Chapter 56: It would be nice if I was the only child left by my mother’s side~

“Why are you all staring at me like that?”

Therilens cocked her head, face free of any unease under the scrutiny; she smiled, hands clasped behind, waist dipping in a half-bow as she scanned the room.

Her gaze held such aggression that it left the other three children deeply uncomfortable.

“Our mom doesn’t play favorites~” Asteris replied in a small voice, all understanding and kind.

“She loves us all equally~ She’s every one’s savior~”

“Every one’s savior…?” Therilens murmured, chewing the words over and over, as if unable to grasp their depth.

“That’s right~ Mom loves me, loves my sister, loves big sis Duoluosa, loves little sis Iluci—and loves you too~” Delucia added.

Therilens tilted her head the other way, dazzling gold hair veiling half her face; she gazed at the three children before her with a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

“So that’s how it is…”

“Hah?!”

Duoluosa furrowed her brows in irritation.

“Spit it out if you’ve got something to say—don’t loop the same line, and drop the snide digs.”

She stood on the stairs, looming down at Therilens with icy eyes—not like she was looking at a living thing.

“Therilens, one thing I can say with full certainty: I’m the first child Liang Lai adopted—the one she pins the most hopes on. So, the person she loves most… is me.”

At those words, silence crashed over the room; Asteris and Delucia quit eyeing Therilens, turning instead to bore into Duoluosa.

“No need for those looks—it’s the truth. From here on, Liang Lai’ll take even more pride in me.”

She swept the room once more with a cold glance, then headed upstairs.

No time wasting breath on this ragtag bunch; her focus now: drill crystallization ruthless, grind these mouthy brats to dust.

Once Duoluosa’s figure vanished deep in the hall, Therilens pursed her lips, murmuring low: “So… you’re Mom’s favorite?”

Delucia caught the whisper sharp; she hopped forward to counter Duoluosa’s claim:

“No way! Mom loves us all equal~”

Therilens just shot the twin sisters a loaded look, saying nothing more.

“That look she gave Duoluosa? Off~” Asteris whispered in Delucia’s ear once Therilens left.

“I know that vibe… Pure murder intent. You feel it too, right sis?”

Delucia stared after Therilens’s path, nodding faint.

“Crystal—felt it aimed at Duoluosa first… but after her ‘Liang Lai loves me most’ line? Switched to her. And us… She ain’t the friendly front she plays. Stay frosty—our gut’s never wrong.”

“Mhm~”

“We loop Duoluosa in first—spare her the loss~ Over Therilens… I kinda root for Duoluosa~ Hee hee~”

Asteris, a touch protective.

She tugged Delucia upstairs, shoving the practice room door; mid-drill Duoluosa startled, crystallization half-cocked—she glared at the doorway twins, no fury though.

“Knock next time—popping in like ghosts? Jumpscare much.”

Duoluosa’s vibe toward Asteris and Delucia had thawed some—likely the prior team-up’s thaw.

“Just here to tip you off,” Delucia wagged a finger.

“Watch Therilens close—reeking malice, huge. ‘Specially yours.”

“At first, it targeted Iluci… but post your ‘Liang Lai loves me most’? Locked on you.”

Duoluosa arched a single brow.

“Hah?”

Truth: she’d sensed Therilens’s offness too—and the twins’ say deepened it tenfold.

“Yeah, clocked her weird. Felt it.” Duoluosa conceded.

Then, a touch awkward, a fidget.

“Uh… thanks for the heads-up, anyway.”

Asteris and Delucia blinked.

Duoluosa thanking them? Rare bird—and not the Liang Lai-forced “good girl” sweet.

“No sweat~” Asteris smiled soft.

Evening.

Liang Lai hand-in-hand with Iluci returned to the Immaculate Courtyard; Iluci’s free hand raised a bowl of light-honey jelly, lips still smudged with traces.

“We’re back~”

Liang Lai bustled in chipper.

“Little Xi killed it—eight kids tested; she took first! Such talent~”

First place?

Upstairs, Duoluosa’s fists clenched silent.

She’d banked on bare-pass for the bed-hog; hadn’t pegged standout shine.

If true… rivalry ratcheted.

Therilens clapped beside, cheering Iluci’s win.

Asteris and Delucia just watched Therilens cool; Iluci hunched her neck, eyes off the rest.

Vibes all skewed.

Liang Lai clocked none—just basked in pride: her three tested daughters, all aces.

Night.

Deep dark.

Therilens hummed a tune, descending step by step to the kitchen—in pitch-black, snagging a fruit knife.

She gripped the fruit knife, padding slow down the hall—pausing at last before a window.

Moonlight spilled on her face; the surroundings bloomed clear at last.

“Such a big fruit knife, and the saintess missed it… So careless~”

“But good~ Missed it? Perfect—if spotted, no clue how to spin it… Might not get scooped by such a sweet big sis~”

“Saintess ain’t like those past ‘adopters’—creeps all. God, I want… just me by the saintess’s side…!”

Under moon, the blade mirrored Therilens’s cute face—twisted vicious.

She whetted it cloth-wrapped, humming on—barefoot, step by step upstairs.