Late at night, Hesta brought the children, who were already exhausted, back to the farm. The little ones rubbed their eyes as they got out of the car, stepping one after another onto the firm ground of the farm.
The twelve children were divided into three groups and assigned to the rooms of Hesta and Victoria, Tulan and Lu Qi Zhen, and Ende and Zoe. Santa had already procured twelve single beds that afternoon. Fortunately, their rooms had been quite large to begin with; after four small beds were added, the layout merely became more compact without feeling crowded.
Eleven and Kiki had also heard that some older sisters would be arriving tonight, so neither had gone to sleep even after ten. Holding hands, they pinched each other's arms whenever they noticed the other was about to nod off.
"Where are we staying?" Eunice asked.
"You'll stay over at Pakart's place for now," Hesta said. "The house there is only a few minutes' walk from here. Once the school and dormitories are finished, we'll all move over there—"
"No!" Eunice immediately interrupted Hesta. Her hand in her pocket clenched again. "We can't be separated from the other Kashyapa at a time like this. They've only just arrived here, and—"
"Then sleep on the floor in my room. I didn't prepare a bed for you," Hesta replied.
Eunice froze. She had thought she would have to argue back and forth with Hesta several times over this, but she had not expected her to agree so readily.
Hesta looked at Jahadorei. "What about you?"
"She can go sleep at Teacher Pakart's place," Eunice said at once.
Jahadorei's expression turned somewhat strange. She glanced at Eunice, her gaze clearly asking—what gave you the right to decide for me?
"Listen to me." Eunice switched