Vol 4. Chapter 63: Breakfast Together

At this moment, atop the branches of a giant tree outside the eastern barrier,

Xiao, dressed in a black coat, sat quietly on a branch with her chin resting on one hand, wearing a thoughtful expression. Her deep, dark eyes were filled with a profound sense of gravity. Clearly, the Black Rose Duke was contemplating something serious.

Meanwhile, around Xiao,

A blue figure hovered in midair, flying back and forth in restless agitation.

It was a tall, slender girl with long hair that gradually transitioned from blue to gold. Her left eye was a gorgeous golden rose, while her right eye was a beautiful pale gold.

Her eyes were fresh and captivating, as clear as water, yet carried a faint coldness, as though they could see through everything. Her fingers were long and delicate, and her skin was as smooth as cream, snowy white with a rosy tint, so supple that it seemed water could be squeezed from it. Her rosy lips curved into an enchanting smile, and her every movement resembled a dance. Her blue-gold hair fell straight down to her ankles.

Her figure was equally exquisite. Her breasts were neither too large nor too small, yet stood proudly; her waist was unbelievably slender, and her beautifully rounded hips and long, shapely legs made her an undeniable beauty by the standards of most intelligent humanoid species.

However, at present, this stunning beauty radiated an unmistakable air of unease.

Glancing at the blue-haired girl who kept moving back and forth beside her, Xiao couldn't help feeling her eyebrows twitch.

“Um... Lord Shuoyue... Could you please calm down a little? You keep flying around like that, and it's making me dizzy... I can't think properly at all.”

“S-sorry...”

Hearing this, Shuoyue awkwardly steadied herself and knelt in midair, looking at Xiao with pleading eyes.

“Xiao, what do you think we should do now?!”

Faced with Shuoyue's watery, pitiful eyes, Xiao could only sigh helplessly.

“This matter... really is rather complicated. Someone from the Asumos Church managed to break into this place? Lord Shuoyue, you were far too careless.”

“I-I couldn't help it! At the time, I was concentrating on controlling the Abyss Demon hordes in Skyvault! I wasn't paying much attention to what was happening around the Great Winter Forest. Besides, who could've expected that guy from the Asumos Church wouldn't go reinforce Skyvault, but would suddenly charge into the forest at a time like that? And of all places, he just had to come straight here?! Is there something fucking wrong with his head?!”

“Enmmm... But honestly, with so many Abyss Demons leaving the eastern forest and charging toward the Snow Night Empire, it really was a good opportunity to investigate. I just didn't expect him to dare rush in all by himself.”

“Exactly! Who would've thought that guy had so much guts?! The people from the Asumos Church have been scared out of their minds lately. Even when they send teams to investigate the forest, they dispatch Brave squads to advance cautiously, one step at a time. Who could've imagined they'd send a Heavenly Apostle this time, and that he'd come charging straight in?!”

Thinking about her own blunder, Shuoyue couldn't help clutching her little head, her expression becoming extremely troubled.

“And the worst fucking part is that guy was way too fast! I didn't even have time to summon the Ghost Shadow Dragon before he ran away! Even the Nihility Cannon couldn't catch up with him, fuck!”

“Extremely fast... Dark-purple lightning... Then he should be the Heavenly Apostle from the ‘Shadow of the Dark Moon’ unit. I think his name was Anjinuo?”

As she pondered this, a complicated expression appeared on Xiao's face.

“I certainly didn't anticipate such a bold move either.”

“The problem is, it's already happened! What are we supposed to do now?! Those Church people know where Mommy is! They know where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons is! What are we going to do?!”

“Don't you intend to tell Lady Yumo about this?”

“Tell Mommy?! How could I possibly do that?!”

Hearing this, Shuoyue immediately shook her head and refused categorically.

“No, no! Absolutely not! I've only been left in charge of the house twice! The first time, I deliberately let the Braves in and already disappointed Mommy once! This time, I absolutely can't let Mommy find out! Otherwise, she'll definitely think I'm an unreliable child from now on! I don't want that!”

The mere thought of her mommy looking at her with disappointment filled Shuoyue with terror. Her blue-gold eyes were full of resistance.

“B-besides! Mommy was already planning to reveal the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons' location to the human forces eventually! Even if I told her, she probably wouldn't do anything about it.”

“Hmm, that's true. Then why don't you tell your other sisters?”

“Tell them? Big Sister Karina always pretends to be honest in front of Mommy! She'd definitely end up exposing me! As for that rotten Big Sister Liyu, she'd probably be delighted to have a chance to mess with me! And Big Sister Limo and Little Sister Yuan'er? What's the point of telling them?! They wouldn't be able to help with anything.”

“So you came to me?”

“Yeah! Who else could I turn to? Hurry up and help me~”

“Sigh.”

Hearing this, Xiao sighed helplessly.

“Actually, there's no need for you to worry quite so much. Lady Yumo was still in Skyvault at the time. Even if that Heavenly Apostle reached this place, he wouldn't have discovered anything. They might not necessarily conclude that this is where the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons is located. After all, there wasn't a single building in sight, was there? Besides, even if the Church's army really does come charging in, with their current strength, they still can't hurt Lady Yumo.”

“Th-that does seem to be true.”

“But regardless, you should have told Lady Karina as soon as possible that a Heavenly Apostle had discovered this place. To be on the safe side, the new house shouldn't have been built here at all. Now that Lady Yumo can assume human form and move around, the prudent choice would have been to build the new house on the Endless Ice Plains, deep within the forest, rather than here.”

“Enmm... I know I was wrong.”

Faced with Xiao's slightly reproachful words, Shuoyue pouted unhappily.

In truth, the blue-haired girl was deeply conflicted.

She knew that moving to the deepest part of the forest would be the wisest choice for Mommy's safety.

But... this place...

This was where they had lived for hundreds of years. It held far too many wonderful memories for them...

Shuoyue really didn't want to move...

“Sigh.”

Seeing through Shuoyue's thoughts, Xiao said nothing more. Instead, she gazed thoughtfully toward the south.

“Forget it, Lord Shuoyue. For now, just strengthen the security around the forest. I'll investigate the situation with the Asumos Church.”

...

--

Meanwhile,

Inside the dining room,

“Something urgent to discuss with Xiao?”

Miss Yumo murmured softly, looking out the window in confusion.

After all, Shuoyue had always been extremely clingy toward her.

Whenever that child was awake, she would never pass up an opportunity to spend time with her.

But now?

That child had actually given up the chance to have breakfast with the whole family because of some urgent matter, choosing instead to discuss something with Xiao?

Noticing Yumo's slightly worried expression, Karina took a sip of tea before speaking reassuringly.

“There's no need to worry, Mother. Little Sister Shuoyue is a reliable child. She probably went to discuss the arrangement of the barriers within the forest with Xiao, right? After all, Xiao is very busy. It seems she'll be returning to the Black Rose Family's territory in a few days.”

“I see? All right, then... I'll call that girl to join us for lunch instead.”

As she spoke, Miss Yumo looked somewhat disappointedly at the empty seat beside her, where food had already been placed.

However,

As her attention shifted toward Shuoyue's seat, Miss Yumo also noticed two other empty seats, one beside herself and another beside Karina.

Seeing these two deliberately reserved places, Yumo couldn't help furrowing her delicate brows.

“Who are these two seats for?”

“Ah? These two? This one is for Big Brother Piere.”

Karina smiled as she pointed to the seat beside her.

“As for the other seat...”

As she spoke, Karina's gaze shifted toward the empty seat to Mother's right.

The red-haired woman's expression became slightly complicated.

“That seat... I wanted to leave it for Big Sister.”

Upon hearing this answer, Miss Yumo fell silent for a moment.

A trace of sadness slowly appeared in her crimson eyes.

And beneath that sadness, a faint glimmer of anger could be seen.

After a brief silence, Yumo spoke in a somewhat cold voice.

“Leave a seat for her... Why... Are you still expecting her to come back?”

“Well... Sigh... I don't know whether Big Sister will come back or not. But no matter what, we're still family. I wanted to save a place for her... Maybe one day, she'll come home.”

“Is that so...”