Chapter 570

She didn't quite understand why this woman, who seemed to have a good relationship with Novia, was suddenly showing her such kindness. Did she see her as a target?

Therefore, Erice looked at Lilith with great vigilance.

"Would you believe me if I said I'm not a bad person?"

Lilith seemed to see through Erice's wariness, her smile deepening as she lowered her voice, leaning close to Erice's ear and speaking in a volume only the two of them could hear.

"I just smelled a familiar scent."

A familiar taste?

Erice was even more confused.

Lilith's gaze lingered on Erice for a few seconds, she sniffed lightly, and a knowing glint flashed in her eyes.

This little girl has Novia's blood in her veins...

"... A daughter?"

Lilith wondered to herself what kind of woman could bear children like her.

A strange thought even popped into his head, "Should we bring Little Mher along too, so they can meet them?"

These chaotic thoughts flashed through Lilith's mind, and then Lilith reached out and gently patted Erice's shoulder, her tone becoming even more affectionate:

"Nice to meet you, my name is Lilith. From now on, we're family, please take care of me."

Although she didn't know Lilith very well, Erice nodded after seeing her genuine kindness. "My name is Utsumi Erice. Nice to meet you."

"Utsumi..." Lilith repeated the surname thoughtfully, then resumed her cheerful expression. "Erice, you seem a little unhappy. Is it because of what happened earlier? Don't worry about it, that's just how they are. They feel uncomfortable if they don't cause trouble for a day. You'll get used to it."

Erice forced a smile but didn't reply, only internally complaining.

"Should I say that you guys arguing over a man, could you please not be so overbearing? Can't you see that Miss Kuonji's face is getting worse and worse...?"

Lilith seemed unconcerned by her silence and continued speaking to herself:

"Speaking of Erice's family? Are they as secretive as Novia's?"

Upon hearing this, Erice's expression softened slightly.

After all, when she thought of her family, she thought of her Grandmother, Manazuru Chitose, who was both a tyrant and a dictator to her, and also very kind to her.

"I used to live with my Grandmother, specifically before I was eight years old, and after I was four."

"Oh? Grandmother." Lilith's eyes lit up. "What kind of person is she? She must be very gentle."

Erice's lips twitched slightly.

Gentle? That word seemed completely unrelated to her Grandmother, after all, there was still a large slit near her ear when her grandmother accidentally cut her hair when she was four years old.

"... Very strict." Erice carefully chose her words. "Many people say she's a tyrant, a dictator."

"Oh?" Lilith exclaimed meaningfully, her eyes gleaming with gossip. "That sounds interesting. What's her name?"

She's the tyrant type, I never expected Novia to like this kind of thing. You should have said so earlier, I was quite 'brutal' when I was Anat.

"Manazuru Chitose."

"Manazuru... Chitose." Lilith murmured the name, then suddenly, as if remembering something, asked, "May I see her picture? I'm very curious about the Grandmother who raised you to be like this."

Erice hesitated for a moment.

Although she usually complained about her Grandmother's faults, at this moment, faced with Lilith's curious gaze, she still inexplicably took out her tablet and pulled up a few photos of her Chitose in her album.

It was a candid photo.

The girl in the photo, or rather, the woman who looks like a girl, is wearing a well-fitting Black Sailor Uniform. Her Silver Hair is casually draped over her shoulders, and the sea breeze blows through her hair and skirt, outlining her slender and graceful figure.

Her face was expressionless, her eyes calmly gazing into the distance, yet she possessed an indescribable aloofness and a... like a young widow, carrying a faint sorrow and Nostalgia.

Lilith's gaze froze slightly the moment it fell upon the photograph.

Her pupils contracted involuntarily, and the smile on her lips froze for a moment; her signature silver hair was back...

At the same time, Lilith quickly withdrew her gaze from Novia, her expression returning to normal, even her smile becoming brighter than before. Pointing at Chitose in the photo, she said in an exaggerated tone:

"Wow! Erice's Grandmother is so young and beautiful! Her aura is absolutely stunning! Especially her silver hair, it's so similar to Lilith's! It's incredible how many people have silver hair. Besides me, there's Kama, and even Melusine. I wonder who else will have it in the future!"

To be fair, if she hadn't known that this Manazuru Chitose couldn't possibly be the missing Shekinah, given her understanding of Shekinah, this kind of atmosphere would have been quite normal for her. After all, she had done that in front of Shekinah that time; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she had unintentionally caused Shejina's mental breakdown...

"Really?" Erice smiled a little sheepishly. "That's just how she is."

It wasn't until Lilith mentioned it that Erice realized Novia's hobby seemed to be silver; no wonder her Grandmother had been targeted.

"Mmm, Chitose is so charming! No wonder she's Erice's Grandmother, and you are too, Erice!"

Lilith nodded vigorously, lightly brushing aside the matter of the photos.

He then chatted with Erice for a while, subtly inquiring about Chitose and Erice, until he felt he had gathered enough information. With a look of unfinished business, he sent Erice back to her room to rest.

"Alright then, Erice, go and get some rest. We'll talk again next time."

Lilith waved her hand until Erice's figure disappeared at the end of the corridor. The smile on her face gradually faded, and she turned around to glance at the two people still clinging to Novia.

However, she just smiled and didn't go up directly.

Because,

"Novia, that child, doesn't know anything yet, right?"

For Lilith, communicating with Novia through so-called telepathic dialogue was perfectly normal, even though she felt that verbal communication would be better. However, doing so now would likely lead to arguments with Kama and Melusine, so taking a slight step back was to be expected.

"Hmm, Erice doesn't know yet. She now knows she is the Lord's Mind, Poimandres."

"The Lord's Mind, that sounds so much like—"

"In a sense, she's also my daughter."

Upon hearing this, Lilith first revealed a sly smile that said, "Just as I expected," then her eyes narrowed like a cat's. She walked up to Novia, ignoring Kama clinging to her and Melusine hugging her neck, and gently nudged Novia with her elbow before beginning a telepathic conversation, full of ambiguous teasing.

"Oh dear, I never expected you to be like this now."

"It's a long story, but I'd say Shekinah deserves some credit too."

Novia subconsciously touched her lips.

That was a mark left by Lilith with her sharp little fangs in a moment of carelessness.

He paused, then added, as if stating a simple fact. "After all, she is my mother now."

"... Huh? Mother?!"

This time, Lilith's smile froze completely.

His eyes widened suddenly, and the lollipop stick he was about to bite off fell to the ground with a "thud".

Her reaction caught Kama's attention. Since Lilith only uttered the last sentence of their conversation, Kama naturally assumed that he was the so-called mother.

Hmm, isn't that just common sense?

Love God thought this with great confidence.

Meanwhile, back Erice her room, Eri's anxiety and unease had not lessened at all.

She Future changed out of her new clothes yet, and stared blankly at the Ceiling.

For some reason, an inexplicable sense of irritability filled her heart.

Just then, the tablet vibrated without warning, the screen lit up automatically, and an ID that Erice was extremely familiar with but rarely contacted stubbornly flashed on the screen— Manazuru Chitose.

Erice sat up abruptly and answered the video call.

On the screen appeared Chitose's familiar yet somewhat distant face.

She was still wearing her signature Black Sailor Uniform, and the background seemed to be a tall building, where busy figures and flashing lights of instruments could be seen.

"Erice," Chitose's voice came through the communicator, as concise and clear as ever, "The reconstruction of Tokyo is basically complete, and Lucius and I expect to return in Queen of Heaven."

"Oh."

Erice replied absentmindedly.

"How are you doing, Novia and you?" Chitose seemed to notice Erice's unusual behavior.

"I'm fine..." Erice hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but pour out her dissatisfaction, "Chitose, let me tell you, that Novia, he's definitely not a good person! Don't be fooled by him! He's a complete scumbag! He's cheating on several women, and he's made a complete mess of Kuonji's house!"

Erice chest rising and falling slightly.

She knew that what she was saying was inappropriate, even bordering on the wrong, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want Chitose to be hurt by a man like Novia; at the very least, someone like Chitose deserved better.

Chitose neither got angry nor argued back; she simply listened quietly to Erice's complaints, her face expressionless.

After Erice finished speaking, a brief silence fell between the two.

After a long while, Chitose on the other end of the screen seemed to have a complex and unfathomable emotion flash across her eyes before slowly speaking, "I'm sorry, Erice."

"Huh?"

Erice was stunned.

She never expected to hear an apology.

She thought that Chitose would, as usual, tell her in an unquestionable tone not to meddle, or simply hang up the call.

"Chitose, why are you apologizing? You didn't need to apologize to me." Erice asked, puzzled. "Do you... do you really want to be with that Novia? I was just... I was just saying. If you really like him, I won't say anything more..."

Erice somewhat incoherent.

Originally, she just wanted to vent and incidentally remind Chitose that if Chitose really insisted on developing a relationship with Novia, she, as her granddaughter, would not approve but would not interfere too much.

However, Chitose's next move completely exceeded Erice's expectations.

On the screen, Chitose slowly raised her hand, her fingertips lightly touching the air, and a faint Od halo flickered at her fingertips.

The next second, something incredible happened.

Chitose's signature long, moonlit Silver Hair began to shorten at a visible rate, its color gradually changing from a pure silver-white to a deep, inky black. In just a few seconds, Chitose on the screen had transformed from a cool, aloof girl with waist-length silver hair into a girl with short, neat black hair and a touch of heroism in her brows...

Aside from the still-present, intensely Nostalgia atmosphere of a widow, and those striking purple eyes.

This sudden turn of events left Erise speechless, her mouth Erice involuntarily forming an "O" shape Future even react. Her blue eyes widened in shock, and her mind went blank for a moment.

"Erice Chitose short black hair—or rather, a different side of herself —Chitose calmly gazed at her, her voice carrying an indescribable complexity, "Who do you think I resemble right now?"

"Like..." Erice started to speak instinctively, a thought flashing through her mind like lightning, "Like me..."

She was stunned as soon as she said it.

Like her? How could that be?

Chitose is her adoptive Grandmother, the creator of the New World, and the victor of the Holy Grail War. Although she was adopted, from any perspective, Erice should resemble Chitose, not Chitose other way Erice.

This is absurd.

However, when Erice looked closely at the short-haired, black-haired Chitose on the screen, it truly felt as if she were looking in a mirror.

"No, that's not right..." Erice shook her head, trying to shake off the absurd thought, "Chitose is Chitose, I... how could I possibly..."

On the other side of the screen, Chitose, seeing Erice's confused and shocked expression, first raised her hand as if to slap her, then for some reason gently stroked her own face, and in that soft voice that could freeze one's blood, murmured a line from "The Demon King" that was very familiar to Erice when she was four years old and unconscious after being possessed by Novia—

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? (My dear son, would you join me?)"

Chitose shook her head slightly as she spoke, and then, a new sentence, like a sigh, rang in Erice's ear:

"No, Erice."

Actually, it's me who resembles you.

575: The older sister is meant to protect her younger sister! (5k)

I spent a sleepless night.

As the eastern sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, Erice gave up her futile struggle against sleepiness.

She got out of bed with slightly stiff movements and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Erice in the mirror had dark circles under her eyes and looked haggard.

After a quick wash, Erice changed into her usual Black Leather Jacket and left the room.

The mansion was already quiet in the early morning, and the Black-Haired Girl's footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, sounding particularly clear. However, this only made Erice's already depressed mood even more irritable.

Upon arriving at the Hall, Erise was surprised to find that Aoko Aozaki Erice was already there.