Vol 4. Chapter 86: Little Angel

Youlan.

The very first Demon King-class existence.

After Yumo became the managing consciousness of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, Youlan was the first intelligent lifeform Yumo ever came into contact with. Toward this Demon King-class existence who had accompanied her from the very beginning, Yumo’s feelings were extremely complicated.

While she valued Youlan greatly, she was also afraid and wary of this ancient Abyss Demon.

But no matter what,

Even setting aside Youlan’s later actions on the continent, considering that Youlan had once nearly killed the other children, Yumo did not want any of her other children, including Yuan’er, to come into contact with this lunatic. In fact, she wished that woman would stay as far away from her children as possible...

Yumo was afraid that the heartbreaking scene from the past would happen again...

Therefore,

After learning that Yuan’er had spent quite a long time with Youlan, and that the little girl even seemed to like that big sister very much, Yumo found it somewhat difficult to control her emotions.

After all, from Yumo’s perspective, Youlan must have approached Yuan’er with sinister intentions.

That woman was deceiving her youngest daughter’s feelings...

And so,

When she saw Yuan’er trying to defend Youlan, Yumo became agitated and raised her voice.

On the other side, the pink-haired girl clearly had not expected Yumo’s emotions to change so drastically.

After Mother suddenly shouted sternly at her twice, the little girl immediately began trembling all over, and a layer of mist slowly gathered in her red-and-blue heterochromatic eyes.

Yuan’er lowered her little head, looking both frightened and wronged.

“Wuwu...”

Seeing this, Yumo suddenly realized how badly she had lost control just now, and she felt incredibly guilty for losing her composure twice in a row.

Although she had gotten so worked up entirely because she was worried about Yuan’er’s safety, she still did not want to frighten her adorable daughter...

Taking two deep breaths, Yumo forcibly suppressed the agitation and unease in her heart.

A guilty smile gradually appeared on her breathtakingly beautiful face.

“I’m sorry. Mother didn’t mean to yell at you... I’m sorry...”

Yumo carefully raised her hands and gently pulled the little girl into her embrace, softly patting her back.

Under Mother Yumo’s comforting, the unease in Yuan’er’s eyes gradually faded, and her slightly reddened eyes finally returned to normal.

“Don’t cry, okay?”

“Mhm...”

Yuan’er obediently nodded her little head.

Feeling the delicate body in her arms completely relax, Miss Yumo let out a long sigh of relief.

“Yuan’er, promise Mother, okay? Don’t trust that Big Sister Youlan. She’ll hurt you... If you see her again in the future, stay far away from her, or come straight to Mother, okay?”

“Enmm...”

“Yuan’er, can you listen to Mother?”

“...”

Faced with Yumo’s words, Yuan’er fell into a brief silence.

But after struggling with herself for a while, the little girl ultimately chose to obey her mother and nodded somewhat blankly.

“I... I understand, Mother.”

“Mm. Good girl.”

After receiving Yuan’er’s affirmative answer, Yumo smiled in relief and hugged the pink-haired girl even tighter.

Yuan’er cooperatively buried her little face against Yumo’s chest in silence.

For a time,

Inside the carriage, aside from the miscellaneous sounds of travel coming from outside, it was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop.

Within this silent atmosphere, Miss Yumo continued comforting the little girl in her arms while thoughtfully glancing at the scenery outside the window from the corner of her eye.

She sank into contemplation.

The news that Youlan had come into contact with her youngest daughter undoubtedly filled Yumo’s heart with anxiety.

But at the same time,

That news also left Yumo with extremely mixed emotions.

Alongside her unease, a faint sense of relief had even arisen deep within her heart, and the huge stone that had been hanging over her heart for so long seemed to slowly settle to the ground at this moment...

This

Was the first news Yumo had heard about that woman in several hundred years.

Back then, after learning that Red Spider Lily had killed the Saintess of the Asumos Church, Yumo had never received any further information about that woman.

It was as though Youlan had become a stone sunk into the depths of the sea, vanishing without a trace.

This inevitably caused Yumo’s imagination to run wild.

Where did she go?

What is she doing now?

That lunatic shouldn’t be this quiet, right?

She couldn’t be... gone, could she?

Could she have been gravely injured during her battle with the Asumos Church and died from her wounds?

Or...

Was she subjugated by someone?

She’s very strong, but if she was all alone, wouldn’t that have been too much for her?

...

After getting news about Youlan from Yuan’er, Yumo’s feelings could only be described as deeply conflicted.

She felt uneasy,

Yet also reassured.

“She... is still alive...”

But,

Even if she was still alive, how exactly should Yumo deal with her?

“Haah...”

The black-haired girl slowly closed her eyes and sank into thought.

However,

The black-haired girl was not the only one lost in thought.

Little Yuan’er, nestled in her embrace, also puffed out her cheeks and entered her own thinking mode.

After burying her head against Mother’s chest and taking several deep breaths of Mother’s scent to calm herself down, Yuan’er began recalling what Mother had just said.

Although Yuan’er had agreed to Yumo’s request just now, deep down, the little girl did not agree with her mother’s words.

—“That woman is a lunatic!”—

Big Sister Youlan?

Is she a lunatic?

The girl blinked in confusion.

Scenes from the time she had spent living together with Big Sister Youlan began playing continuously through the little girl’s mind like a movie.

Thinking back to that beautiful big sister who had always cared for her, patiently taught her, and protected her from being ‘hurt’ by magical beasts, Yuan’er simply could not connect her with the word ‘lunatic.’

At most, Big Sister Youlan just did not like talking much and gave people a cold feeling.

But aside from that, everything about her was really nice, wasn’t it?

How was she anything like a lunatic?

“Does Mother... not like Big Sister Youlan? Is that why she said those things?”

The little girl could not help muttering inwardly.

As she thought about this, a conflicted and gloomy look gradually appeared in Yuan’er’s adorable heterochromatic eyes.

Whether it was Mother Yumo or Big Sister Youlan, Yuan’er liked them both very much.

Yuan’er wanted them to get along!

Judging from the way Big Sister Youlan had spoken about Mother before, Big Sister Youlan definitely liked Mother!

Otherwise, she would not have seemed like a completely different person every time Mother was mentioned.

Yuan’er could still vividly remember the light that had appeared in Big Sister Youlan’s eyes whenever she talked about Mother.

But,

Mother did not seem to like Big Sister Youlan.

She even seemed very wary of her...

Big Sister Youlan was obviously so nice, so why didn’t Mother like her?

Why did Mother call Big Sister Youlan a lunatic?

Enmm...

Could there be some kind of misunderstanding between Mother and Big Sister Youlan?

That thought suddenly popped into Yuan’er’s mind.

Then, little angel Yuan’er raised her head and blinked, thoughtfully sneaking a glance at Yumo’s beautiful face as she silently remained lost in thought.

“That’s right! There must be some misunderstanding! It has to be! Just like the stories Grandpa and Grandma told me before! Big Sister Youlan is so nice, so there’s no way Mother could really dislike her! There must be a misunderstanding! Mhm, that has to be it.”

If there was a misunderstanding,

Then it had to be cleared up!

She was going to help clear up the misunderstanding!

She wanted to see Mother Yumo and Big Sister Youlan getting along peacefully!

Having made her decision, the little girl suddenly clenched both of her tiny fists, while blazing fighting spirit ignited in her heterochromatic eyes.

Unfortunately, that flame of fighting spirit had barely burned for long before a merciless bucket of cold water abruptly extinguished it...

Because,

As little Yuan’er began devising a plan in her head and thinking about how to clear up the misunderstanding, she suddenly realized a very serious problem rather belatedly.

And that was—

She had absolutely no idea what the misunderstanding between Mother and Big Sister even was...

If she did not know what the misunderstanding was, then how was she supposed to help clear it up?

“Wuwuwu...”

After realizing this, the little girl dejectedly lowered her head again.

“No, I can’t give up!”

As though suddenly thinking of something else, Yuan’er hurriedly shook her head and encouraged herself inwardly.

If she did not know what the misunderstanding was, then she could just find a way to ask!

Hadn’t Big Sister Liyu and Big Sister Karina both said [N O V E L I G H T] it before?

Mother was sometimes stubborn with her words, but her heart was very soft.

If she acted extra cute and spoiled?

Maybe she could get Mother to tell her?

Raising her head to look at Mother’s beautiful face, adorable little Yuan’er suddenly put on an expression as though everything was going according to plan.

At this moment,

The little girl began devising her own ‘Grand Cuteness Plan’ in her heart...