Tearing Off the Mask

At Betasha's command, Parihame immediately lifted Fat Bubble's protection from Betasha for the time being, while Fuyilai continued fixing Oko in place with her gaze.

"Hm? What is it, Sister Betasha?"

Watching the three sisters' movements, Oko raised her brows slightly and gave Betasha a puzzled, wry smile.

"Didn't I already agree to go back with you? Then why are you still unwilling to let me go?"

Betasha frowned slightly before calmly explaining:

"Sorry, Momo. The situation is simply too chaotic right now, so we have to act cautiously as well. You must understand."

Though Betasha spoke with such composure on the surface, inwardly, she was already filled with vigilance toward Oko.

Although their earlier conversation had been enough for Betasha to fully believe that Oko and Momo were indeed the same person, and to understand that she clearly remembered her childhood days at Sweet Home, that still could not change the fact that Momo had later grown up step by step in the Holy Light Pure Land.

Furthermore, the mature aura now radiating from Oko, inside and out, made her seem like an entirely different person from the obedient, tender little girl she had once been. In the darkness of fate, Betasha's sharp instincts sensed a trace of unfamiliarity and danger from her.

Clearly, the Oko now standing before Betasha was no longer the little sister she had known in the past.

She had grown up.

She had turned from a girl into a woman, from innocent and naive into graceful and poised—and beneath the identity of an Auling Hunter, she seemed distant and unfamiliar.

Thus, Betasha simply could not trust Oko's verbal promise now.

From the very moment she recognized this "family member" before her, although Betasha had decided to take her away, she had never intended to