Chapter 177: Aurora

After several hours of flight, Rosvitha and Leon arrived at the border between human and dragon territories.

Leading Leon, Rosvitha found the mountain stream where Teg had hidden at that time.

Since it was temporarily impossible to determine whether Teg was currently in the empire or had already left, it was always okay to take a look when passing by here.

Leon stood on the dangerously steep cliff edge, watching the waterfall cascading down and the bottomless ravine, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Did my master really hide here?”

Rosvitha nodded, “Do you still think your master is just an ordinary farmer now?”

To find such a secluded hiding place and live here for a while, an ordinary farmer really couldn’t do it.

How many secrets does that old man master still have to tell him?

After the meeting, Leon must ask clearly.

Rosvitha flew slowly into the dangerous mountain stream with Leon and found the waterfall from last time.

She waved her wings, and the wind pressure opened a gap in the water flow, forming an opening on the waterfall.

The two passed through the gap, revealing a hidden cave inside.

Leon stepped in, with Rosvitha following behind him.

The wooden furniture she saw last time was still there, but…

Rosvitha stood by the table and gently wiped it with her hand, thick dust. That is to say, no one has lived here for a long time.

Of course, Leon also noticed this point. He circled deeper into the cave but still found nothing, “My master and mistress are not here.”

Pausing for a moment, he added a bit unwillingly, looking inside again, “Even the donkey is not here.”

Rosvitha remembered that Shirley had said that before Teg left the empire and came to this isolated place, he sold his farm and livestock, but only took the donkey with him.

This indicated that this four-legged long-eared animal, which was one of the few in the biological world that could injure Leon, was indeed very important to this family. And now, with the master and mistress gone, and the donkey missing…

“So there are only two possibilities,” Rosvitha said, “Either your master has resolved the issues in the empire, taken your mistress and the donkey away, and is waiting for you to return home; or… the problem hasn’t been solved, and it’s far more troublesome than he expected. He doesn’t have the energy to take care of your mistress, so he temporarily moved her elsewhere.”

Leon nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, “Let’s continue our journey.”

Watching Leon’s eager yet forced calmness, Rosvitha opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated.

Finally, she softly uttered a sound of agreement, spread her wings, and took Leon away from there.

Along the way, the couple didn’t say another word.

She could feel Leon’s urgent and restrained emotions at the moment; Leon also sensed that she was suppressing certain emotions.

Two people who usually couldn’t stop bickering when they met, now didn’t know what to talk about.

There was only the roaring whistling in their ears, disturbing Leon’s mind.

After entering human territory, Rosvitha activated the invisibility magic and slowed down her speed, becoming more cautious.

Human territory was naturally not to be entered at will, the closer they got, the more dangerous it became.

When Leon had just awakened, Rosvitha had brought him back to the forest near the empire.

After the torment, she, fueled by the lingering excitement, threatened to come here with Leon every month from now on and thoroughly humiliate his dignity and beliefs.

However, that time was their only time here. Rosvitha couldn’t really risk so much just to torture Leon.

Unexpectedly, entering human territory again was completely opposite to the previous purpose. From “keeping him forever by her side” to “sending him back to his hometown by her own hands”… the difference between these two was too great. And the void in the queen’s heart… was also too great.

After flying for several more hours, they finally arrived at the empire.

Rosvitha landed in the forest last time, where she could overlook the entire empire from a distance. Leon stood at a high point, gazing at his homeland in the distance.

The dazzling lights reflected in his dark pupils, and for a moment, he was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. Home was still home, but was the ’empire’ still the same ’empire’?

Last time they were here, it was the faith in Leon’s heart, a bottom line worth guarding with his life. But now, it seemed like a sleeping beast. No one knew if, upon approaching it, it would wag its tail obediently at Leon, or open its blood-stained jaws and roar towards him.

Leon clenched his fists silently, his breathing becoming uncontrollably heavy. He rarely feared tangible things. Whether it was dragons, dangerous species, or anything else, Leon had never been afraid of them.

But now, as he looked at the empire he had once sworn to protect with his life, an unfounded fear crept into his heart.

His master had said that tangible monsters weren’t scary. What was scarier than monsters was the human heart, which couldn’t be seen or touched.

Leon’s pupils trembled slightly, and a bone-chilling coldness swept over him like a flood, making it difficult for him to even breathe. He subconsciously took a half step back, feeling a formless fear that he could hardly bear.

However, at that moment, a wave of warmth spread over his back. Leon paused for a moment, then slowly lowered his head, looking at the slender arm wrapped around his waist.

The softness and warmth behind him, as they embraced him, instantly dispelled all the fear and chilliness in front of Leon.

“Rosvitha…”

He wanted to turn around, but the person behind him stopped him with a firm command, “Don’t move, don’t turn around.”

Leon could feel Rosvitha gently resting her forehead against his back. She didn’t hold him too tightly, perhaps because she dared not… or perhaps because she couldn’t.

Leon looked at the delicate jade hands encircling his abdomen, the back of the hand tender and the fingers slender, nails shimmering with a faint pink sheen. He slowly raised his hand and hesitated for a moment before gently covering Rosvitha’s slightly cool hand.

A gust of evening wind rushed into the forest, rustling the surrounding leaves. The chirping of cicadas came from the darkness, fireflies danced around the two, and moonlight escaped through the cracks in the leaves, falling generously on their silver hair.

In front of Leon lay the perilous empire, waiting for his master to deal with; behind him was his former ‘enemy’ and the person he had been with day and night.

After a long silence, Leon spoke softly, “After I deal with the trouble, I’ll—”

“I’m not waiting,” Rosvitha didn’t even wait for him to finish speaking, interrupting him like a sulking little girl.

She had endured for so many days, even restraining herself on the way here. Now, with only minutes left until she had to part ways with this guy, she could only count down the time.

She wanted to be willful, just once. Even if it was only for a few short minutes.

“What am I to you… Why should I wait for you? I’m not waiting, I don’t want to.”

Leon pursed his lips, his shoulders slumping weakly. “I’m sorry.”

She held him tighter, her voice choked with unrestrained sobs, “Don’t get into any trouble… Leon, please, don’t get into any trouble…”

Indeed, being willful didn’t suit her.

Leon bit his lip, tightly gripping Rosvitha’s wrist so she could feel his resolve. “I promise, Rosvitha, I won’t get into any trouble.”

She didn’t say anything, just continued to hold him from behind.

After a while, Leon asked softly, “How do we explain this to the girls?”

“I’ll talk to them,” Rosvitha adjusted her emotions.

“If you can’t resolve the empire’s troubles with your master in a short time, then every three months, if you’re still alive, go to the mountain stream where your master hid at that time. It’s the border between human and dragon territories, relatively safer. I’ll explain to the girls and take them to see you.”

This didn’t seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision. Knowing her personality, she must have decided to do this a long time ago, Leon thought.

“Do you hear me?” She gently bumped Leon’s back with her forehead from behind.

“Yes, yes, I hear you.”

“Go there every three months, don’t you dare not go, do you understand?”

‘If you’re still alive, go there’, ‘go there every three months, don’t you dare not go’.

This way of expressing things was blunt enough for Rosvitha.

She wanted Leon to live.

“Remember, I’ll be there on time for our appointment,” Leon assured her.

Rosvitha closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

“Lastly, let’s give our daughter a name.”

“Shall I choose it?”

Rosvitha nodded, then quickly added, “No stars, no savages.”

With that said, the couple smiled simultaneously.

She slowly turned her head, pressing her cheek against Leon’s back, hugging him tighter. They swayed gently with the evening breeze.

After a moment of thought, Leon spoke, “Then let’s call her Aurora. It means ‘dawn’ and ‘light’, and our little daughter was born at dawn.”

“Aurora… Yes, let’s go with that name.”

The smile faded from Rosvitha’s face as she reluctantly released Leon, taking a few steps back, watching his figure.

“Go, Casmode. Go do what you need to do.”

The man in front of her half-turned back, the moonlight reflecting off his resolute profile, the breeze tousling his bangs.

He nodded, then began to stride away, heading towards the silent beast in the distance.

The Silver Dragon Queen watched his receding figure, murmuring to herself, “Leon, may fortune favor you.”