Garrison’s face imdiately turned red with anger. "Can’t you talk logically?"
He pointed a trembling finger toward her.
Lana only smiled more brightly.
"Since we are talking about logic..."
Her tone beca slightly mocking.
"You were the one who started the most illogical argunt."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Why can’t a normal person walk wherever they want?"
Her voice beca almost playful. "I am simply exercising my freedom to walk around."
She shrugged lightly. "So what exactly are you complaining about?"
Then she added lazily,
"You are acting just like those aunties in the slums who have nothing better to do than gossip about others all day."
Garrison gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw trembled. "It seems you have grown quite a bit."
His voice carried restrained fury.
But suddenly, sothing seed to occur to him. His expression changed. He lowered his gaze slightly.
"I’m sorry."
The sudden apology shocked Lana.
At the sa ti, Mr. Crow imdiately beca alert. His voice echoed in Lana’s mind.
"Be careful. There might be powerful people hidden nearby."
His tone was extrely cautious. "He might be putting on an act because soone stronger is watching."
Lana blinked in slight surprise. Then she almost felt amused.
’Mr. Crow is worrying too much.’
Even if Garrison had brought powerful figures with him, it would still be impossible for them to harm her here.
After all, she was currently under the protection of Hunter and Magnus.
Those two n might appear sowhat simple or rough around the edges, but both of them were terrifyingly powerful individuals.
Otherwise, they would never have been able to establish an entire city from nothing.
Because of that, Lana felt completely confident.
Garrison would never dare to harm her.
anwhile, Garrison continued speaking slowly.
"In the past... we had a very good relationship."
His voice carried a faint trace of regret.
"But because of one small competition... everything between us was destroyed."
He looked at Lana again. Then he slowly took out sothing from his pocket.
A black-threaded bracelet.
The mont Lana saw it, her entire body froze. Her pupils shrank slightly.
Garrison spoke helplessly, "I kept this all these years."
He held the bracelet gently. "Not because of mories..."
His voice softened slightly. "But because of your promise."
He looked directly into Lana’s eyes.
"The little Lana once told that she would stay by my side as long as I kept this bracelet."
Lana’s heart trembled violently.
Her fingers slowly curled into fists.
At the sa ti, Mr. Crow suddenly beca stunned.
Fragnts of mories began appearing inside his mind.
They were the mories Lana herself was recalling.
Back then, after Lana won over Ashton, she often spent ti training and cheering him up.
However, during those days, Ashton began secretly betraying her.
Each betrayal was small. He would tell Mr. and Mrs. Almond about little mistakes.
Of course, every ti Lana was punished.
During those monts, it was always Garrison who stepped forward.
From Lana’s perspective back then, Garrison had always been nothing more than a cold iceberg.
Silent. Distant. Intimidating. She never thought he cared about her.
But everything changed on one particular day.
That was the day Lana saw Garrison kneeling in front of Mr. Almond.
Mr. Almond had ordered Lana to kneel inside the ancestor hall for two entire days as punishnt.
But at that ti, Lana had a severe fever.
If she knelt for two days in that freezing hall, she might have died.
Garrison knew that.
And hence, he knelt down in front of Mr. Almond.
He lowered his proud head before Mr. Almond and promised,
"Lana will not make this mistake again."
That mont deeply touched Lana.
At that ti, she was only eleven years old.
But Garrison’s sincerity reached her heart.
From that mont onward, she silently made a decision.
She would treat Garrison as her real brother.
From that day, Lana began caring for that cold iceberg of a boy.
Garrison himself never changed.
He remained cold. He often intimidated her without even realizing it.
But Lana never retreated. Sotis she bought drinks for him. Sotis she brought tea.
There were even tis when she cooked food for him.
Cookies. Desserts. Various dishes she tried learning just for him.
In fact, Lana’s cooking skills were first developed during those days.
Later in life, that skill beca one of her greatest advantages.
But the beginning of that story...
Was far less charming than it appeared.
Because the truth was...
Lana had absolutely no talent for cooking.
Rather than possessing natural talent, Lana had struggled greatly to reach that level.
In the beginning, her cooking was a complete disaster.
She burned her hands more tis than she could rember.
There were tis when she quietly stared at her blistered fingers while biting her lip.
’Why is it so hard...?’
Many tis the dishes she made were so terrible that even the servants wrinkled their noses.
"It tastes like garbage."
Those blunt criticisms had followed her again and again.
But Lana never gave up.
Slowly, painfully, she improved.
What began as barely edible food gradually beca sothing presentable.
After months of trial and error, it finally turned into sothing genuinely delicious.
Eventually, the dishes she prepared beca unbelievably tasty.
However, to reach that level, Lana had struggled more than anyone realized.
And she had endured all of that effort for only one person. Garrison.
Even though Garrison often rejected her attempts to approach him, Lana continued trying.
At first, he refused to touch the food she brought.
But the mont her cooking improved enough, sothing changed.
He started eating it.
He never openly praised her cooking, yet he always finished the als she left behind.
Sotis, after Lana returned ho from training or school, she would find small gifts placed quietly at her doorstep.
Bracelets. Necklaces.
Occasionally small accessories she had once ntioned liking.
Garrison never delivered them personally.
He simply left them there and disappeared before she could notice.
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