Chapter 51: Leon’s Not Looking Good

“Dad, dad, wake up, it’s time for lunch~”
Leon was hazily awakened by Little Light.
The moment he opened his eyes, his head was throbbing with pain.
He fought through the discomfort to sit up, forcing an apologetic smile on his face. “Sorry, Little Light, dad fell asleep by accident.”
“It’s okay dad, let’s go eat lunch.”
“Mm.”
Leon stood up. The midday sunlight poured in through the library’s floor-to-ceiling windows, showering down on him.
But he couldn’t feel any warmth at all.
In fact, the moment he stood up—
“Achoo!”
That was his fourth sneeze today.
If Teacher’s wife were here, she’d probably be dragging Leon to the clinic for a shot by now.
Little Light held Leon’s hand and looked up at him, asking worriedly, “Dad, what’s wrong? Did you catch a cold?”
Leon shook his head, still wearing a smile on his face, though it was becoming rather forced.
Plus his throat was starting to hurt, his nose was congested, and his lips were getting chapped.
Combined with the headache that showed no signs of letting up—
He probably really did catch a cold.
“Dad’s fine, let’s go eat first.”
“Are you really okay?” Little Light was still worried.
“Mm, really okay.”
As he spoke, Leon wanted to crouch down and pick up Little Light, then tell her ‘See, dad can still carry you, there’s nothing wrong at all.’
But thinking that if he really had caught a cold, being so close would risk infecting his daughter.
So he had to give up on the idea.
He held Little Light’s hand as they left the library and went to the dining room.
Rosvitha, Noia and Muen were already eating.
“Good afternoon Mom, good afternoon Big Sis and Second Sis~”
Little Light cheerfully greeted everyone, then ran to Muen’s side and successfully climbed onto the children’s dining chair with her second sister’s help.
While the dining room didn’t have booster seats for kids, it had reliable second sister.
Leon pulled out a chair and sat down at the side of the dining table.
On his plate was the lunch already prepared by the maid.
He picked up his knife and fork, but after just one bite began mindlessly poking at the food on his plate.
Rosvitha glanced sideways at him. The dog man’s face was gloomy, but it didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood.
He just simply… had no appetite?
“Not to your taste?” Rosvitha asked while slowly cutting the meat on her plate.
“No… just not hungry.”
At this sound, Rosvitha’s movements paused.
That voice didn’t sound right.
Why was it a bit hoarse?
“Are you sick?” Only now did she put down her fork and look seriously at Leon.
Leon propped up one side of his face with his hand, his eyelids drooping, speaking with clear lack of energy, “No, I’m fine, not sick.”
Little Light across the dining table blinked and immediately said, “Dad sneezed earlier.”
Rosvitha frowned slightly, “Isn’t that being sick?”
Leon scratched his nose tip, still trying to act tough, “It’s just a sneeze, don’t make a big deal out of it, I—”
Before he could finish speaking, he felt a cool sensation on his forehead.
It was the back of Rosvitha’s hand, gently pressed against his forehead.
Realizing she was checking his temperature, Leon immediately grabbed her wrist, “What are you doing…”
“You’re already running a fever, and you still say you’re not sick?”
“That’s- that’s just because your hand is cold, everything would feel hot to you.”
Rosvitha gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “I thought you were only stubborn when talking about feelings with me. I didn’t expect you’d be the same way when sick with a cold.”
Under the table, Leon lightly kicked her shoe, lowering his voice, “The kids are here, watch what you’re saying.”
“Oh right, you reminded me, the children are here.”
Rosvitha shifted her gaze to the three little ones across the table, sat up straight, and asked with an air of seriousness:
“Darlings, tell me, when you’re sick, does it feel uncomfortable?”
Noia & Muen & Little Light: “Yes~”
“So, what should we do right away when we get sick?”
Noia & Muen & Little Light: “Take medicine~”
Clap!
The queen clasped her hands together satisfactorily, smiling with narrowed eyes, “My darlings are so sensible.”
Then, her face changed at lightning speed as she dropped her smile and looked at Leon, “See? Even children know what to do. As an adult, why are you still trying to act tough?”
Leon snorted with laughter, commenting sarcastically, “Those last few lines of yours sounded exactly like a newly hired kindergarten teacher…”
Rosvitha ignored him, “Take some medicine after eating. I have some in my bedside drawer.”
“I won’t take it.”
Rosvitha raised an eyebrow, “How old are you? Still need someone to coax you into taking medicine?”
“……” Leon seemed to want to say something but held back.
No.
It wasn’t holding back.
It was more like… something embarrassing he couldn’t say.
The queen’s thoughts stirred, and she immediately guessed the reason for his stubborn refusal to take medicine.
“Are you… afraid of taking medicine?”
Hearing this, Noia suddenly raised her head, food still in her mouth, staring at her father in shock.
OK, the topic for her next essay would be:
“My Father Who’s Strong Enough to One-Shot Constantine but is Afraid of Cold Medicine”
Faced with Rosvitha’s questioning, Leon didn’t answer, his expression only growing more difficult.
This was basically an admission.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of taking medicine, he just strongly disliked it. There was no particular reason – he was just born disliking the taste of medicine. Otherwise, when he thought about it earlier, if his master’s wife were here, she would have already dragged him to the clinic. Because on his own, he would absolutely never walk into such a place.
Rosvitha lightly tapped on the dining table, no longer trying to convince him to take medicine. She knew this stubborn man would eventually take medicine or get an injection once he couldn’t stand feeling sick anymore.
Little Light looked at her mother, then at her father, blinking her beautiful pink eyes. If father didn’t like taking medicine… perhaps health supplements would work?
…
In the evening, Leon’s cold got much worse. The dragon-slaying hero lay in bed with a towel on his forehead and hot water by his side, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Rosvitha stood by the bed, arms crossed, holding cold medicine between her fingers, looking at him helplessly. “If you don’t take this, you might not make it through tonight.”
“Be quiet,” Leon’s head felt like it was about to explode from the fever, his voice hoarse. “I think I can see my great-grandmother.”
“Weren’t you adopted by your master? Where did you get a great-grandmother from?”
The determined General Leon used his last bit of strength to raise his hand, holding up one finger. “This is… a figure… of speech.”
Rosvitha let out a cold laugh, “When you’re killed by this cold, I’ll have a thousand figures of speech to mock you with.”
“No… I firmly believe I can overcome this illness.”
“First, you can’t; second, a cold hardly counts as a serious illness – losing limbs and cancer are serious illnesses.”
“This is actually also a figure of speech…”
Rosvitha rolled her eyes, tossed the cold medicine beside his pillow, and stopped bothering with him.
At this moment, there was a knock at the door.
Rosvitha went to open it – it was the three little ones.
Muen rushed in first, “Mama, we’ve come to present tribute to Papa!”
Rosvitha: ?
“Tri-tribute?”
Dear, are you thinking about steak again?
But it’s too early for that. Your father’s still got some time before he’s buried, why don’t you come back later?
Noia quickly pulled her sister back, saying, “It’s Little Light – she made some medicine, or more precisely, a health supplement.”
“A health supplement?”
Little Light nodded, “Since Papa doesn’t like taking medicine, health supplements should be okay, right? What’s most important now is for Papa to recover.”
Rosvitha’s eyes shifted slightly. The medicinal ingredients her daughters could get their hands on were limited, and they were all harmless to the body. Even if it had no effect, it wouldn’t matter – that daughter-doting man lying in bed would definitely be willing to be their guinea pig.
“Alright, come in. Papa’s in the bedroom.”
The three little dragon girls ran inside, and Rosvitha followed after closing the door.
After expressing their concern for Leon, Little Light took out a pill from a small box. Though called a pill, it looked more like a chocolate candy.
Leon felt this chocolate candy looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen it before.
He wanted to refuse, but seeing his daughters’ expectant faces, being the daughter-doting father he was, he really couldn’t say no.
Fine, fine, he’d be their guinea pig – he’d spoil his own daughters.
Leon put the chocolate candy in his mouth, and indeed, it had no medicine taste. After swallowing it with water, his body had no reaction.
Good, at least it wasn’t poison.
“Papa, do you feel better?” Little Light asked.
To avoid worrying them, Leon said, “Yes, much better. The medicine worked instantly! Little Light is amazing, being able to make medicine already.”
“Oh actually… Big Sister helped me a lot,” Little Light explained seriously. “Extracting the residue from medicinal materials requires lightning magic, and Big Sister is very good at lightning magic.”
Hearing this, Leon’s spine went cold. A terrible memory exploded in his mind.
What kind of health supplement needs lightning magic to extract?!
Fighting back his trembling lips, he asked, “Sweetie, did you make this according to a medicine book?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Was it from the book in the nursery drawer…?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Is that medicine called Dragon’s Might…?”
“Mm-hmm! Papa, you’re so smart, you guessed everything right!”
Damn it, it’s all over!