Twenty minutes ago, the first subject of the young dragons' entrance exams had ended. Four more subjects remained.
Aurora sat at the back of the classroom, watching the young candidates from different races. She pondered how to find some amusement in such a stern exam setting.
It was then that Muen walked up to her.
"Aurora."
"What is it, second sister?"
"Are you feeling unwell?" Muen asked seriously.
Aurora blinked and shook her head. "No, why do you ask?"
"During the exam just now, I noticed you were resting your head on the desk for nearly half the time. Aren't you feeling unwell?"
"Ah, that... It wasn't half the time or anything as exaggerated as that—at most, a quarter~," Aurora joked.
Seeing her younger sister still in the mood to make jokes, Muen was less worried.
Nonetheless, Muen reminded her, "If you feel unwell, you must tell the invigilator immediately, okay?"
"Mm-hmm, I know, second sister."
In truth, Aurora wasn’t intentionally slacking off during the exam. She was working on a "major project"—score control.
As the term implied, score control involved regulating one’s marks to fall within a self-determined range. It was often a "show-off" technique used by overachieving prodigies who were simply too bored.
However, Aurora wasn’t controlling her score to show off; she just wanted to ensure she landed in the "middle ground."
It was common knowledge that if you wanted to enjoy some amusement, no matter the field, you should never be the one leading the pack. Because all the attention in a group inevitably focused on the "leader," and the more attention you received, the more likely you were to mess up and experience deep social embarrassment.
Aurora wasn’t aiming to *become* the amusement—her goal was to *observe* it.
Thus, some answers on her test paper were purposefully filled in haphazardly—enough to hold her score down and avoid becoming the "top of the class" that everyone looked up to.
There was another reason, too. Her older sister Noa, who was not just a senior in school but also her literal family elder, had already consistently held first place in every possible category. If Aurora also became a perennial first-place student, the attention and discussion from outsiders would inevitably shift to her instead of Noa.
Aurora wasn’t sure what her second sister thought about all this, but as far as she was concerned, she absolutely did not want to become the subject of endless gossip.
So, controlling her score seemed an absolute necessity.
Besides, Aurora had already planned well ahead of time. Even if her parents, during the interview portion of the interview, completely flipped the interviewer's desk and tanked her score to the lowest of the low, it wouldn't matter. With the scores she had held back, it would still be enough to clear the entrance exam.
Then, when she finally carried her little bag and entered her classroom, she could immediately identify the brightest "leader" among her peers, ready to be the source of endless amusement for her.
This was how she felt: *I, Aurora of the Silver Dragon Clan and the genius goddess of all things amusing, shall prevail.*
Naturally, she didn’t share this thought with her second sister.
Setting aside whether Muen could even comprehend her penchant for amusement or her motivations, Muen had come to the academy for a very clear purpose: to catch up with their elder sister Noa—and prevent some random little dragon girl from stealing Noa away. Therefore, "score control" was definitely not something her second sister would consider doing.
In short, Aurora’s score control had been going smoothly so far. She only needed to suppress her scores a little more, and she’d achieve a mid-tier result effortlessly.
"This year’s test is so hard."
"Yeah, yeah, I had no clue how to solve so many questions and just wrote things down randomly."
"I heard from an upper-class girl from my clan that this year’s exam is indeed harder compared to previous years."
"Huh? Why?"
"Not sure... Maybe the academy wants to admit dragons with more talent."
"......"
The other young dragons in the exam hall were murmuring about how difficult this year’s test was.
Muen and Aurora also overheard their discussions.
"I think the test this time is really hard too," Muen said.
Aurora nodded with agreement. "Mm, it really is."
This was true.
Though she was all about seeking amusement, Aurora had still taken the test seriously—this was the only way to ensure that the questions she answered were 100% correct.
Her father had gone over previous years’ tests with them before, and none of those were as difficult as the one just now.
Many of the questions weren’t even of the same type or format as those in previous years. They instead relied on the applicant's understanding of magic and general knowledge, requiring candidates to independently think through and solve them. It was a tough test of critical thinking for these young dragons.
Aurora had initially thought she was the only one who found it challenging, but it turned out that everyone felt the same way.
"That said, Dad taught us really well, so I answered everything on the test, including those completely new kinds of questions. Though I’m not sure I've got everything right, I at least figured out the basic approach to solve them," Muen said.
Aurora gave her second sister a thumbs up.
She trusted her second sister’s capabilities.
Though Muen usually seemed like the very definition of a "laid-back mascot," Aurora had long since noticed that her second sister didn’t slack off out of laziness. Instead, Muen only relaxed after she had completed everything she needed to do.
As for why Muen seemed to slack off most of the time, the answer was simple:
She completed her tasks really quickly.
Work-rest equilibrium, in essence.
"My score is definitely not going to be high this time. Ugh, we can kiss the title of ‘Model Family’ goodbye this year!"
"Relax, relax! As long as we pass the test, it’s good enough. I, for one, don’t care too much about something like the ‘Model Family’ title."
"Thinking back to the past three years’ Model Families, they’ve all been impressive! Especially that upper-class girl from three years ago, Noa K. Melkevi. I heard she’s still getting perfect scores in all her subjects to this day."
"......"
The test candidates shifted their conversation from the difficulty of the test to the subject of the "Model Family" title.
Aurora perked up her ears and listened intently.
"Second sister, what’s a Model Family?"
"Oh, a Model Family? Every year, Saint Hiss Academy holds two entrance tests, and for each test, one family earns the ‘Model Family’ title for having the highest total score."
Muen crossed her arms, wagging her tail and even the little ahoge on her head proudly as she explained, "Our family used to be one! Back then, Mom, Dad, and our eldest sister earned the highest marks in both the written and interview portions, claiming the title of that year’s Model Family."
Aurora's pink-tinted eyes sparkled. "Wow~ I didn’t know our family had such a glorious history."
"Indeed!" Muen said, her voice filled with nostalgia. "Aurora, let’s try to earn high scores this year, too~"
Aurora tilted her head. "Well..."
Would she really give up the opportunity for fun just for the title of "Model Family"?
Hmm—
Tough decision.
"That way, Mom and Dad can take us on stage to deliver a speech!"
On stage. A speech.
That did sound like potential fun—but still not enough.
"I remember Dad even kissed Mom on stage, in front of everyone~ And—"
"Wait! Second sister, what did you just say?"
"I said Dad kissed Mom on stage during his speech, in front of SO many people!"
In front of SO many people—
Kissed Mom!
Aurora: ✪ω✪!
Compared to the idea of her dad publicly kissing her mom, the amusement of observing inspiration from a top-ranked peer completely paled in comparison!
It turned out that being born into this family was the best decision she could have ever made. Just when Aurora thought life might turn dull, her family never failed to surprise her with something spectacular.
Aurora’s amusement-driven spirit could hardly contain itself at the thought of her usually bashful and awkward parents kissing each other in front of a massive audience.
She knew it—coming to the academy would guarantee her some fresh, prime amusement!
Ding-ding-ding—
Soon, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next test.
Muen jogged back to her seat.
The invigilator walked around the room, handing out sheets of paper to each candidate.
Aurora looked down at the exam titled *"Foundations of Magic."* After a brief moment, a sly grin appeared on her face. She cracked her knuckles, loosened her neck, and slowly picked up her pencil.
"Mama, Papa, forgive Aurora, but this time—
I’m aiming for a perfect score!"
