"I'm not sure. She didn't tell me," Liang Lin murmured. The light in her eyes dimmed slowly, her smile fading by half. "Well… if she shows up, you *must* tell me."
Even if that woman knew nothing of Siralili’s whereabouts, Liang Lin was ready to give her a harsh lesson for her sister’s sake—a woman who’d vanished without warning, abandoned her sister, and left behind cruel, cutting words.
Liang Di nodded and reached out her hand. "Can you return the book to me now?"
Liang Lin froze for a moment, reluctance washing over her face. Still, she placed the book gently into Liang Di’s palm, her voice trembling slightly. "You… you have to protect this fairy tale book."
As Liang Di slid the book back into the drawer, she shot Liang Lin a puzzled glance. "Of course I will. But… what’s your history with the book’s owner?"
"Uh…"
Liang Lin truly didn’t know how to answer. She stammered for a while before murmuring, "The owner… we were once friends. Later… well, probably a misunderstanding. I just want to clear things up when we meet again."
"…"
*Friends?*
*Were* friends?
Liang Di studied Liang Lin, doubt clouding her eyes as if weighing the truth of those words. Unsettled, Liang Lin quickly snatched up the scroll to change the subject.
"You said you had something important—about the shops, right? Go on."
Liang Di looked away, choosing not to press further, though her mind already turned to other plans. For now, the shops came first; everything else could wait.
"If I overcomplicate it, you’ll get lost. Short version: I’ve mostly fixed the tailor shops. Those serving commoners are thriving. But the noble-client ones? Still deserted. Heavy losses." She tapped several shop names on the page.
"I haven’t visited them yet. Need you to come with me and dig around."
"Do we *have* to go ourselves?" Liang Lin frowned. "Those shops are in busy districts. Zero danger. Even you alone with two maids would be fine."
Liang Di held up a "stop" hand. "Wait—I’m not done."
"You forgot: all those shops are in Orlando City. *House Langwendi’s* territory. Haven’t you heard? Things there… aren’t peaceful lately."
Liang Lin hadn’t actually been paying attention.
"So you’re saying…"
"Shh~ You get it." Liang Di raised a finger to Liang Lin’s lips.
Liang Lin jerked back.
"I *don’t* get it."
"…"
"Why do you always trail off mid-sentence?"
"…"
"I was *asking*—and you’re silencing me?"
"…"
Ah. That "so you’re saying" wasn’t understanding—it was *asking* what it meant.
Liang Di had simply overestimated Liang Lin’s perceptiveness.
"*Ugh…*" Liang Di pressed her palm to her forehead, exhaustion weighing on her like a divorced parent raising a child alone.
"Pretending to check the tailor shops is just cover. The real mission: find out why Orlando City’s unstable."
Solving that unrest would earn points. Liang Di’s focus never strayed from the inheritance.
Liang Lin’s eyes lit up. "How ‘unstable’ exactly?"
"Commoners keep vanishing—young women, children. Rumor says bodies were found deep in the woods. The state of them… hard to describe."
"Let’s go. *Now*." Liang Lin’s hand settled on the sword at her waist. No more words.
Before reincarnation, when her surname was Kronin, she vowed to protect every citizen under the Kronin Family’s care. Now, bearing the name Langwen Di, she would shield all commoners within the Langwendi Family’s domain. That was why she trained with the sword.
*Only love and dreams are indispensable.* Her creed. She loved her family, her sister. Her dream: protect those sheltered by Kronin. Now, Langwendi too.
Her drive to claim the Langwendi Family headship wasn’t just revenge or reunion—it was this. Greater power meant greater protection for the weak.
Perhaps this was precisely what Old Master Donathew saw in her.
Before leaving, they crossed paths with Miranda and Edwin heading out. Edwin flinched behind Miranda at the sight of Liang Lin—still wary from past beatings. Miranda shot him a glare and shoved him forward.
"What’s there to fear? How many *female* family heads rule in the Sotran Empire?" she declared, voice raised deliberately.
Edwin straightened, arrogance flickering back into his posture.
Liang Lin, mind fixed on Orlando City, had no patience for taunts. She meant to walk past—but the words slipped out, feather-light yet crushing:
"But you forgot one thing: Edwin’s an illegitimate child… and you? Well. You *slept* your way to the top."
"…"
"*Pfft~*"
Liang Di hid a smile. No need for her to speak. Liang Lin’s tongue alone could leave others stewing for hours.
Inside the carriage:
"Wait—you can erase memories, right? So after handling someone, couldn’t you just wipe bystanders’ memories? Problem solved?" Liang Lin had wondered this awhile.
Liang Di shook her head. "Too risky. Mess up, and you damage the brain—idiot, or worse, dead. Too many people? Accidents *will* happen."
"…So you used it on *me*?"
Liang Di let out a dry chuckle, gaze darting away. "Well… it was just *you*. One person. So…"
*Hah. I don’t believe you.*
Liang Lin rolled her eyes with a soft "Tch," hugging her sword tighter.
A bad premonition clung to this trip. Her chest ached all the way, as if her heart begged her not to go.
"One more thing," Liang Di added quietly. "The victims… drained of blood. First body found by a nun beneath a tree in the woods. Here—" She pulled a portrait from her robes. "The Knights brought this."
Liang Lin leaned closer.
And sucked in a sharp, frozen breath.
