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The sound of fighting outside the room rumbled like thunder, forming a stark contrast with the tranquility inside the room.

“Don’t be shy, make yourself at home.”

Without the two clingy little girls fighting for her attention, the woman finally had the time to entertain the other guests at the table. “You’re all my guests, I sincerely apologize for leaving you unattended,” she said apologetically to Lesiah and the rest.

“Oh no, please. We are flattered to be invited to the dinner. The fault is ours, ma’am, we are the ones who came unannounced.” Lesiah waved her hands. Although the recent turn of events had been a head scratcher, this ordinary and middle-aged couple in their presence were obviously really kind people. Therefore, they must be respectful. Besides, there were still many things that bothered Lesiah.

“Oh dear, you are all Cornelia’s friends. Please don’t act like strangers. Just call me Auntie like Little Lilith does.”

“Well then, Auntie, can I ask you something?” Lesiah exchanged glances with the others, then nodded and went straight to the point. “We don’t mean to pry into anyone’s private affairs, but as Cornelia’s… friends, we would like to understand her more. It’s okay if Auntie chooses not to answer our questions.”

“Of course I’ll answer. Ask away please, young lady. Auntie will answer everything to the best of my ability.” The woman smiled. “As Cornelia’s parents, we wish nothing but for our child to form as many lasting friendships as she could. I usually couldn’t do much, but helping you to understand her is the least I can do.”

Lesiah hesitated briefly when she saw the sincerity on the woman’s face and the middle-aged man who was nodding with approval. For a moment, she wanted to swallow the words that reached her lips but ultimately failed. “Auntie, are you afraid that… we are bad people? After all…”

She shot a glance at Lucas who was still pigging out. Although he was not naked, he looked nothing like a good person for running to someone’s house in a pair of bright red underwear and stuffing his face with food.

He looked more like some perverted thug who barged into someone else’s house to get a free meal. Not only that, potentially one that would do something nasty to the hostess after filling his belly.

The others were not any better either. A blond noble boy who was a natural with swords, a silver-haired peerless beauty with prideful eyes, a man who was sitting like a majestic lion, a weak-looking but deadly young girl, and a pervert. No matter how anyone looked at them, they looked nothing like people who would have anything to do with those two adorable lolis.

They would appear to get along better with violent lolis who would laugh maniacally while bashing their enemies’ skulls.

“What are you saying? How could Cornelia and Little Lilith’s friends be bad people?” The woman was still wearing that gentle smile on her face. It was a beautiful smile that could make even hell seem like a better face when the world was getting destroyed.

Of course, her eyes were mostly filled with doting love when she was in the presence of Cornelia.

“That was your only reason?” Lesiah asked in disbelief. “Just because we are Cornelia and Lilith’s friends?”

“Uh-huh, is this not a valid reason?”

The woman stroked Lesiah’s silver hair tenderly, like she used to do it often. Since Lesiah never received such treatment since she grew up, she could not help but be taken aback by the woman’s action.

The woman gazed into the distance and spoke under her breath, “I have always believed that there are still many good people in this world, so I don’t like to think of others in a negative way. It’s not a good thing to do. If we perceive the world with positivity, this world will be beautiful, no matter how filthy it may be…”

“Ah, sorry for going off topic.” The woman caught herself and stopped. Her eyes were still unfocused, almost like she was looking into a different dimension than here.

Lesiah was a little dazed. Right now, this middle-aged woman in front of her looked like nothing like a mother who was always worried about her home affairs, household chores and the happiness of her children. She looked more like a peerlessly elegant fairy.

It would seem like this ordinary-looking woman was probably not as ordinary as Lesiah thought.

After what seemed like a brief moment, or maybe even a long time, the woman finally turned her gaze back to Lesiah. She covered her mouth and giggled. “I may not look like it, but I’m quite good at judging someone’s character.”

“Is that so?”

“Hehe, I can attest to that. After all, Cornelia’s mother had a lot of men trying to court her back then and she ended up choosing a fine man like myself. I must say that she has very discerning eyes, hahaha.” The middle-aged man laughed arrogantly, with his hands on hips.

“Say goodbye to your one-month worth of allowance.” The woman rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man. The man immediately paled and wilted at the threat that left her ruby red lips.

“You don’t have to be that harsh, my dear! That was only a joke! Do you have to deduct a month’s worth of allowance?!”
“Then I am also joking about deducting one month’s worth of allowance.”
“For real? Oh, you are too sweet, my dear! I…”
“I’m actually serious about deducting two month’s worth.”
“…Damn, you better be joking!” The middle-aged man pounded his fist on his chest.
“Pfft.”

Lesiah could not help but indulge in the warm atmosphere. “Both of you really get along very well with each other,” she said with honesty and envy.

“Of course. After all, we’ve been married for so long, right, my love…?” The middle-aged man addressed his wife affectionately, while rubbing his hands, trying to recover the loss.

Unfortunately, the woman ignored him and had her attention on Lesiah. “Alright, it’s getting late. If you have any questions, just ask, young lady.”

Lesiah was secretly surprised. The woman seemed to be giving her some hints. Yet without any emotions on her face, her question sounded merely like a casual question.

“How old is… Cornelia?”
“Oh my. As Cornelia’s friends, all of you didn’t have any clue on your friend’s age? How careless of you guys.”
“Well…”

Lesiah did not expect to expose herself in the process of testing the waters. Beads of cold sweat immediately formed on her forehead. “I don’t really care about age when I’m making friends…”

The woman pressed her elegant finger on her ruby red lips and smirked, but did not burst Lesiah’s poorly made up lie. “It’s fine, I can understand. After all, Cornelia minds about her age a lot.”

The woman picked up a piece of red fruit and ate it. While chewing, she asked, “How old do you think Cornelia is, young lady?”

“Well…” Not understanding why the woman threw the question back to her, Lesiah turned her head around to seek help. To her dismay, she realized that the others were all busy burying their heads in food, like they were oblivious to everything that was happening around them. Rosdell was the only one who was still keeping his eyes on her.

A bunch of good-for-nothings! Why do I even bring you guys here?!

Lesiah felt like she wanted to cry, but had no tears to shed. She could only try guessing. “Thirteen or fourteen?”

The woman nodded, but with some regret in her voice. “You’re very close, but that’s not the correct answer.”

“Then… just tell us, we haven’t the slightest clue.”

“Young people are really impatient.” The woman puffed up her cheeks, like a little girl who was sulking. “Fine, I’ll tell you. Boring!”

The woman lifted both hands, then withdrew a finger. “I clearly remember Cornelia’s birthday every year. This year, she’ll be nine… million and… fourteen years old.”