Vol 4. Chapter 104: Robbery??

For Miss Yumo, who was the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons itself, she had never left the Great Winter Forest before taking human form. Even after transforming into a human, the farthest place she had ever gone was Skyvault, the capital of the Snow Night Empire.

In other words, Yumo had never actually left the northern part of the continent.

As for the vast Anqieka Continent, especially the lands of the central and southern regions, Miss Yumo had always been filled with eager curiosity.

Although over the past hundred years she had heard plenty of stories about those places from her children, Yumo had always wanted to see them with her own eyes and personally experience the customs and cultures of the central and southern regions.

And this journey across the northern territories toward the Crimson Leaf Empire in the central-eastern part of the continent was a perfect opportunity.

Therefore,

the Black Rose Family convoy, which could originally have raced at full speed and used spatial magic-stone tunnels to quickly reach Anvika, the capital of the Crimson Leaf Empire, deliberately slowed down.

During the journey,

Miss Yumo brought little Yuan’er, who likewise had never left the north, along on a sightseeing trip.

Yumo was practically bursting with excitement while traveling.

If cameras existed here, she genuinely would have wanted to photograph the vast green plains she had not seen in such a long time, the grasslands, and the unique cultures of the various ethnic groups and minority races.

At the same time, however, the girl also felt a little regretful.

After all, this kind of outing would probably have been even more perfect if her other children were by her side too, right?

Uh...

But after imagining the kinds of things Limo and Piere might do, Yumo suddenly began to hesitate about that idea...

...

As for Yuan’er,

she was equally delighted throughout the trip.

Putting aside the fact that children naturally loved playing around, Yuan’er, as the young lady of the Duke Family, had never left the northern region either.

Just like Mother Yumo, she was full of curiosity toward the central and southern lands.

This trip could therefore be considered the fulfillment of one of her wishes.

On top of that, she got to stay beside her beloved mother.

How could Yuan’er possibly not be happy?

Every day, Mother held her little hand, fed her, stroked her affectionately, and at night she could quietly fall asleep in Mother’s arms~

Little Yuan’er’s life lately could practically be described as overflowing with happiness~

“Hehehe~”

...

And so, while sightseeing and enjoying the scenery along the way, the Black Rose Family convoy steadily continued toward its final destination, Yexinlian Royal Academy.

As they were about to reach their destination,

and were preparing to enter the political heartland of the Crimson Leaf Empire, Yumo stopped taking Yuan’er and Saiboke around sightseeing in order to preserve the dignity of the Black Rose Family.

Instead, like most noble young ladies, she quietly sat inside the carriage and waited for them to arrive at the academy.

Yuan’er did not mind in the slightest.

The little girl happily lay across Mother Yumo’s thighs, enjoying their softness and that soothing presence surrounding her.

Her two little legs unconsciously swung back and forth~

Still,

it was rare for Yuan’er to spend such a peaceful morning sitting quietly in the carriage and enjoying the pleasant early hours with her mother.

Her adorable red-and-blue heterochromatic eyes blinked as she looked curiously toward Yumo like an inquisitive little baby.

“Mommy, Mommy!”

“Mm?”

Hearing Yuan’er call out, Miss Yumo withdrew her attention from the scenery outside the window and looked affectionately at the little girl lying across her lap.

“What is it, little Yuan’er? Do you want some sweets?”

“No...”

The pink-haired girl shook her head.

Although she really did want some, she temporarily had no intention of saying so because she did not want Mommy to think she was greedy.

Besides, if she wanted sweets, she could just secretly ask Old Man Saiboke for some~

There was no need to let Mommy know~

That was something she had recently learned.

As long as she acted cute enough, sometimes Old Man Saiboke was even easier to deal with than Mother Yumo!

“I... have something I want to ask you, Mommy.”

“Something?”

“Mm!”

“Then ask.”

“Um, Mommy, didn’t you say before that... you once pretended to be Sister Xia’er and lived together with Grandpa and Grandma for a while?”

“Mm, I did.”

“Then... Grandpa and Grandma... probably still don’t know... that you aren’t really Sister Xia’er, right?”

“Enmm...”

Hearing this, Miss Yumo frowned slightly in hesitation, but soon revealed a relieved expression.

“They... probably don’t know.”

“Then...”

After receiving that answer, the pink-haired little girl pursed her lips.

She slowly pushed herself up from Yumo’s thighs, knelt on the sofa, and, unusually, looked into her mother’s crimson eyes with a pleading gaze.

“Mommy... can I ask you for something?”

“What is it? Just tell me.”

“Mommy, could you... keep pretending to be Sister Xia’er in the future...?”

“Grandpa and Grandma... were really happy before. Especially Grandma... She kept talking about me and Sister Xia’er, and yesterday she sent me another letter asking how Sister Xia’er and I were doing...”

“I... I don’t want them to be sad.”

“What a filial little girl.”

Seeing Yuan’er looking so troubled, Yumo sighed helplessly.

She raised her hand and gently rubbed the little girl’s head, soothing her in a soft voice.

“Don’t worry, little girl. Mommy won’t let Marquis Xiumu-Duke and the others be sad.”

“R-Really?”

“Would Mommy have any reason to lie to you?”

Miss Yumo affectionately pinched Yuan’er’s soft little cheek and said with a faint smile,

“Mommy already told your grandpa and grandma before that I would take you and ‘Xia’er’ away to cultivate properly for a while.”

“...After that, every once in a while, Mommy will return to Wind Facing City together with you while using ‘Xia’er’s’ identity, and we’ll visit your grandpa and grandma so they can feel reassured.”

“So... don’t worry, little girl. Mommy won’t let them be sad.”

“Thank you, Mommy!!”

After receiving Mother Yumo’s definite answer, Yuan’er’s worried expression instantly vanished, replaced once again by a sweet smile.

Then, without another word, the excited little girl threw herself into the black-haired girl’s arms and began rubbing against her, expressing her gratitude and joy in her own way.

Yumo smiled gently at this and slowly patted her youngest daughter’s back with overflowing maternal affection.

“So that’s what you were worried about.”

As expected of a child who had once been human.

Her emotions really were delicate in ways like this.

“Right, Mommy!”

After rubbing against Yumo in her arms for a while, Yuan’er raised her head with curiosity and a hint of anticipation.

Her large watery eyes blinked repeatedly as she looked at Yumo.

“If Mommy goes back with me to visit Grandpa and Grandma while pretending to be Sister Xia’er, then when that happens... does that mean I’ll have to call Mommy ‘Big Sister’?”

“Uh...”

Hearing this, Miss Yumo froze slightly.

But thinking about it carefully...

That really did seem to be the case...

Still,

having her own daughter call her “Big Sister” somehow felt really strange.

Enmm...

Forget it.

Her generational hierarchy in the Duke Family was already completely messed up anyway.

At this point, whatever happened, happened...

Thinking this, Miss Yumo nodded somewhat helplessly.

“That’s right. When the time comes, Yuan’er will have to call me ‘Big Sister.’”

“Waaah~”

Stars seemed to flash in the little girl’s eyes.

She apparently looked forward quite a bit to the day she could call Yumo “Big Sister.”

Besides, if Mommy would return to the Duke Family with her in the future, didn’t that mean Mommy would spend even more time by her side?

Hehehe~

After realizing this, the little girl became even more excited, almost wanting to dance around.

She even vaguely felt the urge to go back and show off to her older sisters~

...

However,

just as the little girl began indulging in her fantasies, an extremely ill-timed shout suddenly reached the inside of the carriage, causing Yuan’er to immediately frown.

-“Stop the carriage!!!! This is a robbery!!!!!!!!”-

Hearing those familiar words,

Yuan’er poked her head toward the carriage window with a strange expression and looked ahead.

Hm?

A robbery?

Was this another result of Mommy’s passive ability?

Cute little Yuan’er could not help muttering inwardly.

...

At this moment, more than thirty vicious-looking bandits carrying all kinds of weapons had somehow blocked the road in front of the convoy.

The burly bald man leading them had a scarred face and was even radiating dense, powerful Fifth-Tier battle aura.

Under the strange gazes of the Black Rose Knights, he strode aggressively toward the carriage.

Then,

the scar-faced man viciously raised the longsaber in his hand and pointed it at Saiboke, the old butler driving the carriage.

“Robbery! Hurry up and hand over all the money you... y-you have! Otherwise... your lives will be in danger!”

“...”

Faced with the scar-faced man’s declaration, even Saiboke, an old butler who had experienced countless battles, stood there dumbfounded for a moment.

With a complicated expression, he glanced left and right.

For the past hundred years,

it had always been the Black Rose Family robbing other people...

And now someone had actually come to rob them?

What the hell was this?

And more importantly, they had clearly seen the Black Rose Family crest and still dared to rob them?

What kind of brains did these people have?

Saiboke stared blankly at the group of bandits.

However, when the old butler noticed their constantly trembling bodies and their unfocused, wavering eyes, a look of sudden realization flashed through his gaze.

“Oh? So that’s what this is...”

“Those people really are... bored beyond belief...”

Saiboke could not help complaining under his breath.

Then he raised a hand to cover his face, as though he could no longer bear to watch what was about to happen.

And in the next moment,

just as the old butler had expected, immediately after the scar-faced man announced the robbery with an expression uglier than crying, several enormous crimson figures suddenly descended from the sky.

Along with them came powerful battle aura,

as well as anxious shouting that somehow still sounded like emotionless line-reading.

“PROTECT BIG BIG SIS!!!!! CHAAAAARGE!!!!!!!!”

“WE CAN’T LET LADY KARINA DOWN AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Saiboke: =-=

Yuan’er: ???

Yumo: ???