Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Muse and Hefei were still too young to fully grasp the concept of games. To them, any activity where a group gathered and did something together could be called "playing a game."
Noa decided to let Hefei join in for two reasons:
First, having more participants would help cover for her “eavesdropping plan.”
Second, Hefei had been standing off to the side alone, looking rather pitiful, and Noa couldn’t bear to leave her out.

Now, some might wonder:
"Princess Noa, how do you understand so much about how little kids perceive games?"
Well, Princess Noa had only recently grown out of that age herself—and with two younger sisters at home, she was quite familiar with how to handle children.
In a way, her role as the eldest princess made her her father’s natural ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) successor. After all, back when Leon had "accidentally become a dad," he had demonstrated unparalleled parenting skills. As the "daughter of the world’s best dad," it was only fitting that Noa would excel at entertaining little ones too.

Noa carefully set Muse down on the ground.
Her youngest sister was still too young to walk steadily, but she could manage small movements within a limited space.
She glanced back at "Mom," Rosvisser, who gave her a slight nod, silently approving Noa’s plan to take Muse and Hefei to play.

Reassured, Noa turned to the two little dragon girls to explain their "game."
"The game we’re going to play is called ‘Lamp Post Stand-Off.’"
As Noa spoke, she glanced toward her father and Konstantin, who were deep in conversation a short distance away. Her gaze finally settled on the lamp post nearby.

"The goal is to see who can stand under the lamp post the longest. How about that?"
The core of any children’s game was simple:
As long as the rules sounded a little quirky and had some competitive element, kids would throw themselves into it with full enthusiasm.
Sure enough, Muse and Hefei nodded eagerly before racing off toward the lamp post.

Noa stood up slowly, watching the scene unfold.
"As long as they stay near the lamp post, close enough to Dad and Konstantin, the recording stone will pick up their conversation," she muttered.
"Not bad, kid. You’re pretty sharp," came the Ancestor’s voice from her consciousness.

"I’ve had to get good at this. Hanging around an ancient spirit like you who’s still half-asleep after thousands of years tends to sharpen your wits," Noa quipped.
The Ancestor scoffed. "I’ve been dormant for ages. My wisdom might be a bit rusty."
"It’s not just rusty; it’s turned into nothing but second-rate dramatics," Noa teased.

"I hate you, Noa."
With that, the Ancestor shoved Noa out of the consciousness space.
When Noa returned to reality, Tis and Hefei were already running circles around the lamp post.
Leon and Konstantin had noticed the two little dragonlings but, seeing they were just playing innocently, didn’t bother to chase them away. Instead, they occasionally called out reminders for them to slow down and not trip.

Noa smirked. Her plan was working perfectly. Now all she needed to do was wait.
About ten minutes later, Leon and Konstantin finished their discussion.
Leon bent down to scoop Muse into his arms, while Konstantin took Hefei’s hand. Both father-daughter pairs began walking back toward Noa and Rosvisser.

Konstantin’s face, however, looked unusually dark and sour.
"Big sister! You lost! Muse and I stayed under the lamp post the longest!" Hefei announced triumphantly.
"Not hing~ Big sister, not hing~" Tis chimed in, giggling as if she understood the game.

Noa chuckled. Even though she had a competitive streak as the "queen of overachievers," she knew this wasn’t a game worth winning. Hearing her father’s conversation was far more important.
"Let me carry my sister, Dad," Noa said as Leon approached.
"Alright, be careful," Leon replied, gently passing Muse into Noa’s arms.

Noa cradled her little sister and, while no one was looking, retrieved the recording stone she’d hidden in Muse’s pocket earlier.
With that, the fiery Red Dragon King left with his adorable daughter in tow.
Noa’s mentor, Mavis, also gave her permission to spend the next three days with her family, as long as she joined her for the duel on the final day.

With her teacher’s approval, the family happily spent the rest of the day exploring Sky City—courtesy of the Tower Master’s generous sponsorship, of course.
That evening, after Leon and Rosvisser tucked the two younger girls into bed, Noa retreated to her room alone.
Locking the door, she hopped onto her bed, took out the recording stone, and began playing back the conversation it had captured.

The first voice belonged to Konstantin.
"Leon, have you seen this before?"
"What is it? A dragon scale? But… why is it black?" Leon replied.
"I retrieved this from Adam’s corpse. At first, I thought it was just his Heartshield Dragon Scale, but after taking it out, I noticed something unusual."

Konstantin continued, "Dragon Heartshield Scales have never been black before. That guy must have been corrupted by something sinister to turn his scale into this monstrous thing. Do you think it could be related to the ‘Shadow’ you’re investigating?"
There was a pause, likely as Leon considered this. Meanwhile, faint sounds of Muse and Hefei playing could be heard in the background.
After a moment, Leon’s voice came through again.
"It’s possible. Shadow has been collecting Heartshield Scales from various dragons, including your group of Dragon Kings. His research into dragon scales might be far deeper than we realize."

"Hmm. If that’s the case, I’ll leave this Black Dragon Scale with you. Hopefully, it’ll help with your investigation," Konstantin said.
"Thanks," Leon replied.
"Don’t mention it. By the way, I recently encountered some dangerous creatures near your Silver Dragon territory. Upon examining their bodies, I found traces of similar black scale material. I’ll hand those samples over to you as well."

There was another pause before Leon spoke again.
"You were killing dangerous creatures near my home? Why?"
"Why doesn’t matter. Just take the samples and use them for your investigation," Konstantin replied curtly.
"But Father, didn’t you say it was to make up for your past mistakes?" Hefei’s voice piped up unexpectedly.

"Shut up, Hefei!" Konstantin snapped.
"Yes, Father!"
"Ohhh, so that’s how it is, Konstantin," Leon said, clearly amused.

"It’s not like that. This conversation is over," Konstantin growled, clearly annoyed.
Noa smirked. So that’s why Konstantin had looked so grim earlier—he’d been betrayed by his own daughter!