Asterys and Delucia’s shadows merged into one in the corridor, like a lurking beast, quietly waiting for the moment to strike.
Moonlight filtered through the stained glass, stretching their twisted silhouettes long, so very long.
The next morning.
As the first rays of dawn crept up the window lattice, Liang Lai rose quietly, careful not to wake Dolosa, who was sleeping soundly in her arms.
She gently pulled her golden hair free from the girl’s tightly clasped hands, and with her fingertips, condensed a small cluster of Crystallization, leaving the words “I’m going to the Holy Registry” on the dressing table.
“Delucia, you have to stay home and be good, okay~”
Liang Lai crouched down to tidy Asterys’s collar.
“Once Mama finishes your sister’s paperwork, I’ll be right back.”
A faint darkness flashed across Delucia’s Six-Pointed Star Pupils, but she quickly returned to her obedient expression.
“I’ll be very good~”
She tilted her head, a sliver of snowy white neck peeking out from her white hair.
“Can I help Mama organize the wardrobe?”
“Of course you can.”
Liang Lai smiled and patted her head, completely unaware that Dolosa was standing at the stairwell corner, blue eyes surging with anger.
As the front door closed, Delucia’s sweet smile melted away like sugar icing, revealing her true self.
After straightening everything up, her shadow suddenly stretched out, slithering toward the kitchen like a venomous snake.
She just so happened to pass by the staircase where Dolosa was hiding.
“Eavesdropping isn’t a good habit, sis—sis~” Delucia deliberately drew out the words, twirling a strand of white hair between her fingers.
Dolosa stepped out from the shadows, her body trembling with rage.
“Drop the act. The moment Liang Lai leaves, your true colors show.”
“Oh my, I’ve been found out?”
Delucia covered her mouth in an exaggerated gesture, while her shadow tendrils wrapped around Dolosa’s ankle like living things.
“But Mama likes me just the way I am~”
Dolosa’s fingers crystallized, a cold gleam flashing—those Shadow Tendrils snapped instantly. “How long do you think you can keep up this charade?”
“Long enough~”
Delucia spun around, humming a tune.
“Long enough for Mama to forget she even has another daughter.”
Suddenly, she leaned in, malice flickering in her Six-Pointed Star Pupils.
“You know, last night when Mama was holding you, I was right outside the door, listening. Every word she said—I remember them all, clear as crystal.”
Dolosa’s hackles rose.
She remembered Liang Lai’s warm embrace, those gentle murmurs—all stolen away by this monster.
“You’re not allowed to call her Mama!”
Dolosa’s fingertips began to crystallize.
“She has no idea what you things really are!”
Delucia’s shadow suddenly surged, casting a hideous shape upon the wall.
“So what?”
Her voice sharpened, “Out there, the first lesson we learned was—if you want something, you have to take it by any means necessary!”
“And besides, Mama knows exactly what we are, and she said it herself. She even registered my sister to stay here with a Saint Favor Card! My sister and I are one and the same—she’s letting us both stay! That means she likes us!”
“You…!”
Their standoff was interrupted by the sudden sound of the door opening. Asterys came bouncing in, the brand-new Cross Mark on her forehead glowing brightly.
“I passed the Detection!”
She spun around proudly, completely oblivious to the tension in the air.
Liang Lai followed behind, silver hair damp with morning dew.
“My, Delucia, you’re such a good girl, you even organized the wardrobe?”
She looked in delight at the neatly stacked Holy Robes.
Delucia immediately switched back to her sweet smile, her shadow obediently shrinking back to her feet.
“Because I want to be Mama’s good child~ If Mama is happy seeing what I’ve done, then I’m happy too!”
She looked at Liang Lai, her eyes shining as if she were gazing at a sparkling star—her gaze filled with both fervor and adoration.
Dolosa bit her lower lip hard, watching Liang Lai stroke Delucia’s hair gently, watching Asterys nuzzle Liang Lai’s arm affectionately.
Her chest ached as though gnawed by a venomous snake.
From then on, Dolosa began her “Investigation.”
She followed Liang Lai to Morning Prayer, only to find Delucia could always “run into” her along the way.
She hid outside the study and heard Asterys recite poetry to Liang Lai in a voice so sweet it made her teeth ache.
Even late at night, peeking through the crack of the door, she could see the twins taking turns bringing tea and water to Liang Lai.
“They’re just too perfect…” One midnight, Dolosa curled up in the wardrobe, muttering to herself.
A notebook lay open before her, densely packed with records of the twins’ “crimes,” yet not a single real piece of evidence.
“It’s unnaturally perfect!”
Dolosa ruffled her hair in frustration.
She remembered this afternoon, when Liang Lai’s teacup had been knocked over, Delucia’s shadow had darted out like lightning to catch it, and Liang Lai had only laughed and praised her quick reflexes.
Suddenly, the wardrobe door was yanked open.
In the moonlight, Delucia’s Six-Pointed Star Pupils glimmered coldly.
“Found you~”
She tilted her head. “What are you writing, a Confession Notebook?”
Dolosa snapped the notebook shut, but Delucia’s shadow had already coiled around her wrist.
“Let go!”
Dolosa’s hand swiped through the air, but only managed to sever a few wisps of shadow.
“Do you really think Mama will believe any of this?”
Delucia tilted her head, Six-Pointed Star Pupils flickering with an eerie light in the moonlight.
Her shadow slithered along the wardrobe walls like a living creature, trapping Dolosa in the cramped space.
Dolosa’s fingertips condensed into tiny Crystals, glinting coldly under the moonlight.
She stared coldly at the Shadowborn before her, blue eyes burning with stubborn fire.
“Then let’s see.” Dolosa enunciated every word, her voice squeezed through clenched teeth. “Let’s see who Liang Lai cares about more.”
Delucia’s smile froze.
She hadn’t expected Dolosa to suddenly change her words and stop calling Liang Lai “Mama.”
That tiny shift made her shadow tremble with unease.
Dolosa seized the chance to push open the wardrobe door and strode toward the stairs.
Her heart pounded, palms slick with sweat.
This decision was risky, but there was no turning back—she had to, for the sake of her pride after her bold words, and to win Liang Lai back.
Delucia’s shadow followed close behind, like a venomous snake waiting for its chance.
At the stairwell landing, Liang Lai was carrying a stack of freshly washed Holy Robes upstairs.
The Crystal Hair Ornament in her silver hair swayed gently with each step, casting a soft glow in the dim corridor.
“Liang Lai!”
Dolosa suddenly rushed in front of her, her voice eight pitches higher than usual.
“I—I have something really important to tell you!”
Liang Lai looked up in surprise, Dolosa’s anxious face reflected in her violet pupils.
“What is it, little Duo? It’s so late, why aren’t you sleeping yet? What’s so urgent?”