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Without the crowd present, everyone could clearly see that Noelle wasn’t just making things up, and the woman really was pale as paper. But what no one seemed to get was… why?
These two should never have met before in their lives, so why was it that Narcissa seemed so scared of the younger girl?
But of course, even if no one else had noticed, how could the woman herself not recognize her own daughter’s face?
It was like she was looking at herself in a mirror thirty years back. Except… whether it was in terms of their aura or vitality, Narcissa realized that her past self couldn’t even hold a candle to the girl in front of her.
‘N-No wait, I could be wrong. J-Just because she looks like that doesn’t mean this girl has to be HER. After all, t-their ages don’t match, do they?!’
Of course, her hopes were dashed the moment Noelle grinned her way. “I suppose this was a reunion you were hoping would never happen, right, ‘mother’ dear?”
While everyone else was dumbfounded, Narcissa’s expression turned completely ashen.
It really was her!
𝒩𝑜𝗏𝐥xt.𝗰𝓞𝕞
But how could she still be alive?
She clearly remembered just how weak and sick her daughter had been when she abandoned the girl all those years ago. Even if someone found her before she could freeze to death, there was no way she could have survived so long without proper care, right?
With how impoverished the area she abandoned the baby in was, there was no way anyone financially stable would be caught wandering in those dead alleys.
Suddenly, Narcissa realized something even more horrifying. ‘N-No no no, isn’t the fact that she’s here now proof of the fact that the elders now know about what happened?!’
A dark, twisted feeling welled up in her heart as she stared at the girl. ‘Why didn’t you just die like you were supposed to?!’
The man by the woman’s side frowned in confusion. “What the fuck is going on here, Narcissa? Why did she call you mother?!”
Not connecting the dots between the daughter who died so many years ago and the young girl in front of him, he couldn’t help but think wildly. ‘Could it be that she had an affair outside, and gave birth to another child in secret?!’
Although they had long since stopped being husband and wife, a part of him still felt furious and betrayed.
Of course, Narcissa was in no mood to pay attention to this ex-husband of hers, and instead pointed at the elders in desperation. “A-After everything that my family has done for the clan, how could you plot against me like this?!”
The elders could only stand there dumbfounded, wondering just why was it that they’d been dragged into the fire between mother and daughter.
Anyway, it’s not like one of them could have fathered the child, right?
The few of them looked at each other suspiciously, wondering which one was so ‘energetic’ and morally bankrupt, but only received ‘don’t look at me, how could I do such a thing?’ expressions in return.
“What nonsense is this, Narcissa?”
“Even if you are now leading the main branch, you still have to maintain some decorum!”
Her ‘mother’ flinched back after being scolded, and no longer dared to point fingers at the elders, but their words only seemed to have verified her guess. ‘S-So it really was them! B-But wait—!’
The attitude of the elders might have been slightly harsh, but she realized that it didn’t make complete sense.
If they were really plotting against her, wouldn’t this be the time to denounce and humiliate her before stripping away all her powers? Why would the elders be taking such a soft approach now?
Could it be that they didn’t really blame her for abandoning such a ‘hopeless’ child, and only took the baby in after discovering it?
It might have been only after the child unexpectedly survived and showed some talent that they started grooming her, but they couldn’t really blame her for not being able to predict the future.
The more Narcissa thought about it, the more it made sense, and some of her fear quickly dissipated.
In fact, Noelle didn’t blame her ‘mother’ for her assumptions. Given the circumstances she appeared in and the fact that Narcissa didn’t seem to be aware of her ‘real identity’, it was only natural for her to make such guesses.
But there was no need for her to clarify the ‘truth’ to this woman. After all, compared to knowing that the daughter she abandoned managed to survive through sheer luck, she would definitely feel more desperate while slowly unraveling the mystery that led to her downfall.
The gray-haired girl smiled. “I’m not here to explain anything to you, nor do I have any desire to ‘reunite’ with you as a parent and child. If anything… it’s just the opposite.”
Her biological father could only stare back at her in confusion, not having any idea that this was his own daughter and not the product of someone else’s affair with his ex-wife.
Meanwhile, Narcissa’s expression turned grim. ‘That’s right, even if the elders don’t blame me, this girl now knows I’m her mother, and she might hold a grudge!’
There had been no lack of people who envied her throughout her life, but this was the first time Narcissa didn’t know how to deal with it.
It wasn’t because she didn’t want to hurt her own daughter, of course. She was just worried that the elders might change their attitude if she retaliated against this girl they had groomed so carefully.
Noelle chuckled. “No need to be so confused. I have my own life now, and my current focus is on the clan as a whole, and not just you. Still, there is a reason I asked you two to stay back.”
Her words seemed to have confirmed the fact that she’d grown up under the secret grooming of the clan elders, as far as her parents were concerned, but that was exactly what the gray-haired girl intended.
Her mother stared back at Noelle warily. “W-What is it that you want us to know?”
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