Chapter 72: I’m the Eighth Gate, Which Gate Are You?

Leon struggled to process everything his daughters had told him.
Although some parts were still unclear, the main point was that since there was a chance to change everything, Leon would spare no effort to make it happen.
A full twenty years – he hadn’t been by his daughters’ sides. For someone with such a strong sense of responsibility, this was undoubtedly the most guilt-inducing blow.
Moreover, the absence of paternal love would definitely change a person’s entire life.
And such changes were often negative.
This was especially true considering that Leon was an exceptionally good father – even little Noia had to admit this back when their relationship hadn’t yet improved.
And besides his daughters…
Leon looked up, his gaze falling on the crystal.
The silver-haired beauty lay quietly within the crystal, her brows relaxed, her eyelashes distinct, her delicate features soft – she looked peaceful and beautiful.
But she shouldn’t be like this.
She was the Dragon Queen, the mother of his daughters.
And his wife.
This tsundere and cunning dragon deserved a better future.
Noticing her father’s gaze, Aurora raised an eyebrow.
Tch, when she was little and nestled in her parents’ embrace, watching them look at each other had already felt overly mushy.
How come now, with just her father’s one-sided gaze, the way he looked at mom seemed like it could create strings of romance?
So, just how much love for mom had this stubborn old man been suppressing?
This wouldn’t do.
Aurora realized that if they stayed any longer, the sisters would be crushed by this invisible display of affection.
She gently nudged her big sister with her elbow.
Noia turned to look at her.
Aurora gave her big sister a meaningful look.
Noia was confused for a moment, then glanced at Leon before immediately understanding.
“Well… time is tight and we have important tasks, I’m going back to research the reversal magic. You all continue chatting.”
With that, Aurora made a lightning-fast exit.
“Then I’ll stay and chat with Dad! I have so many things I want to tell Dad~” Muen said excitedly.
The former chatterbox who used to follow behind Leon all day calling “Dad dad dad” had been holding back for twenty years, of course she had countless things to tell her old man.
However.
Noia grabbed her sister’s collar from behind, dragging her toward the door, “Come help me cook, you can chat during meal time.”
“No no! I want to stay with Dad! Waaah~”
“He’s only a year older than you now, calling him ‘Dad’ repeatedly will make someone die from embarrassment.”
Muen’s two feet and one tail left three shallow marks on the ground as she was forcefully dragged away.
The little moon, with noodle-like drooping eyes, was mercilessly pulled out of the dark room by her big sister.
After all three sisters had left, Leon shook his head and smiled.
He could tell that after finishing the serious discussion, his daughters were leaving time for him and Rosvitha.
As for Noia’s comment about “he’s only a year older than you”… that did pierce this old father’s heart.
Leon was twenty-three when he entered the spatial rift, and Noia and Muen were only two years old at the time.
But now, at this point twenty years later, his eldest and second daughter were already twenty-two.
He wanted to sigh and say “twenty-two truly is the prime of life.”
But when he thought about how he, as a father, was only one year older than his daughter, he couldn’t help but turn this sigh into “Isn’t this blooming age perhaps blooming a bit too much?”
Leon shook his head, no longer wanting to think about these messy thoughts.
He dragged a chair over, coming to the crystal’s side to observe the beauty within at closer range.
She was still as beautiful as she was back then.
Actually, Leon hadn’t seen Rosvitha’s sleeping face much, because when the couple lived together back then, they almost always went to bed together.
Sometimes they would fool around until midnight or even dawn, and both would be exhausted, falling straight asleep until daybreak – who would have the energy to appreciate their bedmate’s sleeping face then?
However, occasionally when Leon passed by the temple hall after lunch, he would see Rosvitha taking a small nap with her head on the table.
Just like back when he was studying at the Dragon Slaying Academy, when his classmates would wake up too early and catch up on sleep during morning self-study.
Her face was slightly chubby, and when she rested it sideways on her arm, the flesh would get squished up – very cute.
However, these brief naps never allowed Rosvitha to fully relax. Her brows would always be slightly furrowed, clearly not sleeping soundly.
Several times when Leon secretly observed Rosvitha’s afternoon nap, she caught him.
Rosvitha called him a peeping tom.
He would retort that she drooled in her sleep.
Rosvitha would never lose composure like that, so she would counter-question: Where’s the drool then? Did you wipe it away?
Leon would smile: I drank it.
The Queen: Gross!!
The couple would sometimes play around with ‘disgusting’ things like this.
He gazed at his wife in the crystal, that beautiful and delicate face was truly never enough to look at.
How could she be so beautiful—
In the past, after secretly praising the mother dragon’s beauty in his heart, Leon would deliberately find flaws afterward.
Like “Although she’s beautiful, she’s dishonest”;
Or “What use is being so beautiful? She shows no mercy when arguing with people.”
But now.
He just wanted to silently praise his wife in his heart.
She was so beautiful, beautiful like a masterpiece created by an artist who devoted their entire life to it.
“Rosvitha, actually I… I’m not very good at talking to people who are already asleep, but Noia and the others say that although you’ve fallen into a coma, you can still hear sounds from the outside world.”
Leon pressed his lips together, keeping his head down and nervously rubbing his palms together, “I have many things I want to tell you too… For you, these words… I should have said them all twenty years ago. But back then… there wasn’t much opportunity.”
“Now there’s a chance to say them, but I can’t hear your response.”
At this point, Leon paused, then shook his head with a bitter smile,
“Speaking of responses, the reason I didn’t tell you those things back then was also because I was worried that after saying them, your response would be… rejection.”
“I was quite afraid of being rejected by you.”
“When leading troops into battle, I always told my subordinates that it’s better to make a mistake than to do nothing at all.”
“But when facing my feelings for you… I became someone who would rather do nothing than make a mistake.”
“Even now, being able to tell you these heartfelt words is… is only because you’re still in a coma.”
Leon’s bitter smile turned self-mocking, his palms had become red from his rubbing,
“Really, Melkvi, every time I face you, those words get stuck in my throat and I can’t say them.”
“I think, well, this is all your fault.”
“Who told you to be so beautiful, and even more beautiful when you smile.”
“For me, a straight guy who had never been in love before, to see such a beautiful woman like you and lose my composure – that’s quite normal, right?”
“But logically speaking, you’re a dragon, and I’m a dragon slayer. No matter how beautiful you are, I shouldn’t have had any inappropriate thoughts about you.”
“So maybe… you were just too beautiful.”
Each of his sentences was a sincere compliment to his wife.
These praises, when Rosvitha was still awake, he wouldn’t have been able to say them even if you killed him.
Just as Leon had said earlier, it was only because Rosvitha was in a coma and couldn’t give any response that he dared to speak his mind freely.
After another one-sided session of praising his wife, Leon stood up and patted the crystal,
“I’m going to find our daughters now, I’ll come back to see you later.”
After saying this, Leon turned and left the dark room.
After leaving, he realized he still wasn’t very familiar with the layout of this underground space.
So he could only wander around aimlessly.
Finally, he actually managed to find Little Light’s research room.
Though it was called a research room, the conditions were quite basic.
Bookshelves lined both sides of the room, filled with various documents and ancient texts about spatial magic and reversal magic;
In the middle was an extra-long stone table, covered with all sorts of magic array materials and Aurora’s handwritten notes.
Hearing movement at the door, Aurora looked up, pushing up her glasses, “Oh Dad, did you need something?”
Leon shook his head, “No, just looking around.”
“Okay, though it’s a bit messy in here, make yourself at home.” After saying this, the scientist went back to her research.
“Mm.”
Leon scratched the corner of his mouth and asked, “This reversal magic… is there anything I can help with?”
“I’ve been working on these things for over ten years. Even if you’re smart, Dad, it’s impossible to catch up to my research progress in a short time.”
“Is that so… Then don’t Noia and the others help with your research?” Leon asked.
Aurora shook her head, “Since there are only three of us here, if Big Sis and Second Sis also put their energy into researching reversal magic, they wouldn’t have time to practice magic.”
“In other words, my two sisters are responsible for fighting, but I’m just a scientist without their kind of power, so I can only handle the logistics work. We agreed on this arrangement from the start, each doing our part.”
“Oh~ I see.”
Though Leon knew Noia was good at fighting;
But could Muen handle ‘field work’ too?
That little girl, didn’t she hate fighting and killing?
“So Dad, you don’t need to think about helping me with anything, just focus on recovering your strength. That Nine Hell Gates technique, practice it more, it’s very powerful.”
Leon shrugged, “I can open up to the Fifth Gate now.”
“I’m at the Eighth Gate.”
General Leon: ?
One really has to appreciate Aurora K. Melkvi’s words:
“I’m just a scientist, without their kind of power.”