Before the registration for the entrance exam, there would be a preliminary coordination, used to roughly determine the number of applicants for this year, to help the academy arrange an appropriate number of staff.
Naturally, Leon and his family also signed up for this preliminary coordination.
They thought this was just a simple cooperation with the academy's work.
But they never expected that the vice principal, that old B-dragon, would actually pay attention to this, making it hard not to suspect that he specifically instructed the staff: once someone from the Melkvei family signs up, report to him immediately.
To push the CP he's obsessed with, the old guy really went all in.
After a brief greeting, the vice principal Fly rubbed his hands and looked at the two little dragon girls.
"Which of you is enrolling this time?"
Luna stood on tiptoe, raised her hand, and said enthusiastically, "Grandpa Wilson, both Little Light and I signed up!"
"W-What?!m"
Smack—
Leon slapped himself in the face.
'It's over. Too late!'
"Miss Rossweise, Mr. Leon, is this true? Both of your little princesses are enrolling in this year's hatchling division?", The light in Vice Principal Wilson's eyes grew even brighter.
No longer like an explorer discovering a new continent, but more like an astronaut discovering a new planet.
"Y-Yes, Vice Principal, the children want to learn, and we can't stop them," Rossweise smiled with squinted eyes, her smile a bit helpless.
"Ha! Ha!", After receiving confirmation from the parents, the old B-dragon suddenly clutched his chest and started gasping for air.
Leon was startled and raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong? An asthma attack?"
"N-No, Mr. Leon, I'm just excited, just excited."
"...It's just registration, no need to get this worked up, right?"
The vice principal waved his hand grandly and said seriously, "How could I not be excited? Your eldest daughter, Noah, passed the entrance test at the youngest age with the highest score, and maintained first place in her grade for two academic years. She's bound to become a top dragon warrior."
"And as her sisters, these two little princesses must be just as excellent."
"You've provided the academy with three outstanding students. How could I not be excited?"
The vice principal gave the two little ones a satisfied look, then grabbed Leon's hand, "Mr. Leon, given your excellent performance in the last test, I can make an exception and allow you to skip the exam and enroll directly."
Hearing this, the couple waved their hands and refused repeatedly, "Ah no no, Vice Principal, w-we'll just follow the standard process."
There were two reasons for refusing the vice principal:
First, with the personalities of Leon, Rossweise, and their daughters, they would never rely on connections to get in through the back door.
Second, they needed to do something with the test, to implement a certain "plan."
"It's okay, the academy has quota for exam-free admissions every year. It's not something shady," The vice principal said.
"Thank you for your kindness, Vice Principal, but we really don't need that arrangement. Luna and Little Light can pass the test on their own," said Rossweise.
After several rounds of polite refusal, the vice principal couldn't persuade the couple and sighed with his head down.
Seeing the vice principal's reaction, the couple exchanged a glance.
'Looks like the old B-dragon is unhappy?'
But that's fine, just in time, maybe with the vice principal upset, their "plan" would go even more smoothly.
However—
"Ah! As expected of the model family of our academy, this upright and hands-on spirit is something every dragon should learn from!"
Leon & Rossweise: "..."
'You win, old man.'
'Stay just like this, who can outlive you?'
"You both understand the testing process, right? The little princesses will go to the written test, and you two follow me to the fourth floor for the family interview," said the vice principal.
Leon nodded, "Mm, no problem."
"Good, then a staff member will take you to the fourth floor shortly. I'm looking forward to your performance this year."
After exchanging some more pleasantries, the vice principal left.
The couple finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, Leon felt someone tugging on the hem of his clothes.
Looking down, it was Luna.
"What's wrong, Luna?", Leon crouched down.
"Daddy, I'm a little nervous," Although she had just confidently declared in front of her sister that she would definitely pass the test, now that she was really facing the exam, a young hatchling like Luna still felt a bit nervous.
This was normal, not being nervous would be strange.
Leon smiled and pinched his daughter's cheek, "Didn't your sister just say to believe in yourself? You're Noah's sister, you can do it, no problem at all."
The little Luna's ahoge swayed, she lowered her head and bit her lower lip slightly. After a short but intense mental storm, Luna nodded vigorously, "Okay, I'll do my best, Daddy."
"Mm, Luna is great."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the teacher at the work station say, "Little hatchlings registered for the entrance exam, please gather on the third floor~"
"Go on, Luna, Little Light, just do your best, don't stress too much."
"Yes, Daddy!"
The two little dragon girls held hands and went to the third floor.
Leon slowly stood up and turned to Rossweise, "We should get ready for the interview, too. Everything goes according to plan?"
The queen nodded, "Mm."
The couple met eyes and spoke in unison: ""No-Social-Death-at-the-Ceremony' Plan, activate!""
Two years ago, their eldest daughter Noah had passed the hatchling entrance test at the youngest age and with the highest score;
And the two of them, just so happened, also passed the family interview with the highest score.
They thought that was the end of it, just waiting for enrollment.
But who could have guessed, at the new student entrance ceremony, the great Vice Principal Wilson named the dumb couple as the academy's model family, and invited them onstage to share their experience of managing a household, in front of hundreds of dragons.
But that wasn't even the worst part. Near the end, under the jeering of the vice principal and the crowd of gossip-loving dragons, the two of them publicly kissed, pushing the ceremony to yet another climax.
And also pushed themselves into the abyss of extreme social death.
Now, two years later, the couple had specially devised the 'No-Social-Death-at-the-Ceremony' plan to avoid repeating that nightmare.
This time, they came to the interview with only three goals:
'Low-key! Low-key! And still f**king—low-key!'
"As long as we perform a bit mediocre in the interview, while ensuring the kids pass the test, and suppress the interview score as much as possible, then we won't be selected as this year's model family, and we won't have to go on stage and give a speech."
"Got it. Luna and the others just need to perform normally, adult plans shouldn't affect the kids."
"Mm mm!"
"Do you have any specific ideas? Like what should we say in the interview?"
"Just say I haven't felt any passion for you these past two years."
Leon froze, "That's way too fake, Queen. How could you possibly not feel passion for me?"
Rossweise poked his chest, "I'm saying it for the success of the plan."
"Oh... So, you still feel a lot of passion for me, right?"
The queen rolled her eyes speechlessly, "Whatever you say, I can't be bothered to argue with you."
Joking and chatting, the two arrived at the interview room door.
They gave each other one last look, then pushed the door open and entered.
———
The interview quickly began.
Leon and Rossweise took their seats. The ones interviewing them were still the same three from two years ago.
The two on the sides still had stern expressions, but Vice Principal Wilson already looked eager, clearly very much looking forward to the couple's performance this year.
'Too bad, old man, this year, we'll let you down.'
"If you're ready, let's begin the interview," said the vice principal.
The couple nodded, "We're ready, Principal."
"Good."
The vice principal looked down at the interview materials on the table, then said, "Let's start with the most obvious change in your family over the past two years."
Upon hearing this, Rossweise paused and asked, "Vice Principal, do you mean?"
"The third princess, Aurora."
The vice principal said, "Ordinary viviparous dragon families rarely consider a second child, especially when the first pregnancy was twins. So I want to know, what prompted you to consider a third child?"
Prompt?
If an accidental pregnancy counts as a prompt, then we could have a good chat with you.
The couple exchanged a glance.
Getting pregnant with Little Light really was an accident, this was undeniable, but Leon and Rossweise both knew, in this situation, they absolutely couldn't tell the truth.
If the interviewers heard words like "accident," they might conclude that this couple is irresponsible toward their children.
That would definitely lower their family interview score, but it could also make Luna and Little Light fail the entrance exam.
So how to answer this question required careful thought.
After thinking for a bit, Rossweise finally opened her mouth and said, "It's like this. My husband and I have been married for years and gone through many things together. Our married life, from the initial passion, slowly became calm. So we thought, could we do something to help us rekindle that passion?"
"After trying a few methods, we found none of them worked."
"At that point, my husband suggested maybe we could have another baby, just like how we raised Noah and Luna, to raise Little Light into an equally excellent hatchling."
"I agreed to this suggestion, and then Little Light was born."
This explanation could be said to hit two birds with one stone.
It completely avoided "accidental pregnancy" while still expressing the idea of "married life growing bland."
After finishing, Leon also glanced at the interview officer on the far right who was holding the score sheet. He was writing and frowning, expression serious.
Looks like Rossweise's answer wasn't quite what he expected.
'Good. The effect landed.'
But even though the result landed, the couple had overlooked a small loophole in the story.
"Since having your third daughter was to reignite your passion, does that mean your feelings for her are slightly different compared to your first two daughters?", asked the interviewer on the left.
His phrasing was quite tactful, just short of directly asking if the couple only saw Little Light as a tool to maintain their marriage.
As for this question, Leon didn't need to think much and answered without hesitation,
"Our feelings for Little Light are no different from those for Luna and Noah."
"Oh? But didn't you have your third daughter to regain that passion?"
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