━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For a moment, Noelle really couldn't figure out whether the younger girl was just making a joke earlier or actually being serious.
Regardless of which one of the two was true, the gray-haired girl couldn't help but frown. "I-I don't want revenge. I don't even have any enemies of my own, after all. Don't joke—"
Noelle didn't even realize how gloomy her face looked at the moment, but for Emilia, the older girl's expression only made her conjecture more firm.
But a conjecture was just that, a conjecture. Since Noelle refused to admit it, Emilia decided to put it aside in her heart and nodded generously. "Well, maybe I'm wrong then, sorry. As compensation… how about you let me know what your dream actually is, and I'll help you make it come true?"
Noelle had always considered Emilia to be incredibly stubborn, but seeing the girl take her statement at face value and apologize so sincerely… she couldn't help but be a little moved.
In the end, she knew better than anyone else what was buried in her heart, and blaming others had never been Noelle's style.
The gray-haired girl sighed. "Okay, I'll admit it. How did you guess?"
Even if she had subconsciously denied it at first, the fact remained that Emilia had gotten it right with the first try.
Of course, although she said it like that, both of them knew she actually meant to ask 'how much do you know', but Emilia just rubbed her nose in embarrassment. "I don't really know much at all. It was based purely on intuition alone."
Noelle felt as if her teeth were a little itchy from both anger and exasperation when she heard Emilia's response. What exactly does 'intuition' mean? Clearly, this girl knew everything so well, and she still refused to admit investigating her background!
Seeing how the gray-haired girl didn't seem to believe her, Emilia couldn't help but pout. "You told me yourself that you were an orphan just before, and our family brought you in when you were three."
Pursing her lips, she sighed. "When I saw Nicole earlier and Sam told me she was your relative, I didn't think much about it, just that she does look a little similar. But according to what you told me earlier, you were alone when you came to Sam, right? So for this little cousin to show up and still look so much like you…"
There was no need to say anymore, and Noelle could only sigh once she realized it. "Unexpectedly, you figured it out like this…"
Unless the similarity in their appearance was just a coincidence, it went without saying that Noelle must have looked into her origins and discovered Nicole by herself.
For not one, but two orphan girls to come from the same origin, with a difference in their age to boot… something definitely wasn't right.
Plus, given that neither of them had any memory of their parents meant that they were abandoned very early on, which also added to the fishiness of the situation.
From all these clues combined, it was no wonder that Emilia was able to figure out that there was some resentment in Noelle's heart.
Emilia grinned. "I've learned some detective skills from Crystal."
Noelle couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What detective skills? You make her sound like a pro."
Emilia nodded. "Of course, in terms of talent, she might even be better than you."
The gray-haired girl could only sigh. "You really want me to get angry, huh?"
The younger girl tilted her head innocently. "Not at all?"
Noelle groaned. "Well, since you already guessed it, I might as well let you know."
Although it was part of her privacy, for some reason… Noelle really wanted to share it with Emilia.
It was a little absurd when she thought about it. After all, she hadn't even told Nicole, and that girl had the right to know this more than anyone else.
Emilia didn't interrupt her as Noelle went through all the details of her investigation on her family, only gently embracing her while still on her lap, rubbing her back in comfort.
With the younger girl's soft breath against her nape, Noelle felt less like she was digging up old wounds and more like she was recounting an old, strange tale that had nothing to do with herself.
From her explanation, Emilia soon realized that Noelle came from a marital arts family not too dissimilar to Dixie's, except from its size and location.
However, unlike Dixie's family, they were far better organized and militaristic, and also had numerous pedantic rules passed down from generation to generation.
One of these old rules dictated that the leader of the clan must be the closest male relative of the previous leader, and this was the only way the torch could be passed down unless all male relatives of the leader perished.
In the rare case that it happened, the succession line was then passed on to the strongest branch, effectively making the main branch.
Since the clan was quite old, there hadn't been just a few times when this had actually happened, making the main line attach great importance to nurturing and protecting the first male heir of their leader to prevent any mishaps.
As it so happened, the previous leader of the clan only had one wife, and the two of them had only been able to conceive a single daughter.
To make matters worse, the constitution of their family was wasted on this girl, as she was born weak and delicate, completely unsuitable to be trained for combat.
As the leader of a clan that trained all its men and women alike to be the greatest combatants of the land, this was undoubtedly a huge slap to the face.
Combined with the various elders urging him to quickly produce a male heir, the man became more and more dissatisfied with his wife, and a maidservant took this opportunity to climb onto the leader's bed.
As an old-fashioned clan that was strictly monogamous, the punishment for adultery was death.
However, the leader didn't despair, because there was still one solution to their problem… divorce the old wife and marry the maidservant.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━