Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Elizabeth hid around the corner of the staircase, pressing her back against the wall as she peeked cautiously toward the music classroom.
That little pink-haired girl was standing at the door, glancing around as if she’d sensed something.

“Tch, these brats are way too sharp,” Elizabeth muttered under her breath.
Luckily, the girl didn’t spot her and retreated back inside, allowing Elizabeth to breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as she was about to leave, another small figure entered the classroom.

“It’s Noa…”
Elizabeth’s mind began to churn.
“So, the girls from Leon’s family all gather here one by one for piano practice, and now Noa is joining them. This couldn’t be more convenient.”
Her initial plan had been simple—smear glue on the piano to prank Muse, making her cry in frustration when her hands got stuck. But now? She could take care of all of them at once.

Her hand gripped the dark gray staff she carried, and she began channeling magic into her palm.
Suddenly, someone pressed a hand onto her shoulder from behind.
Startled, Elizabeth immediately dispersed her magic, thinking she’d been caught. She whirled around to see who it was, only to roll her eyes in irritation.

“Mevis, can you not sneak up on people like that? You scared me to death.”
Mevis’s dark eyes regarded her coldly. “What were you about to do, Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth straightened up and crossed her arms.
“Leon’s daughters are all in the music classroom. We could take them out in one fell swoop and finish the task Lord Shadow assigned us.”

Mevis’s tone remained icy, mirroring her expression, which was as frosty as Noa’s.
“It’s after school hours. The hallways are busy with students and staff. Unless you can eliminate them instantly, someone will notice, and not only will you expose yourself, but you’ll also risk exposing Lord Shadow.”
Elizabeth huffed. She didn’t like taking orders from this woman, but Mevis had a point. Acting rashly could jeopardize their plans.
“Fine, this was a spur-of-the-moment idea. I didn’t have time to prepare.”

“Spur of the moment?” Mevis raised an eyebrow. “Then what was your original reason for coming here?”
Elizabeth leaned against the wall with an air of nonchalance.
“I grabbed some glue from the storage room and smeared it on the piano keys. You know how Muse loves her little games. Just imagining her little dragon paws stuck to the piano, crying for help, is hilarious to me.”
Her tone dripped with gleeful malice, but Mevis remained unimpressed, her expression utterly calm.

“What’s with that face? Don’t tell me you have a problem with my methods.”
“No,” Mevis replied, pausing before adding, “I just think it’s childish.”
“Humph. Whatever. I’m not letting those brats have an easy time of it. This failure is just the start—next time, I’ll be ready.”
Mevis didn’t respond, letting Elizabeth ramble about her grand schemes.

“What are you even doing here?” Elizabeth asked.
“I came to observe Noa while she practiced piano,” Mevis replied matter-of-factly.
Elizabeth squinted at her suspiciously.
“You’ve been shadowing her pretty closely. Are you two best friends now?”

“Lord Shadow tasked me with staying near Noa, monitoring her, and earning her trust. That’s all I’m doing.” Mevis’s response was so smooth that Elizabeth almost wanted to accuse her of rehearsing it.
“Well, you seem to be doing a decent job,” Elizabeth remarked.
“Mm.”

Mevis turned to leave, but Elizabeth suddenly ran after her, saying,
“I’ve got a new idea.”
Without breaking stride or looking back, Mevis asked,
“What idea?”
“Let me see Noa’s class schedule.”

Hearing this, Mevis’s steps faltered slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She said nothing, merely leading Elizabeth to her office.
Each teacher in the academy’s Youth Dragon Division had a private office, decorated to their personal taste.
When Elizabeth entered Mevis’s office, however, she found the decor so minimalistic it reminded her of an imperial washroom.

“Your office is less cozy than my bathroom back in the empire,” she scoffed.
Ignoring the comment, Mevis retrieved Noa’s class schedule from a drawer and handed it over.
Elizabeth skimmed it quickly, then shook her head.
“You’re such a considerate teacher, Mevis.”

“Why do you say that?”
“This schedule is so light. Anyone looking at it would think Noa was here to retire, not study.”
Mevis took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation Elizabeth’s remarks stirred within her.

“So, your idea is to increase her workload?”
“Of course! She needs to learn the value of effort,” Elizabeth said with an air of superiority.
“Fine. What do you want to add?” Mevis asked, already bracing herself.

“Start her day with twenty laps around the field. She needs a proper warm-up before ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ anything else!” Elizabeth declared, grabbing a pen to make edits to the schedule.
“Thirty laps,” Mevis muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Elizabeth smirked triumphantly as she finished writing. Tossing the updated schedule at Mevis, she added,
“Don’t feel bad for her, Mevis. Thirty laps is just the start. Let’s see if she can still keep her breakfast down!”

The next morning, Elizabeth stood at the edge of the field, watching Noa jog her laps with effortless grace.
“Twenty… twenty-one… twenty-two… thirty laps!”
Elizabeth gawked as Noa completed her run, barely breaking a sweat.

“What the…?! Mevis, what is going on?”
“I was going to warn you yesterday,” Mevis said, arms crossed.
“Warn me about what?”

“About feeling sorry for Noa. Twenty laps is nothing to her.”
Elizabeth’s eye twitched.
“Nothing?!”
Mevis watched Noa as she slowed to a gentle jog.
“From her first semester in the Youth Dragon Division, Noa has done fifty laps as her standard warm-up. Your extra twenty laps were barely a challenge.”

Elizabeth’s frustration was palpable as she stormed off.
“Where are you going?” Mevis called after her.
“To my cursed morning classes!”
Mevis’s usually frosty expression softened slightly as she allowed herself a rare smile.

“Such a troublesome woman,” she murmured before turning her attention back to Noa.
“Noa, that’s enough! Let’s start today’s lessons.”