"Princess."
Xiao Xiao bent down and directed the child's attention forward. "Do you see her?"
The child's eyes widened.
The next second—
"Auntie!"
The child shouted and ran toward the girl not far away.
The girl with the slanted ponytail stiffened all over.
That voice...
She whipped around.
"...Princess!?"
The girl with the slanted ponytail's pupils trembled violently.
Caught completely off guard, she froze in place.
"Auntie!"
The little girl charged into the girl with the slanted ponytail's arms like a tiny cannonball.
The impact was so forceful that the girl with the slanted ponytail staggered back several steps.
It also jolted the girl with the slanted ponytail out of her daze.
She opened her eyes wide.
She looked down at the child in her arms.
"...P-Princess?"
The girl with the slanted ponytail was still a little dazed.
"Auntie!"
The little girl lifted her head.
She grinned at the girl with the slanted ponytail.
"I'm Princess."
"Auntie, don't you recognize me?"
The little girl tilted her head.
"I'm Princess."
"Princess!"
The girl with the slanted ponytail finally came to her senses.
She bent down and hugged the child.
She held the child tightly against her chest.
"Princess..."
"It really is you!?"
"Auntie..."
The little girl began to struggle.
"You're hugging me too tightly."
"Auntie."
"It hurts..."
The girl with the slanted ponytail immediately loosened her arms.
But she didn't let go of the child.
She kept holding her loosely.
"Where did you go!?"
The initial excitement slowly faded, and the girl with the slanted ponytail furrowed her brows. She was ready to give the child a talking-to.
She looked the child up and down.
The child seemed fine, with no sign of injury.
Her pretty princess dress wasn't dirty, either.
It didn't even