After thinking it over, Leon decided to temporarily mute himself.
Just as he thought before, anything unexpected could happen in twenty years' time.
Before figuring out the whole situation, staying silent was the best choice.
As expected, just like Leon anticipated, Aurora slowly carried him into the mountain stream, eventually stopping in front of that familiar waterfall.
Aurora flapped her wings and parted the waterfall's flow, an action identical to when Rossweise brought him here before. It was hard not to suspect this little trick was personally taught by the mother dragon to her daughter.
This further confirmed Leon's suspicion, that the daughters had already discovered their father's human identity.
But why didn't Aurora expose it?
Leon couldn't figure it out.
After entering the cave, Aurora turned into her human form, then called into the depths of the cave, "Sis."
Although the tone was still cold and scientist-like, Leon could hear some familial affection in it.
And it was precisely that one "sis" that made Leon tense up.
As a father, he had imagined countless times what his daughters would look like when they grew up.
The little light beside him wasn't far off from the future he had imagined.
If he had to say something, it would be that even at twenty years old, she didn't forget to greet her old man with an uppercut the moment they met.
This was truly filial piety engraved in the genes.
Then what about Noah? How would she have changed from that former little overachiever who tried to act like an adult?
Leon felt both anticipation and nervousness in his heart.
He stared into the depths of the cave. After a moment, a tall figure emerged from the darkness.
Low-heeled boots tapped lightly on the cold stone, her footsteps echoing rhythmically through the cave.
The girl who stepped out of the shadows wore a fitted black outfit, tight pants outlining the perfect shape of her legs. Though her waist was slender, it exuded a sense of strength. [T/N: Let's just hope there is no incess]
Her hair wasn't very long, with a few silver highlights in the thick black strands.
Her face, exquisite like a work of art, was completely expressionless, the women of the Melkvei family were all good at keeping a straight face.
She had grown taller, her steps were steadier and heavier. Those eyes, sharp like blades, were like those of a seasoned female general, calling her heroic would not be an exaggeration.
"Noah...", Leon had an indescribable feeling.
Although in his vision of the future, Noah was supposed to be this cool and sharp. Because she was a born warrior destined for an extraordinary life;
But when he actually saw with his own eyes the daughter he used to hold in his arms turn into this, his heart was filled with emotion.
From a little girl pretending to be an adult to the current warrior with a face of frost, how much suffering had she endured?
When Leon snapped out of it, Noah was already standing in front of him.
His daughter had grown up. She was very beautiful, just like her mother.
But there was a faint scar on that pretty face.
Though it had faded a lot and couldn't be noticed without close inspection, the body and skin were inherited from one's parents. No matter how small the wound, Leon would surely take it to heart.
Just as he expected, over these years, Noah must've suffered a lot.
And with her personality, she was probably the one who suffered the most among the three sisters.
Leon looked into his daughter's eyes, and Noah met his gaze.
Her brows and eyes also resembled her mother's. At first glance, she seemed indifferent and distant from everything.
But once the surface layer of ice was pried open, one could feel the intense emotion beneath.
Noah's pupils trembled slightly, and her icy face showed a trace of emotion.
She wasn't like Aurora who could suppress her feelings with absolute calm. She was mature, but also more reliant on her father.
To Noah, it had been a full twenty years since she last saw her father.
Now, that family member she had longed for stood right in front of her. Countless memories surged up, overwhelming her tear glands.
Seeing his daughter's emotional shift, Leon slowly raised his hand and reached for the corner of Noah's eye, wanting to wipe away her about-to-fall tears.
However—
Smack—
Noah suddenly grabbed Leon's wrist.
The old father froze and blinked, "What's wrong, Noah—ugh!!"
Before he could finish, a straight punch struck Leon in the abdomen.
The old father's knees buckled instantly, and his mind went dizzy.
But with his last shred of consciousness, he poked Noah's nose and said, "You... you Melkvei mother dragons are not only good at changing faces, but also... patricide..."
After that, General Leon's eyes rolled back, and he fell backward unconscious.
A trace of panic flashed across Aurora's face, but it disappeared in an instant.
She walked slowly to her sister's side, looked at the unconscious old father, "Dad just came over from the rift, his body hasn't recovered yet. That punch of yours was honestly a bit too much."
Said Aurora, who just a few hours ago knocked out her dad with an uppercut.
Noah wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and adjusted her mood, "That was just the first punch. I still owe him three more."
Aurora raised her brow, did some mental math, and said, "Actually two. Mom's and second sister's."
"What about yours?"
"I already hit him."
"Oh."
Noah looked at their dad lying on the ground, and a trace of guilt flashed across her cold face, "Then... I really did hit too hard."
———
Leon slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was an old wooden table.
And he was sitting on a chair.
On the table was a kerosene lamp. The flame on the lamp flickered and looked like it could go out at any moment.
Across the table sat two dutiful daughters.
"Dad, you're awake," Aurora's pink eyes sparkled.
Leon curled his lips, endured the pain in his stomach, glanced at his youngest daughter, then looked at his eldest daughter, "Are you mad at me, Noah?"
He could probably guess why Noah punched him the moment they met.
Because he had promised her before that the family would never be separated, yet due to the rift incident, he disappeared from their world for a full twenty years.
Reasonably speaking, Leon entered the space rift to save the family, so it wasn't like he left or disappeared without cause;
But the matter of "losing a father" was absolutely not something that could be explained away with "reason."
It could only be examined from the emotional side.
That punch from Noah wasn't to blame Leon, but rather to tell her dad in the simplest way possible:
Without him, how they had lived these past years.
Her grievances, her longing, all her emotions toward Leon, whether peaceful or extreme, were all contained in that punch.
She had thought of hugging him, but a hug could only express one emotion.
She would hug Leon, just not at the moment of reunion.
"I don't know," Noah replied.
Leon was slightly stunned, then lowered his eyes, "Alright... whether you're mad or not, I apologize to you."
"Okay, I accept your apology. Though I don't know if I'm mad either."
When it came to feelings, they were always fuzzy and messy. Noah genuinely didn't know if she should be angry at Leon.
But getting a free apology from Dad, why not?
Mom did say that the number of people in the world who could make your stubborn dad apologize was fewer than five.
"Oh... that was fast. I thought we'd have more back-and-forth," Leon sighed.
"Back-and-forth? How?"
Noah leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, long legs raised, her sitting posture exactly like her mother's.
"Like you and Mom back then, all that back-and-forth, and not even a single confession in the end?"
Leon pursed his lips, "Your mom told you about everything between us...?"
"Yeah," Noah nodded.
"More than just told. She gave us every little detail, not a word left out. Could've published a teen-angst romance novel," Aurora added a jab.
Leon: ...
'So, your mother and I are the main characters of a teen-angst romance novel?'
'Damn it! What kind of love story has the leads having kids before they fall in love? Isn't that completely reversed?'
"Of course, besides your so-called love story—ah, let's just call that awkwardness 'love' for now, don't you think, Light?"
Aurora nodded.
Clearly, both sisters were fair in judging their parents. Dad was awkward, Mom was too.
Same bed, same awkwardness.
"Besides your love story, Mom also told us how you two got together."
Noah's way of speaking was very subtle.
But you'd have to be stupid not to understand what she meant.
Leon's heart trembled. Looks like they really do know everything now.
He still kept his eyes down and chose to stay silent.
"So, that warm and happy family we once had, it was fake, right? A lie you and Mom wove together."
After learning the truth, she didn't immediately worry about her bloodline, but cared more about the family.
"You kept saying you love Mom, love us, but that was all—"
"It was all real, Noah," Leon finally spoke.
He stared at the tabletop and said in a deep, powerful voice, "Indeed, your mom and I getting together at the start was purely accidental. Your births were accidents too."
"Maybe, just like you said, the family was a lie your mom and I made up. Everything was fake."
"But."
"Noah, Light—I truly love you both."
"I love you, I love Luna. You're my daughters. You're the most important people in my world."
He licked his dry lips, rubbed his cold palms, and continued, "It's because of you that I became a father. I truly... thank you."
"Because of your birth, I had someone I was willing to risk my life to protect."
"Noah, you can accuse me and your mother of hiding things from you to keep the family together, but don't say my love for you is fake."
"I really... really love you both..."
Sitting in front of them was once the strongest man, but now he had his head bowed, voice low, saying over and over that he loved them.
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