20 Pay Attention!
So, this sister complex is actually planning to stop slacking off.
After the ghost-catching game, the little dragon girls played some other games.
Mostly games involving a bit of body contact.
Though Moon usually slacks off and is considered the mascot of the Silver Dragon Temple, she decided to be clever for once so she could successfully guard the tower.
She spent half the morning nestled in Noia’s arms.
At one point, Noia even thought, why not just sit down, with her hugging Moon, and Helena hugging Little Light, and just chat casually?
But she went along with Moon’s wishes and played various mini-games instead.
After lunch, since they woke up early and had a whole morning of fun, fatigue hit, and Moon tried to resist it.
But she couldn’t hold on.
In the end, with Leon’s comforting words, she went back to her room to take a nap.
Little Light, seeing that there was no fun left for the afternoon, headed straight to Mom’s private library to k*ll some time.
Noia and Helena, however, didn’t need a break. The two girls headed back to the temple’s back garden, lying on the grass, enjoying the warm and pleasant midday sun.
“Noia.”
“Hmm?”
“Your sisters seem to really like you, huh?” Helena gazed at the clear blue sky.
Her pupils matched the color of the sky, a deep azure.
“Yeah, especially Moon. She’s been clingy since she was little.”
After a pause, Noia added, “But it’s been a bit unusual these past couple of days… She’s always clingy, but not to this extent.”
Helena chuckled, closed her eyes, and said lazily, “But you still welcome it with open arms.”
Noia smiled, “Of course! She’s my little sister!”
“You once told me that you work so hard and are so diligent all to protect and take care of your sisters, and not to disappoint Uncle Leon and Aunt Roswiser, right?”
Noia nodded.
“From what I can see, you’re doing great~”
Helena said, “Your sisters rely on you, and I can feel the pride from Uncle and Aunt’s eyes when they look at you. Noia, you’re really doing awesome.”
After a moment, Helena turned her head slightly to look at the girl beside her and suddenly asked, “Don’t you ever feel tired?”
Noia was surprised and turned to look at Helena, “What?”
“All that you do is for others; you never do anything for yourself. Doesn’t that make you feel worn out?”
Noia’s pupils shifted slightly; after a moment, she turned her gaze back to the sky.
“We talked about this before, Helena.”
“But that was ages ago! I want to hear your thoughts now.” Helena said.
Noia bit her lip, pondering for a moment before replying,
“Well, if you ask me now… then my answer is the same: No, I don’t feel tired.”
“Because my sisters need me, and I really don’t want to see Mom’s sad face again, nor do I want Dad to leave me.”
“Helena, saying that everything I do is just for others is simply wrong.”
“Everything I do is for them, but also for myself.”
Looking at her youthful yet determined profile, Helena smiled.
She withdrew her gaze, lay back on the ground, and stretched lazily.
“So, see, I really envy you.”
“Envy me for having two little sisters?”
“Not just that.”
Helena grinned at Noia, “I also envy you for your sense of responsibility and duty. If I were in your place, I probably wouldn’t be able to do what you do.”
Noia’s face turned serious. “Don’t worry, Helena. Once you reach my age, you’ll do it naturally.”
Said the younger sister, who was three years younger than her friend.
Helena giggled and playfully flicked Noia’s shoulder with her tail. “Come on, I’m clearly older than you!”
After chatting a bit more, the conversation shifted to Leon and Roswiser.
“I met Uncle and Aunt at the parent-child sports event last time, and their performance really surprised me.”
Helena said, “They must be very affectionate with each other, right?”
“Yeah… I guess.”
“Guess?”
Noia nodded.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know how Uncle and Aunt act privately?” Helena asked.
Noia’s thoughts shifted slightly as she replied, “Is there really a need to understand a relationship where holding hands makes them blush?”
“… Oh, so they’re the respectful couple type, huh?”
“Hahaha, not really! They just seem like they don’t know how to date, but actually, they care about each other a lot.”
Noia put her hands behind her head, envisioning the daily banter of her mom and dad. “Even though they argue every day and blush at hand-holding, I think… they must be really affectionate behind closed doors. Otherwise, Little Light wouldn’t exist.”
(Little Light: Big Sister, can you believe I was an accident?)
“Yeah… that makes sense. Unaffectionate couples wouldn’t even think about having a second child.”
Helena sighed, “Ah, your family is really lively. I seriously envy the ‘Cocoon Family’!”
Noia turned onto her side, propping her chin with one hand as she looked at her blue-haired friend and asked, “Does Aunt Claudia really not want another child?”
Helena shook her head, “Mom says one of me is enough. Besides, you know our tribe is a bit special; I’m the only one from our clan who came to the academy school.”
“Sea Dragon Race… what exactly did you go through to become so reclusive?” Noia asked.
“I’m not really sure; Mom never goes into detail with me.”
Helena stood up, brushing the grass off her skirt. “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Noia got up too and thought for a moment. She pointed to the back mountain of the Silver Dragon Temple. “Come on, I’ll take you to the back mountain to play. There’s a cherry blossom forest there!”
“Yay, let’s go!”
…
With Moon actively guarding the tower and Little Light providing quiet support, the weekend turned out to be quite pleasant.
On Monday morning, the family stood in the front yard of the temple, waiting for Leviathan alongside Noia and her friend.
Little Light leaned against Leon, secretly glancing at her older sister.
Big Sis was currently wagging Big Sis’s tail, saying she didn’t want to leave and asking if she could take a couple of days off to stay home with her.
Hey, might as well just make her quit if you’re going to be so needy, Little Light thought to herself.
Deep down, Moon knew her sister wouldn’t really take off to stay with her.
It was just a symbolic show of cuteness.
It had been a while since she got to be cute, and it felt really nice!
Moments later, the giant dragon Leviathan slowly hovered above the temple, and a beam of light descended.
Noia pinched Moon’s cheek. “Moon, be good. Your sister will come back next week to keep you company, okay?”
“Okay~”
Moon wasn’t truly clueless.
She gave her sister a little nuzzle before returning to Aunt Roswiser’s side, holding her mom’s hand.
“Be careful on the road, Noia,” Roswiser reminded.
“Got it, Mom.”
“Take good care of yourself,” Leon said.
“Yes, Dad.”
Noia looked at her little sister in their dad’s arms and cheerfully asked, “Are you going to miss me, Little Light?”
“Yeah, I’ll dream about missing you!” Little Light responded.
Noia laughed and waved goodbye.
“Goodbye, Uncle and Aunt~”
Helena politely added her farewells, “Goodbye, little Moon~ Goodbye, Little Light~”
“Goodbye, Sister Helena!” Little Light said brightly.
Though she was a bit reluctant to part with the fun, Little Light was quite satisfied with this weekend.
Moon held her mom’s hand, fidgeting with her skirt, feeling a bit hesitant but eventually said politely, “Goodbye, Sister Helena.”
Through the past couple of days, Moon realized that Helena was a very good girl—polite and sincere.
Roswiser knew her daughter well; she said Moon rarely felt hostility toward anyone, and that was true.
Moon didn’t dislike Helena or feel rejected; she was just worried that Noia’s care and concern for her would slowly fade away because of Helena’s presence.
That’s why over the past two days, she was trying so hard to make her presence felt, afraid her sister would forget about her.
Watching Noia and Helena jog towards Leviathan’s teleportation light, Moon’s feelings were quite complex.
The massive dragon slowly rose, gradually taking off.
Moon gazed at the receding figures, and suddenly, a bold thought popped into her tiny head:
“What if I also go to the academy… then I could see my sister every day!”
