Evelyn's mouth was opened wide in shock as she stared at the three to four year old girl who was blinking back at her innocently.
She hurriedly covered her with a bedsheet before examining her again. However, despite her different appearance, there was no change in her stats.
She gingerly poked the little girl's squishy cheek, and received a dazzling smile in return.
'Oh no oh no no, don't tell '
"Bree? Can you talk?"
The little girl grinned. "Ahh Ahh!"
Evelyn's face was blank. 'No, even my luck can't be this bad. Let try again.'
"Ahem, how long will it take to restore yourself to full power, now that you're like this?"
The little blonde girl gave her a cute tilt of her head.
"Ahh?"
'Well, I guess there's no way of denying it, now.'
Evelyn's smile was reluctant, but the little girl probably didn't understand, and only smiled back happily.
"Are you hungry?"
"Ahh!"
Looking at the golden haired little girl still nodding enthusiastically, Evelyn could only sigh and put aside her depression before taking out one of the regular dishes she had bought in the academy's carriage earlier.
And the girl turned her head away haughtily, as if disgusted by her offering.
A bunch of question marks floated over Evelyn's head. 'Well, it makes sense, she's a spirit beast after all. I guess I misunderstood.'
But as she put away her previous offering and didn't take out anything else, the haughty little girl imdiately turned distressed, her eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned.
"Ahh!"
She opened her tiny mouth wide and pointed at it with her finger.
Even an idiot would know what she wanted.
"It couldn't be those dew drops, right?"
Regardless, Evelyn had brought them for her in the first place, so she simply took out a bowl and handed it over to the excited little girl.
Unlike in her puppy form, where she had taken it one drop at a ti, this ti she greedily grabbed a fistful and shoved it into her mouth, chewing loudly before repeating the process until the bowl was empty.
"M-Moh!"
Evelyn watched her carefully, and didn't notice any abnormalities. And once Bree asked for more, the pink haired girl couldn't help but be delighted. 'She can speak more clearly now? Great!'
And so, one by one, all twenty of the serenity dewdrop bowls were emptied, and Bree didn't even burp.
Instead of feeling a pinch from the five thousand gold loss, Evelyn instead felt ecstatic! Because at this mont, Bree's expression had undergone another subtle change, just like the small one in the carriage.
If it was anything like earlier, her thoughts should have cleared up even more.
Compared to just a full physical restoration of her strength, restoring her mind was of even more critical importance.
Because once she was fully aware, Bree should be able to figure out a solution for her situation herself. Her solution would probably be a much better one than whatever Evelyn could co up with, because Bree should know a lot more about both her own situation as well as this world.
"Bree! Can you talk to now?"
"Mhm!"
Evelyn felt like sobbing from sheer delight, because both Bree's response and her eyes were clear and concise. There was no hint of confusion or lack of intelligence anywhere. But she barely managed to contain herself, except for her slightly trembling lips.
"Bree can talk now, mama!"
And her happiness turned to ashes.
"W-What did you call ?"
"Mama?"
The little girl's eyes turned distressed, quickly misting up as if feeling rejected by Evelyn's response.
'N-No way don't tell she completely lost her mories?! No! This can't be happening!'
But in the end, she couldn't leave her in distress, so she hugged the little girl close, both providing her with relief and preventing her from observing Evelyn's increasingly gloomy expression.
'Her status is restored to this extent, she got back into a humanoid form, albeit much younger than before, and she can even talk now I should be happy She's not going to die anyti soon, she can still restore her mories later'
But no matter how many tis she tried to convince herself, Evelyn couldn't deny how she really felt.
'I'm so selfish My main goal with her has always been to make use of her to protect us'
Her eyes remained closed as Evelyn took a few deep breaths.
'No I can't keep going on like this! What's the point of all this if I just keep leeching off of others?! Bree has already done so much for , so let take care of her next. I have to get stronger by myself, and stop depending on others!'
During her ti at the Knox mansion, there had been no way for her to get stronger by herself, so she had slowly adapted to the attitude of always relying on Bree or other external strength when it ca to facing bigger threats.
There was nothing wrong with it, at that ti, but now that she was at the academy, Evelyn knew she shouldn't keep that attitude anymore.
"Mama why did you leave grandma?"
Evelyn felt a headache every ti she heard Bree call her 'mama', but she could only endure it. As for her mother being called 'grandma'... forget it, although her reaction would surely be hilarious.
But going by Bree's earlier reactions, refusing to be called 'mama' would just make her cry.
Anyway, no one was dumb enough to take it seriously even if they heard it, right?
'And if she is referring to my mother by 'grandma' then it seems like her mories aren't gone from just before her 'evolution', but from when she suffered that backlash, right?'
Regardless, since she was able to understand so things now, she couldn't just wait for her to restore her mories.
"We didn't leave her, Bree, we ca here to get stronger, so we can protect her."
The little girl nodded, puffing out her chest with pride. "Bree's super strong now! Bree can protect both! Let's go back?"
Evelyn couldn't help but smile. Right, compared to the previously weak, fragile little puppy, Bree really was dozens, if not hundreds of tis stronger now.
"Well, Bree is very cute, and strong, but won't Bree listen to ?"
The little blonde nodded furiously, her golden locks flying haphazardly from sheer montum. "Bree listen! Bree is good puppy!"
Evelyn's lips twitched. "No, Bree, you're not a puppy anymore. You should say 'Bree is a good girl', okay?"
The little girl blinked her big green eyes in surprise, and then she smiled, bright and clear.
"Bree can turn puppy, mama wanna see?"
Evelyn had sowhat expected her to be able to do that after her transformation, but wasn't sure if Bree could just change whenever she wanted, or if she even knew about it. It would certainly be a pleasant surprise if true.
"Eh? You can?"
Bree nodded proudly, and before Evelyn realized what was happening, there was a small golden little puppy on her lap, just like the past few years. Except that this ti, her eyes were sharper than ever, no longer as dumb as before.
And just as quickly, she turned back into her toddler form, and Evelyn covered her with the sheet again, feeling a little happy.
"Good girl."
"Ehehehe Bree's happy if mama's happy."
Evelyn felt her lips twitch.
If Bree can change forms at will, that would an less scrutiny from people at the academy even if she had to take her out of the room.
Moreover, the transformation was fast as lightning!
Still, there was no need to hide it from Amara and Vivian.
'But they can't hear her call mama! Bree would probably die from embarrassnt once she recovers her mories if that happened. It's one thing for just to know, but another entirely if everyone else also knows'
Looking at how obedient she was being, Evelyn couldn't help but have an idea.
"Listen, Bree, you can only call mama when we're alone, alright? It's a special thing, just between us!"
The little girl tilted her head in confusion. "Then what to call mama if big red and small red there?"
Evelyn assud that those were her 'titles' for Amara and Vivian.
"Just call Evelyn!"
"Lyn!"
The pink-haired girl groaned. "Call just Eve, then."
"Eve!"
"Good!"
"Mama, Bree has gift for you!"
Evelyn tilted her head, confused. "Eh? You do?"
'Could it be that she rembered sothing?!'
"Yes! Bree made sothing!"
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