Twenty hours had passed since Anya had knocked the second son flat with a single punch.
After a night of tossing and turning, darkness quietly receded. Twilight stood in the kitchen, watching the eggs sizzle in the frying pan.
Having thought it over all night, he finally decided to let things take their course.
He got up early, made breakfast, and woke Yor from her sound sleep.
Their day-to-day life had already accustomed him to the household rhythm of the three of them.
As he set the food on the table, he caught a glimpse of a little strip of pink clothing peeking out from the corner.
Anya huddled there, daring to show only half her face, her fingers nervously clutching the hem of her clothes.
Clearly, she was still dwelling on what had happened yesterday, her little figure radiating unease.
"I'm not angry. Come on out. If you don't eat breakfast now, you'll miss the school bus." Twilight's voice was gentle, without a trace of resentment.
Rather than dwelling on a mistake, it would be more constructive to spend that time thinking about what to do next.
As a top spy, he knew all too well that wallowing in the past was pointless. What mattered was solving the problem and making things right.
Only then did Anya cautiously inch out, her footsteps almost inaudible, looking as furtive as a little thief.
She climbed onto her chair and hung her head, her voice thick with tears. "Sorry, Papa. Anya is really bad at going to school..."
Seeing this, Yor apologized too, wringing her hands uneasily and blaming herself for failing in her duties as a mother.
"No, it's my fault..."
Watching the guilt-ridden mother and daughter, Twilight couldn't help smiling.
Now this felt like a normal family... After all these years as a spy, he was actually feeling a sense of warmth...
Morning sunlight spilled over the dining table, illuminating their three faces. At that moment, there was no pretense in this family, no false smiles, only genuine affection.
He reassured her gently. "What's done is done. Just make sure you don't get into any more fights when you're out."
Anya lifted her head, her moist eyes filled with surprise.
Twilight began eating, encouraging the still-dejected mother and daughter between bites. "All right, cheer up, both of you. Do your best at school and work today!"
Anya nodded and dug in.
Yor looked delighted. "You're so kind, Mr. Loid."
Watching Anya wolf down her food, Twilight quietly took stock.
Anya seems to be doing pretty well. She hasn't shown any aversion to school. I'd be in quite a bind if she said she didn't want to go anymore. For the sake of the mission, I have to make sure her school life goes smoothly and that she becomes an Honor Student.
Plan B had already failed. He had to speed up Plan A.
Although Plan B would ultimately succeed, Twilight certainly had no idea how Anya would eventually win over the second son.
After breakfast, Twilight took Anya to the school bus stop. He instructed her earnestly, "You must apologize properly to Damian today. Understood?"
Anya nodded hard. "Mm-hmm!"
"You have to be a good girl and behave!"
"Mm-hmm!!"
Only after giving her those reminders did Twilight feel a little more at ease.
Meanwhile, at the gates of Eden Academy, Karen was patrolling back and forth along the perimeter wall.
His steady footsteps echoed over the stone pavement. Occasionally, the wind swept up a leaf and sent it spinning through the air.
Sometimes, idiots who didn't know any better tried to grab children on their way to school and use them as hostages.
As a legendary assassin earning a full twenty thousand Dalk a month, Karen naturally wouldn't let anything like that happen. For that purpose, he had tucked three pistols and five grenades into his pockets. If those weren't enough, he still had thirty throwing knives.
That was enough to handle even two or three assassins from the assassin rankings.
Except Yor...
He saw Anya get off the bus and greet Becky.
Hearing Becky's driver address her as "young miss," Anya's eyes sparkled with envy.
"Young miss..."
"Oh, it's little Anya. Good morning." Becky smiled in reply.
Anya asked eagerly, "Becky, do young misses live in castles?"
Becky shook her head gently. "Of course not. Usually, it's princesses who live in castles."
With her family's standing, living in a castle wasn't out of the question, but there was no need. It would attract far too much attention. Even the country's president didn't live in a castle.
Karen wanted to go over and greet them. After all, Becky had excellent taste and had recognized him at a glance as a handsome man of substance. He wouldn't mind hearing a few more words of truth.
But out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Damian approaching with his two followers.
As the saying went, enemies saw red the moment they met. Karen immediately perked up and quietly stepped aside.
He fetched a little stool from the corner of the wall, pulled out the sunflower seeds he carried with him, and settled in eagerly to watch the show.
The moment Becky saw Damian's group, her good mood vanished. Disgust was written all over her face. "Ugh~~~"
Ewen immediately jumped forward, his face flushed as he protested, "What's that 'ugh~~' supposed to mean? You rude jerks!"
Looking down on them was one thing, but these girls actually dared to look down on Master Damian too. They weren't going to back down so easily.
Emile chimed in as well. "That's right, that's right! You're so rude!"
Becky wasn't about to put up with them either. She sneered, "Heh, making such a racket first thing in the morning. How annoying."
Yet Damian and Anya, the two at the center of yesterday's incident, were unusually quiet. Neither said a word.
They looked at each other, neither speaking first, as a delicate tension hung in the air.
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