I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!

Alina shook her head with a smile, her heart warm at the sight.

Lucien, sitting quietly near the end of the mat, was working with such slow concentration that it almost looked like he was in deep meditation rather than doing an art project. His pencil lines were faint and uneven, as though he wasn't sure where each petal should go, and when he picked up the scissors, he held them a little too tightly, making each cut jagged.

Alina glanced at him a few times.

At one point, he stopped cutting entirely and looked over at Felix's perfect fox-tail leaf, then at Vlad Jr.'s elegant curves, and finally at Boo's flame-petal chaos. His lips pressed together, and instead of redoing his own, he just kept going, as if deciding it didn't matter if his petals weren't perfect.

When it came time to glue the pieces, Lucien placed the stem slightly tilted to the side, then stuck the petals on in a lopsided circle. The pearl, instead of being in the middle, ended up glued near the edge—probably by accident but he didn't seem bothered.

Boo floated past and peeked at it. "Hmm… it's… different," Boo said slowly, as if trying not to sound too honest.

Lucien shrugged, his voice calm and soft. "Flowers don't have to be the same." Then, after a pause, he added, "Mine is sleeping."

Alina's lips curved into a gentle smile at that.

"Alright! Everyone has done a wonderful job," Alina announced, holding up her hands with a proud smile. "We'll put them all on our classroom display so everyone can see how creative you are."

The moment the words left her mouth, a wave of happy chatter filled the room. Vlad Jr. sat up straighter, Boo twirled in midair, Felix wagged his nine tails proudly, and even Kelpie gave a shy little grin. But Luna… Luna was frozen, staring at her paper flower as if she'd just been personally wronged.

Her tiny ears twitched, her golden-brown eyes narrowed, and she gave the kind of scowl only a wolf pup could manage. In her little head, she had imagined the teacher holding up her work first, telling everyone how perfect it was. Instead, it was going on the wall with everyone else's. How… ordinary.

The wolf pup's displeasure was so intense that poor Rocky, sitting beside her, edged away like someone retreating from a ticking bomb. His wide blue eyes darted to the door as if considering escape.

While Alina made her way around the room, collecting each masterpiece with gentle praise, a certain red-haired baby dragon was busy with his own secret mission. Drake's eyes flicked toward the supply box, specifically the glittering pearls sitting inside. The sparkle was just too tempting. He glanced left, glanced right, then with the most innocent smile in the world, slipped a small handful into his pocket. His little chubby fingers closed around them like they were treasure from the royal vault. In his mind, the pearls gleamed brighter than any dragon hoard.

Finally, Alina reached Luna, who was still sulking, her tiny paws folded over her knees like she was personally insulted by the concept of equal praise. Alina crouched down and smiled softly. "Good job, Luna."

The effect was instant. Luna's scowl eased, her ears perked up, and she gave a small, satisfied nod—as if balance in the world had finally been restored. Rocky, still beside her, let out the smallest sigh of relief.

After nap time, the little ones began to trickle out one by one, waving and calling their goodbyes. The classroom slowly emptied until it was just Alina tidying up. She brushed her hands on her skirt, took a deep breath, and headed straight for the principal's office.

Her steps slowed as she neared the heavy wooden door. A tiny flicker of nervousness coiled in her stomach—though she wasn't sure if it was from the actual meeting or from the ridiculous thing Boo had whispered earlier during gossip time.

She raised her hand and knocked lightly.

"Come in," came Dante's deep, steady voice from inside.

Alina straightened immediately, lifting her chin and putting on her best professional smile. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside. "Good afternoon, sir," she greeted politely.

Dante glanced up briefly, gave her a short nod, then motioned for her to speak while his eyes dropped back to the thick stack of documents on his desk.

Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Boo's earlier words popped into her head—about the principal supposedly talking to his "evil twin" in the mirror. The image was so absurd she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling.

"Miss Alina?" Dante's voice was suddenly sharper, pulling her back to reality. His eyes lifted, sharp and assessing, as if wondering what kind of strange daydream had just crossed her mind.

Alina's cheeks warmed and she gave a small, awkward smile. "Yes, sir."

"Do you mind stating your business?" His tone was polite but edged with faint curiosity. He found it strangely amusing to see this human teacher looking at him with such a mix of nerves and barely hidden humor. What on earth was she thinking about?

"Oh—yes, of course." She cleared her throat, shifting her folder in her hands. "I wanted to talk to you about several things."

"Have a seat," he said, leaning back in his chair.

Alina nodded quickly and lowered herself into the seat opposite his desk, still trying to push Boo's silly gossip out of her head… though she couldn't quite keep the tiniest smile from tugging at her lips.

"Sir, I wanted to talk to you about Class D's schedule first," Alina began, folding her hands neatly in her lap. Dante lifted his eyes from the document in front of him and gave a small nod, gesturing for her to continue.

"I've been looking through it and… I think the schedule isn't very balanced," she said carefully. "Some of the activities are fine, but there's not much variety. For example, I noticed there's a music room here in the kindergarten, but in Class D's schedule there's no music time at all."

Dante leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. "That schedule is old," he said simply. "It was made by Miss Clara."

Alina blinked at the name. And then it clicked—Miss Clara, the previous Class D teacher, who spent most of her day napping at her desk while the babies entertained themselves. No wonder the schedule looked so lifeless.