“Sister, what—what are you two talking about?”
Illucy still had tears clinging to her cheeks, but her expression was no longer panicked.
“I only fell down earlier by accident, you know. I didn’t understand what you were implying.”
After saying that, Illucy seemed unwilling to engage with the two in front of her any longer and hurried back to her own room.
“Her acting isn’t even as good as Dolosa’s,” Asterys raised an eyebrow.
Meanwhile, Liang Lai held a small-sized nun’s habit and arrived outside the bathhouse.
Inside, a pair of little hands had already stretched out, still wet from water.
Liang Lai gently placed the small nun’s habit into Dexilensi’s hands and reminded her, “Make sure to dry off thoroughly before coming out, alright? Otherwise, wearing wet clothes will feel sticky and uncomfortable—and you might catch a cold.”
She was like a mother hen fussing over her child.
Dexilensi didn’t respond but silently took the habit inside and put it on.
When Dexilensi came out again, Liang Lai felt a refreshing brightness before her.
The girl was no longer dirty, her hair untangled, and she looked more like a doll—only too thin. If she gained some weight, she would be absolutely adorable.
“Let’s go.”
Liang Lai naturally took Dexilensi’s hand.
Dexilensi didn’t resist. Compared to before, she was much more obedient now, even sneakily glancing at the Saintess.
“What are you doing here?” Liang Lai wanted to learn more about the girl’s family situation. Actually, she already had a rough idea—either the girl had been abandoned by her parents or they had already passed away, which was why she wandered alone.
Dexilensi lowered her head and whispered, “I’ve been drifting around here. Begging is getting harder and harder.”
Just as expected.
“Would you like to stay here with me? I can adopt you, so you won’t have to stay outside anymore. You could even become one of the Pope Successors.”
Liang Lai believed the girl would be willing to stay. After all, here was a warm room, hot meals, no fear of hunger or cold.
Sure enough, as soon as Liang Lai asked, Dexilensi immediately nodded and squeezed her hand tightly.
“I want to stay here… Mama!”
Eh?!
Liang Lai was stunned, looking at the girl before her. She hadn’t expected Dexilensi to call her “Mama” so quickly—it gave her the strange feeling that this girl had been like her younger brother in a past life.
“Y-you agree that easily?” This time it was Liang Lai’s turn to be shocked.
Dexilensi nodded immediately and grabbed both of Liang Lai’s hands.
“Of course, Mama! You’re my mama now! If you don’t like me calling you that, I can call you Sister or anything else you prefer!”
Liang Lai’s eyes widened more and more. This girl’s sweet words made her feel like she was dreaming. She had thought Asterys and Delucia were already quite sweet, but compared to Dexilensi, they were just small fry.
Seeing Liang Lai silent, Dexilensi tilted her head, her expression anxious.
“What’s wrong? Mama, have you changed your mind? You don’t want to adopt me anymore?” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ll be good, please don’t send me away, okay?”
“N-no, no, no, no, no! That’s not what I meant!”
Liang Lai hurriedly crouched down and wiped the tears from the girl’s face.
“I’m just surprised. I’ve never met such a well-behaved child before—willing to call me Mama on the very first day, and I didn’t even ask you to~”
Her touch was gentle as she wiped the tears and softly stroked Dexilensi’s head.
“How could I ever send you away? You’re so good. Even if you didn’t want to stay, I would still persuade you.”
Hearing this, Dexilensi broke into a smile and grasped Liang Lai’s hand tightly.
“That’s great! I finally have a family!”
Liang Lai continued to affectionately stroke the girl’s head. “You have four sisters too~ When it’s time for dinner, I’ll introduce you to them. You have to get along well with your sisters~”
“Eh?”
Dexilensi’s smile froze for a moment. She blinked her large, watery golden eyes and tilted her head. “So I really have four sisters? Ah… I thought I was the only child you had.”
That sounded a bit strange, but Liang Lai didn’t think much of it, just assumed the girl was surprised to find out.
“Yep, you have four sisters. Among them, there’s a pair of twins who are the gentlest. You can go play with them when you have time~”
“Is that so…” Dexilensi murmured, then broke into a smile. “I understand, Mama. I will get along well with my sisters.”
That sentence was still a little odd.
While Liang Lai was talking with the new child, in the next room, Delucia wore a serious expression.
“Sister, I have a bad feeling about this new arrival. The way she speaks rubs me the wrong way—it feels like she’s implying something,” Delucia described what Dexilensi had said to Asterys.
Asterys nodded.
“Yeah, something feels off. But for now, it’s unclear. In any case, we should be cautious. She looks more dangerous than Illucy and Dolosa.”
This was their intuition as Shadowborn.
“Should we… tell Dolosa about this?” Delucia asked.
“Of course!” Asterys answered without hesitation.
Then, she gave a strange smile, lightly pushing aside the bangs covering her eyes and pointed downstairs.
“We’re not just telling Dolosa, we’ll tell Illucy too. Dexilensi gives me a very bad feeling. Rather than letting her compete for Mama’s favor, it’s better to give Dolosa and Illucy the chance. We can just watch and reap the benefits.”
“My sister is the smartest~” Delucia laughed and wrapped her arm around Asterys.
“Let them fight it out. We’ll be Mama’s best children~ Let Mama always want to be our Savior~”
Elsewhere, Dexilensi tugged on Liang Lai’s hand and asked a strange question:
“Mama, when you took me in, did you notice if I dropped anything?”
Liang Lai paused for a second.
“Did you lose something important? I didn’t see anything. You were unconscious there, so I hurried and carried you away. If you lost anything valuable, I can take you to—”
“No need.”
Dexilensi cut her off.
“It’s not something very important.”
She lowered her head and curled her lips into a chilling smile.
“If someone else saw it, that wouldn’t be good at all.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.