Yes, Sophia had noticed long ago that sothing was off about her elder sister’s ntal state. She often sat in the courtyard staring blankly at the bushes and trees. Not only had her idle ti in the courtyard increased, but even during als, prayer, and reading, she spent more ti zoning out—absent-minded, as if possessed by sothing unclean.
As if she had been cursed.
Out of concern for her sister, Sophia made up her mind to observe whether her sister had developed so strange hysteria. So, she spent less ti playing with her sister and more ti dressing discreetly to follow her in secret.
After so ti, Sophia realized that this act of secretly observing her sister beca strangely addictive.
Her sister was right in front of her; she could easily go up and ask or jump into her arms, but she didn’t. She simply watched her from a distance. From this angle, she saw many sides of her sister she’d never seen before.
For example, she had never noticed how alluring and adorable her sister looked when she was lost in thought, crossing her legs absentmindedly, or appearing listless.
Also, how should she put it? Spying on her sister when the latter had no idea brought a peculiar thrill to her heart. The more she did it, the more fun it beca.
Still, she wasn’t only indulging herself—while satisfying a certain need in her heart, she also observed many unusual things about Astrid.
For instance, her sister seed to be more distracted than before, as if her attention had been drawn away by sothing else. So much so that she, who was usually extrely perceptive, didn’t even notice soone spying on her.
What on earth was my sister thinking about?
Had so vixen sneaked into her sister’s heart when she wasn’t looking??
Driven by her obsession with her sister, Sophia once took advantage of a ti when Astrid was out praying to sneak into her room. Though she didn’t find anything out of the ordinary at first, she did notice a distinct anomaly.
That was—Astrid had changed her bedsheets.
This was extrely unusual. As soone who was abnormally obsessed with her older sister, Sophia knew Astrid’s habits when it ca to tidying and changing sheets like the back of her hand.
Changing bedsheets after only three days of use was definitely not sothing the servants would do—it had to be her sister herself.
Just what had happened to make her sister suddenly decide to change the bedsheets herself??
Sophia caught a whiff of sothing unusual. She rummaged around Astrid’s inner quarters and sure enough, found the discarded bedsheets.
The bedding was damp, with signs of wetness. That was likely why it had to be replaced.
Did… did her sister wet the bed??
Sophia hesitated for a mont, finding it hard to believe. But thinking it over—her sister, already that old, wetting the bed and being too embarrassed to let the servants know, so choosing to change the sheets herself—it sort of made sense.
And besides, her careless and clumsy sister was also kind of adorable~
With that thought, a suspicious blush blood across Sophia’s little cheeks.
Hmm, no, her way of thinking wasn’t the problem. This was clearly for the sake of using excretions to determine if her sister was ill!
So, with trembling hands, the silver-haired girl held the sheet close, twitched her little nose, and leaned in to sniff…
Wrong!
The mont the scent reached her nose, Sophia was almost certain that her sister had not wet the bed.
Co on—she’d slled her sister’s scent before. Sophia could tell with a single sniff.
This situation… wasn’t that simple.
Still, that scent really was strange.
It didn’t sll like sweat, nor any other tabolic product. It carried a bizarre and irresistible scent, along with a subtle fragrance.
What exactly… was this??
This was clearly beyond Sophia’s current knowledge—she couldn’t understand or make sense of it.
Could it be that her sister had fallen gravely ill?? That was unlikely. Elves were almost immune to sickness, and Astrid didn’t seem to show any signs of wilting disease.
Asking her sister directly wouldn’t work—Astrid would never admit anything, and that would expose her own spying. She might even end up being disliked.
Telling others was even more out of the question.
Thinking it through, she realized that the new sester was about to begin, and this year she would also be taking the entrance exam to Coleman Academy. So, she decided to wait until school started, then observe her sister’s behavior up close.
After that, even weirder things began to happen.
As the start of school approached, her sister’s gloomy mood suddenly improved significantly. After prayers, she would hum gentle lodies on her way back to the spring to bathe. Her once ethereal, unworldly eyes now held a trace of worldly anticipation and longing.
What exactly… had happened to her sister?
To find out, Sophia employed a simple yet effective strategy—probing.
“Sister, you seem to be in a good mood lately,” she said one afternoon, as usual sitting in Astrid’s lap, feigning casualness. “Did sothing good happen?”
“Hmm? Sothing good?” Astrid tilted her head slightly. “Do I really look like I’m in a good mood?”
She reached up and gently touched her own cheek, seemingly unaware of the shift in her mood over the past few days.
There was sothing going on.
That only strengthened Sophia’s resolve to get to the bottom of it.
So dreaded it, others longed for it. Either way, the new school term eventually arrived.
After bidding farewell to her father, Astrid said she wanted to depart early. After all, the dorm room had been left unattended for an entire holiday—it was probably dusty. She needed to clean and settle in. And ntally prepare.
It was a sound excuse. So, Astrid departed early and returned to campus.
With three days remaining until school began, Astrid dragged her suitcase to the gates of the Crowned Manor. Looking at the courtyard, everything seed the sa as it had been when she left.
To her surprise, the front door of the manor was open.
That ant—soone had returned earlier than her.
Who could it be?
Wenfu? Felicia Zorsha? Dylin? Or… Teresa?
The last na stirred her thoughts—mories of a series of strange dreams from over the holiday resurfaced.
Logically, after dreaming about soone for so long, it would be easy to confuse the dream with reality—to even misrember the person’s character. But thinking carefully, Astrid realized sothing unsettling: the Teresa in her dreams wasn’t much different from the real one. The only distinctions were the… scale, and the level of affection. As for the rest…
There really weren’t many differences. Everything felt true to her personality.
So… could those dream scenes one day beco reality?
As soon as that thought surfaced, Astrid shook her head—trying to dismiss the idea that was clearly overstepping bounds.
Had the constant “unclean” dreams over the break tainted her thoughts too?
Was it Teresa who returned early to the dormitory? Probably. Dylin and Teresa hadn’t ntioned any plans over the break. If they had nowhere else to go, it made sense they would’ve stayed in the manor.
With that thought, Astrid couldn’t help but push open the courtyard gate with anticipation, dragging her suitcase straight to the house.
Just like last sester, if she opened the door, she’d see the golden-haired girl sitting by the window, reading quietly. Upon noticing her arrival, she’d tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and smile sweetly.
“Miss Astrid, long ti no see. Have you been well~?”
What should she say back?
Though it wasn’t her fault, the thought that she had spent the entire holiday dreaming indecent dreams about the girl filled Astrid with guilt.
She was nervous. Her mind was racing, but she didn’t stop.
Soon, she opened the door and took off her boots.
Sure enough—at the entrance were Teresa’s usual student loafers. Dylin’s shoes were there too.
Astrid took a quiet breath and tiptoed into the living room—yet she didn’t see the familiar golden-haired figure.
“..........”
While she was thinking this, a small blonde girl descended the stairs.
Their eyes t, locked in silence for a mont.
“.............”
It was clear—Astrid didn’t know this girl.
Blonde hair, erald green eyes, skin pale as snow with a hint of baby fat. To Astrid, she looked like a miniature version of Teresa.
Why was there a strange child inside the Crowned Dormitory?
Wait, don’t tell —?!
Astrid’s moon-purple eyes suddenly constricted.
She rembered—Dylin and Teresa likely hadn’t gone anywhere this break. A man and woman, alone together, under one roof… and they had history. If they were impulsive and did sothing irrational—
Could it be… could it really be?!
Staring at the little blonde girl at the staircase, Astrid’s pupils trembled.
They’d actually… had a child over the break?!
Wha—What the—?!
Astrid held her forehead, nearly losing balance. She didn’t know if it was from the shock or sothing else.
So—who made the first move? Dylin or Teresa?
Who had feelings for whom?
No, now wasn’t the ti to worry about that. The deed was done!
Seeing the child’s distinctive Elf ears, Astrid beca even more certain.
The Gold Elves were practically extinct—aside from “creating” one, how else could another appear??
Leaning against the wall, Astrid’s expression turned complicated. She no longer knew what attitude or expression she should use when facing Dylin and Teresa.
She clutched her chest—it felt uncomfortable.
Why? Was it Dylin’s carelessness?
No… She had no established relationship with him. What right did she have to expect fidelity?
But still…
She realized a contradiction—if it were only Dylin, she wouldn’t feel so bad. So why…?
It couldn’t be… because of Teresa?
Because Teresa had so casually given herself to Dylin? Just like that?
Was that really the reason?
Probably… yes…….
Astrid felt too tired to think about who was right or wrong. She just felt emotionally drained.
anwhile, Yimi was also silently observing Astrid.
Undoubtedly, this was a Moon Elf. But strangely enough, Yimi felt no sense of rejection—on the contrary, she even felt a sense of familiarity.
In fact, when she first saw Astrid, Yimi thought Piece had co to Coleman. Only after looking closely did she realize that this silver-haired Elf wasn’t her.
Still, despite the good first impression, Astrid’s behavior puzzled Yimi. Even though her expression didn’t change much, Yimi could sense the emotional waves behind her shocked gaze.
Gold Elves were extrely sensitive to emotions.
Did this Moon Elf not welco her?
At that thought, a hint of disappointnt flashed through Yimi’s eyes.
Astrid, having cald herself sowhat, let a myriad of emotions pass through her eyes as she slowly walked to Yimi and crouched down. Her voice remained cool as the moon, though her tone was gentle.
“Child, what’s your na?”
“？” Yimi imdiately noticed sothing was off about Astrid’s greeting. According to Teresa, they were supposed to be peers. Why was she calling her “child”?
Yimi hated being mistaken for a child because of her height. She frowned slightly but didn’t show her displeasure.
“Miss Astrid, it’s our first ti eting. You can just call Yimi.” She emphasized “Miss” to signal she was a peer, not junior.
“I see, so your na is Yimi? She nad you, didn’t she?”
“？？” Combined with Astrid’s doting gaze and tone, Yimi sensed sothing suspicious.
Why was this Moon Elf asking who nad her right off the bat? It wasn’t impolite, but in a first eting, it was an odd choice.
“By the way, where’s your mother? I haven’t seen her.”
“？？” Yimi’s expression grew stranger. Was this woman trying to press all the wrong buttons? Was she going to make her say out loud that she had no parents?
“Your na—she told you what it is, right?”
“？” With her expression becoming increasingly odd, Yimi finally realized what Astrid had misunderstood.
Just as she was about to say sothing, a sound ca from downstairs. Then, wearing rabbit slippers, the golden-haired girl descended the staircase.
“Yimi, why didn’t you tell we had a guest............ ah, Astrid, it’s you.”
“I figured it might be you who returned first. Welco back~”
The golden-haired girl was as stunningly beautiful as Astrid had imagined—but now, in her eyes, there was a new layer of mature womanly allure……
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