of thought, she looked at Leon. “Daddy.”

“What’s up?”

“Do you have any regrets?”

Leon was bewildered, not understanding why his dear daughter would suddenly ask such a profound question.

In the past, she would always ask things like, “Daddy, can we have steak for lunch?”, “Daddy, can we have steak for dinner?”, and “Daddy, can we have steak for supper?”

Nevertheless, Leon pondered seriously for a moment. Regrets… Yes, he had them, and many at that.

But his regrets might not be suitable for a child to hear. So, Leon shook his head. “Daddy has no regrets since having you and your sister.”

Upon hearing this, the little dragon girl didn’t show a happy expression but instead sighed in pretended regret. “Ah, but Muen has regrets.”

My dear, you’re just over a year old, what regrets could you possibly have? Regretting that your stomach is too small to eat a whole basin of steak?

“What are Muen’s regrets then?” Leon asked.

Muen didn’t immediately answer, but instead asked, “Daddy, do you think if a dragon has regrets, she won’t be happy anymore?”

Leon’s mind stirred slightly, feeling like his clever daughter had something more to say. After a moment of contemplation, he cautiously nodded. “Yes.”

“So Daddy wants Muen to be happy all the time, right?”

“Um… of course.”

“Does that mean Daddy will help Muen solve her regrets, right?”

“…Yes.”

After receiving the affirmative answer from her old father, Muen’s serious little face suddenly broke into a smile.

“Then, Daddy, Muen’s regret is that she only ate one piece of cake this morning. Muen wants to eat some more!”

Leon was nearly caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, Muen K. Melkvi!

When did you transform from an adorable and innocent little dragon girl to a conniving little dragon girl who sets traps for her old man?

Could it be that the other half of Rosvitha’s genes in her dear daughter’s body is causing mischief? Giving her astonishing talent in outsmarting Leon?

Hmm, it must be so.

So everything is Rosvitha’s fault.

Scheming mother dragon, give me back my daughter!

Gathering his thoughts, Leon reached out and pinched Muen’s little face.

“Firstly, if you want something from Daddy in the future, you can just say it directly, no need to beat around the bush like this.”

Muen nodded earnestly. “Daddy, I want cake.”

“Secondly, you can’t eat too much cake.”

Muen ( ´◔ ‸◔`): “Really, Daddy? I can’t?”

Leon: “You can’t.”

Muen ( •̆ ₃ •̆ ): “Really, really can’t?”

Leon’s eye twitched slightly. “No, you really can’t…”

Muen (っ╥╯﹏╰╥c): “Daddy~~ Daddy~~~”

Leon covered his face with both hands, thoroughly defeated.

Three “Daddies” turned the mightiest dragon slayer into a daughter’s slave.

Fine, I’ll buy you 50 steaks to hear me out.

After compromising, Leon raised a finger. “One piece, and at most, you can have one more.”

“Yay! Daddy is awesome! Long live Daddy!”

The little dragon girl excitedly leaned in and planted a big kiss on Leon’s cheek. A warm feeling flooded his heart. Being a daughter’s slave isn’t so bad after all, is it?

But amidst his joy, Leon seemed to have realized something.

Have you two sisters found a little trick that makes Daddy here obey your every command?

The other day, Noia asked him to teach her lightning magic, he agreed, and Noia gave him a kiss; now Muen wanted to eat more cake, he agreed, and Muen also kissed him.

This is an unfair deal!

Who ever heard of one kiss for learning magic?

Who ever heard of one kiss for more cake?

Do you two not know that Daddy here is a man of fairness and justice, impartial and incorruptible?

So, if you want there to be a next time…

You’ll have to give me a few more kisses.

“Little greedy dragon, wait, Daddy will go get it for you.”

“Yay~”

But before Leon could get up, the head maid Anna came over with two pieces of cake.

“Your Highness, Princess Muen, please enjoy.”

“Thank you, Anna~”

“You’re welcome, Your Highness,” Anna replied with a smile.

Leon also took a piece of cake, which was accompanied by a small slice of orange on top.

He didn’t start eating right away, but instead looked up and asked, “How much is left?”

“There’s still quite a bit left, Your Highness. The birthday cake you prepared for Her Majesty was… quite grand,” Anna shrugged.

“Birthdays should be grand, right?” Leon shrugged back.

Anna nodded, “Yes. Oh, by the way, Your Highness, I saw the lightning on the back mountain last night. It was also prepared by you for Her Majesty, right?”

“Um…”

He didn’t really want to talk about this, because it would give Anna and the other gossiping dragons something to talk about.

You can mess around with food, but you can’t mess around with ships (relationships).

Actually, I’m not really close to your queen…

“Is it using a magic array to activate magical energy to achieve that effect?” Anna asked.

Leon silently nodded.

Coincidentally, after explaining the mechanism and principles of the magic array to Muen the other day, Noia mentioned that her mother liked fleeting beauty, so Leon had a clever idea to combine the two, creating the effect of the lightning blessing last night.

“Truly worthy of Your Highness. Many of us saw it last night and praised Your Highness for being romantic and sentimental, winning the heart of Her Majesty.”

Hmm, with just a casual move, buddy here is a top-notch romantic. You dragon folks should learn a thing or two… Leon secretly felt proud.

“I’m already looking forward to Her Majesty’s next birthday, Your Highness. What kind of surprise will you prepare?” Anna said with anticipation.

Leon grinned slyly, chuckling a couple of times.

Next time?

There’s no next time!

In “The Captive’s Suffering,” there can be “Dragon Birthday Celebrations,” but there definitely can’t be two!