Vol 7. Chapter 27: Coaxing and Threats

Third floor of the Saint Heath Academy cafeteria — by 7 p.m., the Melkvey family was finally gathered together for dinner.

At the table, the daughters ate quietly, exchanging idle chatter about funny things that had happened during the day.

Leon leaned on his elbow from across them.

Watching the precious girls sitting shoulder to shoulder with Isha — their calm, composed faces so naturally blending into the scene — it was almost as if the chaos from earlier had never happened.

Noa and Aurora didn’t show the slightest intention of offering an explanation.

Leon smacked his lips, leaned slightly toward Isha, and lowered his voice.

"Aurora called you over earlier — was it really because two students got into a fight?"

Isha nodded.

Leon cautiously followed up:

"Because one of them accidentally bumped into the other?"

"Not quite. It was some dumb squabble over basketball court usage. Petty stuff. They should’ve been in class."

Isha paused, then asked back:

"Wait... so after that, someone else brought you to a fight too?"

Leon nodded and subtly pointed toward Noa with a barely perceptible motion.

"Noa’s the one who took me. But look at them now. It's like none of that ever happened. Not a single peep."

Isha looked at Noa, then at Aurora. She mulled it over, then murmured:

"Even stranger — they’re not the least bit curious about us running for vice principal..."

Leon had noticed that too and agreed:

"Exactly. I could understand if it were just Noa, but Aurora staying this calm is just weird. Normally she’d be chasing us down asking all about the juicy details of the race."

"Ohh... this is so weird. Did we somehow wander into a parallel universe...?"

Just as they were puzzling it out, Claudia arrived fashionably late.

"Long time no see, Miss Claudia!" Moon called out brightly.

The sisters all greeted her politely one after another.

Claudia responded with equal grace and decorum.

"Why are you so late?" Leon asked.

Claudia waved a hand.

"Don’t even ask. I ran into a student from the Youth Dragon Division today — said their drama club's new script had a problem and wanted my advice. I remembered Helena was in the drama club, so I thought maybe I could find her while I was at it."

As she spoke, Claudia picked up a warm cup of water from the table and took a sip before continuing:

"I helped them fix up the script, but even after I finished, I never saw Helena. I have no idea where that girl ran off to."

After hearing Claudia’s account, Isha leaned in toward Leon and whispered:

"Looks like they triggered the drama club event. And we got the Noa event. The plots are completely unrelated, but somehow both of us ended up linked to the same 'director.'"

Leon glanced at Noa, who was quietly eating, and muttered back:

"Even creepier — Noa hasn’t even asked where her best friend went. That doesn’t make any sense."

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Claudia couldn’t help but ask as she saw them gossiping endlessly.

Leon and Isha exchanged a glance, then filled Claudia in on what had just happened.

Once she heard the whole story, Claudia was stunned.

"What? That’s... way too coincidental..."

Three adults, three dumbfounded expressions.

All eyes turned in unison to the eldest daughter.

As if sensing the scorching gazes, Noa paused mid-bite, slowly lifted her head, and looked across at her dad, aunt, and Claudia.

"Why are you all staring at me... Is there something on my face? Moon, is there something on my face?"

"Let me see, sis! — Mmm... mua~ There wasn’t, but now I’ve left a little kiss mark right here."

After claiming her cheap reward, Moon just lowered her head and kept eating.

As if nothing had happened.

Noa, used to Moon’s shameless antics, calmly looked back at the three adults.

"So?..."

"The fight earlier, and Claudia running into the drama club — you and Aurora aren’t planning to explain anything?" Leon asked.

Noa blinked innocently, exuding that uniquely pure Youth Dragon aura.

"What fight? What drama club? I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Leon & Isha & Claudia: "Aurora?"

"Dad, look, this steak is really steak-y!"

"......"

"Third Sis, you’re not even trying to pretend anymore," Muse said bluntly.

Aurora flicked her forehead and emphasized with utmost sincerity

:"I’m not pretending!"

"Oh, so you really— Ow!"

Before she could finish, Third Sis gave her a second flick to the forehead.

Watching the sisters’ antics, Leon was increasingly convinced: he was the only outsider at this table. Everything else — irrelevant.

He watched as every eye at the table turned toward—

Even little Muse from the Hatchling Division was in on it!

Just then, the long-absent Helena finally arrived on the third floor of the cafeteria.

"Over here, Helena!" Noa called, holding up her cheek.

"Coming~"

Helena jogged over, holding the straps of her satchel in both hands.

"Good evening, Mom."

After greeting her mother, Helena turned to Leon and Isha.

"Good evening, Uncle Leon, Aunt Isha."

Claudia gave her daughter a once-over, then asked softly:

"Where were you just now, Helena?"

"Nowhere special, Mom. Just wandered around the campus a bit."

She was lying.

Helena wasn’t good at lying or hiding things — a result of her strict upbringing. Claudia had never allowed her to lie.

But in this moment, Claudia could see it wasn’t a real lie.

Anyone sharp would realize the girl was just trying to dodge the question, offering a made-up excuse.

Claudia didn’t press. Instead, she turned to Leon and Isha.

"Looks like our daughters have reached some sort of agreement."

They both nodded.

After a moment of silence, Isha recalled something Noa had said after the fight earlier. She asked:

"Noa, after the fight, you said that by tomorrow we’d understand what was going on. So you mean, no matter how we ask now, you won’t tell us anything?"

Noa’s eyes flicked slightly, then she nodded firmly.

"Yup!"

"Not even a little bit?"

"Mhm!"

"Okay, Helena."

The sea-dragon girl blinked, unsure why Uncle Leon had suddenly called her name.

Still, she answered politely.

"Yes, Uncle Leon?"

"If you tell us what’s really going on, I’ll..."

Everyone at the table looked straight at Leon.

Isha curiously asked, "You’ll?"

"I’ll give you a picture of Noa sleeping."

"Can’t threaten us, so you try to bribe us instead? And of all things, you think bribing with a sleeping photo would work? Immature old man!"

But Helena sucked in a sharp breath. Clearly torn between the truth and a tempting photo of her bestie.

In the end, she sighed heavily and said in anguish:

"I, don’t, know, anything!"

"Good girl. Already mastered high-level interrogation resistance techniques at this age."

Claudia praised her.

"This isn’t the time for ‘good daughter’ pride, ma’am!" Leon snapped.

After taking a breath, Leon realized... that actually worked. Helena, being older, barely resisted the temptation.

But what about someone a little younger...?

Leon turned his gaze to Moon.

Sensing the "Dad radar" activate, Moon immediately straightened her posture and declared with righteous pride, "I don’t need a sleeping pic of Sis. Because I already secretly took lots of them myself."

"Pffff~" Helena choked next to her.

Moon turned to look at her.

"I’ll give you some later, okay, Helena?"

"No problem, Moonie!"

Aurora’s current emotional state was completely due to the fact that she was now in ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) the same alliance as Helena.

"No, no, Moon. If you tell us everything, then after winter break, I’ll make you grilled steak every day."

"Big Sis already said that if I kept quiet, she’d make me grilled steak every day starting now."

"......"

So that was part of Noa’s master plan too!

With Helena and Moon both a lost cause, Leon set his final hope on Muse.

Just like before — the right medicine for the right disease.

"Muse, if you tell Dad..."

"Big Sis and Third Sis promised to give me part of their allowance to buy the newest flute."

"I’m cutting your allowances tomorrow!"

Reverse interrogation, steak bribes, flute purchases...

Leon’s bribery plan: complete and utter failure.

Seeing this, Claudia sighed softly.

"Let me try."

Leon and Isha both turned toward her.

"Ma’am?"

"The idea of treating the symptoms properly is right. But you also need to pick the right target."

As she spoke, Claudia turned her gaze to Aurora.

Aurora immediately straightened up like a model citizen, eyes burning with Party-level loyalty.

"Aunt Claudia, no matter what you offer us, I won’t say a word!"

For a chaos-hungry pink-haired girl who only wanted to enjoy the show, bribery was utterly ineffective. The whole event was her entertainment.

So Claudia shifted her eyes to the long-silent Noa.

Noa calmly met her gaze.

"Auntie, I’m even less likely to speak."

The beautiful woman smiled and said gently:

"Don’t be so quick to conclude that, little girl."

"I’m not rushing to a conclusion, Auntie. I really won’t say a word."

"Then... would you like to learn your dad’s ‘ultra sense’?"

Noa: ¯\(°▽°)/¯