Chapter 22: Pretending to be good? I can do that too!
Bang!
Asteris and Delucia collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Exactly as planned.
Asteris’s silent message was to faint before Liang Lai could react.
By pretending to collapse and later clinging to her, sobbing about their confusion, they’d sway the kind-hearted Saintess.
She’d never doubt them—she’d even stroke their heads with love.
As expected, Liang Lai’s eyes widened, and she rushed to their side.
“Asteris! Delucia!”
She scooped them up like chicks, one in each arm, tucking them against her waist.
The twins’ small, thin frames made it easy for her to carry them upstairs to her room.
She laid them gently on her bed and summoned a nun to check on them.
The nun reported no serious injuries—just shock and fear causing their faint.
Liang Lai nodded thoughtfully.
It was normal for children to be terrified by such an ordeal.
Their frenzied behavior wasn’t intentional—either someone manipulated them, or fear overwhelmed them.
“Sigh~”
Liang Lai exhaled, relieved.
She sat on the bed’s edge, her fingers brushing Asteris’s smooth cheek.
“I’m sorry. I’m too incompetent.”
She always took the blame.
Asteris and Delucia’s eyelashes fluttered faintly.
Her words caught them off guard.
Liang Lai’s kindness stirred a pang of sadness in them.
Can someone so compassionate survive in this world?
Morning light seeped through the curtains.
Asteris’s fingers twitched, her eyes opening slowly.
The cracks in her pale green pupils were gone, replaced by an innocent, tearful gaze.
“Mom…?”
Her voice was frail, barely a whisper, perfectly trembling.
Liang Lai leapt from her chair, reaching the bed in two strides.
“I’m here!”
Her warm fingertips grazed Asteris’s forehead, now at a normal temperature.
Delucia “woke” at the perfect moment, her hexagram pupils misted with tears.
More direct than her sister, she threw herself into Liang Lai’s arms, shoulders shaking.
“Mom! What did we do?!”
Her voice muffled against Liang Lai’s chest, laced with genuine fear of exposure.
“Those awful words weren’t mine…!”
Asteris struggled up, “accidentally” slipping off the bed to kneel at Liang Lai’s feet.
She raised her tear-streaked face.
“Did we… hurt Mommy?”
Liang Lai’s heart melted.
She knelt, pulling both twins into her arms.
“No, you did nothing wrong.”
She patted their backs gently.
“It’s those bad people controlling you.”
Out of Liang Lai’s sight, Delucia’s lips curled into a triumphant smile.
Her fingers crept up Liang Lai’s neck, tracing the black lines there.
“But we said such terrible things…”
She choked her voice deliberately.
“We even said we wanted to lock Mom up…”
Asteris shuddered in sync.
“I… I bit Mommy’s finger…”
She grabbed Liang Lai’s hand, finding a tiny tooth mark on her index finger.
Liang Lai mistook their distress for self-blame.
She cupped Asteris’s face, wiping tears with her thumb.
“See? It doesn’t hurt. Mommy knows you didn’t mean it.”
Delucia buried her face in Liang Lai’s neck, inhaling deeply.
Her mother’s scent, warmth, pulse—so close.
Her tongue brushed Liang Lai’s collarbone, leaving a faint wet mark.
“We’re so scared…”
Asteris slid closer, wrapping her arms around Liang Lai’s waist.
“Scared Mommy will hate us… won’t want us…”
Liang Lai, pressed between two warm little bodies, felt her heart soften further.
“How could I?”
She kissed their heads.
“Mom will never hate you.”
Her maternal instincts had surged since becoming a woman.
Was it hormones or her own kindness?
She felt almost embarrassed by it.
Delucia raised her head, a strange glint in her pupils.
“Really? Even if we… did something bad, would Mom forgive us?”
Duoluosa had asked this days ago.
Why did these children make things so complicated?
Liang Lai nodded without hesitation.
“Of course. Mom will help you fix your mistakes.”
Asteris and Delucia exchanged a glance.
Hidden from Liang Lai, their smiles widened, stretching unnaturally.
Delucia’s nails pierced her palms, pain suppressing her bursting excitement.
“Pinky promise?”
Asteris extended her pinky, eyes wet like a puppy’s.
Liang Lai smiled, hooking the slender finger.
“Hook.”
Delucia seized Liang Lai’s other hand, pressing it to her chest.
“Feel it, Mom?” she whispered.
“This beats only for you.”
Liang Lai took it as childish affection, ruffling her hair.
She didn’t notice Delucia’s heart pounding abnormally, as if it might burst.
Outside the door, Duoluosa watched, resentment festering.
“Liang Lai’s been so busy with those two, she’s forgotten me… Those liars, faking sickness again!”
Her voice twisted, nails scraping the doorframe with a harsh screech.
“Pretending to be good? Spouting sweet words?”
She gritted her teeth, sneering.
“Fine, I can do that too.”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them with an unnatural smile.
Click~
She pushed the door open.
“Mom~”
Duoluosa’s voice dripped with syrupy sweetness.