“Why is everyone staring at me like that?”
Dexilensi tilted her head, completely unfazed by the attention.
She smiled and clasped her hands behind her back, bending her waist slightly as she paced around.
Her gaze was so sharp and aggressive that the other three children felt uneasy.
“There’s no such thing as Mom loving one of us more than the others~” Asterys spoke softly, understandingly, “She loves each one of us equally~ She’s the savior of every single one of us~”
“The savior of every single one…?” Dexilensi muttered to herself, repeating the phrase over and over as if struggling to grasp its deeper meaning.
“That’s right~ Mom loves me, my older sister, Dolosa, Illucy, and even you~” Delucia added.
Dexilensi tilted her head to the other side, her dazzling golden hair covering half her face.
She watched the three children with a half-smile that was hard to read.
“So, that’s how it is…”
“Huh?!”
Dolosa frowned impatiently.
“If you have something to say, just say it all at once. Don’t just repeat one sentence over and over, and don’t be sarcastic here.”
Standing on the steps, she looked down at Dexilensi with cold eyes, as if she weren’t even looking at a living being.
“Dexilensi, one thing I can say with certainty is that I was the first child Liang Lai adopted, and also the one she places the greatest hopes on. So, the person she loves the most is me.”
After saying this, everyone fell silent. Asterys and Delucia stopped looking at Dexilensi and instead stared fixedly at Dolosa.
“There’s no need to look at me like that. I’m telling the truth. From now on, Liang Lai will be even prouder of me.”
She swept a cold glance over the group one more time and then went upstairs.
She didn’t have time to waste words on this ragtag group.
What she needed to do now was practice her Crystallization Ability properly and crush these kids who only talked big.
After Dolosa’s figure completely disappeared down the corridor, Dexilensi pursed her lips and whispered in a low voice, “So, the child Mom loves the most is you?”
Delucia, sharp-eared, caught that sentence immediately and quickly jumped to refute Dolosa’s claim:
“No way! Mom loves every one of us equally~”
Dexilensi only gave the twin sisters a meaningful look and said no more.
“That look she gave Dolosa wasn’t right~”
After Dexilensi left, Asterys leaned close to Delucia’s ear and whispered.
“I know that look well. It’s… filled with murderous intent. You can feel it too, right, little sister?”
Delucia stared in the direction Dexilensi had gone and nodded softly.
“Of course I can feel it. Not just toward Dolosa, but toward all of us… She’s definitely not as friendly as she pretends to be. Anyway, we need to be extra careful with her. Our instincts have never been wrong.”
“Mm-hmm~”
“Let’s go warn Dolosa first, so she doesn’t get caught off guard~ Compared to Dexilensi… I definitely want to side with Dolosa more~ Hehe~”
Asterys was definitely protective.
She grabbed Delucia and headed upstairs.
They pushed open the door to the practice room, startling Dolosa, who was in the middle of practicing her Crystallization Ability.
Dolosa glared at the twins for interrupting her training halfway through.
“You two should knock before coming in! Suddenly barging in like that is really scary.”
Dolosa’s attitude toward Asterys and Delucia had improved a lot compared to before, probably because they had worked together somewhat in the past.
“We just came to tell you something,” Delucia waved a finger, “You should really pay more attention to Dexilensi. I can feel her hostility—especially toward you—it’s huge.”
“At first, her hostility was aimed at Illucy, but after you said, ‘Of course Liang Lai loves me the most,’ her hostility shifted onto you.”
Dolosa raised an eyebrow.
“Huh?”
To be honest, she had also sensed something off about Dexilensi, and after hearing it from Asterys and Delucia, that uneasy feeling only deepened.
“I know that. I’ve felt something off about her too,” Dolosa agreed.
Then she looked a bit awkward, hesitant.
“Uh, anyway, thanks for the heads-up.”
Asterys and Delucia were surprised.
Dolosa didn’t thank them often, and aside from times when she was pretending to be obedient and friendly in front of Liang Lai, this was the first time she’d said thanks so sincerely.
“You’re welcome~” Asterys smiled gently.
That night, Liang Lai held Illucy’s hand as they returned to the Court of Purity.
Illucy’s other hand held a bowl of Light Honey Freeze, with a little trace of it still on the corner of her mouth.
“We’re back~”
Liang Lai happily strode inside.
“Xiao Xi did really well. Today, eight kids took the Examination, and Xiao Xi got first place! She’s really talented~”
First place?
Dolosa, standing upstairs, quietly clenched her fist.
She had thought that girl had only barely passed the Examination, but now it turned out she was truly outstanding. If that was the case, the competition was going to be even fiercer.
Dexilensi clapped beside her, celebrating Illucy’s success.
Asterys and Delucia just quietly watched Dexilensi’s reaction, while Illucy shrank her neck, too shy to look at anyone else.
Everyone’s reactions were subtle.
Liang Lai didn’t think much of it, simply basking in pride over how excellent her three daughters who had already passed the Examination were.
Night.
Deep into the night.
Dexilensi hummed a tune as she descended the stairs step by step and entered the kitchen. In the darkness, she picked up a Fruit Knife.
Holding the knife, she slowly walked down the corridor and finally stopped by a window. Moonlight spilled across her face, and everything around her brightened.
“Such a big Fruit Knife, yet the Saintess didn’t notice at all—really careless…”
“But it’s good this way~ If she had found out, I wouldn’t even know how to explain it… She might not have taken me in so kindly, either~”
“The Saintess is different from those bad people who wanted to adopt me before. I really want… to be the only one by the Saintess’s side…!”
Under the moonlight, the blade reflected Dexilensi’s face—cute but ruthless. She rubbed the knife against her clothes as she hummed, barefoot, step by step climbing the stairs.