The moment Leon heard the name âMelkveyâ, his entire body visibly tensed up.
He stood frozen in place, mechanically turning his head back toward the Headmasterâs Office.
At the doorway, the elegant, dignified red-haired woman had just finished greeting Headmaster Oletteâand now, she turned her sharp, fox-like gaze toward Leon.
She smiled.
But this smile was completely different from her previous air of absentminded innocence.
At this moment, she was smiling like a cunning fox.
Leon had only ever seen two other women smile like thatâ
Rosvisser and Isha.
When those two smiled like that, they looked like they had come straight out of the same damn mold!
Leonâs mouth opened, but no words came out.
Cecilia, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow and winked playfully, as if to sayâ
"Yep. You guessed right."
Then, without another word, she turned and followed Headmaster Olette into the office.
Clickâ
The door slowly shut, sealing off the room.
The heavy echo of that final sound lingered in the hallway.
Leon swallowed.
Steadying himself, he hurriedly turned and sprinted out of the building.
Meanwhile, at the academyâs central field, the Outstanding Alumni Speech had reached its halfway point.
Leon marched straight onto the stage, where Rosvisser, Isha, and Constantine stood.
Just as the speeches were wrapping up, he immediately approached them.
"Hm? Leon, what are you doing here?" Rosvisser asked.
Leon strode up to the three of them and solemnly announced,
"I have something to tell you. But whatever you do, donât be afraid."
The three dragons exchanged confused glances.
Constantine crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
Isha, serious as ever, folded her arms and asked,
"We are Dragon Kings. We donât get afraid. What is it?"
Leon took a deep breath, then spoke with extreme gravity, enunciating each word carefullyâ
"I just saw⌠another woman with the surname Melkvey."
At his words, both Rosvisser and Isha instinctively leaned back slightly, exchanged glances, thenâ
Isha, matching his serious tone, replied,
"It was Noa, right? Sheâs also a Melkvey."
"Ahâno, not Noa. Sheâs still over there selling toys with Helena."
"Muse?"
"No, older than Muse."
"Oh~ I got it. Itâs Moon."
"ThisâŚ"
Rosvisser raised a hand. "I knowâit must be Grandmother Veronica. She came back for the anniversary festival since sheâs friends with Headmaster Olette."
Leon nearly lost it.
"A red-haired woman with the surname Melkvey!"
The three siblings stared at him blankly.
Leon gritted his teeth.
"She was fully grown, beautiful, dressed in red, looked just like Isha, and while she seemed a little absentminded at first, she was actually terrifyingly cunning! I justâ"
Pfftâ
Isha snickered.
Leon snapped his head toward her. "Why are you laughing?"
Isha raised her hand, her voice dripping with amusement.
"I just thought of something funny."
"Whatâs funny?"
"My surname is Melkvey."
Pffftâ
Leonâs gaze slowly shifted to Rosvisserâwho was also grinning.
"Why are you laughing?!"
Rosvisser smirked. "I also have the surname Melkvey."
"YOUâYOUâRE THE SAMEâ"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
(âŹŕ˛ çಠ)ĺ¸
Constantine, who had been quietly listening this whole time, finally couldnât take it anymore.
"Reorganize your words properly, and start from the beginning."
Leon took another deep breath, then recounted everything from start to finish.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
After listening to the whole story, Rosvisser and Isha were clearly surprised.
"Youâre saying⌠the red-haired woman we saw on the field earlier also had the surname Melkvey?"
Isha rubbed her chin, frowning in thought.
"âŚNow thatâs interesting."
Leon furrowed his brow. "Is Melkvey a common surname among dragons?"
Rosvisser shook her head.
"Not at all. Normally, when dragon couples marry, the wife takes the husbandâs surname."
"Huh⌠wait."
Leon paused, his expression shifting.
"Then why donât Noa and the others have my surname, Casmod?"
Rosvisser smiled.
"Because we are a proper, traditional dragon couple."
Rosvisser rolled her eyes at Leon before saying,
"Say that again? If your wife is the one marrying you, then obviously the children take my surname."
"Alright, alright, fine. Sheâs the Queen, she makes the rules. General Leon wonât argue with her."
Leon let it slide. There was no winning against her anyway.
"But⌠that woman, Ceciliaâdo you think she might actually be your mother?"
The moment those words left his lips, the atmosphere shifted.
After all, Rosvisser and Isha had never once seen their parents in hundreds of years.
Even their grandmother, Veronica, had never told them much about them.
So even if they did reunite, it wasnât as if they would instantly recognize each other.
"If she is," Rosvisser said, "then judging by the color of her tail, she should be from Ishaâs Crimson Dragon Clan. But neither of us saw a Crimson Dragon emblem on her clothes."
Constantine added,
"Think about it. Didnât your brother-in-law and grandmother both say that your parents were always traveling, working on some kind of intelligence operation? If itâs intelligence work, then naturally, theyâd have to conceal their identities."
"So any decorations on her clothing could be deliberate disguises to avoid attracting trouble."
Leon knew this was plausibleâhe had seen glimpses of it before in Rosvisserâs memories.
Her parents had, indeed, been searching for a certain crown, something tied to the survival of an entire legacy.
If that were true, then they would have needed to stay hidden to avoid enemies tracking them downâor worse, targeting Rosvisser and Isha.
"Weâre not going to figure this out just by guessing here," Leon said, rubbing his chin.
He glanced at Rosvisser and Isha, noting their complicated expressionsâ
A mixture of nervousness and anticipation.
Even battle-hardened warriors like them couldnât help but feel a little shaken by something like this.
"Cecilia just entered the Headmasterâs Office," Leon pointed out. "Olette definitely knows something. We can just wait for them to finish talking, then go and ask her ourselves."
After a moment of silence, Ishaâbeing the eldestâwas the first to respond.
"I think thatâs a good idea."
She turned to Rosvisser, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"But, Ros, after all these years⌠donât you want to see them?"
Rosvisser glanced toward the office door, her expression hesitant.
After a brief internal struggle, she let out a small smirk and nodded.
"Alright. Letâs go."
"Yeah, letâs go."
And with that, the Melkvey siblings set off for the academic building.
Constantine, realizing he was now the only one left behind, sighed.
"Well, I guess that means Iâm on babysitting duty."
Arriving at the Headmasterâs Office, the three pressed themselves against the door, trying to listen in.
"âŚHm, canât hear too well," Leon whispered, crouching slightly.
From what little they could hear, the conversation inside seemed to be mostly catching upânothing too significant yet.
"Could it beâŚ" Rosvisser murmured, "that this whole âMelkvey surnameâ thing is just a coincidence?"
Isha, the only one standing upright, furrowed her brows.
"Letâs listen a bit more."
And so, the three of them continued their eavesdropping.
But suddenlyâ
Leon felt something tap his shoulder.
"Hey, babe, quit messing around."
"âŚI didnât do anything."
"I diiiiidnât dooooo aaanything~"
Rosvisser rolled her eyes, ignoring him.
But thenâshe felt someone tap her arm.
"Hey, Isha, knock it off."
"âŚIâm not doing anything either."
Leon and Rosvisser instantly turned toward each other.
"Wait⌠you werenât tapping me?"
Isha shrugged. "Do I look like someone with that much free time?"
"ThenâŚ"
A voice spoke behind them.
"That would be me."
The three of them whipped aroundâ
And their eyes went wide.
"G-Grandmother Veronica?!"