Chapter 96: A Safe Place

The couple walked out of the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, spent some time playing with their daughters in the backyard, then went for a stroll in the back mountains.
Along the way, they met many Silver Dragon clan members who had been called back.
When they saw Leon, they excitedly called out “Prince Consort!” and came up to greet him enthusiastically.
It was like some kind of celebrity fan meeting.
Finally reaching the relatively secluded cherry blossom grove, Leon let out a relieved sigh.
“Wow, I didn’t expect my reputation in your Silver Dragon clan to be so high. Who would’ve thought that just a few years ago I almost wiped them all out?”
“Don’t bring up that year when you were backstabbed. If anyone was going to be wiped out, it would’ve been you.”
Rosvitha said with a laugh, “But your reputation among my clan members is indeed undeniable. While violence and showing off strength may be surface traits of the dragon race, beneath that surface, it can be understood as respecting the strong.”
She stood beside Leon, looking together towards the distant Silver Dragon Sanctuary, and continued,
“In dragon society, as long as you have ability, anyone will respect you.”
Leon nodded thoughtfully.
Thinking back, his reputation and prestige in the Silver Dragon clan had indeed gradually accumulated after the Constantine battle.
Before Constantine, when Silver Dragon clan members met Leon, they were like:
“Greetings, Prince Consort. Thank you for your hard work.” (without emotion)
But after Constantine, when the Silver Dragon clan members met Leon, it became:
“Prince Consort, can I get your autograph! My child has been following you since they were little!”
Stop making things up, auntie. I’ve only been married to your Queen for three years at most, where did “since they were little” come from?
This change in attitude couldn’t be called fence-sitting.
The Silver Dragon clan members had always maintained basic respect and courtesy towards Leon.
It was just that after the battle with old Constantine, Leon had elevated this respect to another level through his own strength and personal charm.
“Of course, this has a lot to do with you yourself.”
Rosvitha said, “As expected of someone who was once the leader of the Dragon Slayer Army, you just have that leadership quality about you.”
Thanks to the Queen’s praise, the B-ranked king’s tail was up in the clouds.
Leon rubbed his nose, holding back his smile, and said,
“So when will you let me sit on the Silver Dragon Sanctuary’s throne?”
The Queen was startled, using her tail to lightly swat his bottom, “You’re dreaming. Just a few compliments and you’ve forgotten who you are.”
After a pause, Rosvitha mysteriously added, “However… regarding what we discussed last time about the throne, I’ve kept it in mind and plan to renovate it along with the sanctuary’s reconstruction.”
“Last time? What did we talk about?”
Rosvitha gave him an exasperated look, “If you don’t remember, forget it. You’ll find out when the time comes.”
“Oh.”
The couple continued strolling through the cherry blossom grove.
Leon had specifically brought his camera before leaving. It was April, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.
With a beauty against beautiful scenery, even without professional photography skills, one could capture magazine-worthy photos.
Especially since this beauty was beautiful to such a degree that she didn’t need to deliberately pose – just standing there created a perfect composition.
So this story tells us how important it is to marry a wife like Rosvitha.
At least when traveling and taking photos, she would never get angry at your amateur photography skills, since her beauty could carry everything.
After taking a few more photos, Rosvitha noticed that Leon wasn’t checking the camera’s preview projection, so she asked,
“Aren’t you going to check how the photos turned out?”
Leon shrugged, “Waste of time.”
“Waste of time?”
“Yeah. You look good in photos no matter how they’re taken, so I can’t be bothered to distinguish which ones look better.”
Rosvitha laughed softly, unsure if this dog of a man was complimenting her or truly just too lazy to sort through photos.
But she didn’t say much more, and the couple continued walking and stopping, taking photos along the way.
Finally, they rested by a small river.
“So you’re saying that in the future without you, I fell into a deep coma due to overexerting my power?”
After Leon told her about those six months, she had been quite curious about the future, occasionally asking him about it.
Leon nodded, “Mm.”
“Then during those six months, there must have been no one to argue with you?”
Rosvitha smiled brightly, “Weren’t you very lonely?”
“Of course I was lonely. I dreamed of arguing with you every day.”
“Oh, I understand.”
Leon blinked, “What do you understand now?”
“I was in your dreams.”
“You’re quite good at finding sweet things to tell yourself, dragon mother.” Leon teased with a smile.
But after carefully considering what Rosvitha had just said, Leon couldn’t smile anymore.
Without Rosvitha, it wasn’t just about having no one to argue with.
He remembered in the last few days before completing the time reversal magic, he had been completely listless.
At that time, he had thought countless times how nice it would be if Rosvitha were by his side.
Because she was so understanding, so good at comforting people, always able to find the knots in Leon’s heart and slowly untie them.
Some things or people, when they’re always by your side, you can’t discover their worth.
Only after losing them or being separated does that sense of loss hit you all at once.
In those six months in the future, Leon learned many lessons.
Among them, naturally, was to cherish the person in front of you.
He turned to look at Rosvitha beside him. She was looking ahead, smiling, with playful dimples in her cheeks, as if thinking of some new way to torment Leon.
Leon looked away, lowering his head to fiddle with the camera. After a while, he seemed to think of something and asked,
“By the way, Little Light from the future mentioned that your dragon race has a kind of safety measure called the heart-protecting dragon scale, is that right?”
Hearing this, Rosvitha’s smile froze, her silver eyes trembling slightly, “Yes… what about it?”
“Your grandmother examined you after you fell into a coma and said that although your heart-protecting dragon scale existed, it was almost useless. And dragon clan’s heart-protecting scales usually only start to form gradually after they turn one hundred years old.”
Leon said, “Can I understand this to mean… this isn’t your original heart-protecting scale, but one that formed later?”
Rosvitha gently bit her lower lip, not denying it, and nodded, “Mm, that’s right.”
“Then what happened to your original dragon scale?”
Rosvitha looked away, “Lost… lost it.”
General Leon was startled, “L-lost it?!”
“Ah…”
Leon moved in front of Rosvitha, cupping her face with both hands to make her look at him,
“How can you just say you lost such an important heart-protecting dragon scale? And isn’t that thing supposed to be attached to your dragon body? How could it possibly get lost?”
Obviously, this crude excuse couldn’t fool Leon.
Continuing to fabricate lies would only raise his suspicions further.
After thinking for a moment, Rosvitha replied…
“I put it… in a very safe place.”
Leon raised his eyebrows. “A safe place? What place could be safer than your own body? Besides, why would you take it out of your body? That should only have negative effects on you, shouldn’t it?”
Rosvitha lowered her gaze, her silver pupils secretly glancing at Leon’s chest.
After a long while, she finally continued,
“When I say safe, I don’t mean protecting my dragon scale. Rather… it’s about protecting something more important.”
Though initially, the purpose had nothing to do with “protection.”
Leon narrowed his eyes, “Now you’re speaking in riddles too, I—”
“I’ll tell you later, now isn’t the time,” Rosvitha said.
Leon opened his mouth wanting to ask more.
But he also understood Rosvitha’s personality – when she didn’t want to talk about something, she wouldn’t say a word no matter what.
Although he was worried about her without the heart-protecting dragon scale, he could only wait until she felt the time was right to ask for clarification.
After the couple hastily concluded this topic, they fell silent.
Leon flipped through the preview projections in his camera to pass the time.
Rosvitha looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then said, “Want to go look at the border?”
Leon didn’t refuse, “Sure, let’s go.”