Shut Up, Evil Dragon, I Don't Want to Have Children with You Again

Clap—

Leon clapped his hands. "Okay, I don't have any more questions."

Principal Wilson rose to his feet.

"Then this concludes the interview. I hope the two of you will remain happy for the rest of your lives. I'll send the assessment results to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary by letter dragon tomorrow morning. Thank you again for your cooperation."

Early the next morning, Mu En woke up with her little head not fully booted up yet, mumbling hazily, "Eldest daughter... what's for breakfast..."

There was no response.

"Eldest daughter?"

Mu En slowly opened her eyes and discovered that Noa had already gotten up.

She sprang out of bed with a jolt, then ran to the bathroom, the study, and the entryway, but Noa was nowhere to be found.

At last, Mu En went to the balcony and looked down into the courtyard. Only then did she find Noa.

And Noa was not the only one in the courtyard. Leon and Losweiser stood on either side of her.

The three of them were like scarecrows, heads raised at a forty-five-degree angle toward the sky, utterly motionless.

Mu En scratched her messy hair in confusion. "Is this some new statue game...?"

Muttering to herself, Mu En got dressed, quickly tidied her hair, and then trotted downstairs.

Once in the courtyard, she first stopped in front of Leon and asked, "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for the letter dragon."

"Huh?"

Mu En blinked her beautiful big eyes, then skipped over to Noa in turn.

"Eldest daughter, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for the letter dragon."

Mu En:?

A tiny head, a huge question mark.

Finally, she skipped over to Losweiser.

"Mom, don't tell me you're also—"

"Waiting for the letter dragon."

Mu En raised her hands and squeezed her cheeks between her little palms. "You're all waiting for the letter dragon, so who's going to make breakfast for Mu En?!"

Half an hour later, the family of four was having breakfast at the table in the nursery.

"Come to think of it, even if the assessment results are out, the letter dragon probably wouldn't fly over this early in the morning, right?" Leon said.

"The academy has always been quite efficient. When I was a student there, I received my results first thing the next morning."

Hearing that, Leon looked up at Losweiser across the table. "You graduated from Saint Hiss Academy too?"

"Of course."

"Then should Noa call you Mom or senior student from now on?"

"Eat your food."

Mu En sat at one side of the table, holding a dragonling-sized knife and fork. She looked at Mom, then Dad, before quietly saying, "Why does it feel like... Mom and Dad's relationship got better after going to the academy?"

The couple's eating motions abruptly froze, and they looked at each other in unspoken agreement.

Leon pursed his lips. "Has it...?"

Mu En nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! You never used to joke around while eating!"

"One does not speak while eating or sleeping. We're only joking around once in a while. Besides, Dad and I have always had a pretty good relationship. Eat up, Mu En," Losweiser said.

"Oh, okay."

"I'm done."

Noa set down her knife and fork, then hopped off her chair. "You guys take your time. I'm going back to wait for the letter dragon."

Seeing this, Leon hurriedly shoveled down a few more bites from his plate, wiped his mouth, and got to his feet to follow her before he had even fully swallowed.

"I'll go with you."

Watching Dad and eldest daughter rush off in such a hurry, Mu En exclaimed, "They're so enthusiastic."

Losweiser patiently cut the bread on Mu En's plate into small pieces, spread strawberry jam evenly over them, and placed them in front of her.

"Dad and eldest daughter are both very obsessed with grades. And Dad used to be a top student too."

All that stuff about enrolling at ten, graduating at fifteen, being a dragon-slaying champion, blah blah blah—Leon was practically one step away from printing a banner and hanging it on Losweiser's door.

Mu En poked at the bread chunks slathered in strawberry jam on her plate with a fork and asked thoughtfully, "Um... so when can Dad teach Mu En to study?"

Losweiser smiled, gazing at Mu En with indulgent affection as she raised a hand and patted her little head. "Very soon. Once Mu En grows up a little more, you can start learning from Dad."

"Really?" The little dragon girl's eyes lit up like stars.

"Mm, really."

"Yay!"

"So, if you want to grow up sooner, Mu En has to eat properly. Finish your breakfast first."

"Okay!"

Mu En immediately buried her head in her food.

Losweiser smiled in satisfaction, thinking, I never expected Leon's child-rearing tricks to work this well.

After breakfast, Losweiser took Mu En by the hand and brought her to the courtyard.

Leon and Noa had resumed their forty-five-degree upward gazes, waiting for the messenger dragon.

So this was an honor student's obsession with grades? They were really persistent.

Losweiser waved a hand and instructed the maids to prepare some tea and pastries.

The family of four ate as they waited.

And so, even by dusk, there was still no sign of the messenger dragon.

Losweiser sighed softly. "I'll go make dinner. We can keep waiting after we eat."

With that, she turned and headed toward the temple.

But before she had taken more than a few steps, she heard Leon shout from behind her.

"Messenger dragon! The messenger dragon is here!"

Noa's excited voice immediately followed. "Really! It really is the messenger dragon!"

Losweiser turned around.

Sure enough, a messenger dragon was slowly flying toward the temple. At last, it landed in the middle of the courtyard.

The four of them hurried over.

A bamboo tube was tied to the messenger dragon's back.

Leon removed the tube, opened it, and poured out an envelope.

The envelope was exquisitely made, with a deep navy background and the surname "Melkewei" embossed upon it in gold foil. Its seal was closed with red wax, stamped with Saint Hiss Academy's crest.

"Dad, open it already!" Mu En said impatiently.

Leon nodded, tore off the red wax seal, and opened the envelope.

The letter's contents were simple and clear:

Dear Noa K. Melkewei, congratulations on passing our academy's assessment.

Please report to our academy in three days to attend the entrance ceremony.

"You passed, you passed! Eldest daughter, you're amazing! Mom and Dad are amazing too!"

Mu En hugged Noa and happily spun in circles.

Leon handed the letter to Losweiser. She read its contents twice, then revealed a relieved smile as well.

She set down the letter, took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Glancing sideways at Leon, she said, "Thank you."

Leon spread his arms. "What are you thanking me for? It was mainly Noa's own effort. She's very smart."

"Can you drink?" Losweiser suddenly asked.

"Huh? Me?"

She nodded.

"I mean... I'm not much of a drinker, but I can give it a try."

"Alright. We'll celebrate tonight. I'm going to cook."

"Mm."

Losweiser carefully put away the envelope, then headed toward the temple.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and turned back to ask, "Do you want to come help? So you don't go saying you have no sense of presence in this family again."

"Dragon Queen, I've realized you're awfully petty."

Leon complained as he eagerly followed after her.

About an hour later, dinner was ready.

Losweiser even opened a bottle of aged wine. She said she had stored it away fifty years ago, when she ascended the throne as the Silver Dragon Queen.

She poured Leon a little. "Is this enough?"

Leon nodded.

Dinner was quite lavish.

Mu En went on and on, mapping out her eldest daughter's future life at the academy.

She wasn't allowed to acknowledge any other little female dragons as her younger sisters, wasn't allowed to bring boys home—girls weren't allowed either—had to study magic properly, and after graduating, had to protect Mu En well.

Noa listened earnestly, committing every single word to memory.

After three rounds of wine, the two little ones returned to their room early and began the private bedroom talk reserved for sisters.

Losweiser sat in her chair, her gaze slightly unfocused, her cheeks flushed red.

She had drunk quite a lot.

It had been a long time since she had felt this happy.

After taking a moment to recover, Losweiser reached out to pour herself another cup.

But Leon pressed down on the wine bottle.

"You've had enough, Losweiser."

"What? Worried about me?" Losweiser asked dizzily.

"Who's worried about you? If you drink too much and can't get up tomorrow morning, who's going to take Noa to the academy?"

"What's there to fear? Even drunk, I can still fly!"

Leon sighed. "In the Empire, when we've had too much to drink, we aren't even allowed to ride horses."

"That's you humans. I—we dragons aren't afraid of that..."

Leon stood up and supported Losweiser by the arm. "I'll take you to the balcony to get some air and sober up."