"But to me, it really has been twenty years," Aurora let out a long breath, closed her eyes, and rubbed her glabella acupoint, "So, so I... tsk."
After the brief conversation with Leon, the emotions Aurora had been suppressing finally started to break through.
After all, to her, her father had disappeared into a space rift for a full twenty years, and now he suddenly appeared. She truly didn't know how to face him.
Her heart was a jumble of emotions, but the most distinct feeling Aurora had was that she finally had someone to rely on.
When Leon disappeared trying to stop the space rift, she was only a few months old.
But Leon still left a deep impression on her: Gentle, powerful, and extremely responsible.
It felt like as long as he was there, all troubles would be easily solved.
So even though so much time had passed, at the moment Aurora saw Leon, the heart she'd been holding up for twenty years finally relaxed a little.
But after the comfort came a helpless silence.
Aurora knew she should explain everything that had happened to Leon.
But she didn't know where to start.
There were just too many things she wanted to say to her father, too many grievances she wanted to share.
She took off her glasses, roughly wiped the corners of her eyes, sniffled, then put the glasses back on.
Leon pursed his lips. He could see Aurora's difficulty and confusion.
So even though he really wanted to know what this so-called "twenty years" was all about, he decided to comfort his daughter first.
He looked at Aurora's black-framed glasses and asked, "You... are nearsighted?"
As a father, of course he cared a lot about his daughter's health.
Aurora nodded, "Mm, been nearsighted for a long time, from reading books."
Leon let out an "oh" thoughtfully. He glanced at the white coat Aurora was wearing and recalled what she had told him about her dreams.
"When you were little, you said you wanted to be a scholar or a scientist. So now... have you achieved your dream?"
"Sort of..."
"Sort of?"
"Mm, because what I'm researching can't be made public, and it'll never be recognized by the dragon clan's academic system."
Leon blinked, "So what exactly are you researching?"
Aurora didn't answer. Instead, she asked an unrelated question, "When did you regain consciousness?"
"Today," Aurora lowered her gaze and murmured softly, "Today... then that means, there are six months left."
"Six months left? That... what... what do you mean? What's going to happen in six months?", Leon asked, a little panicked.
He had a faint bad feeling.
That ominous premonition wasn't just from Aurora mentioning "six months left," but also from the fact that since he woke up, he hadn't seen Rossweise or Noah & Luna.
Especially the ruined Silver Dragon Sanctuary behind them, it clearly looked like it had been through a fierce battle.
"Starting now, in six months, I must complete my research—oh, more precisely, I have to complete it."
Aurora said, "But ever since the moment you disappeared, six months later... everything will change."
Leon straightened his posture, growing tense, and asked urgently, "Does it have something to do with your mother and sisters? Where are they now? Are they..."
'Still alive?'
That was the question Leon didn't dare to say out loud.
Compared to the mystery of why he had been drifting outside of time for twenty years, he cared more about his wife and daughters.
Twenty years was enough for anything unexpected to happen.
Aurora smiled slightly, "They're all still alive."
Those simple four words made Leon let out a long sigh of relief.
His tense body finally relaxed.
"Then where are they now?", Leon asked again.
"Well... just saying it might be hard for you to understand. So—"
Aurora stood up and walked to an open area nearby.
Leon stared blankly at her, not knowing what she was doing.
And in the next moment, her actions completely stunned the old father.
She slightly tilted her head back, and in an instant, a pair of dragon wings spread from her back.
The wings folded in, wrapping her body.
Moments later, Aurora unfolded her dragon wings, and a silver dragon appeared in front of Leon.
The old father was completely dumbfounded. The skewer in his hand dropped to the ground unnoticed.
He looked at the silver dragon in front of him. Although Aurora's dragon form was much smaller than Rossweise's, Leon was still so shocked he was at a loss for words.
It was like you left your daughter at home while you went off to work...
Two years later, you return, thinking you'll play with your adorable little girl again. Hide and seek, handkerchief games, so much fun, right?
And then your daughter pulls out an AK-47 from behind her and says, "Dad, let's go plant the bomb at point A!"
'Totally insane!'
Thump—Thump—
The giant dragon walked gracefully to the stunned old dad, and gently nudged him with her head, "Why haven't you transformed yet?"
General Leon snapped out of it, "Huh? Me?"
"Mm, hurry and transform, then we'll go find big sister."
'Is this something you can just do on command?'
'Are you treating your dad like a magical girl?'
Leon awkwardly scratched his temple, thinking how Rossweise really did keep her promise. She never revealed his identity, not even to their daughter, for twenty years.
Since that's the case, he couldn't mess it up now. He had to keep hiding it.
"Daddy just came out of the rift... not feeling well yet, can't transform."
"Oh~", Aurora deliberately drew out the sound, as if there was more to her words, "Alright then, guess I'll have to carry you."
"Mm, looks like that's the only way."
In the past, crows fed their parents; now, Little Light carries her dad, classic filial piety.
Aurora bent down, letting Leon climb onto her back.
"Are you seated?"
"Yeah."
"Then let's—go."
The giant dragon flapped her wings, extinguishing the nearby campfire. The silver figure shot up into the sky, then vanished into the night with a sonic boom.
"You said we're going to find Noah? She's not with mom and Luna?"
"No, she's in a faraway place... waiting for you."
"Wait... for me?"
"Mm," Leon opened his mouth, wanting to ask more.
But seeing his daughter's minimalist conversation style, he figured she didn't want to say too much right now.
Leon understood the vibe, so he didn't press further.
He sat cross-legged on Aurora's back. It felt exactly like when he used to ride on Rossweise.
The unique speed of the silver dragons, the wind howling past his ears, it all felt so familiar.
To be honest, Leon never expected to survive after entering the space rift.
Although a ton of problems now lay ahead of him, completely baffling...
It was still better than being separated from his family by life and death, right?
Only, Leon sighed heavily and looked down at the land below.
He just felt that he... didn't really belong in this world twenty years later.
Was it the sense of displacement from how everything had changed?
Or something else...
Leon couldn't figure it out.
Right now, he just wanted to see his wife and daughters as soon as possible.
"Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever seen your dragon form before," Aurora's voice interrupted Leon's thoughts.
He snapped back to attention and cleared his throat, "Ah, well... when Daddy's body recovers, I'll show you."
"Okay. But... your body's never been very good, has it?"
Aurora said, "I still remember when you were sick and had a cold. I made you a Dragon Power Pill, and the next day you were all energetic again. So, want me to make another one for you? That way you'll recover faster."
"No, no need, that stuff has side effects if you take it too much. Not suitable for frequent use."
Mainly wears out your kidneys.
"Really? Alright then."
Leon probably didn't realize he had just spouted nonsense about the Dragon Power Pill's effects in front of a dragon scholar who had studied all kinds of magic books for the past twenty years.
The reason he did so was because, deep down, he still saw the dragon under him as the Little Light who used to follow him around asking questions.
And Aurora even cooperated and didn't call him out.
Was it because the daughter wanted to save face for her dad? Or something else—Hard to say.
———
After flying for several hours, the father and daughter reached the border between the dragon and human territories.
Leon recognized this place.
He also guessed where Noah was waiting for him.
A cave behind a waterfall in a mountain ravine.
But before he could get excited about seeing his eldest daughter soon, he suddenly realized something else:
If Noah really was here, didn't that mean they already knew their dad was human?
Because only he, Rossweise, his master, and Rebecca knew about that cave behind the waterfall.
Earlier, he'd asked Little Light only about Rossweise and the others, not a word about his master or Rebecca, just to avoid arousing her suspicion.
But then again, if Little Light really knew about Leon's identity...
Why did she ask him to transform into dragon form earlier?
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