“Just the thought of hearing such a simple question come from your mouth feels kind of amusing.”
Asterys finally finished laughing and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“Sister, let the person outside come in. Stop eavesdropping out there.”
Delucia had long since noticed the little girl listening outside and used telepathy to inform Asterys.
“Mm-hmm~”
Outside the door, Illucy had just heard that when a sudden chill ran over her ankle. She looked down in horror and saw a hand emerging from her shadow. The hand grabbed her ankle and tugged hard, pulling her straight inside.
Plop!
Illucy landed on her knees, her eyes darting nervously as she dared not meet the gaze of the three children before her.
Dolosa frowned and stood up, looking down at the girl from above. “How long have you been eavesdropping out there? Did you hear everything?”
“I-I…” Illucy’s body trembled. She was truly scared and really bad at talking to others.
“Why are you so scared? We’re not going to hit you, nor are we like Dexilensi and kill people.”
Dolosa really didn’t understand why this one was so timid.
She had thought she was just pretending before, but now it seemed Illucy was genuinely socially anxious and introverted.
Even without Liang Lai around, Illucy would still shake whenever she spoke to others.
Illucy’s eyes reddened.
Summoning her courage, she looked up briefly at Dolosa before lowering her head again, stammering, “I-I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I was just curious, so I… I…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter.
Dolosa: “…”
She tugged at her ear, signaling she hadn’t heard a word. Then she squatted down and leaned closer to Illucy.
“I told you we’re not going to hit you. How long did you listen?”
Illucy finally mustered courage again and said, “I didn’t listen long, just, just about three minutes…”
“I remember we’ve been in this room for less than five minutes…” Dolosa covered her face. “Looks like you heard the whole thing after all.”
Illucy lowered her head in shame.
Great, she’d been caught eavesdropping. With her personality, she was already disliked by others. Now, this would only make things worse…
But Dolosa didn’t say anything more. She stood and looked at Asterys and Delucia.
“Do you two have anything to say?”
She pointed at Illucy sitting on the ground.
Asterys and Delucia shook their heads simultaneously.
“We pulled her into the room not to blame her,” Asterys said, gesturing toward Illucy, “We just want to tell you, Dolosa, remember when you told Liang Lai that Illucy had deliberately hurt herself? But did Liang Lai believe it? She just thought it was some childish quarrel between you all…”
“So,” Delucia added, “it’s the same when you tell Liang Lai about Dexilensi. Liang Lai will just think it’s another misunderstanding caused by your previous conflicts and won’t trust you. Instead, she’ll try to mediate, wanting everyone to get along because…”
The twin sisters laughed in unison, saying in perfect harmony:
“Because the Saintess is the kindest person ever! How could she believe we’re so scheming? Dolosa, stop wasting your energy—find some other way to earn Mama’s love.”
This strange scene frightened Illucy sitting on the floor.
It was the first time she’d seen Asterys and Delucia speak in such perfect sync, even their gestures were identical, as if they were looking into a mirror.
But that was normal since Delucia was Asterys’s shadow after all.
Dolosa, already used to it, paid no mind. She understood the concern and warning behind their words.
“Yeah,” she said awkwardly, turning her head away, “Anyway, thanks for this.”
She felt the twin sisters didn’t seem as bad as before—somehow more bearable. Maybe they could get along properly from now on.
It was that feeling of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“Th-then can I go now…?” the poor little one sitting on the ground timidly raised her hand, looking at the three girls in front of her.
“No!”
This time, all three said in unison.
Illucy shuddered and slowly withdrew her hand. “I-I won’t say anything then, please don’t be mad.”
She really looked like she had suffered some great injustice.
Dolosa rubbed her forehead.
“We’re not trying to make things difficult for you.”
Asterys bent down, trying to look into Illucy’s eyes, but found that the girl hadn’t even trimmed her bangs, which completely covered her eyes, leaving Asterys unable to see anything.
She sighed in resignation and stood straight again.
“Hah~”
She frustratedly scratched her head.
Delucia pushed past her sister.
“Just say it already.”
She was quicker and more straightforward than Asterys.
“Illucy, we suggest you stay away from Dexilensi. With a personality as easy to manipulate as yours, you’re basically an easy target for her to kill~”
Delucia twisted into a strange smile.
Seeing that smile, Illucy shivered once more.
“S-she really wants to kill people…?”
After asking, Illucy immediately regretted it. It seemed she’d subconsciously asked a foolish question.
Though timid, she wasn’t stupid—of course she could tell something was wrong with Dexilensi.
“Uh, uh, I didn’t mean to ask that question… n-no, I wasn’t trying to ask that. A-anyway, thank you both…”
Her gratitude was sincere.
At this moment, facing the most aggressive Dexilensi, the other four children were strangely united.
“We have to think carefully about how to deal with this. We can’t let Dexilensi stay here. Not only does she threaten our lives, but she could even endanger… Liang Lai.”
Asterys looked out the window, narrowing her eyes.
“We have a feeling that woman is definitely not good news. She might behave well for now, but better safe than sorry. What if she’s a Talent Monster? When she gets stronger than us, she’ll definitely come after us again…!”
At these words, the room fell silent once more, everyone lost in thought.
But all of them shared the same conclusion—how to drive Dexilensi out of this home.
They absolutely refused to live with someone so dangerous!