Isa looked at her younger sister, raised an eyebrow, "If it's not a timed bomb, then what is it?"
"It's... a remote-controlled bomb."
"..."
Isa was slightly speechless, "Little Rose, no matter what kind of bomb it is, it's just a simple metaphor, don't get so pedantic with the wording."
She said blandly, then slowly turned her gaze to Leon, "So, brother-in-law, how did you actually do it?"
"Ah… Sis, actually it's—"
Seeing that her big sister had a posture of cutting straight to the chase, Rossweise's brain worked rapidly, thinking up all sorts of excuses to buy time.
But her sister was smart, and if she babbled nonsense just to stall, it would only make it easier for her to spot flaws.
And Rossweise wasn't good at lying to begin with, now there was no way she could come up with that many clever excuses to her big sister.
Just when the Queen was feeling despair, that man finally spoke up,
"Actually, it's like this, Sis."
Isa nodded slightly, "Mm, go on."
"The six months I disappeared before, I accidentally went to the future twenty years later through Ravi's space rift, that part you know, right?"
"Yes, Little Rose wrote to me about it a few days ago, but didn't go into detail. I've been wanting to ask you, after all, space-time travel is such a rare thing, I've never seen it before."
Isa looked at Leon with great interest, "So, the fact that you detonated Constantine's dragon scale is related to your trip to the future?"
"Mm, somewhat related."
Leon said, "First of all, that dragon scale wasn't Constantine's original heart-protecting scale, it was actually from the Black Sun Dragon King, Bly. That's why he could use space magic to appear silently in your sanctuary, and also avoid Rossweise's fatal strike."
"And that explains how I was able to detonate that dragon scale."
"When I returned from the future, Bly and Jaggs were attacking Rossweise's Silver Dragon Sanctuary. I dealt with them, along with the other four Dragon Kings."
"But I didn't destroy their heart-protecting dragon scales, because while I was in the future..."
Leon took a slow breath, about to start lying, a little nervous.
Rossweise beside him also felt anxious, hoping the dog man could come up with a decent excuse. Don't let her sister see through anything, otherwise, tonight's resurrection match won't be just Old Con losing.
"In the future, I discovered that a certain mysterious organization was collecting dragon heart scales. Their purpose was unknown, but clearly they were hostile to us."
"So after coming back from the future, during that first battle, I intentionally held back and tampered with the dragon scales of Bly and the others, as a hidden trump card to turn the tables later, just like what I just did with Constantine."
After he finished, Leon looked over at Rossweise.
Leon: 'How's that, wife? Pretty good excuse, right?'
Rossweise (corner of mouth twitching, face full of speechlessness): 'Some. Mysterious. Or. Ga. Nization—Come on, bro, you came up with such a half-assed excuse in just two minutes?'
'Can you be more perfunctory?'
'Do you think my sister is an idiot?'
'Do you think she'd believe this?'
Leon: 'Why wouldn't she believe it? I think my excuse is perfect (very sure).'
Rossweise: 'If she actually believes this, I'll—'
Isa suddenly had a realization, "Oh~ so that's how it is."
'She actually believed it?'
Leon shrugged, then proudly looked at Rossweise.
'What were you saying just now, Your Majesty? You'll do what on the spot?'
Rossweise: 'On the spot I'll… I'll just hold my husband's hand, how about that?'
The two of them once again unknowingly got close together. Rossweise gently held Leon's arm, leaned to his ear, lowered her voice,
"My sister probably just finished a fight, her head's still muddled, didn't dig into your crappy excuse. Just be happy about that."
Leon also whispered back, "We'll patch it up later. Let's just muddle through tonight first."
Actually, Leon's excuse just now was indeed quite half-baked.
He just replaced "the Empire" with "a certain mysterious organization."
Everything else was true.
But the Empire was indeed the key part of this excuse.
As long as Isa didn't connect Leon's hidden move with countering the Empire, then no matter how smart she was, her thinking wouldn't jump directly to humanity.
After all, those fighting dragons weren't only humans. Many other races existed.
Everyone was constantly warring for limited resources.
Seeing that big sister had believed Leon's impromptu story, the couple both secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Little did they know, Isa was secretly observing the two of them, also inwardly suspicious,
"Feels like… something isn't quite right."
Her brother-in-law was really hard to read, but Isa couldn't just bluntly interrogate him, nothing useful would come out that way.
'Then... since brother-in-law, you've prepared a backup plan for that so-called mysterious organization, I, your sister-in-law, will also keep an eye on you.'
'You are indeed an excellent family member, husband, and father, but definitely not a great… pretender.'
———
After the battle, Isa methodically directed the red dragon guards for cleanup.
"The mammoth leg hanging on the gate, take it down and check the meat quality. See if it's still good to roast."
"Refurbish the entire lawn. There's barely any intact area left anyway."
"Rebuild the pavilion. Get the materials and labor costs from my sister's budget. Refuse? She dares refuse? Her husband broke it, so their family pays for it!"
"And that... Constantine's head, just bury it somewhere. It's an eyesore."
"..."
The inside and outside of the Red Dragon Sanctuary were in complete shambles. It would probably take a while to fix it all.
Leon and Rossweise stood not far behind Isa, quietly watching her direct the scene.
After a while, Rossweise whispered, "Looks like my sister really didn't suspect you."
"Of course not. That excuse I gave just now might've looked half-baked, but actually—"
"Actually, even more half-baked," Rossweise said.
Leon gave her a glare and argued, "Actually, flawless! Your sister couldn't find a single loophole in that excuse to suspect me."
The dog man spoke the truth.
That excuse he made up just now may have seemed simplistic, but the simplest things are often the hardest to poke holes in.
If you add too many lies to an unspeakable fact, it only makes people more suspicious.
And harder to cover up later.
That so-called "mysterious organization", those two words, although rough, had a lot of room for future elaboration. No need to worry about tying it back later.
"Daddy! Mommy! Auntie! Are you all okay?"
Voices of their daughters came from behind.
The couple and Isa turned around.
Escorted by red dragon maids, several little dragon girls were safe and sound.
Leon squatted down and picked up Luna, "Daddy and Mommy are fine. How about you? Were you scared?"
Luna's little face still clearly showed some lingering fear, but she bravely shook her head, "Luna wasn't scared. Big sister kept protecting Luna and Little Light."
Leon rubbed his cheek against his daughter's. He knew his baby was definitely frightened, she just didn't want him and Rossweise to worry.
But he didn't force Luna to admit she was scared either. Sometimes, fear had to be digested on one's own.
"Luna is amazing. Noah, Little Light, you're all amazing too."
Isa also walked over and picked up Little Light nearby.
The three parents each held one of the three kids. Right now, the scene only lacked a grandmother, then the Melkvei family would be complete.
Holding Little Light, Isa looked at her devastated sanctuary and sighed lightly, "There's a lot of post-battle work. I'm afraid I can't go to Sky City with you all for the photoshoot tomorrow."
Little Light blinked her pretty pink eyes and looked over her aunt's shoulder at her parents.
Rossweise saw the hidden meaning in her daughter's gaze and smiled, nodding to show consent.
Little Light immediately leaned back against her aunt's cheek, pinching her red hair and said in a childish voice, "We're not in a rush, Auntie. Once you finish work, we'll go together~"
Since it was a family plan from the beginning, there was no reason to change it just because of some unlucky resurrection match loser.
"Then… it won't delay your and Luna's school start?", Isa asked.
"No, Auntie."
Luna leaned in her daddy's arms and said, "School starts in a month anyway. A few days' delay won't matter. Plus, maybe Grandma will be back by then~ Then we can take a suuuuuper big family photo."
"Yeah, Sis. Taking the photo a few days later doesn't matter. What's most important is that we're all together," Rossweise also said.
Leon pursed his lips, glancing at the eldest daughter in Rossweise's arms.
Coincidentally, Noah was also looking back at him.
Father and daughter exchanged glances, as if they could both read the same thought from each other's eyes:
'You two said everything. What are we supposed to say, Dad/Daughter?'
After briefly exchanging looks, the two simply shut up.
Isa nodded, "Alright, my place will be fully repaired within a week at most. We'll all go then."
"Mm."
While they were chatting, a red dragon guard suddenly came running over in a panic.
He rushed up to Isa, half-kneeling, panting, and said, "Your, Your Majesty, bad news. When we were about to deal with Constantine's head just now, something happened!"
Hearing this, before Isa could ask, Leon directly blurted out, "What happened? Did someone steal his head?"
After the spatial rift crisis ended, Leon noticed that Constantine's dragon head hanging on the border of the Silver Dragon Territory had gone missing.
After tonight's battle, Leon had no doubt that the ones who stole Constantine's dragon head back then were the Empire's people.
Now Old Con's Edo Tensei had failed, and Bly's heart scale was destroyed, by reason, the Empire shouldn't need his head anymore.
But... the Empire never played by the rules.
They could make a Frankenstein dragon like that, what couldn't they do?
"Yes… Yes, Prince Leon, we were planning to burn Constantine's head at the border, but suddenly a very fast dragon appeared, injured two of our transport team, and stole the head."
Isa's pupils moved slightly, "Did you see what that dragon looked like?"
The guard thought briefly and replied, "It was too dark. I didn't see clearly. But what I can confirm is, the dragon's wings were iron-blue in color, and under the moonlight they looked metallic."
"Iron-blue dragon wings... metallic luster... very fast..."
Isa muttered, "Was it the Ironwing Dragon King...?"
Hearing Isa's guess, Leon and Rossweise quietly looked at each other.
They also suspected that the one who stole Constantine's head was the Ironwing Dragon King, Fell.
Back then, Principal Oullette had said that Fell interfered with the dragons' Far North exploration mission.
Leon had already deduced from the available info that Fell, like Constantine, Ravi, and the others, was secretly colluding with the Empire.
So now, stealing this Frankenstein head on behalf of the Empire made total sense.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/ZenonTL
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.