Vol 7. Chapter 50: Borrowing a Kid

In the early morning, Leon slowly opened his eyes. His head wasn’t fully awake yet, and he absentmindedly glanced toward the sofa in the bedroom—only to spot a flash of red. Still dazed, Leon mumbled:

"Morning, sis."

"Morning, little brother-in-law."

Leon turned over, planning to go back to sleep.

"What sis... isn’t this our home..."

Rosvisser groggily sat up as well, squinting toward the sofa with sleepy eyes.

"Oh, it really is you, sis. Morning."

"Morning, little Ross."

Thud—

After exchanging those bizarre morning greetings, the queen flopped back down on the bed. The couple lay side by side, facing each other.

In the silence, they suddenly felt something was off—

They both snapped their eyes open, stared at one another, then simultaneously jolted upright and instinctively shrank into the corner of the bed, clutching the blanket tightly.

"When did you get in here, sis?!"

"It’s morning, isn’t it? Why are you two acting like this in your own bedroom?"

Isha sat slanted on the sofa, legs crossed, smiling with squinted eyes as she waved her hand.

"I saw there weren’t any guards at the door, so I came in."

"Who the hell posts guards at the bedroom door?!"

"Just a little intrusion, good morning~ Actually, I came by this early because it’s something urgent." she said.

The couple calmed down a little, both secretly relieved that last night’s “teaching session” had been perfectly tame—no fancy moves—otherwise, the battlefield aftermath might’ve been witnessed by Big Sis.

"What’s so urgent?" Rosvisser asked.

"Borrow something."

"Borrow what?"

"A kid."

...

"Hmm, no. That look in her eyes is too cold—she doesn’t look like she’s my blood relative at all."

Isha walked past Noa the Overachiever and came over to the eager Moon.

"Pick me! Auntie, pick me, pick me!"

Moon raised her hand, practically jumping with excitement to be “borrowed.”

"Hmm... no, too energetic. I can’t control that."

Little Moon: TAT

Then Isha went to Aurora. Aurora clasped her hands behind her back, looked up at Isha, and gave a sweet, well-behaved smile.

The big and small ones stared at each other for a moment, and then Isha shook her head again.

"She’s definitely plotting something fun. Nope. This is serious—I can’t have you treating it like a comedy."

Aurora: QAQ

Next came Xiaoxue.

"Do... do adopted ones count in the selection pool..."

Isha gave Xiaoxue a once-over, but still shook her head.

"Too adult. Way too perfect for the fake story I made up. Nope, not happening."

Xiaoxue quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Finally, it was little Muse, standing there nervously. Isha observed her for a moment, then smiled in satisfaction and scooped her up, unable to resist examining her face closely.

"Age fits, vibe fits, and her eye color matches mine perfectly. Yep, it’s you, my little niece!"

With that, she hugged Muse tightly to her chest, rubbing their cheeks together.

Leon and Rosvisser exchanged a look, and eventually couldn’t hold back from asking,

"Sis, you still haven’t explained—what exactly are you planning to do with her?"

Isha turned around, still holding Muse in her arms, and explained:

"Little brother-in-law, remember that guy named Beren from the last election?"

Leon nodded:

"Yeah, didn’t he keep chasing after you? Don’t tell me he still hasn’t given up?"

"He hasn’t."

Isha said:

"Back during the election, I told him I already had a child to reject him. It made him back off a bit, but now he sent me a letter saying he doesn’t mind and he’s coming to visit my tribe tomorrow."

Hearing that, the couple both sucked in a sharp breath.

"That guy’s like cling film, huh? Just won’t come off!"

Leon complained.

Rosvisser crossed her arms and furrowed her brows.

"Give him one more verbal beatdown and he’ll back off."

But Isha just sighed.

"Judging by the tone of his letter, he probably thinks I made up the story about having a kid to reject him. Which, well, I did make it up later on... but if he shows up tomorrow and sees that I don’t even have a child at home, that’ll just reinforce his belief that I was lying. That’ll only make him cling even harder."

At that, the couple finally understood.

"So that’s why you came here to... uh... borrow one."

One of the perks of having a house full of daughters: if a relative suddenly needs to borrow a kid, you can just point and pick at will! (not that that’s a good thing)

"Mhm. I just want to use this chance to reject him properly and cut off his hopes for good."

"In that case, little Muse is the perfect choice. A niece—yeah, that’s a role she can definitely play well."

Of course, the couple had no reason to refuse Isha’s request.

And besides, it was a good chance for Muse to experience a change of environment. Spending a few days at the Red Dragon Sanctuary would be a nice little break.

Muse herself agreed too. After all, her aunt had always been kind to them. It was just a small favor—if she could help, she would.

Once everything was decided, Isha set off with the borrowed kid and headed back to the Red Dragon Tribe.

Muse lay on the back of the red dragon, waving down at her parents and sisters below.

"You can stay and have fun for a few days, Muse. Be good, okay~"

Rosvisser called out.

"I got it, Mama!"

"Don’t forget to bring back that strawberry cake from the Red Dragon Tribe! I didn’t get enough last time!"

Moon cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.

"Mmhmm! Got it, Second Sis!"

As the goodbyes echoed through the air, Isha slowly unfurled her wings.

"All set, Muse. Let’s go."

"Okay."

The red dragon slowly took flight and soared into the sky.

Watching the dragon silhouette fade into the distance, Leon let out a breath.

"Hope Muse has a good time out there."

"My sister loves kids. She’ll take good care of her."

Leon nodded, then turned and started walking toward the sanctuary with his wife and children.

"Come on. Today Dad’s gonna teach you some new magic."

...

...

The Next Day – Red Dragon Sanctuary

Muse was dressed in a princess gown tailored just for her. She looked like a soft, fragrant little cake.

Isha couldn’t resist planting several kisses on her chubby cheeks before loudly proclaiming:

"If Auntie really had a daughter as obedient and cute as you, I’d be so happy."

Muse’s little brain didn’t follow the loops in the conversation. Her ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ thoughts were straightforward, so she replied bluntly:

"Auntie, you can just make a baby of your own if you want."

Isha smiled and pinched her cheek.

"I like ready-made ones. Don’t wanna do all that work myself."

Muse didn’t quite get her aunt’s metaphor. She blinked and added:

"Then Auntie, you can get married. After that you can get pregnant, and then you can have a baby."

Hearing that, Isha froze for a second, then smiled again and explained:

"Auntie here is a non-marriage kind of person."

Muse tilted her head. "What’s a non-marriage person?"

"It means no dating, no marriage, staying single for life."

"Why would you do that? Isn’t living alone your whole life really lonely?"

At the child’s innocent question, Isha merely lowered her gaze halfway, as if she’d sunk into a memory.

After a moment, she lifted her eyes to Muse again, the gentle smile returning to her face.

"More than loneliness... Auntie doesn’t want to be hurt by someone again."

"What do you mean—"

"Your Majesty, the Nebula Dragon King Beren seeks an audience."

The guard’s report cut short Muse and her aunt’s conversation. Muse never did figure out what her aunt meant by “not wanting to be hurt.”

Isha took Muse’s little hand.

"Let’s go. In a bit, you’ve got to back Auntie up, okay? Don’t break character."

Muse pushed aside her thoughts and nodded seriously.

"Third Sis gave me strict training on how to watch drama without laughing. So I won’t break character."

She paused, then solemnly added:

"Unless I can’t hold it in."