Chapter 74

“Hmm.”

Even though it was strange to have only three people in a family portrait, Leon, who had seen other photos taken with his parents, wasn’t about to overthink this one. He casually asked:

“So, when was this photo taken? Why is the family portrait just you, without the three of us?”

“It was just a mistake at the photo studio.”

Seeing that Leon wasn’t thinking too much about it, Anna couldn’t help but secretly let out a sigh of relief and replied as steadily as possible: “When we were taking the picture, the previous family had just left, and the person removing the set forgot to take down the family portrait sign, so this photo ended up being taken.

Mom was a bit unsatisfied and wanted them to remove the sign and retake the photo, but Dad really liked Mom’s smile in the photo, and since the photo studio agreed to charge only half price, we decided to keep it.”

“Ah, so that’s how it happened…”

After nodding in understanding, Leon lay on the bed, hissing softly, then said nonchalantly:

“What about the three of us? Why were you the only one there back then?”

“Because Melanie and the others weren’t born until the next year, and this photo was originally taken for me.”

Anna opened the album, flipped through it, pulled out another photo with the same background, and handed it over, smiling brightly as she said:

“At the time, it was an exam from Community Public School. Your grades were dead last in the whole school, but I got first place. When Mom asked me what gift I wanted, I said I wanted a photo to commemorate it.

Here, the badge I’m wearing on my chest was given to the top student by the school back then. Although I wanted to pull you in for the photo too, you were sulking because of your poor grades and refused to take it together no matter what. In the end, we only took this one.”

“Ah… Was I that stubborn as a kid?”

Hearing about his childhood antics, Leon, who had no memory of it, scratched his head and looked up at Anna’s expression, somewhat embarrassedly asking: “Were you really not disappointed back then?”

“Not really, because I actually did it on purpose.”

After giving Leon a mischievous grin, the frail girl smiled sweetly and said:

“When we were kids, you always liked to snatch things from me, even my dolls. But you ran faster than me, jumped higher, were stronger, and even ate more. I hated you so much.

Fortunately, you were always very mischievous and had poor grades, so I finally found something I was better at than you. So I seized the opportunity and deliberately made you angry, which is why you refused to take the photo with me.”

“You’ve been holding a grudge since we were little…”

Shaking his head speechlessly, Leon waved her off while lying on the bed:

“Alright, now that the ointment’s been applied, go back to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow!”

“Just going then. Be careful when you sleep, don’t hurt yourself again.”

Knowing it would hurt yet you still hit so hard! “Got it, got it!”

After mimicking a younger sister’s glare, Leon turned his head toward the small window in the next room and casually asked, facing away from the door: “By the way, is my birthday confirmed to be correct?”

? !!! Upon hearing Leon’s question, Anna, who was about to leave, trembled all over and quietly replied without turning around:

“How could it possibly be wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“Well, nothing much, I just met a fortune teller who supposedly is very accurate.”

Lying on the bed, Leon narrowed his eyes and yawned before saying:

“It depends on whether you paid or not.”

Hearing that Leon was just casually asking, Anna relaxed and calmly replied with a laugh: “If you didn’t pay, then it’s funny for her, and if you did pay, it’s funny for you~”

“Go already, I think you’re the funny one! It’s so late, go back to sleep!”

Putting on the “elder brother’s authority,” Leon shooed away his teasing sister and watched the reflection in the small window as Anna, who seemed relieved, fumbled with the door and left. Leon’s eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Although Anna concealed it well, there were still some unnatural moments.

It might go unnoticed by others, but for Leon, who had spent months living together with her and endured two years in Hades, these unnatural parts were far too obvious.

She’s hiding something from me…

According to Anna’s character, upon seeing the photo fall, she would likely just say “Oops, how did it fall?” instead of giving such a long explanation. Moreover, she stopped packing her luggage and sat by the bed, as if deliberately giving herself the chance to ask questions.

Also, judging by her appearance in the photo, this must have been at least seven or eight years ago, or even longer, yet when he asked his question, she didn’t even pause to recall before answering directly.

In just a few sentences, she explained everything that happened back then perfectly, leaving almost no room for doubt, as if she had rehearsed it countless times beforehand.

None of it missed a beat!

When he later asked about his birthday, her clearly startled reaction reflected in the small window confirmed his judgment.

Just like Black Goat said, the chances of the Master of Stars making a mistake are almost zero, so the day I went to the water company was indeed my birthday.

And Anna’s strange behavior proves that she definitely knows something, but for some reason, she doesn’t want to tell me the truth, and has even prepared lies in advance…

Faced with evidence that practically shouts out at him, Leon, whose past life was steeped in various melodramatic plots, almost instantly came up with a plausible guess.

So… Was I adopted? After this rather melodramatic thought surfaced, Leon’s heart became incredibly complex as he immediately got out of bed, tiptoed to the packed luggage, and started flipping through the old photo album.

But after looking at some old photos, Leon turned his head back toward the small window, gazing at the reflection of his black hair, identical to his father’s, and his striking eyebrows, extremely similar to his mother’s, and couldn’t help but feel perplexed.

Even if I were adopted, wouldn’t it be impossible for me to resemble both sides simultaneously unless I was a cousin’s child? Could I be overthinking this?

…

Carrying a belly full of unresolved doubts, Leon tossed and turned until the wee hours of the night, barely managing to sleep for a short while.

When dawn broke faintly, although he was far from fully rested, Leon was awakened by Anna, informed that the carriage had arrived, and had to groggily get up, shouldering his luggage to the entrance of Veteran’s Lane.

Struggling to stuff the luggage into the cargo box and briefly instructing the pre-rented carriage driver on the destination, Leon, who had slept for only over an hour, hugged his equally sleepy younger siblings and climbed into the four-person carriage.

As Anna followed behind and boarded the carriage, seeing his drowsy state where he couldn’t even open his eyes, she couldn’t help but scold affectionately:

“Brother! Weren’t you sleeping early yesterday? Why are you so tired now?”

“Yesterday… haaachoo… My mind was a bit jumbled last night… barely slept in the first half of the night… Hmm… let me lean a bit…”

As the carriage swayed, his body tilted slightly to the side, leaning against Anna, who looked somewhat flustered. Truly exhausted, Leon squinted his eyes, with a hint of probing and utmost seriousness, softly promising in her ear: “Don’t worry… About things you don’t want to talk about, Brother can choose not to ask.

And, you can rely on me just like I’m relying on you… I promise you, no matter what happens in the future, you will always be my sister.”

(The chapter ends here)