Vol 7. Chapter 43: Gift-Giving

Mana Refinement was the last class of the morning. Afterward, Leon and Muse had lunch together.

Muse didn’t have the habit of taking naps, so after the meal, Leon accompanied her for a walk through the Academy’s garden.

“You don’t need to rest at noon, Daddy?”

Leon shook his head. “Nope. I just wanted to walk with you, have a chat.”

“Oh, okay.”

“What did you learn this morning?”

Muse briefly told him about the discussion in music class, where the teacher talked about the definition of “perfection.” Then she added:

“Daddy, do you think there’s really nothing perfect in this world?”

Leon thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Objectively speaking, that’s true.”

“Objectively?”

“Mhm. For example... beauty...”

Leon mulled it over, then blurted out:

“For example, your mom.”

Muse looked up. “What about Mommy?”

“To others, she’s a high and mighty queen—flawless in her work, gorgeous, strong and healthy. At a glance, she seems pretty perfect, right?”

Muse nodded. “Yeah.”

“But while she has all those amazing traits, she also has plenty of little flaws—she’s jealous, stubborn, holds grudges, and so on and so on.”

Leon spoke slowly. “So you see, even someone as outstanding as your mom, from an objective standpoint, isn’t perfect.”

“Really...”

Muse looked half-convinced, half-confused.

Leon gently placed his hand on her little head and added with a smile:

“Whether something is perfect or not mostly depends on your own perspective.”

Muse’s eyes widened. “I don’t quite get it, Daddy.”

“Just now, I said that objectively your mom isn’t perfect. But if you ask me—your dad—she’s the most perfect person in the world. So, when people say something is ‘close to perfect,’ it’s really just a polite way of hedging—of avoiding criticism or conflict with higher-ups.”

Leon explained patiently:

“Whether a musical piece is perfect or not is entirely up to you. If it is to you, then it’s your perfect symphony. Do you understand, Muse?”

The fourth princess stared solemnly at her dad, red pupils trembling slightly—filled with a kind of admiration for his depth of understanding.

The proud father puffed out his chest, thinking:

Yes, that’s right. With just a few words, I’ve imparted a crucial life lesson to my daughter! Come now, Muse, kneel and worship your wise old dad!

But Muse simply replied:

“You just wanted to show off how much you and Mommy love each other, didn’t you, Daddy.”

“......”

“I really need your big sister to help you fix that habit of saying things that kill the mood in one blow.”

Still, thanks to Leon’s explanation, Muse gained a deeper understanding of what “perfection” meant.

The two continued strolling.

Eventually, their conversation shifted to mana refinement.

Leon paid close attention to Muse’s expression.

As expected, her little face fell with visible disappointment.

She quietly tugged at her ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ sleeve, no longer looking up at Leon, and mumbled:

“I didn’t do well in mana refinement today either. Ever since the last monthly exam, Big Sis has been helping me nonstop... but I still haven’t improved much...”

“But your teacher said you refined your mana faster and more efficiently today. Isn’t that progress?” Leon said.

Muse shook her head.

“Hefei and the other students are all starting to show their magic affinities. I’m the only one who hasn’t. Daddy, do you think maybe I... don’t have any attribute at all?”

On a continent where survival depends on magic, lacking a magical attribute was terrifying.

It meant Muse could only learn the most basic forms of magic. Whether in everyday life or future battles, that kind of baseline magic would be nothing more than child’s play against real spellcasters.

Sure, she had an invincible father, a queen for a mother, and a big sister who always had her back.

But she couldn’t live under their protection forever. One day, Muse would have to face danger and hardship on her own.

And when that day came—if she still had no magic affinity—what then?

So her anxiety was natural.

That was precisely why Leon had sought her out for this conversation.

“The real reason your magic attribute hasn’t manifested yet still isn’t clear, Muse.”

Leon paused, then patted her tail and added:

“You know this already, but you and your sisters are human-dragon hybrids. Before your mom and I, there was no such thing on the entire continent of Samael. So it’s perfectly normal for your generation to show some unusual phenomena.”

Leon wasn’t wrong.

Noa, Moon, Aurora each of them had developed unique traits that stood out from other young dragons.

Noa’s overwhelming magical talent.

Moon’s incredibly rare dual awakening.

And Aurora’s wild, imaginative ideas about magical engineering.

All of this was attributed to “hybrid vigor.”

After all, his half-blood daughters had shown no shortcomings in physical, intellectual, or emotional development—if anything, they were far beyond their peers.

Put simply, up until now, Leon had always seen “dragon-human hybrid” as a buff—with no downsides.

Until Muse started to show... what might be a flaw.

Whether she had a magic attribute or not would have to wait until the Elemental Awakening Ceremony to be determined.

“Don’t let this worry eat away at you too much. Even in the worst-case scenario, Daddy promises he’ll find a way to fix it. Okay?”

Leon stopped walking and gently rested his hand on Muse’s shoulder, gazing down at her.

Feeling the warmth and strength in her father’s palm, Muse slowly regained her sense of safety.

“Okay. I understand, Daddy.”

“And don’t start thinking that just because your big sister helped you and you didn’t improve fast enough, you’ve let her down or something. You’re sisters—you’re family. No matter what, she wants to help you. Got it?”

“Got it.” Muse nodded seriously. “Mm-hmm.”

Her mood had clearly lifted.

And her father breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Still, Leon did the mental math: about one month remained until Muse’s Elemental Awakening Ceremony.

One way or another, they’d have answers then.

As the two of them chatted and prepared to leave the garden, two little dragonlings ran over.

“Muse! Muse! This is a little cake I made during cooking class—it's for you!”

One of the dragonlings offered the cake with both hands.

Muse blinked, surprised, but accepted it.

“Uh... thank you.”

Then she dug into her pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, and offered it back.

“I didn’t know you were giving me something, so I didn’t bring a gift. Here—have some candy.”

“Ah—no, no! I wanted to give it to you! You don’t need to give anything back! Bye-bye, Muse!”

And just like that, the little dragonling turned and ran off.

As Muse raised a hand to wave, another young dragon came forward with a gift box.

“Muse, this is a handmade gift I made for you.”

“Oh—thank you! But... I don’t have any more candy—”

“There’s also a little surprise inside. My mom and dad helped prepare it. I gotta go—bye!”

Again, the little dragonling gave the gift and left immediately, not lingering for a second.

Muse stood there holding a cake and a gift box, visibly overwhelmed by the sudden affection.

She turned to look at Leon.

He smiled and said:

“Go ahead—open it. Let’s see what kind of surprise it is. Then you can find them later and return the favor.”

“Oh—okay.”

Muse opened the gift box.

Inside, along with a handmade paper cutout, were several sparkling gemstones.

“Looks like some expensive stuff.”

“Waaah... such pretty gems~” Muse gasped. To her, most shiny treasures were still just “rocks.”

But Leon furrowed his brow as he stared at the gemstones—and remembered that the little dragon had said her parents prepared the gift.

“I haven’t even been vice principal for a full week, and the news is already spreading...”

This kind of gift-giving—Leon had seen plenty of it during his time in the Dragon Army.

“Muse, can you give these stones to Daddy?” Leon said gently. “I’d like to use them to decorate my office.”

“Sure, sure!”

Muse happily handed over the gift box.

Leon looked down at it in his arms—expression growing serious.