Vol 4. Chapter 35: Clever Little Devil

Why did her mother always want to be killed by the protagonist group?

Liyu had already pondered this question countless times. She had even discussed it quite a few times with her other older brothers and sisters, as well as Xiao and the others.

If Mother wanted to die because she hated something, then they would destroy it without hesitation. Even if it were an entire nation or an entire race, they wouldn’t care in the slightest. If she hated her surroundings, they wouldn’t mind ‘asking’ their elven friends to help transform the environment of the Great Winter Forest. If she simply found life as a building too boring, they would rack their brains for ways to make Mother happy...

In short,

as long as they could figure out exactly why Mother wanted to kill herself, perhaps they could find the right solution.

However,

no matter how many times they discussed it, they still couldn’t figure out why their mother wanted to kill herself. Even the always-intelligent Sister Karina and Xiao were completely baffled. No matter how many different methods they tried to coax the answer out of Mother, they always ended in failure.

And now, after hearing little sister Yuan’er ask that very question, Liyu inexplicably felt a wave of irritation surge through her heart.

You’re asking me?! Who am I supposed to ask?!

I want to know too! Who the hell knows why Mother has such a wonderful life yet still has suicidal tendencies?!

Liyu, whose mood had already become terrible today because of the arrival of the Child of Destiny, couldn’t help roaring inwardly.

A trace of coldness even appeared on her exquisitely adorable face, while the Power of Shadow of Silence surrounding her gradually began to ripple in response to the gray-haired girl’s emotional fluctuations.

“S-Sister Liyu??”

Feeling the dangerous aura suddenly emanating from Liyu and seeing the uncharacteristically murderous expression on her sister’s face, Yuan’er couldn’t help feeling frightened. Her petite body began trembling. Then, Yuan’er instinctively released Liyu’s hand and retreated several small steps...

“Sister Liyu... D-Did I... Did I say something I... shouldn’t have said?”

Yuan’er asked fearfully.

However, her voice was so quiet that her question apparently failed to pull Liyu, who was gradually becoming enveloped in black energy, back to reality.

But,

while Liyu didn’t react, Limo, who had transformed into a giant wolf nearby, abruptly raised her head and stared blankly at her little sisters.

“Meowu?” (What happened?)

Although she had no idea what was going on, Limo could still sense the increasingly dense and dangerous aura around Liyu, as well as Yuan’er’s fear. Thus, Limo instinctively moved in front of Yuan’er to protect her and rubbed her fluffy head against the pink-haired girl’s cheek, seemingly trying to comfort the little girl.

At the same time, Limo looked at the black-energy-covered Liyu with slight displeasure.

“Awooooo!” (Liyu! You’re scaring our little sister!)

?!!

“Hm? Ah?!”

Limo’s somewhat imposing howl successfully startled Liyu back to her senses. As Liyu’s thoughts returned to reality, the black energy surrounding the girl and the coldness on her face instantly vanished.

Little Liyu then looked somewhat confusedly at the little white wolf beside her and the pink-haired girl being protected behind her.

With her Level-Ten proficiency in wolf language, Liyu quickly realized that she had lost control of herself just now.

The moment she realized that she had frightened her little sister, Liyu guiltily raised a hand and scratched her head, revealing an apologetic expression.

“S-Sorry, Yuan’er. I lost control a little just now and scared you...”

Meanwhile,

after seeing that Sister Liyu was no longer surrounded by murderous energy and had returned to her previous cute and gentle appearance, the fear in Yuan’er’s eyes also disappeared. She obediently shook her head.

“I-It’s okay.”

“What a sensible child...”

Seeing how well-behaved Yuan’er was, Liyu couldn’t help sighing with relief.

Then,

after completely controlling the agitation in her heart and locking those emotions deep inside, Liyu decided to continue their previous conversation.

And so,

under Yuan’er’s adorably blank gaze, Liyu slowly walked up to her and solemnly placed a hand on her shoulder. After taking a deep breath, Liyu emphasized with an extremely serious expression:

“We still don’t know why Mother wants to kill herself, but Yuan’er, all you need to understand is that the Child of Destiny is a bad woman! She’s the only person in this world capable of killing Mother! For Mother’s safety, we absolutely have to get rid of that woman. Understand, Yuan’er?”

Hearing Sister Liyu’s incredibly serious words, Yuan’er’s little heart couldn’t help beating faster.

Although she felt somewhat nervous, Yuan’er still voiced the doubt in her heart:

“But will that Child of Destiny really attack Mommy? I feel like... she doesn’t seem hostile toward Mommy at all?”

“Hm? Why do you say that?”

“Before... When that bad woman came to our camp, and when she came out of the tent, she didn’t have any hostility around her at all? And when she left the tent, the way she looked at Mommy seemed pretty friendly too? It wasn’t like what Sister Liyu described... that kind of... intense hatred toward Abyss Demons.”

“Sigh, you silly girl... Don’t be deceived by appearances!”

Liyu once again planted both hands on her hips and spoke with great helplessness:

“That woman is pretending! A bad woman like her must be incredibly good at acting. She must be suppressing her hostility toward Abyss Demons deep inside her heart to confuse Mother! She’ll pretend to be friendly and deceive Mother, then suddenly attack her at the critical moment!”

“But isn’t she incapable of killing Mother?”

Ah, this...

How did we circle back to this again?

Liyu wanted to cry as she raised a hand to her forehead.

“Geez, what kind of memory do you have, silly girl? Didn’t I just tell you? Even if that woman isn’t capable of doing it, Mother will willingly let her kill her! If she keeps attacking, even small amounts of damage will eventually add up enough to hurt Mother! And... I even suspect that woman has improper intentions toward Mother. Even if that bad woman ultimately still isn’t capable of killing Mother, she might very well steal our innocent Mother away from us! Anyway, that woman is extremely dangerous. If we ever get the chance, we have to eliminate her while Mother isn’t paying attention! Only then can Mother stay with us forever! Understand, Yuan’er?”

“Oh... Oh, I... I understand...”

Under Liyu’s extremely serious gaze, Yuan’er, who had been thoroughly overwhelmed by her explanation, eventually nodded.

“Mm, very good. As long as you understand.”

Seeing that Yuan’er had finally stopped asking questions like a curious little baby, little Liyu placed both hands on her hips and nodded with considerable satisfaction...

--

A short while later,

inside the garden,

little Yuan’er was quietly strolling around.

Since Liyu had taken Limo out for a walk, she was no longer accompanying Yuan’er.

Originally, Yuan’er had wanted to go for a walk with her two sisters, but Sister Liyu had told her that while she was taking Sister Limo for a walk, Yuan’er had better not follow them for the time being.

Otherwise, the overly excited Sister Limo would definitely start playing around with her. Then, nine times out of ten, they would cause too much commotion and attract the attention of the other factions nearby. Yuan’er didn’t really understand what Liyu meant, but since Sister Liyu had said so, Yuan’er, who intended to be a good little sister, obediently chose to listen.

As for why Sister Liyu talked about taking Sister Limo for a walk as though she were taking a dog out for a walk? Yuan’er wasn’t quite sure about that either.

In any case,

after Liyu left with the enormous snow-white wolf,

only Yuan’er and several Black Rose Family members whom Liyu had summoned to keep her entertained remained in the enormous garden.

However, just as the Black Rose Family members enthusiastically prepared several entertaining little games and got ready to properly entertain their new little ancestor, they were surprised to discover that Yuan’er, who had been extremely playful these past two days, had inexplicably become quiet.

-“L-Let... Let this Young Lady have some peace and quiet for a while!...”-

After leaving them with those words, Miss Yuan’er gave up on interacting with them and instead wandered through the garden alone.

This left the Black Rose Family members completely baffled. But as subordinates, they could only obey the little ancestor’s command, quietly standing at the garden entrance as they waited for Yuan’er to call them.

As for Yuan’er?

She was thoughtfully wandering through the garden while twirling her beautiful pale-pink hair around her finger.

Naturally, the little girl was thinking about the conversation she had just had with Sister Liyu.

“Mommy... actually wants to kill herself?”

Although Yuan’er found it difficult to imagine, Sister Liyu had no reason to lie to her, so it was probably true, right?

“But why would she want to kill herself?”

Yuan’er wondered inwardly in confusion.

The little girl tried to figure out why her mommy would want to kill herself. But, unsurprisingly, no matter how long she thought about it, Yuan’er couldn’t come up with anything.

For a moment, Yuan’er’s little face immediately drooped, and her entire body became shrouded in dejection. The lonely look in her eyes was enough to make anyone feel sorry for her.

After realizing that ‘Why does Mother want to kill herself?’ was not a question she could figure out, Yuan’er began thinking about another matter instead.

And that matter concerned the ‘bad woman’ Sister Liyu had mentioned...

Exactly how bad was that bad woman?

Perhaps because Yuan’er knew nothing about the Asumos Church’s prophecy and had never personally experienced the threat posed by divine power, none of it felt particularly real to her.

After witnessing Mommy’s overwhelming strength, Yuan’er also didn’t believe that a young lady at the Sixth Tier could possibly threaten her. No matter how much Sister Liyu emphasized the other party’s limitless future potential, Yuan’er still found it difficult to believe.

Therefore,

when it came to Mengxi, Yuan’er was surprisingly different from her older brothers and sisters. At present, she hadn’t developed any particular dislike toward her.

Instead, the little girl was more concerned about what Liyu had said earlier about ‘stealing Mother away.’

Back when Yuan’er still lived in Wind Facing City, Grandma Avnora had often told her stories about her biological parents, frequently complaining about how Yuan’er’s mother had stolen away her precious son.

“When Sister Liyu said ‘steal her away’... does she mean the same thing Grandma meant when she said Mother stole Father away?”

If that was the case,

didn’t that mean the silver-haired big sister was going to marry Mommy and take her away?

At this thought, Yuan’er’s eyes suddenly lit up, and a strange idea instantly burst into the little girl’s mind.

“Wait? That big sister really did seem to look at Mommy like she was interested in her?”

What if this Child of Destiny really got together with Mommy?

Then the only person who might possibly be able to kill Mommy probably wouldn’t hurt Mommy anymore, right?

Grandpa had always said that people who wanted to kill themselves did so because they no longer had anything in this world they were attached to. If the Child of Destiny could win Mommy’s heart and get together with Mommy... then wouldn’t Mommy stop wanting to kill herself?

Besides,

most importantly, if that silver-haired big sister got together with Mommy,

then wouldn’t she...

finally have a ‘Daddy’?

At that moment, an entirely new world opened up inside Yuan’er’s mind. Her red-and-blue heterochromatic eyes immediately began sparkling brightly, while the corners of her lips curled upward.

“Wow~”

This Young Lady really is a genius~

--

Meanwhile,

“Achoo!!”

Liyu, who was quietly taking the wolf for a walk, suddenly felt her nose itch and involuntarily sneezed. She then turned her head and suspiciously looked around.

Hm?

Why...

do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this...