Vol. 6 Ch. 126

In the end, Aurora chose to give up on her elaborate "decoding" process and listen to her big sister.

That evening, the sisters—plus Xiaoxue—gathered their parents in the sitting room of the inn.

Seeing how serious the setup was, Leon already had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

The whole family was seated around a table in the center of the living room.

On one side: the little dragon girls and Xiaoxue.

On the other: Leon and Rosvisser.

And when Leon saw that Aurora had taken the center position among her sisters, he was even more certain of his guess.

She only stood there when she’d discovered something—and it wasn’t good.

Everyone stared at each other across the table. Big eyes blinked at big eyes, and no one spoke. The air was stiff with tension.

Finally, unable to take the silence anymore, Leon opened his mouth:

“Daddy, Aurora said you are a human. Is that true?”

Moon blurted it out, hammer-to-the-nail style.

The thread of delicate nerves stretched tight over the last few minutes promptly snapped.

Rosvisser turned her head and let out a grinding clench of her jaw.

Noa quietly facepalmed—dragging Muse along with her hand.

Only Aurora maintained her composure, her little face serious and unflinching.

Second sis didn’t grasp the weight of this, Muse was too young to understand, and even Noa, usually the most logical one, had checked out halfway through.

That meant Aurora had to hold the line.

Tonight, she had to get a clear answer.

"I’ll ask again. Second sis didn’t phrase it properly," Aurora said.

"Dad, you’re… not from the dragon clan, are you?"

As expected.

But thankfully, Leon had been anticipating this...

Or rather, everything was going according to his plan.

He met Aurora’s gaze evenly, voice sincere:

"Yes. I’m not from the dragon clan. I’m sorry, Aurora, Moon, and everyone else. I… kept this from you for too long."

He opened his mouth again, wanting to say more—but nothing came out.

He’d prepared so much for this moment. Thought of all the things he wanted to say to his daughters.

But now that the moment was here, even though it had all gone according to plan, even though Aurora had found out and come to ask directly—Leon still felt helpless.

He looked at each of their faces, all holding different expressions.

Noa already knew the truth.

Moon was naive, but even she could sense the seriousness of the moment.

Even Muse, who had often misunderstood her parents and sisters’ conversations—looked at Leon, then at Aurora, then back at Leon, blinking her big bluish-purple eyes like she was thinking: “Wait, what’s going on?”

She said nothing, half-hiding behind Noa, clutching her big sister’s sleeve tight.

She was too young to understand what this was about, but the heaviness in the room made her feel uneasy.

So she sought comfort from her big sis.

Aurora, even after confirming her suspicions, kept her expression composed, serious, unwavering.

Once again, she and her father stared at each other in heavy silence.

Seeing that Dad still couldn’t get any more words out, Aurora shifted her focus to Mom.

She glanced over at Rosvisser and asked softly,

"Mom, you knew all along that Dad wasn’t from the dragon clan, didn’t you?"

Rosvisser’s gaze flickered. She hesitated for a moment, then lowered her eyes and nodded.

"Mm."

"So… did you get together with him after finding out, or before you knew the truth?"

"...The former."

"Then—"

"Aurora."

Rosvisser cut her off, her voice firm.

"My relationship with your father has nothing to do with his species.

And it has nothing to do with the conversation we’re having right now."

"You’re very clever. I’ve never been able to guess what’s going on in that head of yours, so I don’t know what you’re thinking right now.

But no matter what, no matter how you choose to view your father going forward, remember this...

Your father has always loved you. From the moment you were born, he has never stopped loving you."

As she spoke, Rosvisser placed her hand gently atop Leon’s.

Leon slowly turned his palm, fingers entwining with hers.

And in that simple touch, Rosvisser felt it—

Just how nervous he truly was.

This man, who had defeated so many formidable foes, was utterly unable to keep calm in front of his children.

Rosvisser couldn’t say any more. This was something Leon had to face on his own.

"I’ve actually… wanted to tell you all for a long time,"

Leon said quietly, eyes on the table.

"But I never found the right moment.

And I was afraid… afraid that once I said it, you might not accept me as your father anymore. After all, you’ve been raised with dragon teachings since birth.

I..."

Slap—

Leon thought Aurora had slammed the table.

But when he looked up, it wasn’t her—it was Moon.

Little Moon stood on her chair, hands planted firmly on the table, body leaning forward, her usually soft face holding a rare look of resolve.

"You taught me before I ever learned from dragons!"

"Moon…"

"I still remember what you told me: that everything has two sides. You can’t judge someone or something just by one side of the story.

When I started school, the other kids said humans were evil and should be punished. I asked them why. They just said 'because they’re all bad.'

But you didn’t say that. You said humans have good people and bad people. Same goes for dragons.

So no matter what education I got, I always believed what you told me—those fundamental truths.

I’m right, aren’t I, Aurora?"

Aurora blinked, stunned—then steadied herself and lowered her eyes.

"Mm… yeah. I’ve always thought the same way as Second Sis."

Leon felt the weight on his chest finally lighten.

He looked at Aurora, unable to hide the emotion in his voice.

"Then you…"

"Why would I ever stop calling you my father just because you’re human?"

Aurora’s tight expression finally softened.

She didn’t meet his eyes, but looked down at his and Mom’s interlocked hands.

"Other than you, no one else in this world deserves to be our dad.

You taught us how to live, how to use magic. You love us, and you never hold back that love.

And most importantly—

You gave us life.

I think the title ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom’ is a heavy one.

Only someone who gives life «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to a child deserves to be called that.

So…"

Aurora took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

This time, she finally looked up to meet her father’s eyes.

"I don’t care that you’re human. And I forgive you for hiding it from us.

Because…

I love you too, Dad. Just like you love me."

That had always been the goal—to find out the truth.

If Aurora hadn’t been able to accept her father being human…

She would’ve backed off the moment she sensed something was wrong.

But since she pursued the truth all the way—

It meant she was ready to accept it.

Strangely enough, even though Leon had planned this moment down to the last detail…

He hadn’t truly prepared himself for the emotional weight of it.

And the one who had played the whole thing by the book—Aurora—was the one most prepared for the reveal.

Maybe that’s just how family works.

Always full of unexpected, wonderful surprises.

"Big sis, aren’t you gonna say something?" Aurora turned to Noa.

Noa blinked. "Ah? Oh, right—how dare you lie to us for so long, you filthy human!"

"..."

"Wait—did you know all along?"

Noa scratched her head with a sheepish smile.

"Surprise~ It was an accident! But I’m snitching now—Aunt Isha knew too and she didn’t say anything!"

(Far away, at the Red Dragon Sanctuary, Isha sneezed.

At first, she thought it was a breeze.)

"What about Grandma Veronica?

Probably knew too?

And Grandpa Weida?

He knew.

Then Grandmother Cecilia..."

Aurora paused.

She looked around the room.

"...Wait. Where is Grandmother Cecilia?"

At that, Rosvisser blinked, then suddenly panicked.

"...You didn’t LOSE my directionally-challenged mother, did you?!"

…

…

In a random alley on the outskirts of the Empire, a beautiful red-haired woman stood holding a map, utterly confused, muttering to herself:

"Am I still in the Empire…? Am I not…? Am I… ahh! Why hasn’t anyone come looking for me yet?!"