Miko pulled little Griseo into her arms and warily stared at her best friend, Hana Yurikawa.
They were close friends, and she could yield on anything else, but not Griseo. To put it selfishly, Griseo was what kept her from being afraid and allowed her to survive in this dangerous world.
She could not live without little Griseo either.
What everyone else saw as a peaceful world was, to her, full of dangers that could kill her if she let her guard down for even a moment.
Without Griseo, she had no idea what would become of her. She might even have been eaten by one of those evil spirits already.
Hana was in danger too because of the life energy she carried, but at least she was not as helpless as Miko.
Normally, Miko would not take Hana's words too seriously. But just moments ago, she had been thinking that compared with the Yotsuya family, Griseo might have better living conditions if Mrs. Yurikawa adopted her.
Her mother would not have to bear so much pressure, and Griseo's quality of life would be better too!
That gave Miko a slight sense of crisis.
"Come on! I was joking."
"Not long ago, Miko confessed to me, but now you're being so heartless. I'm hurt!"
Hana was slightly stunned by Miko's direct refusal, seemingly a little surprised. But she did not take it to heart; it would not affect their friendship.
Miko really did care about little Griseo—so much that even Hana was surprised! At any other time, Miko would have played along with her joke.
That was how it had always been before. But this time, she had been shut down!
Of course, calling it a joke did not mean it was entirely false. She did like Griseo quite a