"Don’t give flowers! I don’t like flowers at all!"
He definitely didn’t want flowers that symbolized the end of a friendship. He didn’t want to cut ties with Curly. Little George looked at Curly, who watched him with hostility.
"Curly, why don’t you like ? What’s wrong with ? Tell , I can change," Little George said aggrievedly.
"Because you’re annoying!"
"Then what can I do to not annoy you?"
"It’s simple. Just disappear from my sight. Don’t let see you, and then I won’t be annoyed by you."
Little George stood there, his face etched with sadness and grief as he looked at her. "But if I can’t see you, I’ll miss you," he said. "I even want my parents to move to Orienta and buy a house next door to yours, so we can go to school and play together."
Is there anything more terrifying in this world? She didn’t want to go to school and play with such a clingy pest.
Curly shook her head, looking horrified. "You shouldn’t co to Orienta. It’s not a good place. The air is toxic, the food is cooked with gutter oil, and the vegetables have a lot of pesticides. A child like you, with no immunity, would die quickly there.
"Besides, Orienta has many child traffickers. You’re fair and plump; you’d definitely be worth a lot of money. They’d sell you into the deep mountains and dense forests, and you’d never see your parents again."
Curly deliberately tried to scare Little George, but he wasn’t so easily fooled. He knew she didn’t like him, which was why she didn’t want him to go to Orienta.
"I’m not scared!" His voice was soft, but his words were firm.
"I can’t be bothered with you!"
Curly, having rested enough, seized the mont when Little George wasn’t paying attention and sprinted away. Little George reacted half a beat too late. By the ti he did, Curly was already far away, like the wind.
"Curly, where are you going?" Little George shouted, chasing after her.
In the garden, the two children once again began a ga of chase.
Curly had spent so ti at the Desmond family residence and was very familiar with the terrain from playing hide-and-seek with Connie.
Curly ducked into a hidden cave behind a rockery, successfully evading Little George. She hid inside for a while. When she realized it was quiet outside, she slowly crept out.
Finally, I shook him off.
What a persistent kid...
Curly stood there for a mont, watched Little George run far into the distance, and then headed in the opposite direction.
「...」
「...」
Foundation is the largest shopping complex in Abyanabad. The business world is divided into two main buildings. One, a four-story building, is operated by the Royal family and houses many boutiques, primarily featuring local brands selling traditional clothing, handmade textiles, specialty gold ornants, and small souvenirs.
The other, a three-story building, belongs to the Departnt Store and features various international brand boutiques, including many high-end luxury brands.
For a shopping addict like Madam Johnson, this place was simply paradise.
However, Sienna Johnson usually didn’t have much desire for shopping.
"...you’re tired after browsing just one floor? You have even less stamina than I do," Pauline Briggs said disdainfully.
When most won went shopping, they first looked at the rchandise. Sienna, however, upon entering a store, wouldn’t look at anything else before first finding a bench to rest on.
"Mom, I’m pregnant!"
"Pregnant won should exercise more; it makes for an easier delivery."
They had been shopping for half an hour, and she refused to walk any further. "The doctor said half an hour of exercise a day is just right for . It’s already been half an hour. I’m not shopping anymore; you all go on. I’ll go to that milk tea shop and wait for you. Leave your things in the shop; I’ll watch them. You all continue."
"Grandma, let’s not take Mom with us. She walks so slowly. At this rate, when will we ever finish shopping?" Curly’s desire to shop was a match for Madam Johnson’s.
The grandmother and granddaughter hit it off imdiately. "Let’s go," Pauline declared. "If a woman doesn’t love shopping, is she even a woman?"
"Exactly, Grandma, you’re absolutely right."
Sienna watched as Madam Johnson led Samara and Curly into a boutique to continue their shopping spree. Shaking her head, Sienna went to the milk tea shop to enjoy her peace, quiet, and afternoon tea.
This milk tea shop, located inside the Departnt Store for custors to rest, served a unique milk tea called ’pulled tea’.
Pulled tea is a unique milk tea variety found in Amwan and Starisle.
The preparation thod for pulled tea is similar to that of Olkgan milk tea, but it includes an additional ’pulling tea’ step—a technique requiring great skill.
Sienna watched a staff mber ’pull the tea.’ They poured the prepared milk tea from one vessel into another from a height, repeating this process several tis. The impact from pouring it at a height was said to enhance the milk tea’s richness, making it smoother and more uniform.
The server placed Sienna’s pulled tea in front of her. Sienna thanked him in the Amwan Language, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he sat down opposite her.
Sienna sensed soone sit down opposite her. She looked up, and upon seeing the person’s face, she was startled.
"Xavier Young?"
"Long ti no see," Xavier Young said with a smile, greeting Sienna.
Sienna’s heart churned with emotion. She truly hadn’t expected to see Xavier Young here. He seed more composed than before. His eyes held a depth born from experience, and he had matured; he was no longer the callow youth she once knew.
A flood of old mories rushed through her mind, leaving Sienna montarily dazed.
"I didn’t think you’d still rember . I thought you’d forgotten."
His voice carried a hint of accusation. Sienna lowered her head and took a sip of her pulled tea, but it was tasteless to her.
This unexpected reunion after so long made Sienna feel awkward facing Xavier Young. There was also a pang of guilt in her heart; after all, her actions back then had hardly been honorable.
"How could I possibly forget you..."
Sienna stared at the red-checkered tablecloth, not daring to look at Xavier Young, yet she could feel his burning gaze fixed on her.
"I never forgot about you, either."
Sienna suddenly looked up at Xavier Young. The look in his eyes was all too familiar—Adrian Desmond often looked at her that way. It was love.
She pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes for a mont; her head was beginning to ache.
"I’ve always wanted to apologize to you for what happened back then. It’s just that... well, you know, I didn’t have much personal freedom at the ti."
"Where were you wrong?"
His gaze, overflowing with deep affection, was a heavy weight on Sienna. She averted her eyes, not evading him entirely, but unable to et that look.
"I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your feelings back then," she said. "...And because of , you and your brother were driven away. I’ve always been very sorry for that."
He snorted, a flicker of resentnt in his eyes. "Adrian Desmond was the one who drove out. If anyone should apologize, it’s him. Why are you apologizing to ?"
Adrian Desmond?
Xavier Young used to admire and respect Adrian Desmond greatly, always addressing him deferentially as ’Sixth Master.’ Now, he was actually calling Adrian Desmond by his full na.
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