"But you must have heard it just now—as it stands, even with Aunt Isa, we don't have enough people to join the game," Noa said.

"Use that clever little brain of yours and figure something out. Think, what would your unstoppable father do in such a situation?"

Hearing this, Noa pondered for a moment before replying with a dead-serious tone,

"He'd have to figure out how to get off the wheelchair first."

...

This response, bearing a faint hint of a dark humor, was truly as it was. It wasn’t just a matter of numbers; even if they somehow gathered enough people, her father’s impaired mobility made it impossible for him to participate in such an interactive game.

As for the ancestor, despite her dissatisfaction, there wasn’t much she could do either.

Nightshade Crystal, a magical material that, without the Primordial Power to activate it, was mostly useful only as a crafting material, was undeniably rare. It wasn’t something one could just readily acquire.

With that thought, the matriarch let out a soft sigh.

"Fine. But if the opportunity arises, make sure to try your best to secure it."

It was rare to hear the elder speak to her in such a negotiated tone, which made it clear just how important that piece of Nightshade Crystal was to her.

Naturally, Noa couldn’t respond with her usual bantering tone. She simply nodded.

"Alright, I understand."

Exiting her consciousness space, she returned to find Muen and Aurora already preparing to start a game of blindfold tag.

Old-fashioned as it might be, the game remained a classic and could still count as one of the little dragon girls' go-to favorites.

"Big sis, come join us~" Muen waved at Noa from a short distance away.

"Coming!"

Noa replied, standing up and jogging over to join her sisters in their game.

For the time being, the discussion about interactive games could only be put on hold.

Two weeks later, just when the three sisters had almost forgotten about it, Helena and Claudia paid a visit to the Silver Dragon Clan.

Since Claudia was the eldest princess of the Sea Dragon Clan and the future queen, her visit naturally warranted a personal welcome from both Leon and Roswitha.

Compared to their previous meetings, the graceful woman’s attire today appeared much more relaxed. Her loose, flowing blue hair combined with a light application of makeup accentuated her mature charm even further.

Upon hearing that Helena had arrived, Noa eagerly ran into the courtyard.

"Long time no see, Roswitha."

"Long time no see, senior."

"Aunt Roswitha, hello~" Little Helena waved warmly.

Roswitha bent slightly, her silver hair cascading down as she reached out to pat Helena’s head.

"Hello to you too, Helena."

"Hey, Leon, your leg seems to be just about healed?"

Leon patted his knee with a smile.

"Yep. Thanks to the Silver Dragon Clan's secret remedy, it didn’t take long at all to recover."

"Secret... remedy? What kind of miracle medicine works that quickly?" Even someone as experienced as Claudia couldn’t help but perk up at the mention.

Her question left the couple momentarily at a loss.

Both froze, exchanging glances with each other.

The queen’s side-eye held a trace of reproach, as if to say, "Idiot, why did you have to bring it up?"

Leon, on his part, could only shrug innocently.

To be fair, the so-called "miraculous secret medicine" wasn’t exactly the most dignified thing to talk about.

It was... " Leon's Dire Pill."

Or in a more formal term: **Black Dragon Bolus**.

Eager to expedite his recovery and proceed with the next phase of his training, Leon had tried every fast-acting remedy Roswitha could find for his injuries—none of which seemed to work.

That was, until they inadvertently discovered the hidden effects of the Black Dragon Bolus. Within three days of taking it, General Leon had ditched his wheelchair, flung away his crutches, and was walking as briskly as a young man!

Of course, the night before achieving "brisk as a young man," the queen experienced, for the third time, the rather memorable and, ahem, lingering effects of the Black Dragon Bolus herself.

Shaking away those wandering thoughts, Roswitha returned to the present and replied,

"It's nothing, really—just an old family recipe passed down through generations."

Claudia nodded understandingly.

"Since it’s a secret recipe, I won’t pry further."

"Helena!"

Noa’s cheerful voice echoed from behind.

Everyone turned to look.

Upon Helena seeing Noa, the smile on her lovely face widened.

Waving, she ran to greet her friend, calling out loudly,

"Noa-chan~!"

A little over two weeks ago, Noa’s parents had returned home mentioning that Helena would be visiting soon.

After waiting for so long without seeing her friend, Noa had begun to wonder if she’d been stood up.

But apparently, her worries had been unfounded.

Helena had not only come to see her but had also brought Aunt Claudia along. Did this mean... Helena would be staying for a few days?

Just as she was gleefully entertaining the thought, Noa suddenly felt a cold chill creeping up behind her.

Turning her head slowly, she caught sight of a single erect strand of hair standing tall in her field of vision—sharp and unwavering like a sword, exuding an aura of silent "menace."

"Big sis, I tried to stop her, but she broke through," Aurora explained sheepishly.

Noa simply gave a helpless laugh.

"Muen, Helena’s here to play with us!"

Little Muen pouted slightly, the tip of her tail twitching as she responded in a tone that was anything but friendly,

"It’s so nice that you came to visit us, Sister Helena."

...Yeah, didn’t sound nice at all.

Helena, knowing well she had no choice but to play along with the ever-possessive sister, smiled and replied warmly,

"Thank you~"

Meanwhile, the pink-haired Aurora was observing everything with her wide, curious eyes—looking from her eldest sister to her second sister, then to Helena.

She understood now.

During her nonstop pursuit of knowledge through books, Aurora had taken breaks reading light novels for leisure.

Some of these novels featured a particular trope centered around a "charismatic protagonist" and their "various ambiguous companions."

Whenever these companions all gathered in the same space with the protagonist present, such classic scenes became labeled as... **a love triangle showdown—the no-exit dilemma.**

Audiences always enjoyed watching such smooth-talking protagonists get caught in the crossfire of jealous individuals, tangled in awkward, foot-shrinking predicaments that were painfully delightful to witness.

If Aurora’s understanding from books was correct, her eldest sister might very well be experiencing one of those delightful fiascos right now!

On one side, there was her best friend from school.

On the other, there was her younger sister bonded since childhood.

Hmm~~~~

The air here was delightfully chaotic!

As Aurora deliberated over whether she should stir things up even further for maximum chaos, Claudia’s voice intercepted her thoughts.

"By the way, Leon, now that you’re all healed, isn’t it time to fulfill the promise you made to me?"

"Promise?"

The four little dragons exchanged confused looks, having no clue what promise their parents might be referring to.

"Of course, senior," Leon replied.

With that, the three adults turned their gazes towards the four young dragon girls.

Scratching her head in confusion, Helena couldn’t help asking,

"What is it, Mom?"

"Do you remember telling me how much you wanted to try that... ah, what was it again? Real-life... something?"

Helena’s eyes lit up excitedly.

"Real-life interactive game!!"

Claudia chuckled, nodding.

"That’s the one. With Noa and her sisters all here, and her parents agreeing to come along, doesn’t that make for enough players?"

"Interactive game?"

Noa joined in the conversation.

"Are you talking about that trending haunted castle adventure in Sky City?"

Little Helena nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! Yes! That’s the one! How did you know?"

"I saw the flyer for it a few days ago. I wanted to join too, but we didn’t have enough team members," Noa said with a chuckle.

"I wasn’t expecting you and Aunt Claudia to be interested in something like this."

"I had to beg my Mom endlessly for her to say yes," Helena admitted sheepishly.

When Claudia had added this condition in the Empire Library negotiations, Leon had been puzzled. Why would a woman of her status want to participate in such a thing?

Her answer? It was because Helena wanted to.

With their daughters eager to try this fun family-friendly game, the couple hadn’t hesitated to agree.

And now, realizing their own daughters had also been itching to go—well, how serendipitous!

"Muen, Aurora, didn’t you two mention the other day that you wanted to try this game?" Noa asked.

Muen nodded immediately. She’d spotted the game flyer a few days back and had desperately wanted to play but couldn’t due to the headcount shortage.

Now that Helena and Claudia had joined in, she wasn’t about to miss out.

Moreover...

There was *no way* she’d let her big sister and Helena play this interactive game alone.

She had to go!

However, Aurora, who had been silent until now, soon identified a glaring issue amidst all the lively chatter.

"But we’re still short on players," she pointed out.

"Mom, Dad, Big Sis, Second Sis, Helena, Aunt Claudia, and me... That’s only seven people, but the flyer clearly said it takes eight players to start."

Leon casually placed his hands on his hips and assured her,

"Don’t worry about that at all, Aurora. Your Aunt Isa would never miss out on such an opportunity."