Constantine might not have been wrong, those you love are also your weakness.
But Leon was willing to be bound by that weakness.
They were his family, his most important bonds in this world.
Noah and Aurora exchanged a glance, then looked back at the man sitting across from them.
"You didn't get to the point."
"Ah, ah?", Leon looked up, confused.
"Just teasing you, Dad. Who doesn't know you're a daughter-con?", Aurora couldn't hide her smile.
Leon immediately had black lines all over his face, "You've grown up, learned to mess with your old man's feelings, haven't you?"
"Who's messing with your feelings? It's just that we haven't seen each other in twenty years. We wanted to confirm if you still love us."
Aurora spoke confidently, giving a shallow excuse before quickly changing the subject, "Ahem, big sis is right. You didn't get to the point earlier."
"What point?", Leon asked.
Noah put down her leg, leaned forward to the table, and looked at Leon, "You love me, you love Luna, you love Little Light. But did you forget the last family member?"
Leon blinked, then had a sudden realization, "Oh~ I know now!"
"Mhm, go ahead."
"I love the donkey too."
Noah & Little Light: ?
"Sis, I take back what I said earlier. Your punch was too light."
SMACK—
Noah slapped the table, "Take it seriously, you old bastard! Say it, do you love her or not?"
"D-Do I have to say it..."
The sisters nodded in unison.
Leon saw there was no getting out of this.
He let out a long breath, adjusted his mood, then seriously nodded his head.
"I love her. Rossweise Melkvei. Your mother... I love her."
Thinking back, that confession he made before entering the space-time rift, that silly dragon probably didn't hear it clearly...
That's why his daughters are forcing him now.
But Leon didn't quite understand, 'Why must this "I love you" be said right now?'
'Can't I just wait a bit and say it face to face when we meet the female lead in this love story?'
"So since you two already knew I was human..."
Leon looked at his younger daughter, "Then why did you, Little Light, keep telling me to turn into a dragon earlier? Can I even do that? Is that something I can do?"
Aurora just smiled without saying anything.
General Leon froze, then suddenly realized.
"A prankster... prankster...", When he first met this future version of Little Light and heard her cold tone, Leon thought these twenty years had changed her personality.
After all, his youngest daughter once endured two months of silence just to watch her parents bicker.
But who would've thought, a leopard can't change its spots.
A prankster is still a prankster.
She just became prettier, more of a cool older-sister type, and threw on a white lab coat.
"Mom used to find joy in watching you get flustered, Dad. I just inherited it from her," Aurora explained logically.
"So... when will you take me to see your mom and Luna?"
"We can go now. But I thought you'd have tons of questions to ask, like what the situation is now...", Noah said.
Leon's eyes flicked. He replied, "We can talk on the way. Besides... no matter how bad the situation is, I can fix it. Right now, I just want to see your sister and your mom as soon as possible."
"Hiss—"
Aurora sucked in a breath, "If someone else said that, I'd think they were full of it. But coming from you, Dad... I actually believe you can pull it off."
It matched exactly what she felt hours ago when they reunited:
Dad's back. The strongest man is back. All the problems will be solved.
Noah also smiled knowingly. The old bastard was just like she remembered, so confident, with a little chuunibyou flair.
"Alright, let's go then."
Noah got up and walked toward the cave entrance, "Little Light, you must be tired from flying all the way here?"
"Yeah, pretty tired."
Aurora rubbed her shoulders, "Just learned to transform into a dragon not long ago, and I flew this far with a 77-kilogram old fool on my back."
"Did you really need to be that specific with the number..."
"That's a scientist's precision with data, Dad."
Leon snorted with laughter.
Talking with his younger daughter always reminded him of his old bickering sessions with Rossweise.
It made Leon even more eager to see the Rossweise of twenty years later. Assuming the dragon mom didn't punch him the moment she saw him.
He could barely handle his daughters' punches. Rossweise's, as the Dragon King's, might crush his duodenum, right?
With these random thoughts, the three of them reached the cave's exit.
Noah spread her dragon wings and transformed into her dragon form.
Her dragon form was also entirely silver—after all, she was a silver dragon.
But because she had half of Leon's blood, some of her scales were black.
Not an awkward black, but a smooth gradient.
Other than being much smaller than Rossweise in size, there weren't many differences.
Leon and Aurora climbed onto Noah's back. Noah flapped her wings and flew out of the cave.
After leaving the mountain stream, Leon looked back. He remembered Little Light telling him hours ago that Noah was waiting for him here.
"Waiting..."
Leon thought for a moment and asked, "Noah, have you been waiting for me here this whole time?"
"Mhm."
"Then... Little Light was waiting for me at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary?"
"Yes, Dad." Little Light, sitting beside him, said, "Because these were the only two places you might go when you returned. We couldn't be sure which, so we had to split up."
Leon carefully pondered her words.
She only said she and her sister split up to wait for him in two places, deliberately not mentioning that "this wait lasted twenty years."
Aurora might still enjoy being a carefree prankster like before, but she was also just as thoughtful.
Leon scratched his temple, then asked, "But what if... I never came back..."
"Then—"
"Then we'd just keep waiting," Noah finished the sentence for her sister.
Leon looked down at the giant dragon beneath him.
His daughters seemed to have grown up, but also hadn't.
They'd become strong, mature, and composed, yet still as stubborn as children.
Waiting for someone who might never return, was the most agonizing thing in the world.
Leon covered his face with both hands and let out a heavy sigh.
Aurora quietly looked at her dad, saying nothing more.
The silver dragon flew under the cover of night, heading toward a certain part of dragon territory.
There, the whole truth was hidden.
———
After flying for eight or nine hours, Noah finally began to slow down.
Below them was a dense forest. Along the way, they hadn't seen any dragon tribe settlements.
Noah slowly descended into the forest.
Once she landed, she returned to her human form and turned back to the other two, "Let's go."
Leon nodded and followed alongside Aurora.
They were now very far from the Silver Dragon territory. Judging by the surroundings, there were no signs of war either.
Leon didn't know if they had left the Silver Dragon Sanctuary voluntarily, or if they had fled after being hunted by someone.
But either way, he was about to see Rossweise and Luna. And soon, he'd learn the full story of everything.
They followed Noah deeper into the forest.
They even crossed a narrow winding path, the route was complex. Without a guide, one could easily get lost here.
After walking another twenty minutes or so, the three of them arrived at a giant boulder.
The path ended here.
Noah slowly raised her hand and gently pressed it against the boulder.
The next moment, the boulder began flashing irregularly, and then disappeared.
An illusion spell.
And a very high-level one. Even Leon hadn't noticed it. He thought there'd be some kind of hidden switch or mechanism.
Behind the illusory rock was a tunnel.
The two daughters walked in first, and Leon followed closely behind.
Once all three entered, the boulder reappeared.
Their footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel. Noah bent down, picked up a torch from a corner, and lit it with dragon flame.
The fire lit up the path ahead.
Leon was slightly surprised.
Noah's elemental affinity was the same as his, lightning.
Although people would often study a secondary element later on, it usually took a long time to master.
But Noah's precise control over the fire element didn't match what someone her age should be capable of.
'Looks like the overachiever hasn't changed one bit over the years.'
"Let's keep going," Noah's voice snapped Leon out of his thoughts.
"Okay."
The three passed through the tunnel, which ended in a spiral staircase leading downward.
Following the steps, they arrived at a refined underground space.
Noah placed the torch beside a wooden door, then raised her hand to push it open.
Hearing the door open, a cheerful voice, identical to Noah's, came from inside:
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