Book 4: Chapter 4

Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Leon and Lothswisse headed toward the rear courtyard of the sanctuary.

Sure enough, just as they had suspected, a familiar “traditional program” of the Silver Dragon Sanctuary was already in progress—

“His Highness the Prince Has Been Revived!”

Whenever Leon and Lothswisse were away from home for more than three days, this “program” would inevitably be staged the moment they returned.

This time, the cast was unprecedentedly powerful: the eldest daughter, the second daughter, and—making her debut—the youngest daughter.

The supporting cast was equally enthusiastic. Dozens of maids from top to bottom of the Silver Dragon Sanctuary were all present.

Then, amid a lively atmosphere, the “ritual” officially began.

The “veteran actor” Mu’en took the lead. Hugging a plate of pan-seared steak, she sat down on the grass and immediately started crying.

That said, Little Moon’s crying was far from heartfelt. She was very much putting on a show—all thunder, no rain.

“Daddy, Mommy! How could you abandon Mu’en like this! Waaaah~”

“Mu’en misses you so much~.”

“When are you coming back to see Mu’en~?”

“Waaaah~ the steak is so good, waaah~ Sister, you tell me, waaah~ who even invented pan-seared steak?”

After so many performances, Mu’en had perfected the skill of crying while eating.

Noah crossed her arms and quietly watched Mu’en.

Little Light stood obediently beside her.

Of course, that obedience was only on the surface. In reality, the pink-haired little one was completely dumbfounded.

That morning, her eldest sister had come to her and said something very important was happening today, and they needed to gather in the backyard.

So Little Light came.

She’d thought the “important matter” would be some kind of magic training.

Who could’ve imagined that it would be standing here watching Second Sister cry over steak while wailing about Mom and Dad?

Little Light didn’t understand—but Little Light was deeply shaken.

“Big Sister, I’m three years old, and this is my first time experiencing something like this. So this isn’t actually a traditional custom of the Silver Dragon Clan, right?”

Noah nodded, her small face extremely serious as she explained,

“To be honest, this should be classified as a… random event.”

Their parents randomly disappeared for anywhere from three to ten days, so naturally, “Mu’en crying for her parents” was also a random event.

Little Light scratched her forehead and looked at Second Sister.

“But Second Sister is eating so happily. I want to eat too.”

Noah didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked at one of the maids nearby.

“According to the process, how long until it’s your turn to deliver your lines?”

The maid bowed respectfully.

“Reporting to Your Highness, approximately thirty seconds.”

Noah nodded, then looked back at Little Light.

“Endure it for a bit. Dad and Mom are about to come back.”

Little Light froze. She looked left and right but didn’t see even a trace of their parents.

How could Big Sister be so certain?

“But Dad and Mom didn’t say when they’d be back when they left. How do you know?” Little Light asked.

Noah took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and answered solemnly with two words:

“Experience.”

“Ex… experience…”

Even someone who lived for fun would find it hard to laugh in such a bizarre situation.

After being born into this family for three years, Little Light still felt that, at certain times, she simply couldn’t keep up with the way Big Sister, Second Sister, Dad, and Mom thought.

Could it be that one day she really would have to inherit Auntie’s Red Dragon Sanctuary…?

That wouldn’t work, though. That would mean changing “Red Dragon” to “Pink Dragon”—

That didn’t sound domineering at all!

Little Light’s thoughts began to drift as she tried to divert her attention from the strange atmosphere.

And she wasn’t the only one feeling confused.

“A funeral is something solemn and heavy. It represents regret and remembrance for the deceased and is a traditional custom followed by most races on the Samel Continent. However—”

“What exactly are you all doing here?!”

“The maids laughing and chatting is one thing, but why is your younger sister even sneaking bites of the offerings?!”

Inside the consciousness space, the ancestor was clearly stunned by the younger generation’s style.

A soul of complaining that had been extinguished for tens of thousands of years suddenly reignited. If not for having slept too long and being out of touch with modern society—thus lacking sufficient vocabulary—she would have complained endlessly.

Noah calmly corrected her.

“She’s not sneaking.”

“Then what is she doing?”

“Eating openly and aboveboard.”

“……”

“So what exactly are you making such a huge fuss about? To mourn your invincible father? But he only went out for a few days. That doesn’t warrant a funeral.”

“No. Not mourning. It’s… summoning.”

The ancestor became even more confused. But thinking about it, tens of thousands of years had passed since her era, and magic must have evolved countless times.

So… a summoning ritual that looked like a funeral wasn’t entirely impossible!

“A summoning spell that requires this many people… must be very powerful, right?” the ancestor asked with utter seriousness.

Noah rubbed the tip of her nose.

“Uh… actually, in theory, only one person is needed.”

“One person? Who?”

“The princesses’ filial piety moves the heavens! His Highness the Prince has been revived again!”

“Okay, they’re back. We’ll chat later.”

With that, Noah withdrew from the consciousness space. When she opened her eyes again, the two familiar figures were already standing before them—

Well, more precisely, only Mom was standing. Dad had somehow become a wheelchair-bound man.

First came Mu’en—

“Dad, what happened to your leg?! You always came back perfectly fine before! Why are you in a wheelchair this time?”

Little Moon rushed over to Leon. Although she’d been fake-crying just moments ago, now her bright eyes were genuinely shimmering with tears.

“Is it because Mu’en sneaked some of your offerings this time that your leg got hurt?”

The second daughter was emotionally sincere, but her logic was… impressive.

Leon smiled helplessly and picked Mu’en up, placing her on his lap.

“No, no. Daddy just tripped over a rock while I was out this time and fell.”

“Really, Daddy?”

“Really. Would Daddy lie to you?”

“Then Mu’en will massage Daddy’s leg every day! Daddy will get better really fast~.”

“Alright. Thank you, Mu’en.”

As for the explanation of “tripping over a rock, falling, breaking his leg, and ending up in a wheelchair,” Noah remained highly skeptical.

She knew exactly what kind of monster her father was. A rock capable of tripping him and breaking his leg definitely shouldn’t be something that could naturally form on the Samel Continent.

But she didn’t say anything.

Next was Little Light—

“Wow… Big Sister, you really speak things into reality! You said Mom and Dad would be back soon, and they really came back!”

This shocked Little Light for an entire year once again.

But amid the shock, she immediately realized something.

Could Big Sister’s ability to accurately predict their parents’ return time be related to the ghost inside her body?

Hmm—

That seemed like a pretty good lead to investigate later!

“Come here, Little Light. Mommy will hold you.”

Lothswisse squatted down and opened her arms.

The pink-haired child obediently leaned in and threw herself into the queen’s soft embrace.

Leon glanced at the mother and daughter, then lowered his voice.

“Ahem—Mu’en hugged me first.”

Lothswisse shot him a look.

“Childish. I’m not even bothering to argue with you.”

Leon pursed his lips. He knew it—this mother dragon couldn’t handle losing.

When Leon won, Lothswisse said:

“Childish. Not worth arguing.”

When Leon lost, Lothswisse said:

“I won, I won, I won! This is the strongest dragon slayer? That’s it? Just this?”

To put it more concisely—

Lose and go silent.

Win and ride a dragon straight into your face.

Leon wasn’t going to stoop to her level!

Noah turned to the maids nearby.

“Thank you for your hard work. You may return to your duties.”

The maids bowed and withdrew one after another.

Only then did Noah step up to her parents. She looked at Leon’s casted right leg and asked with concern,

“Does it still hurt, Dad?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m fine. Just a minor broken bone—it’ll heal in a few days.”

“Oh. With your strength, Dad, you really will recover quickly.”

Although the eldest daughter had always been General Leon’s most loyal fan—commonly known as “Leon’s Number-One Hype Squad”—

Leon really wanted to say this now:

Sweetheart, Dad’s race isn’t like you dragons. For us, ‘injured muscles and broken bones take a hundred days to heal.’ It has nothing to do with strength!

After being apart for many days, the family of five was finally reunited.

Amid the morning breeze, they sat on the grass in the backyard, chatting about what had happened during the past few days.

When Noah asked what Mom and Dad had been doing while they were away, the couple exchanged a look and tacitly chose to change the subject.

They couldn’t exactly tell their well-behaved daughter that Mom and Dad had gone to start a revolution—overthrowing that dog emperor’s throne, and possibly even accelerating the end of a brutal human–dragon war by several years.

So, under the couple’s seamless cooperation, the topic naturally shifted to Claudia and Helena.

Leon took the opportunity to tell Noah the good news.

“In a few days, Helena will come visit our home.”

The three little ones reacted very differently.

Noah:

Best friend is coming!

Mu’en:

The “love rival” is coming.

Little Light:

Fun is coming!

…

Footnotes:

• All thunder, no rain

  Pinyin: gān dǎ léi bù xià yǔExplanation: Describes making a big show without genuine substance; here, fake crying without tears.

• Random event

  Pinyin: suí jī shì jiànExplanation: Internet-style humor describing something unpredictable and unplanned.

• Everyone’s thinking is impossible to follow.

  Pinyin: gēn bù shàng nǎo huí lùExplanation: A colloquial way to say someone can’t keep up with another person’s logic or way of thinking.

• Not afraid of death

  Pinyin: bù pà sǐExplanation: Slang meaning reckless or daring; often used humorously.

• Leon’s Number-One Hype Squad

  Pinyin: lǎi yī chuīExplanation: Internet slang for an extremely loyal fan who constantly praises someone.

• Lose and go silent, win and dominate

  Pinyin: shū le bì mài chén mò, yíng le fēi lóng qí liǎnExplanation: A humorous phrase describing someone who stays quiet when losing but becomes aggressively smug when winning.

• Speak things into reality

  Pinyin: yán chū fǎ suíExplanation: A saying meaning one’s words seem to magically come true.

• Stealing offerings

  Pinyin: tōu chī gòng pǐnExplanation: A playful phrase meaning secretly eating food meant for ceremonial offerings.