With two slightly dull thuds, the bowls were placed on the table.
Rosily’s eyes followed the movement of the bowls intently.
Looking at the translucent substance inside the white porcelain bowl, she couldn’t help but ask.
“Mom, is this a slime?”
“…”
Enya was just about to speak, but the words caught in her throat. After a brief pause, she gave Rosily an annoyed glare.
“What do you mean, slime? This is a special dessert your mother made!”
“Oh, okay!”
Rosily leaned her head closer, trying hard to catch a scent from the clear, water-like jelly in the bowl, but she couldn’t smell anything distinct. She looked up at Enya.
Enya had already turned back toward the kitchen, seemingly to grab something.
Seeing this, Rosily reached out and pulled the bowl closer. Clutching an iron spoon in her right hand, she scooped a small piece and popped it into her mouth.
Estelle, sitting opposite her, was much more composed; she merely moved her bowl a little closer without eating yet.
After tasting it carefully, Rosily felt the flavor was a bit light, almost like water. It felt more like eating a solidified chunk of water.
But solidified water was ice!
The thing she was eating was tender and moist, melting in her mouth like tofu…
‘How curious.’
While wondering, Rosily picked up the drink cup beside her and gulped it down. She let out a long sigh with her mouth open.
“Now this has some kick!”
The sweetness combined with the tingle of the bubbles created a very unique mouthfeel.
‘Is this some new kind of drink?’
Rosily mused to herself. She had heard things from Elqi about the Zephyr Empire—how it was an extremely advanced and open place with unimaginable things that one couldn’t experience in Red Pine City.
In short, it was a place people yearned for.
She didn’t quite share Elqi’s fervor, though. For Rosily, as long as she could stay by her mother’s side, that was enough.
‘Wait, Sister came from the Zephyr Empire, right? Wait, why am I calling her “Sister” in my head?’
While Rosily was lost in thought, Enya walked over and poured a small cup of pink syrup into the bowl. The originally clear jelly was now stained with a faint shade of pink.
Rosily’s nose caught the sweet scent of flowers. She quickly scooped a piece with her spoon and sent it into her mouth. After tasting it, she looked up at Enya beside her and smiled.
“It’s delicious!”
“I’m glad you like it, hoho.”
Enya reached out and rubbed her head.
She then helped Estelle by adding a cup of syrup as well, letting both little ones have a taste. Enya sat to the side, watching the two of them eat.
As usual, Rosily ate quickly. When she found something tasty, she took large gulps, and her bowl soon hit the bottom.
Rosily turned to Enya and asked, “Mom, where’s yours?”
Enya reached out and pinched her cheek. Rosily’s face was becoming increasingly round and plump. Enya smiled and said, “Your mother is on a diet.”
“Oh.”
Rosily figured it was just an excuse, but she didn’t press further. Instead, she held up a spoonful to Enya’s lips.
“Say ah~”
Enya was a bit speechless, but she opened her mouth to accept her daughter’s offering. After swallowing, she smiled at the two of them.
“You two eat. I’ve already eaten quite a bit while making this.”
That was the truth.
Rosily picked up her bowl to drink the last of it, then fixed her gaze on the bowl in front of Estelle, which was still half-full.
She gave a brilliant smile. “Sister~ you’re on a diet too, right?”
Estelle sat upright, unlike Rosily, who was either slumped over the table or leaning lazily against the back of her chair. Her way of eating was also that of a well-bred young lady—taking small, slow bites, looking elegant and quiet.
Before Estelle could speak, Enya gave Rosily’s cheek a light pinch and spoke with a playful tone of reproach.
“What are you doing? Go to sleep early and wake up early. I’ll make you more for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
Rosily suddenly leaned back, pushing her chair away. With her feet on the ground, she held the remaining half-cup from the table and tilted her head back to drain it heroically.
Thump!
She slammed the cup onto the table and sprinted toward the stairwell. Enya, still sitting, squinted as she watched her go up.
“That girl, really…”
Enya wondered if she was being too informal.
But this was fine too; being able to get along with her children in a relaxed and happy way was good.
Ignoring Rosily for a moment, Enya focused her attention on Estelle. She asked softly if it was delicious. Estelle nodded, her eyes lifting slightly to meet Enya’s. She seemed to hesitate before speaking.
“Aunt Phil…”
“Shh—”
Enya raised her index finger to her lips in a silencing gesture. Estelle’s words remained unspoken. Enya lowered her voice.
“Estelle, it’s enough that you alone know.”
“Mm.”
Estelle nodded slightly again and finished the last of her dessert.
Enya went over to collect the dishes and went into the kitchen to rinse them. Estelle watched Enya’s back for a moment.
Getting down from her chair, Estelle looked down at herself. The dress she was wearing wasn’t much better than Rosily’s—soaked with sweat and stained with dust. Even her long silver hair was a mess.
Just as Estelle was preparing to take a bath, Enya walked out of the kitchen, looking at her with a bright smile.
“Let me help you wash your hair.”
…
Estelle turned to face Enya. She stood still for a long time before finally accepting the offer.
When Rosily returned to her room, she didn’t collapse onto the bed immediately. Instead, she sat at her desk and rummaged around until she found a small mirror.
It was a gift from Elqi.
Rosily held the small round mirror, inspecting her face over and over. Only after a while did she slowly set it down.
Leaning back in her chair, she looked up at the magic lamp emitting a soft glow, holding her hand up to partially block the light.
Elqi had asked her a question—one Elqi thought was easy to answer, but Rosily couldn’t answer it at all.
‘Why do I have blonde hair while Estelle has silver hair?’
‘Because I’m Rosily and Estelle is Estelle. Does that even need to be asked?’
But that wasn’t what the question was really about. It was about the relationship between Rosily and Estelle.
At the time, Rosily had asked Elqi why she was even asking such a thing, but Elqi had just dodged the subject.
She said—
‘Look at your sister; she’s always alone.’
‘Do you not get along with your sister?’
‘Even when you see each other at the Academy, you pretend not to notice.’
‘You and your sister Estelle are just the same.’
‘By the way, your mother is so beautiful and looks so young.’
Thinking of that last sentence, Rosily clicked her tongue.
Though she didn’t sense any strange hidden meaning in Elqi’s expression—she just seemed to like beautiful people or things—Rosily was still annoyed to hear it to her face.
As a “reward,” she had grabbed Elqi and spun her around fifty times.
By the end of the fifty turns, Elqi had collapsed on the ground, eyes glazed and drooling, looking completely broken.
Cough, cough…
Anyway, the point was that Elqi doubted whether she and Estelle were real sisters, and this doubt made Rosily feel very strange.
She didn’t usually look in mirrors and wore whatever Enya picked out for her, so her self-perception wasn’t very clear.
Rosily closed her eyes, resting the back of her hand against them. In the darkness, she recalled the scene from earlier.
She and her sister looked alike—and not just a little bit.
If they didn’t look alike, Elqi wouldn’t have asked why her hair color was different from Estelle’s.
‘Why do we look so much alike?’
Rosily muttered to herself.
In her blurry memories, there was no one else besides her mother, let alone a sister with different hair.
‘Yeah, why is that?’
‘Could Estelle be one of those evil demons that parasitizes human families?’
As her classes at the Academy increased, Rosily had passively learned a lot of theoretical knowledge and gained a deeper understanding of the world, including things about “evil demons.”
She tilted her head; she didn’t actually think Estelle was a demon.
Rosily stood up from her chair and flopped onto her soft, comfortable bed. After a long stretch, she whispered to herself.
“Is Mom hiding something from me?”
Rosily naturally remembered the medicine Enya had given her before, saying it was to treat a certain illness. But she had no memory of being sick, and her memories of that time were very hazy.
She couldn’t remember where her original home was; it was as if it never existed. All she knew was that they left because of a dragon and eventually wandered here.
Rosily sat up in bed. She felt she could start investigating from there.
On the other side, Enya was gently washing the fine, smooth silver hair. She glanced at Estelle’s smooth back and lightly scratched it, making Estelle straighten her chest.
“Hohoho.”
After a light laugh, Enya stopped teasing.
Looking at Estelle gave her a feeling of crossing the river of time and seeing her own past. Back then, she was also quite innocent…
“Estelle has entered the Elite Class too.”
“Mm.”
“What do you want to do in the future?”
“Find Enya.”
“And after you find her?”
“I don’t know.”
Estelle shook her head bluntly. She felt the goal was very far away—something she might not achieve for a very long time—so she hadn’t thought about what to do afterward.
Enya said softly, “After you find her, you should still live here.”
“Okay.”
Estelle didn’t hesitate and quickly agreed.
Enya picked up a towel and began drying Estelle’s hair.
Because the hair was so long—compared to the shoulder-length hair Enya had cut for Rosily—it took much more time.
However, she didn’t feel frustrated; instead, she really enjoyed this.
Washing her daughter clean and dressing her up beautifully to make the other ladies in town burst with envy… the thought alone was quite pleasant!