Chapter 29: A Midnight Encounter and Unforeseen Revelations

Eve was still braiding her hair behind her. Xiluo’er began to quietly ponder in her heart.

She had been going out frequently recently. Yet, Eve had only questioned her about the day she met Irene. Xiluo’er found it impossible to be a mere coincidence.

The problem was, Xiluo’er was confident she hadn’t revealed any tells recently. No matter how suspicious Eve was, it seemed impossible for her to detect everything so acutely.

‘She wasn’t any worse than “Xiluo,” so how had he managed to deceive Eve for so long? Here she was, barely making it through the opening act.’

As Xiluo’er pondered, Eve finished braiding her hair behind her. Reaching out to wipe the steam from the mirror, Eve spoke, “So, how is it, Xiluo’er?”

Xiluo’er looked up, meeting the gaze of the adorable girl with twin pigtails in the mirror. Eve had indeed styled a rather elaborate hairstyle.

“Hmm, I’ve wanted to try this for a long time. Xiluo’er truly looks cute with this hairstyle.”

“But… Big Sister Eve, wouldn’t this be inconvenient for sleeping?”

“It’s fine. It’s just a trial run. If you find it troublesome, Xiluo’er, you can take it down,” Eve said, nodding with satisfaction at her masterpiece in the mirror. “If only there was a tool with a memory spell to capture this look.”

Though Eve said she could take it down, Xiluo’er dared not. She was thoroughly intimidated by Eve now.

“Then I’ll… go to sleep? Big Sister Eve?”

Xiluo’er asked, her tone tentative.

“Yes, go on.”

Receiving Eve’s affirmative reply, Xiluo’er fled the bathroom as if escaping.

In her hurried departure, she failed to notice Eve behind her, staring at her retreating back with deep, vortex-like eyes.

‘She’d only been busy for two days, and already another girl had appeared by Xiluo’er’s side.’

‘It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with it. It was good for the child to make some friends. She was just a little worried, that’s all.’

‘After all, there are all sorts of people out there. What if the other person was a bad influence?’

‘Speaking of which… had the child been avoiding her a bit these past two days?’

At this thought, Eve’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

‘It seemed she needed to speed things up a bit, didn’t she? At the very least, she couldn’t let someone else get a head start, right?’

‘Well, of course, she meant protecting Xiluo’er. What else could it be?’

Watching Xiluo’er quickly close her room door, Eve nodded thoughtfully.

****

Kana City, despite being a border town, had become a prosperous metropolis under the governance of its Lord, Serol.

Consequently, the warm, vibrant lights and bustling pedestrians of Kana City’s nights would linger until very late.

It was only when all the city lights had vanished, and no sound remained outside the window save for the occasional bird call, that Xiluo’er, lying in bed, opened her eyes.

After habitually surveying the room, Xiluo’er rose from her bed and stood beside it.

It was time to act.

Over the past two days, Xiluo’er had witnessed many of the city’s lively night markets. Logically, with such a thriving nightlife, the incidence of night-time crimes should be lower.

Moreover, there were the City Guard patrols.

It was hard to imagine how so many disappearances could occur at night in this city, with so few clues ever found.

Carefully, Xiluo’er double-locked her room door, just in case someone entered in the middle of the night only to find her bed empty.

After donning her assassin’s attire once more, Xiluo’er opened the window and swiftly melted into the pitch-black night.

“Little Cat Tail, you’re here~”

Xiluo’er found Irene in the night’s shadows. She seemed to have been waiting there for some time.

It wasn’t until Irene fully emerged from the shadows that Xiluo’er noticed that, despite wearing a cloak, she hadn’t put on a mask to conceal her face.

“Red Spider, where’s your mask?”

Irene waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh, it’s late at night, and there’s no one around. No one will see me, really.”

Irene quickly glanced at Xiluo’er, then pouted slightly upon seeing the plain mask on Xiluo’er’s face, a hint of disappointment in her expression.

“Little Cat Tail, why don’t you take off your mask too? The night air is so refreshing.”

Xiluo’er simply shook her head, refusing Irene’s suggestion.

“Aw—don’t be like that.”

“Look, I’m not wearing a mask, but you still are. Isn’t that a little unfair?”

Though Xiluo’er didn’t understand Irene’s insistence on her removing the mask, she cleanly rejected the other’s persistent badgering.

An assassin had to be prepared for any eventuality. Any deviation caused by insufficient preparation could have fatal consequences.

Furthermore, although she had previously ‘revealed herself’ to Irene, Xiluo’er wasn’t particularly eager to show her face to Irene again.

How to put it? She just felt that after taking off her mask, Irene treated her with a complete lack of respect!

“Little Cat Tail, you’re so stingy…”

Irene blinked, a sorrowful expression appearing on her face.

However, this expression didn’t last long. Before Xiluo’er could react, Irene suddenly reached out and swiftly pulled off Xiluo’er’s large hood.

“Heh! Now it’s fair!”

But the next second, upon seeing Xiluo’er beneath the hood, Irene suddenly burst into laughter.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Xiluo’er quickly realized what Irene was laughing about.

“What’s so funny?! Haven’t you ever seen someone with their hair styled before?!”

Even with the mask’s sound-muffling effect, Xiluo’er’s voice still carried a hint of exasperation.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. How to put it, I just didn’t expect it. I wasn’t mocking you, Little Cat Tail.”

“It’s fine. It’s a very cute hairstyle, actually. I didn’t expect you to like such a style—wouldn’t it be inconvenient during missions?”

“None of your business!”

A fuming Xiluo’er defiantly raised her fist at Irene.

Although the hairstyle Eve had given her was somewhat inconvenient, it was still better than having her hair loose. So, Xiluo’er hadn’t bothered to change it.

Who would have thought Irene would suddenly pull off her hood!

“Alright, alright, I won’t say another word.”

Irene waved her hand, though the smile on her face showed no sign of disappearing.

Previously, Little Cat Tail had held a rather serious image in her mind. But after witnessing the adorable Little Cat Tail eating cake and sporting cute twin pigtails, Irene’s perception of her had completely changed.

The thought of the serious, taciturn Little Cat Tail she had met before, with such an adorable pair of pigtails hidden beneath her hood… Irene’s laughter became even harder to stop.

And so, with a snicker, feeling Xiluo’er’s direct gaze still piercing through her mask, Irene laughed aloud once more.