Chapter 14

To be honest, I've never understood what my mother had gotten into the Zoldycks... Otherwise, I just can't understand why our family would have such close ties with them.

Every year I would go to Zoldyck and stay for a long time, following their kids as they did weightlifting, running, training, and so on.

Because the training intensity was too high, I doubted for a while that I would not grow taller.

“You’ll get shorter if you lift weights all the time,” I told Killua with absolute certainty.

Killua's eyes widened: "No way!"

“Of course!” I gestured for him to recall the height of his grandfather and great-grandfather, “Think about Grandpa Geno and Grandpa Maha…”

Killua's face turned pale instantly, but he still stubbornly insisted, "But... Dad is obviously very tall."

"Hmm...it must be because he didn't lift much weight when he was a kid!" I said, making a blatant accusation against the Zoldycks. "Look, don't my eldest and second eldest brothers look rather short at first glance?"

At that time, Illumi and Milluki hadn't grown taller because their puberty hadn't really started yet.

However, this explanation successfully fooled Killua.

Every morning, he would proactively help me finish the milk I didn't want to drink.

Will this really make me taller?

"Of course!" I nodded. "It's okay for me since I'm a girl, but you, as a boy, can't get shorter... You must drink more milk!"

...

Without realizing it, I recalled some strange things from the past.

From this perspective, life in Zoldyck was quite interesting, except for Illumi always sending chills down your spine.

I'm only afraid of Illumi. Mr. Zoldyck, Mrs. Zoldyck, and even the other elders in their family are all very tolerant of me.

It should be said that their approach to raising children is one of tolerance.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed Illumi to develop such a willful and terrifying personality; Milluki and Kalluto are pretty much the same.

I didn't interact with them much. Mrs. Zoldyck didn't care much about my existence and only saw me occasionally when she remembered me. The same was true for the others.

Because it was a rare request to meet, I hesitated for a moment before quickly and readily agreeing.

Actually, I didn't want to eat at the restaurant at all, because this family seemed very repressed even when they were eating.

However, since I've been asked to, I'll reluctantly go this time.

With that thought in mind, I followed the maid into the restaurant.

Everything was fine at first, but Mrs. Zoldyck glanced at me and asked, "Is there anything else you're not used to?"

I said no.

She fell silent, as if she wasn't the one who had said she wanted to see me.

After saying that, everything seemed fine. I lowered my head and quietly ate my meal. A dozen minutes later, the elders gradually left the table, and the oppressive atmosphere finally eased.

I put down my knife and fork and prepared to leave.

“Kurt,” Mrs. Zoldyck’s voice rang out at that moment, “you’re late.”

...He had been sitting in his seat for so long that Mrs. Zoldyck finally had time to deal with the situation.

“To the solitary confinement cell,” she said firmly, “now.”

Kurt also stopped moving.

"Yes," he said.

All the extra noise in the restaurant disappeared after that.

Seeing that Mrs. Zoldyck had also left, Milluki slammed down his cutlery and stood up impatiently: "I'm full too, I'm leaving first—"

"...Where are you going?" I couldn't bear to see him so happy, so I called out to him, "It's rare to see me again, don't you have anything to say?"

Miji asked, bewildered, "What did you say?"

I laughed: "Well, like you miss me a lot, or something like that—"

He was so frightened that he started coughing violently.

Before I could finish my next sentence, Miji scrambled away, crawling on his hands and feet.

I:"……"

Surely not?

When he told the housekeeper to "leave the swing for my elder brother's child," it wasn't like this.

I was just joking. Compared to him, we're about the same, so why is he acting like he can't stand me?

It's really heartbreaking.

I went back to my room.

Illumi has not returned yet.

The butler of Adrian Manor sent a message, informing me of the approximate date of the wedding on behalf of my mother, and also added:

"If you have anyone you'd like to invite, you can start preparing now and ask for their opinions."

Since I unilaterally blocked all of my mother's contact information, the housekeeper has had to work hard as a bridge between us.

I clicked on the block option and smashed this last bridge as well.

She's not even home anymore, what can she do to me?

Moreover, if Illumi hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that she had secretly hired a killer behind her back.

I didn't ask about the outcome of the murder-for-hire, but judging from Illumi and Kalmod's tone, I knew that the person definitely didn't die.

Since he can handle even the Zoldyck family's hired murder, I have even less reason to worry about him, and I also don't need to presume that he was forced by my mother to break up the couple—

It's simply that he's unwilling to put in the effort for me.

Ultimately, he's no different from Illumi, who reveals his true colors for a mission.

My taste is really bad.

Just as I was thinking this, my phone rang again.

My friend, a tech-savvy Illumi, relentlessly sent another message that resembled a spam text: a string of meaningless symbols with only one line of text at the end of each paragraph containing any information.

So boring~

Me too.

On a whim, I asked, "Are you an assassin?"

He: "No, that's not it~"

Me: "Then why do you know Illumi...? Are you a corpse collector?"

He: "Hehe, no~"

I racked my brains trying to guess his profession, and Hisoka proudly confessed, "I'm a magician!"

I suddenly realized that he was someone in the performance industry: "Is Illumi really that childlike? How much does he pay you each time?"

Hisoka: "..."

Just as I realized that something about what I said might have sounded strange, Hisoka seemed to finally realize what was going on and answered.

“Xiao Yi never pays for shows,” he said, his punctuation returning to normal, as if he were quite resentful about it, “and people always have to pay for him.”

I said sympathetically, "You've had a tough time."

He replied with a smiley face.

I thought the conversation was over.

Then, just as I was shifting my thoughts and planning to do something else to pass the time, Hisoka sent me another message.

It's okay~ Little Lai has already paid for it~

When, or again?

I:"……"

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Happy New Year! (laughs)

This is my first time spending the Spring Festival on Jinjiang. I just happened to be away from writing during the Spring Festival last year.

——

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!