Chapter 286: Enlarged Throne

Rossweise silently listened to the clanspeople's discussions.

After a moment, she slowly raised her hand.

The clanspeople below the platform immediately quieted down.

"I've considered all the ideas you've just mentioned. Each indeed has its own drawbacks."

"While nurturing the next generation of silver dragons, we also have to guard against opportunistic outsiders. Finding a perfect solution... is actually not easy."

"But, everyone, when we're racking our brains using traditional dragon thinking, could we be overlooking something right in front of us?"

Rossweise smiled, leaving everyone hanging.

"Something right in front of us? What is it?"

"No idea. Your Highness, do you know?"

Leon curled his lips, silently complaining, 'With brains like yours... no wonder you're an endangered species.'

But he couldn't really blame these second-class merits, since Rossweise just said they had to break out of the traditional mindset of dragons to think about this issue.

So once you do break out, the answer becomes obvious.

What Rossweise was referring to, that thing right in front of them, was...

"How long are you going to stay low-key under the stage, dear?", Rossweise tilted her head slightly on stage, hair falling down. She smiled with narrowed eyes, rarely showing this gentle side in front of her people.

And this sweet "dear" instantly ignited the gossiping souls of all the dragons present.

"D-d-did I leave home too long, can't understand our silver dragon dialect anymore? Did Her Majesty just call His Highness 'dear'?"

"Hey hey, this is a public setting! How can you be so improper! Hmm, more of this please, I love it."

"I thought at most she'd call him 'husband' or something, after all, they've been married for three years. But this one word, 'dear'... tsk tsk tsk, I better not comment, better not comment."

"..."

"Back off! Leave the gossip and shipping to us professionals!"

As the words fell, Shirley and Milan held up two banners high in the crowd.

Each banner had a slogan on it.

The slogan on Shirley's banner was very easy to understand:

[Revitalize the Silver Dragon's Glory, Our Duty Without Hesitation]

As for the one Milan held, it was a bit unfamiliar to the dragons present.

[Life Continues Because of Love... Dreams Are Lit by Children]

"What does that mean?"

"I recognize each word, but put together it makes no sense..."

"Oh look, His Highness is going on stage!"

A reminder pulled everyone's attention back to the platform.

Leon stood beside Rossweise, lowered his voice, "Told you, slogans encouraging childbirth in the Empire aren't something your dragons can understand."

"It's okay if they don't get it now. Just need to explain it."

Leon shrugged and didn't say more.

"I believe you're all very familiar with the man beside me."

While speaking, Rossweise pulled Leon's arm in, "We met and fell in love three years ago, and built the family we have now. In these three years, we've also had three well-behaved and sensible children."

"I wonder, in your eyes, what do you think of them?"

Shirley below waved her arm and shouted, "Princess Noah is the best!"

Immediately, a chorus followed.

"Princess Luna is the cutest little dragon baby, no arguments!"

"In that case, I'm taking Princess Aurore. Sorry, everyone."

"..."

See, that's the support act arranged by leadership in advance.

Very effective.

"Seems like everyone really loves the little princesses."

Rossweise continued, "Then everyone should also know, since I'm married to Leon, it means all of our children are viviparous."

"In the past, in traditional dragon thinking, cocoon birth has always been the mainstream."

"Because compared to viviparous birth, cocoon-born dragonlings can inherit the mother's power better."

"And cocoon birth doesn't require mating with others, it can be completed alone, which avoids betrayal from one's partner."

Dragons are a species that values 'pure love' greatly.

But that doesn't mean there aren't those in the dragon race who 'put on pants and forget people.'

Though very rare, once such a case appears, it becomes a lifelong, unforgettable hurt to dragons who value 'pure love.'

This is another reason why most dragons pursue cocoon birth.

The silver dragon clanspeople below quietly listened to the Queen's speech, waiting for what she'd say next.

"I'm not forcing everyone to fall in love with someone, because love is free. It can transcend age, transcend identity—"

Rossweise glanced at the man beside her and whispered in a voice only he could hear, "—transcend race."

Leon was slightly stunned, then the corners of his mouth lifted ever so subtly.

Then, he held Rossweise's hand even tighter.

"But what's hardest to transcend is trust."

"Indeed, I can't guarantee the person you fall in love with will love you back the same way. This long-lasting doubt has led most of our dragon race to shut off the love deep inside."

"Before I met Leon, I was the same."

"I even wondered, had I already lost the ability to love?"

"But until I met him, the man who changed my life."

General Leon took in a cold breath. In a way... cough, cough, he truly did change Rossweise's life.

"The former me didn't understand what 'love' meant."

"Some say, love is love at first sight;"

"Some say, love is staying together through thick and thin."

"But my husband made me understand what true 'love' is."

Leon quietly turned his gaze toward the silver-haired beauty beside him.

Her tone no longer had the passionate fervor from before, nor the motivational aura of a success guru.

She smiled, silver pupils trembling slightly, as if telling a beautiful fairy tale, "Love is, after knowing all of a person's flaws, still choosing unwavering loyalty and commitment;"

"Love is, even if tomorrow is the end of the world, today I still want to spend it with him, without hesitation;"

"Love is also... the opportunity that let me witness the most beautiful side of this world."

"So, what I want to say is... I've never thought Leon would betray me."

"Because the moment we fell in love, there was only each other in our eyes."

———

In the evening, Leon leaned on the balcony railing and gazed toward the backyard of the sanctuary.

Under Her Majesty the Queen's passionate (sugar-coated) speech, the Silver Dragon clanspeople's intention toward "having kids" reached an unprecedented level.

And now, they were holding a party in the courtyard.

Of course, there wasn't a causal relationship between "wanting to have kids" and "throwing a party", because that would make it a silver orgy.

They were merely celebrating the Silver Dragon tribe overcoming the current crisis and preparing, under the Queen's leadership, to rally once more and stride toward a brighter future.

Leon looked at the silvery-haired beauty in the yard whose age and status were scrambled into unreadable garble.

She dazzled in the crowd; the light of the bonfire reflected off her pretty face. She smiled, hooking arms with the maids, dancing around the fire in the dragon race's celebratory dance.

Her publicity plan was progressing smoothly and had already seen initial success. The vast majority had begun slowly trying to be brave, to fall in love with someone.

A few days ago, when Rossweise had just proposed this idea to Leon, Leon asked her, 'Is it for the tribe's revival, or is it truly what you believe?'

Rossweise thought for a moment and said both.

In the past, Rossweise would never let emotional factors influence her decisions.

But after spending so long with Leon, Rossweise had started to quietly change.

She was willing to embrace new ideas and implement them through real orders;

She was also willing to "lead by example," placing her relationship with Leon before the tribe to help them better understand what true "romance" was.

Even after being queen for fifty years, she was still constantly progressing.

What Leon admired most about her was this thirst for and commitment to the unknown.

They were very similar people. Beyond the fact that their faces both matched each other's XP preferences, those beautiful qualities also deeply attracted one another.

Leon withdrew his gaze and looked toward the night sky, slowly letting out a breath.

He couldn't really hold his liquor, so he didn't attend the bonfire party with the Silver Dragons.

Moreover… Rossweise's speech earlier was just too "moving to the core," so much so that when Leon recalled it now, his toes would curl in second-hand embarrassment.

Then look at the ground all over that courtyard, it was covered in goosebumps that General Leon had shed.

Thinking of this, Leon sucked in a sharp breath, squinted at the she-dragon who was still singing and dancing over there, and muttered quietly,

"Was it really necessary to make it that sappy… seriously," He shook his head, trying not to think about that moment of social death-level embarrassment, then turned and left the bedroom, heading to the sisters' room where Noya and the others were.

It was already late at night, and the children were fast asleep.

Leon merely peeked into the bedroom from the doorway, not stepping inside to disturb them.

After leaving the sisters' room, Leon headed to the sanctuary's main hall.

Rossweise's new throne had already been built, and before the bonfire party started tonight, Rossweise told Leon to wait for her here.

She made it all mysterious and secretive, he had no idea what she was up to.

Leon's gaze landed on the newly built throne at the top of the steps, inwardly grumbling,

"She's not planning to show off her new workstation, is she?"

To put it nicely, that was the Queen's throne;

To put it bluntly, that was the Queen's work desk.

No lie.

Leon hesitated a bit, then stepped up the stairs and arrived beside the throne.

"Whoa, it's really much bigger than before, huh. You could lie down two people on it," Leon said while cautiously sitting down.

The moment his butt met the cushion—

'Mmm!'

'Excellent!'

General Leon closed his eyes, savoring the wonderful feeling of his buttocks perfectly sinking into the soft cushion. At that moment, he attained enlightenment.

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