Book 4: Chapter 3 |
A few days after the war in the Empire ended, the cleanup work was more or less finished.
At present, the Empire’s internal operations were entirely handed over to the core members of the Lionheart Society, along with those ministers and officials who had previously refused to wallow in corruption alongside Kant and his circle.
Martin’s father was among them.
It was worth mentioning that, at first, there simply weren’t enough hands. They couldn’t even keep up with work as basic as compiling and organizing documents.
But fortunately, Rebecca had a sudden bright idea. She said that if they were looking for good, upright officials, then they should just go find them in prison.
Even though it sounded a bit hellish, they had to admit: it really was a good idea.
And so, after several days of everyone working without sleep, the Empire finally began operating again—even without Kant and the swarm of corrupt officials.
As for the election of the new king, that would still take time.
And while they waited, with the Empire’s military strength, there was naturally no fear of other countries taking advantage of the moment.
Once everything was properly handed over, Leon could finally go home with Lothswisse.
“Not staying a few more days, Captain? No matter what, this is still the land you fought to win for everyone.”
At the Empire’s city gate, Rebecca, Martin, and several Lionheart members were there to see the couple off.
“What land and throne are you talking about? Your dad told me since I was young to stay far away from politics. Being a savior is just something I do on the side.”
Hearing that, Rebecca’s eyes nearly rolled into the sky.
Somehow, it felt like the captain hadn’t changed much after all these years with the ‘sister-in-law’—except that his habit of showing off had gotten worse and worse.
“But it’s so far from the Silver Dragon Sanctuary. If something urgent happens here, we won’t be able to notify you in time.”
Even though Kant’s fall hadn’t reduced the Empire’s overall strength much—so there was no need to worry about opportunists taking advantage—
This was still the birth of a new system, a new society. Besides internal problems, there were also potential external threats to consider.
Just as Rebecca said, the Empire was simply too far from the Silver Dragon Sanctuary. Even for Lothswisse, flying at full speed would take five or six hours.
If something truly urgent happened and they had to send someone to find Leon, by the time Leon arrived, everyone’s ashes would be cold.
“After we return, I’ll send over a trained messenger dragon. If anything urgent happens, use it to deliver a message to us.”
Lothswisse said, “Messenger dragons are very fast. In a single night, it can fly from here to my sanctuary.”
Rebecca blinked her pretty eyes, her expression full of questions.
“A messenger dragon… what’s that?”
“Oh, it’s similar to your humans’ carrier pigeons. It’s a subspecies of dragonkind. Through long evolution and training, it took on the responsibility of carrying information between dragons.”
Rebecca nodded. “Oh, okay. Thank you, sister-in-law.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Then we’ll be going.”
“Safe travels, Captain.”
“Safe travels.”
“Hopefully next time we meet, you won’t need a wheelchair anymore, Leon.”
“Take care. Until next time.”
“…”
Everyone said their goodbyes one by one.
Leon raised a hand in farewell, then left the Empire together with Lothswisse.
Outside the city gate, a colossal silver dragon rose into the sky and pierced straight into the clouds.
Rebecca lifted a hand to shade her eyes, watching their figures fade toward the horizon, and sighed.
“A man with a family really is different. Won’t even sit on the throne—he’s rushing home to hold his kids.”
“When you have a home of your own, you’ll understand the captain,” Martin said in the mature tone of someone who’d been through it all.
Rebecca glanced at him. “You say that like you have experience. If I remember right, you’ve never even dated once.”
Martin froze. Having his dark history exposed made him awkward.
“S-so what if I haven’t dated? Have you?”
“No.”
Rebecca paused, then showed a sly, little-fox smile.
“Then… want to try with me?”
“Who wants to try with you?!”
“Oh~ little Martin is scared~”
“I’m not scared…” Martin tried to argue.
But the twin-tailed girl had already seen through everything. She turned back, lifted her arm, and patted Martin’s chest.
“If you’re not scared, then I’ll give you a chance to chase me.”
“Oh… huh? Wait—who said I was going to chase you!”
The boy and girl laughed and bickered as they walked back toward the city.
Nacho followed behind them, hands on his hips, letting out a helpless sigh.
“It’s hard to imagine I started a revolution with a bunch of kids. Honestly.”
Walker stepped up and patted Nacho on the shoulder.
“Alright, senior. We still have a lot of work to do.”
“Mm. Let’s go.”
The morning sun rose over the horizon, shining on this newborn nation—and shining on the Lionheart Society’s open and steady road ahead.
……
“I think when we get home, the girls will hug me first.”
“No. Definitely me.”
Nacho would never imagine that not only were his colleagues a bunch of brats, but his leader, who was married with three children, and his leader’s wife were also just slightly older “brats.”
What kind of grown adults argued about this every day?
Only this doomed couple could be so obsessed—and enjoy it so much.
“This time I’m definitely beating you, Lothswisse. And I’ll beat you three times.”
“Oh? You’re that sure all three daughters will hug you first?”
“No, what I mean is—”
Lothswisse tilted her ear, determined to hear what kind of nonsense this dog of a man was about to pull.
“As long as any one of Noah, Mu’en, or Little Light hugs me first instead of you, that counts as one win for me.”
“Mm. And then?”
“You have zero wins, I have one win. That’s the second win.”
The queen: ?
“You have zero wins, I have two wins. That’s the third win.”
“…”
“Three battles, three victories. Mother dragon—your evaluation?”
“I’m thinking… maybe we should let Kant out of prison. The revolutionary leader of the strongest nation shouldn’t be someone as shameless as you.”
Lothswisse was seriously starting to suspect Leon had a second personality.
Whenever it was a critical moment—heroic entrance, turning the tide, protecting home and country—his serious, stern, decisive, no-nonsense, not-softhearted, king-of-cool personality would come out.
But most of the time, it was his utterly infuriating first personality in control.
If you said he was full of contradictions, that wasn’t quite right, because from the day he met Lothswisse, he’d always been like this.
But if you said he was consistent, that wasn’t right either—because he was obviously more unrestrained than before.
After analyzing it, Lothswisse reached a conclusion:
This dog of a man had gotten too comfortable with her.
He truly didn’t treat her like an outsider anymore!
It seemed five years of married life had made someone forget his status as a captive. So when they got home, never mind who the daughters hugged first—
she needed to teach him a lesson first, and make him understand who the master of this household really was!
With that thought, Lothswisse beat her dragon wings and accelerated toward the sanctuary.
……
By midday, the couple returned to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.
Strangely, no maids came out to greet them.
In fact, there was barely anyone in the front courtyard at all. If Leon hadn’t seen guards still patrolling when they crossed the territorial border earlier, he would’ve thought some suicidal dragon had come to raid their home.
The couple walked into the courtyard and looked around.
No maids.
No daughters.
“Where did everyone go?” Lothswisse asked softly.
Leon blinked. A thought struck him, and he suddenly realized something.
“Oh! I know!”
Lothswisse was startled. “Know what? How to stand up from the wheelchair?”
“No, no, no—I mean, I know where Noah and the others, and the maids, went.”
Leon looked at Lothswisse. Lothswisse lowered her eyes and returned his gaze.
The couple held eye contact for a single second—then, the next moment, they spoke in unison:
“Sneaking the offerings!”
…
Footnotes:
- Sounds a bit hellishPinyin:yǒu diǎn dì yùExplanation: A humorous expression meaning the idea feels morally harsh or “wicked,” often used jokingly rather than literally.
- Asking for trouble / suicidalPinyin:bù pà sǐExplanation: Literally “not afraid of death,” meaning reckless, daring, or looking for trouble.
- Everyone’s ashes would be coldPinyin:gǔ huī dōu liáng leExplanation: A vivid, exaggerated saying meaning “by the time you arrive, we’ll already be long dead.”
- Shade her eyesPinyin:zhē méiExplanation: A common literary action: lifting a hand to block sunlight while looking into the distance.
- Doomed couplePinyin:yuān zhǒngExplanation: A slangy term describing two people bound together in a comedic, fate-like way—often bickering yet inseparable.
- Dog of a manPinyin:gǒu nán rénExplanation: Internet slang: a teasing insult for a shameless, annoying, or mischievous man (often said playfully in relationships).
- King-of-cool persona / show-off auraPinyin:bī wángExplanation: Slang for someone who loves to act cool, dramatic, or impressive; a “show-off king.”
- Second personalityPinyin:dì èr rén géExplanation: A colloquial way to say someone seems like a totally different person in different situations; not necessarily a clinical term.
- Comfortable enough to treat you like familyPinyin:hún shú leExplanation: Means becoming so familiar that one stops being polite or restrained.
- Stealing offeringsPinyin:tōu chī gòng pǐnExplanation: A humorous phrase meaning secretly eating food that was meant as offerings (often ceremonial or set aside), implying naughty “caught-in-the-act” behavior.