After several rehearsals, Leon and his wife gradually became more familiar with Claudia.

As they grew closer, the couple realized that Claudia wasn’t as difficult to get along with as they had initially thought.

She was intelligent, highly emotionally aware, and her words and actions were impeccable.

Interacting with someone like her often felt effortless.

This sense of effortlessness didn’t stem from Claudia lowering herself to accommodate Leon and Roswitha, however.

Because when it came to social skills, Roswitha, as the Silver Dragon Queen, was no less adept than Claudia.

Both of them were masters at reading between the lines, able to predict what the other was about to say or do in just a few words.

And since they weren’t in any sort of adversarial relationship, there was no need to strain their minds extracting tribal intelligence from each other's casual remarks.

Under such conditions, their interactions naturally became very comfortable.

That afternoon, after lunch, Noa took the group of young dragon girls to the administrative office. Today was the day to finalize the performance program, as it was only a week until the official performance.

This left only Leon, his wife, and Claudia in the classroom.

The beautiful lady sat elegantly across from the couple, her posture poised yet tinged with the casual grace of nobility.

With her fingers interlaced, she rested her chin lightly on her hands, crossing her legs as she looked at the couple opposite her with amusement.

"Congratulations, Leon. You can now openly call me 'Mother,'" Claudia teased with a smile.

"Though it still feels a bit awkward, it’s all for the sake of helping the children get good results, Claudia," Leon replied.

Their way of addressing each other had shifted from the initial formal titles—"Mr. Casmode," "Ms. Melkevi," and "Ms. Claudia"—to simply calling each other by their first names.

This wasn’t considered impolite at all. When the difference in status wasn’t significant and as they grew closer, first-name terms often helped further strengthen their bonds.

"Speaking of the children," Claudia began, transitioning into a new topic after her playful jest, "Helena couldn’t stop praising the atmosphere of your home after her last visit. You two must have put a lot of effort into raising them, right?"

"The children are well-behaved; Leon and I didn’t have to do much. Besides, in my opinion, the concept of a family atmosphere isn’t about being 'good' or 'bad,' but rather about being 'suitable' or 'unsuitable,'" Roswitha explained.

"Suitable or unsuitable?" Claudia asked with interest, raising an eyebrow.

Roswitha nodded slightly.

"The atmosphere we’ve created is very suitable for Noa and the others, but it might not work for other children. Helena’s high praise likely comes from encountering a completely new way of familial interaction—something she finds refreshing, that’s all, Claudia."

When Roswitha said Claudia’s name at the end, she deliberately paused slightly.

That pause carried a hidden subtext, which was essentially asking, "Do you understand what I mean?"

Of course, Roswitha wouldn’t outright say this, as doing so could risk making Claudia feel interrogated—a major faux pas in any social interaction.

To build strong relationships, one must smooth out the edges in their words, making them softer and more acceptable.

Don’t be fooled by how the queen and General Leon often stabbed metaphorical knives into each other in jest; when it came to serious matters, Roswitha could handle such situations with ease.

"You have a good point, Roswitha," Claudia replied with a faint, almost subtle smile.

Her smile carried a hint of complexity.

She seemed satisfied with Roswitha’s response.

And within that satisfaction, there appeared to be... a trace of gratitude?

Roswitha understood why Claudia felt satisfied.

Her earlier remarks about the family atmosphere could be summed up as: "All children are wonderful—my family has its merits, and Helena is outstanding too."

It was a high-emotional-intelligence way to balance self-praise while complimenting the other party, creating a win-win situation.

But what was this hint of gratitude about?

Roswitha had seen that look before.

But only on the face of Grandmother Veronica.

Whenever Roswitha and her sister Isa achieved something remarkable, their grandmother would flash this exact expression.

Hmm… Could it be that this Sea Dragon beauty was still indulging in her role as the "Mother" from the rehearsal earlier and hadn’t completely snapped out of character?

After chatting a bit more about parenting, Claudia smoothly transitioned the conversation into... gossip.

"In the Dragon Clan, live-birth families are quite rare. Even Helena was born from cocoon-birth. So, I’m curious—how exactly did the two of you end up together?"

Both Leon and Roswitha froze at the question.

They exchanged glances, and from each other’s eyes, they read the same question:

Why is everyone so obsessed with asking this kind of gossip question?

We just got married, not broke some divine law.

Seriously, it seemed like everyone who came their way had to ask, "How did you two get together?"

Now, for most other Dragon Clan couples, this question wouldn’t be an issue; they could answer it straightforwardly without a hitch.

But the problem was this: Leon and Roswitha were *not* your typical Dragon Clan couple.

Whenever someone asked about their love story, they had to come up with a believable yet logical tale on the spot.

"Well... it’s a long story. After Leon’s tribe disbanded back then, he came to my Silver Dragon Clan, and the two of us... fell in love at first sight."

After thinking it over, Roswitha decided to go with the classic, tried-and-true excuse.

"Yes, we fell in love at first sight," General Leon echoed supportively.

"Love at first sight" was, by far, the ultimate shield against gossip.

Why do you like each other?

Answer: Love at first sight.

When did you realize you had feelings for each other?

Answer: Love at first sight.

What specific event made you decide to get together?

Answer: Love at first sight.

——And just like that, you’ve achieved untouchable status.

"Wow, that’s so romantic," Claudia said, with a dreamy look on her face. "Unfortunately, I, like most traditional members of the Dragon Clan, am a staunch singleton. I’ve never experienced what love feels like."

Consider yourself lucky—you don’t know how much trouble this mother dragon put me through during pregnancy... Leon thought to himself silently.

Claudia continued, "But my younger sister fell in love with someone."

Leon curiously raised an eyebrow. "Helena mentioned before that she has an aunt. I’m guessing that’s your sister?"

Claudia nodded. "Yes, that’s correct."

"She fell in love with someone—what happened next?" Leon asked.

Claudia chuckled lightly, shrugging. "They ended up together, of course. Though it wasn’t love at first sight for them—it was the classic 'hero saves the beauty' scenario."

Leon and Roswitha tossed another glance at each other.

Ahhhh, yes—that’s the unmistakable scent of gossip!

Suddenly, they reevaluated their earlier dismissive stance.

Gossip wasn’t bad. Gossip was reasonable. In fact, the entire world should rise together in the spirit of gossip!

Taking in the anticipation in the couple’s faces, Claudia smiled faintly.

"Their story is, well, quite a long one. A long time ago, my sister found herself in danger. Then, she was saved by a powerful man. And after that… they got married."

Leon & Roswitha: ?

Excuse us—did you just say "quite a long story"? But that was barely no more than fifty words! Where’s the length in that?

We demand details! Details!

Did your math teacher never tell you that incomplete answers without showing your process earn no points?

This is like reading a romance novel where the male and female leads are just about to cross the line into something… spicy, and then the most thrilling part gets replaced with ellipses.

Wouldn’t you storm into the comments section to complain, "I prepared my popcorn for *this*?"

"Huh? What’s wrong? Oh, the specifics, you mean?" Claudia chuckled softly, covering her mouth.

"Well, the particulars... I don’t know them that well either. But anyway, my sister and her partner are very much in love."

A simple yet wholesome love story.

Sure, it was on the short side, but hearing any gossip at all was already a win.

However, just as they thought it was over, Claudia subtly shifted her tone.

"That said... my family, myself included, weren’t entirely supportive of my sister’s marriage. But we couldn’t go against her wishes, so we just turned a blind eye to it."

As her voice trailed off, the children returned to the classroom, and the group started their afternoon rehearsals.

Yet Leon’s thoughts lingered on their earlier conversation.

Even though he had just caught a glimpse of Claudia's family’s secrets, he felt there was something off.

Claudia wasn’t the chatty type.

Why had she suddenly opened up about her family affairs like that today?

It was almost as if… she had done it deliberately—for Leon and Roswitha to hear.