She cherished her friendship with Villeres, but even more, she could not bear the risk of losing the warmth she now had, or the risk of losing Liangcai.
Villeres stared at her with fierce intensity, as if truly seeing for the first time this once-clumsy companion who always used to trail by her side.
The air in the alley was frozen, with only Motifiel’s stifled sobs and the silent standoff between the two remaining.
Motifiel’s eyes, which always seemed a bit foolish, were now filled with tears, yet shone with a clarity of resolve she had never shown before.
She refused Villeres’s request.
To protect Liangcai.
Motifiel’s uncontrollable sobbing echoed in the narrow space, each tear falling upon Villeres’s icy defenses, stirring an indescribable irritation and—the sharp pain of betrayal.
She looked at Motifiel’s usually innocent and ignorant eyes, now flickering with firm determination amidst the tears,
A ridiculous and furious emotion surged within her.
Villeres let out a soft, coldly mocking laugh, shattering the suffocating silence.
“I really don’t know how much Light Honey from the Divine Court you’ve had poured into your brain to be brainwashed into this.”
Her voice was low, but slithered into Motifiel’s ears like a cold venomous snake.
“For a human? A Saintess of the Divine Court? Motifiel, you’re the most laughable, most pitiful Darkspawn I’ve ever seen!”
Motifiel’s body trembled, her lips parted as if to argue, but Villeres’s next words completely stifled her.
“But,” Villeres stepped forward, her icy fingertips nearly touching Motifiel’s forehead, her tone brooking no refusal and laced with threat,
“Do you really think that if you don’t take me, I’ll be helpless? That I can’t find another way to get close to her? At worst, it’ll just take more time, more effort, that’s all.”
But a sly and cruel glint flashed in her crimson eyes.
“As for you… my dear friend. If you dare to rush out now and ‘expose’ me to your Mother Liang Lai…”
She deliberately drew out her words, savoring the instant pallor that swept across Motifiel’s face.
“That’s fine, then we’re both finished. I’ll immediately tell everyone that you, Motifiel, are just like me—a Darkspawn wearing human skin! That you were the one who brought me in! You’ve been deceiving them all along! So, tell me, when that happens, will your kind ‘Mother Liang Lai’ believe you, or will she believe a poor, helpless victim betrayed by her Shadowborn companion?”
Her words were like the coldest dagger, piercing right into Motifiel’s deepest fear.
She pictured Liang Lai looking at her with disappointment, disgust, and fear; imagined the children of the Court of Purity seeing her as a traitor and a monster.
She felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss, her blood nearly frozen.
Villeres knew her too well—knew exactly how to grip her with the cruellest means.
Seeing Motifiel utterly terrified and rooted in place, Villeres curled her lips in satisfaction.
“Be a good girl and wait here. Or… do you want to come home with me?”
She tossed out this venomous jibe, then no longer spared a glance for the ashen Motifiel, turning swiftly to fix her expression and attire.
Her eyes instantly filled with panic and helplessness; she yanked her hair and dress into disarray, even scratching faint bloody lines onto her arm and cheek with her nails, making her look as if she’d just survived some terrible ordeal.
The overbearing Darkspawn from a moment before vanished, replaced in an instant by a pitiful and frightened young girl who had suffered a great shock.
Once she finished, Villeres took a deep breath, then burst out of the alley, stumbling precisely toward Liang Lai, who was nearby showing snacks to the twins.
“Help, help! Wuwuwu… kind lady, please save me!”
She wailed in a heart-wrenching cry and collapsed right at Liangcai’s feet, reaching out her trembling, “injured” hand to clutch Liangcai’s leg, burying her face in the pristine Saintess robes, her shoulders shaking violently, crying so genuinely and movingly that all who saw or heard were stricken with sorrow.
This sudden upheaval startled everyone.
Liang Lai looked down in shock at the black-haired girl at her feet, disheveled and sobbing her heart out, her motherly compassion instantly aroused.
She quickly bent to help her up.
“Oh dear, child, what happened? Come, get up, what’s wrong? Don’t be afraid…”
Dolosa immediately narrowed her eyes with suspicion, instinctively stepping forward to block this unknown woman.
Asterys and Delucia tilted their heads in sync, their Shadowborn senses catching the faintest, inhuman hint of disharmony—yet this was muddled by the overwhelming, desperate human emotion emanating from the girl, leaving them momentarily uncertain.
Illucy hid behind Liang Lai in fright.
Dexilensi frowned in distaste, taking a step back.
And Motifiel, who had just stumbled wretchedly from the alley, saw this very scene.
What she feared most was happening right before her eyes.
Mother Liangcai was looking at that impostor with her gentlest, most caring gaze,
Trying carefully to help her up.
And that impostor—her own friend, Villeres—was rising weakly, using Liangcai’s support.
From an angle Liang Lai could not see, she slowly raised her head, her gaze locking onto the stunned Motifiel standing at the mouth of the alley.
Tears still clung to Villeres’s face, making her seem fragile, but those scarlet eyes looking at Motifiel brimmed with undisguised triumph, provocation, and the sneer of a victor.
Her lips even curled ever so slightly, as if mocking Motifiel’s impotence, as if saying:
Look, I’ve succeeded.
And you, you can do nothing.
Motifiel felt as if struck by lightning, frozen in place, hands and feet cold, mind blank, a great wave of helplessness and terror swallowing her whole.
She could only watch as Villeres, like a snake, wound her way around the person Motifiel most wanted to protect—yet she could not even muster a warning cry.
Villeres looked away, instantly resuming her frightened, pitiful facade, clutching tightly to Liangcai’s arm and choking out, “Th-thank you, kind miss. I’m… I’m Villeres. I just ran into some bad people. They… they stole my things and… and even tried to… wuwuwu… I’m so scared! I… I have nowhere left to go…”
She spun a story perfectly calculated to win sympathy, painting herself as a victim in need of protection.
Liang Lai’s heart ached at the sight of her weeping so miserably, and she gently patted her back in comfort.
“There, there, it’s all right, the bad people have been chased away. Don’t be afraid, okay? If you have nowhere to go, just come home with me first…”
“Mother!” Dolosa couldn’t help but interject, frowning tightly.
She instinctively disliked this stranger. Well, in truth, she didn’t like any other children.
Liangcai simply shook her head at her, signaling not to frighten the “shaken” girl.
Villeres sneered inwardly, but outwardly leaned even more closely on Liang Lai, stealing a timid glance at Dolosa before quickly lowering her head, as if frightened.
And Motifiel saw everything.
She watched Villeres’s flawless performance, watched Liang Lai’s defenseless kindness, Dolosa’s helpless vigilance, and the curiosity or indifference in her other sisters’ eyes…
She felt like a fool stranded in another world, watching disaster unfold and unable to make a sound.
Villeres’s triumphant smile stabbed viciously into her heart.
It was over.
Everything was over.
Motifiel’s world, in that moment, lost all color and sound, leaving only Villeres’s proud, icy red eyes magnified endlessly in her mind.