Chapter 137: Imperial Sister, Why Is Your Taste Getting Heavier? (51/140)

Even though she spoke such sad words, the girl only smiled as she stated a certain fact.

As if it had nothing to do with her.

“They won’t come near you? Why?”

Victoria asked.

“Because of your Heterochromatic Eyes?”

“Yes.”

The girl nodded.

There was no sadness on her face.

Only a relieved, pure smile.

“It’s said that those with Heterochromatic Eyes are the reincarnation of demons, so being treated like this isn’t unexpected, right?”

“Besides, Becky has already been living well enough. Everyone just avoids me, but they haven’t driven me out.”

Velis looked around again and asked, “You live here?”

“Mm!”

Becky nodded.

“What about the other people in your family?”

“My parents…they died a few years ago because of me.”

This time, the girl finally showed a sad expression.

“They said it was my Heterochromatic Eyes that brought disaster to the family.”

“That’s why my parents were taken to the mines and died from infected wounds.”

“Others also left Becky because of this, but since it’s a disaster I brought, being abandoned is the punishment I deserve.”

The girl took a deep breath and tried to smile again.

This scene made Anne’s heart ache inexplicably.

Even though she didn’t want Velis to come over just now, at this moment she asked anyway.

“Then why can you still smile…? Wouldn’t it be better to cry?”

“Because…”

The girl paused.

“Even if I cry, nothing will change.”

“I am a disaster…so even a little, I don’t want my negative feelings to affect others.”

“Even if someone sees me by chance, I hope what they see is my smile, not a face that makes them uncomfortable.”

These words seemed to have a strong impact, so much so that the three—Velis, Anne, and Victoria—couldn’t speak for a long time.

After a while, Velis finally continued to ask.

“How do you live here?”

“I do some handiwork for Grandma Wang next door. She gives me some food each time as payment.”

Speaking of Grandma Wang, tears were clearly streaming from the girl’s eyes.

But she still tried hard to keep smiling.

That look made one’s heart ache even more.

“But these past two days, Grandma Wang hasn’t come to see me…I heard people say she got caught up in the big battle near the city gate and never came back…”

She stammered through the sentence, unable to hold her smile.

“Wuwuwu…I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

The girl covered her face and cried, kneeling on the ground in grief.

It seemed she blamed herself for the old woman’s death.

Grief and sadness—for the only person still willing to help her.

And yet, she had caused her death as well.

Becky turned her body, trying not to let the three see her current state.

“The battle from the 7th to the noon of the 8th did affect many civilians nearby.”

Victoria sighed.

“But that Grandma Wang…why didn’t she just stay away…?”

But no matter what was said at this point, it was useless.

The three circled the low wall, and in a nearby three-story building, found the place the girl had said Grandma Wang lived.

When they arrived, a woman was just coming out.

After asking, they learned the woman was Grandma Wang’s daughter.

“What bad luck! It’s all that Demonic Woman’s fault!”

The woman cursed loudly.

“I always told my mom not to go near her, but she kept saying the child was pitiful and kept helping her.”

“Now look, she’s gone too. Serves her right!”

“I’m telling you, stay away from that Demonic Woman, or you’ll die and not even know how!”

The woman showed no sign of sadness. While cursing, she made the three—dressed as commoners—keep their distance.

She heard about the aid and went to the Castle Lord’s Mansion to collect An Ding Liang.

Seeing the woman hurry away, Anne said angrily,

“What kind of person is that!?

That was her mother, how could she…”

“I wouldn’t want to give her food. I’d rather feed it to a dog than her!”

“That’s enough, Anne.”

Velis patted her angry little head.

“Sometimes, what we see isn’t everything. Don’t judge.”

“But…”

Anne tried to protest, but Velis cut her off.

“How do you know she never cried in secret, or felt sorrow?”

“And also, if she didn’t allow it, could Grandma Wang have helped Becky all this time?”

Velis’s words made Anne freeze.

“Let’s go. Let’s check on Becky again.”

Entering the girl’s small yard, they found she had stopped crying.

Sensing the three coming in, she shrank into a corner, full of self-loathing.

“Don’t…don’t come near me, or you’ll…”

As she spoke, she cried again.

“It’s my fault, Grandma Wang…If only I could have endured the hunger, or just left to die somewhere like they wanted—then no one would have died because of me.”

Seeing the girl about to cry again, Velis frowned.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to keep smiling?”

The girl choked up.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re Becky, right? The Castle Lord’s Mansion has issued the Lord’s Order, so you have a share of An Ding Liang. Come with me.”

As she approached, Velis could smell the grime of someone who hadn’t bathed in a long time.

A strange odor filled the air.

Sensing Velis’s reaction, the girl took a few steps back.

“I’m sorry. Bathing easily makes me sick, so I only wash my hair. You shouldn’t come close to me.”

Here, the only water available for bathing was cold or dirty.

She wasn’t someone who could use clean hot water.

Understanding her living conditions, Velis no longer felt disgust.

After all, Nidnia’s Fake Disguise made with Dark Magic and Bug Juice was far worse than this.

In Anne’s horrified gaze and the girl’s tearful pleas for Velis to let go—

The Imperial Princess grabbed her hand.

“Come with me.”

“Wait…wait…No, don’t, I’ll just bring you harm…let me go…”

But no matter what Becky said, Velis only tightened her grip, pulling her outside.

“There’s nothing here worth taking anyway, right? I’ll find you work a hundred times better than this.”

“But…but…no…sorry, Becky…Becky doesn’t deserve it, I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

“They’re right. Grandma Wang died…I’ve decided. I should leave the city and die somewhere…then no one will be hurt because of me…”

Pa!

A sharp slap cut off Becky’s self-pity.

Pa!

A second slap followed.

Becky froze, stunned, even the tears about to fall blinked back.

Velis looked at the dirt on her palm and showed a disgusted expression.

“Shut up! I didn’t ask for your opinion!”

“If you feel so indebted, then consider this a forced conscription!”

“From now on, you’re my slave, my property! Objections are invalid! Try to run and you’ll die! Whatever you say is useless…”

“Why!”

Before Becky could speak, Anne couldn’t hold back.

“Your Highness, it’s enough to settle her somewhere. A slave—doesn’t that mean she has to stay with you all the time!?”

“Yeah, Your Highness, she…”

Victoria also tried to persuade.

“She has Heterochromatic Eyes. For things like this, better safe than sorry!”

But no one could change Velis’s decision.

When they dragged the silently weeping Becky back to the Castle Lord’s Mansion, Hilu frowned at the sight.

“Though as your sister I shouldn’t comment on your preferences, but your taste is getting weirder and weirder, Imperial Princess.”

Hilu sighed.