"Ah... Donkey? That four-legged childhood sweetheart of yours actually has a name?", Rossweise teased.
Leon also chuckled, "Yeah, of course it does."
"Since you already gave it a name, why not pick something nicer? 'Ah Donkey' is way too perfunctory."
The couple walked out of the teaching building, heading toward the playground.
The sunset hung slanting on the horizon, stretching their shadows very, very long.
On the field, a few students occasionally ran past them, while others trained physically on the grass.
Leon and Rossweise walked slowly, enjoying this rare strolling time.
"Actually, there was another name back then."
Rossweise grew interested and pressed on, "Oh? What was it?"
Leon took a deep breath, then said one word at a time, "Elizabeth·Summer·Lawrence."
The queen paused in her steps, a big question mark on her delicate and beautiful face.
Leon also stopped, turned to look at her, "Yeah, when my master first told me this name, I had the same expression as you."
Rossweise covered her mouth and chuckled, "That name is anything but perfunctory, it even sounds a bit aristocratic."
"The middle name 'Summer' was taken from my master's wife's name, and Lawrence is my master's surname," Leon explained.
"And what about 'Elizabeth'?"
"Supposedly it's the name of the imperial king's wife."
"Supposedly? Come on, at least you and your master worked in the empire, how could you not even know the boss lady's name?"
Leon spread his hands, "Our queen is really mysterious, she only showed up on the day of her wedding to the king, and no one's seen her since. Even the name Elizabeth is just a rumor."
"I see. Alright then."
"Later, my master felt that yelling 'Elizabeth' among a bunch of cows and sheep was kind of inappropriate, so he just changed it to 'Ah Donkey'. And that's the origin of my beloved donkey's name."
Rossweise curled her lips, gave him a white-eyed look, crossed her arms, and kicked at her skirt as she stepped forward, "Sweet talker. Beloved donkey, huh."
Leon blinked, thought of something, and immediately stepped up to wrap his arm around Rossweise's shoulder, grinning, "You're still my beloved wife."
Rossweise symbolically twisted her shoulder, trying to shake him off, "Get lost, idiot."
But unfortunately, the damn man was holding tight, she couldn't shake him off, couldn't escape.
'Damn it, guess I'll tolerate him for now.'
"Speaking of which, it's been years since you saw your beloved donkey, hasn't it?", Rossweise asked.
"Mm... a few years ago, after the empire sent me to your Silver Dragon territory, I haven't seen Ah Donkey since."
He paused, then added, "Nor have I seen my master's wife."
Rossweise's thoughts stirred slightly. She comforted him, "But at least you get to see your master every now and then. Didn't he always say his wife is safe?"
"That's what he says, but I've always found it a bit strange."
"Strange?"
"Yeah. It's been so long, yet my master hasn't given me a single recent photo of his wife."
Leon said, "Could it be they hardly ever meet?"
Rossweise raised her brows, "Could be."
"But my master said she went back to her family. No matter how hard it is to meet, after all this time, it's impossible they haven't seen each other at all, right?"
"Mm... Didn't your master also say his relationship with her family wasn't so good?"
Leon sighed and shook his head, "I just feel that old man is hiding a lot from me. I ask him, and he won't say. It's tough."
Rossweise looked at his slightly troubled side profile and didn't rush to comfort him like before.
Instead, she lowered the hands that were crossed over her chest, let them fall naturally, and gently held Leon's hand.
Not interlocking fingers in a romantic way, just lightly grasping his fingers with the right amount of strength.
The back of his battle-hardened hand was full of scars, but thick and reassuring.
"Everyone has secrets. You can't expect every person to pour out their heart to you and tell you everything. That's not realistic."
She finally spoke, voice soft, "Besides, your master has helped us a lot all along. Even if he's hiding something from us, it definitely isn't out of mistrust or anything like that."
Leon silently nodded.
Of course he understood the reasoning.
It's just that being kept in the dark for so long, it's hard not to feel a bit imbalanced inside.
"Alright, fix your mood. We're going to dinner with our daughters soon. You don't want them surrounding you asking 'Daddy, why are you unhappy?' right?"
When the queen is scheming, she's very scheming. But when comforting others, she's highly effective.
Actually, she rarely cares about others' emotions. Whether someone is happy or sad, what does that have to do with the Silver Dragon Queen?
But this emo little crybaby beside her is her only captive.
Of course she had to care a little.
Otherwise, if the little captive really gets crybaby syndrome, who'll fetch her foot wash?
It's all connected. She wouldn't comfort someone for nothing.
Leon's gloomy mood lifted a little.
His right hand subtly tightened, responding to Rossweise.
Rossweise laughed quietly in her heart. Looks like he's not emo anymore.
'Very good. Tonight he can keep fetching my foot wash. Heehee!'
"You just said... everyone has secrets?"
"Yeah."
"Then do you have any secrets you haven't told me?"
Hearing that, Rossweise suddenly stopped walking.
Leon took a few more steps forward, but their hands didn't let go.
They slightly raised their arms, holding hands, standing in the middle of the playground, looking into each other's eyes.
"I do," Rossweise said.
"What?"
She didn't answer directly, but slowly raised her high heel, gently stepped on the ground, and inched closer to Leon.
Until she stood beside Leon, tiptoed slightly, and whispered in his ear.
Leon, curious, leaned in closer, only to have Rossweise grab his ear.
"You really want to hear it, idiot? If I have a secret, why would I tell you? If I tell you, would it still be a secret? Hmm?"
"Mother Dragon, you're not being honest!"
Rossweise let go of his ear, clasped her hands behind her back, and took a few steps backward, putting some distance between them.
The sunset light fell in her hair, like a blood-red rose blooming in the galaxy.
She made a face at Leon, "When you confess to me, I'll tell you my secret."
———
After several rehearsals, the relationship between the Leon couple and Claudia also gradually became familiar.
After getting familiar, the couple discovered that this Claudia was actually not very difficult to get along with.
She was very smart, had high emotional intelligence, and her words and actions were impeccable.
Interacting with such a person often felt very relaxed.
This so-called relaxation was not because Claudia was lowering herself to accommodate Leon and Rossweise.
Because in terms of social skills, Rossweise, as the Silver Dragon Queen, was in no way inferior to Claudia.
Both parties were experts at playing mind games. With just a sentence or two, they could predict what the other was going to say or do.
And just so happened, they were not in any hostile relationship. There was no need to rack their brains to extract tribal information from each other's words.
So, under such a premise, getting along became very easy.
This day after lunch, Noah took a few little dragon girls to the Academic Affairs Office. Today was the day to finalize the program list, because the official performance was only one week away.
Only the Leon couple and Claudia were left in the classroom.
The beautiful mature woman elegantly sat opposite the couple, her posture dignified, with a hint of aristocratic laziness.
She interlocked her ten fingers, lightly resting her chin on the back of her hands, crossed her legs, and looked at the couple across from her with great interest.
"Congratulations, Leon, now you can openly and confidently call me 'Mother Queen'," Claudia teased with a smile.
"Although it's still a bit awkward, it's all for the kids to get a good result, Claudia."
Their way of addressing each other had already changed from the original "Mr. Casmodeous, Miss Melkvei" and "Ms. Claudia" to calling each other directly by name.
This wasn't impolite at all. When the status gap wasn't large and they were relatively familiar, calling by name could even bring people closer.
"Speaking of children."
After teasing, Claudia started a topic, "Since the last time Helena visited your home, she's been full of praise for your family atmosphere. I suppose you two must have put in a lot of effort in educating the children?"
"The kids are very well-behaved. Leon and I didn't put in much effort. Besides, in my view, this so-called family atmosphere isn't about good or bad, only about suitable or not," Rossweise said.
Claudia raised her eyebrows with interest, "Suitable or not?"
Rossweise slightly nodded, "The family atmosphere we created suits Noah and the others very well, but if it were other children, they might not adapt. The reason Helena was full of praise was probably because she suddenly experienced a completely new way of family interaction and found it refreshing. Claudia."
She deliberately paused when saying Claudia's name at the end.
This pause was actually a hidden subtext.
And this hidden subtext was, ["Do you understand what I mean?"]
Of course, Rossweise would never say that sentence directly, because that might make Claudia feel like she was being interrogated.
This was the biggest taboo in conversation.
If one wanted to build a good social relationship, they had to dull the sharpness of their words and make their speech smooth.
Don't be fooled by how the Queen and General Leon usually stabbed each other in the heart for fun. When serious, she was more than capable of handling this kind of occasion with ease.
Claudia smiled faintly, "What you said makes sense, Rossweise."
Her smile was also somewhat subtle.
She was very satisfied with Rossweise's response.
And within that satisfaction, there was also a trace of… relief?
Rossweise could understand where this satisfaction came from.
Her earlier answer about family atmosphere, put simply, was, ["Everyone's kids are great. My family has our strengths, and your Helena is wonderful too."]
She subtly praised herself while also complimenting Helena.
This was a high emotional intelligence, win-win type of response.
But this relief… what exactly did it mean?
Rossweise had seen that kind of smile.
But only on the face of… her grandmother.
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