On their way to the shopping street, Roswitha asked,

"By the way, did you see where Noa and the others were hiding just now?"

They had claimed to be secretly observing and collecting material, but throughout the entire performance, Roswitha hadn't caught a glimpse of her daughters.

She was slightly worried. If some unforeseen accident had caused Noa to fail in gathering material, not only would her family essay project be delayed, but the wonderful performance between herself and Leon would also have been wasted.

Leon shook his head. "I saw them before we entered the theater, but not after we went in."

Roswitha blinked. If they'd already followed them to the theater, then there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Still, she was a bit surprised. "You actually noticed? So where were they before we went inside?"

Leon shrugged and casually answered, "In the bushes next to the ice cream stand."

"Oh... I didn't see that."

"Not your fault," Leon said. "As a top-tier Dragon Slayer, counter-surveillance is one of my signature skills."

Roswitha chuckled and rolled her eyes at him. "Signature skills, huh? Why didn’t you show off this amazing skill inside the theater then?"

Leon snorted at her teasing and countered smoothly, "Because all my focus was on proposing to you, of course."

Roswitha pursed her lips, deciding not to respond to him further.

The couple walked for over twenty minutes and arrived at a shopping street.

Shopping was a perfect date activity for them.

It combined several advantages, such as "requiring no physical intimacy," "providing ample opportunity for conversation," and "spending extended time together in the same frame."

It was practically an ideal activity for providing material for their obedient daughters.

Plus, they could pick out some new clothes while they were at it.

Roswitha thought her pants were getting a bit... tight.

Sure, they showed off her figure well, but wearing them for long periods could be slightly uncomfortable.

This was a great chance to pick some clothes and pants that actually fit.

With age and having gone through childbirth, even though she was diligent about maintaining her figure, certain areas still naturally became more... well-rounded.

It wasn’t a big deal, but Roswitha thought the timing of her figure changing seemed a little off.

It had already been over a year since she gave birth to Noa and Muen—why was her figure only starting to shift now?

Oh well, she thought, maybe it was because she hadn’t been exercising much lately.

With that thought, she glanced at Leon.

Ugh, the cursed Dragon Slayer—why couldn’t those extra pounds grow on him instead?

He deserved them!

It seemed that once their date was over and they returned home, she would need to pick the right moment to give Leon a hard time about it.

The couple strolled through the shopping street, walking side by side. While looking for suitable clothing stores, they unconsciously scanned their surroundings for any traces of disguised directors.

However, ever since the ice cream stand, Leon hadn’t spotted them again.

Not bad, he thought—they were hiding pretty well. Looks like all those games of hide-and-seek hadn’t been a waste of time.

A group distributing flyers walked toward them, and one of them handed a flyer to Leon.

Leon took it and glanced at the contents. It was an advertisement for a nearby shop.

Looking up, he noticed the shop was on the next corner.

The store seemed high-end, with a beautifully decorated facade.

Leon pocketed the flyer and suggested they check it out. Roswitha agreed.

The two headed toward the shop, completely unaware that among the group of flyer distributors, one was stealthily following them.

Once they entered the shop, the undercover distributor lifted their disguise.

Perched on each other’s back, two little dragon girls—Noa carrying Muen—peeked around the street corner at the shop entrance.

"This must be Mom and Dad's second date activity, right?" Muen asked.

Noa nodded. "Come on, let’s follow them."

"Yes, big sis!"

The little dragon girls sneakily slipped into the store.

Not far behind them, Anna watched the girls with a smile and shook her head before also entering the store.

She needed to ensure the two little princesses were always within her line of sight.

Inside the store, Leon and Roswitha were browsing leisurely.

Leon didn’t have anything specific in mind to buy.

In the past, whenever he accompanied his mentor's wife during her shopping trips, she would usually pick out items for him to try, and if they fit, they’d buy them. He never had much opinion about his clothing choices.

Roswitha, on the other hand, seemed to deliberately steer toward the adult dragon section.

Clearly, she had something specific in mind to buy.

As they browsed, they unconsciously ended up in the sleepwear section.

Because their matching couple’s shirts were quite eye-catching, they quickly caught the attention of a sales associate.

"Hello, are you two here to look at sleepwear? These are all new arrivals this season," the associate said.

"We're just looking around," Roswitha replied.

"Just looking, hmm..."

It was clear the sales associate wasn’t planning on letting them off that easily. After a brief pause, she continued, "You two must be a couple, right? You’re even wearing matching outfits! Why not take a look at our brand-new couples’ sleepwear collection?"

"Uh, no need—"

Roswitha rarely shopped in ready-to-wear stores like this, usually preferring custom-made shops. So, faced with the associate's enthusiasm, she wasn’t sure how to decline.

Leon was even more clueless.

In the past, when shopping with his mentor's wife, she handled all the bargaining, rejections, and haggling. He was merely a bag-carrying sidekick.

Unable to dampen the associate’s enthusiasm, the couple watched helplessly as she brought out two matching sets of sleepwear.

It was a one-piece, couples’ design with adorable little dragon horns sewn onto the attached sleep hats.

When the associate flipped the garments around, Leon noticed a special design near the tailbone area—a slot specifically for a tail.

How thoughtful.

Pity I don’t need it, Leon thought.

"This sleepwear is a must-have for home! Perfect for lounging around in on lazy days without worrying about catching a chill, and the material is incredibly soft and comfortable," the associate began her energetic pitch. "If you don’t like the tail slot, you can even detach it."

As she spoke, the associate demonstrated by detaching the tail slot, revealing a zipper below the tailbone area. She then zipped it back up.

"See? With just one zip, it becomes a tail-less design!" she explained cheerfully.

Leon stared at that tailbone zipper, thinking that whoever came up with it must be a genius.

Surely the design wasn’t just for tail slots...

"And one more thing about this sleepwear—"

"We’ll take it," Roswitha cut her off.

For someone who rarely dealt with enthusiastic salespeople, this was the simplest way to restore some peace and continue their date.

The sales associate’s eyes lit up. "Great! Let me bag it for you."

While the associate stepped away to retrieve a bag, the couple sighed in relief.

Moments later, the associate handed over the bag, and the couple prepared to leave.

But they had underestimated a sales associate’s determination to upsell.

"Would you like to pick out something else before you go?"

Leon was about to decline with "No, thank you," but the associate’s rapid-fire speech gave him no opportunity.

"Do you have kids at home? How about picking out some sleepwear for them, too?"

Damn.

So this was a sales associate’s professional skill set?

Comprehensive. Methodical. Squeezing every last penny out of your wallet with military precision.

"Noa and Muen probably do need new sleepwear. They’re growing so fast," Roswitha said.

"Alright, let’s get them two sets then. For twins," Leon agreed.

The associate was delighted—twins! She loved... er, she meant she loved *serving* families with twins!

"Wonderful! The kids' sleepwear is this way. Please follow me."

The associate led them to the children's sleepwear section.

The area was filled with all sorts of adorable options, overwhelming the couple. They could only rely on the associate to guide them through the choices.

Little did they know, behind them, in one of the clothing display areas, stood two particularly lively "mannequins."

Thanks to their frequent games of “Red Light, Green Light,” Muen and Noa had dressed as display models and were standing perfectly still.

To avoid being recognized, they wore masks and hats, revealing only their bright, observant eyes.

"Sis, you’ve never beaten Muen at Red Light, Green Light," Muen whispered softly.

"This time, I’ll win for sure," Noa whispered back.

"Hmph, no way."

Noa turned her gaze toward their mom and dad, who seemed to be picking out sleepwear for her and Muen.

Hmm, adding a touch of familial warmth to a love-themed essay—what a killer move.

Director Noa was very pleased with her lead actors’ impromptu addition to the plot.

Meanwhile, the sales associate had already pulled out several options for them to consider.

Leon and Roswitha thought all of them were lovely but weren’t sure whether Noa and Muen would like them.

"Maybe we should... find them and let them choose?" Roswitha suggested.

Leon mulled it over but ultimately shook his head. "Did you forget Director Noa’s instructions? Play it cool and act like they’re not there."

Roswitha sighed softly as she held a piece of kids' sleepwear. "But what if the girls don’t like them when we bring them home?"

Leon was equally stumped.

He walked over to a mirror with a piece of sleepwear, trying to estimate Muen’s size based on his memory of holding her.

As he compared the garment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something odd about one of the child mannequins reflected in the mirror.

He furrowed his brow slightly, careful not to look directly at it. Instead, he kept observing through his peripheral vision.

The little "mannequin" was staring at them—or more specifically, at the sleepwear he was holding. Though it didn’t move a muscle, its expression said it all:

(* ￣︿￣)

Leon cleared his throat. So they were disguised as mannequins now? Not bad—it was pretty convincing.

He pretended not to notice his youngest daughter and then changed into a new set of pajamas in front of the mirror.

Muen: (* ￣︿￣)

Leon changed into another one.

Muen: (* ￣︿￣)

Leon changed yet again.

Sales Clerk: "Sir, none of these are satisfactory?"

Leon merely shook his head silently.

After trying on several sets, finally!

Muen: ✪ω✪

Leon: "Alright! This is the one. Please pack it up for me, thank you."

The sales clerk immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Although the process was a bit drawn-out, they still managed to sell a total of four sets of pajamas.

Huge profit!

Leon, carrying bags of various sizes, followed Roswitha out of the store.

Damn it.

Even after leaving his mentor’s wife, he still couldn’t escape the fate of being a bag-carrying tool.

Next on the date checklist:

Shopping, successfully completed. ✔