Xiliya’s hand was cool, and the sweet, cloying taste of the cake mingled with the icy touch on her tongue. Ximo couldn’t help but let out a small whimper.
The remaining bit of white cream on her slender fingers was licked clean, and only then did Xiliya withdraw her palm and hook Ximo’s chin.
“That’s more like it. It’s a pity you can’t always be this obedient, Ximo.”
“I had just stepped out the front door, and you dared to impersonate me to order others around right after. What about next time?”
Ximo wanted to explain, but as she started to lift her head, Xiliya pressed it back down.
“Did I allow you to get up? The cake isn’t finished yet.”
Xiliya forked up another piece of cake, but this time, she placed it on her own thigh.
“Continue. Eat it clean.”
Feeling Xiliya’s dangerous gaze, Ximo’s body trembled. She had no choice but to lower her head again, burying it even lower this time to reach that small piece of cake.
The small chunk of blueberry cake was dotted on Xiliya’s pristine white thigh. Ximo extended her tongue and carefully licked off all the white cream.
She wasn’t sure if it was because her body’s sensitivity had increased, but Ximo could smell the faint jasmine-like fragrance from Xiliya’s body, mixed with the sweet aroma of the cake, making her head dizzy.
The wet sensation on her thigh finally disappeared, and only then did Xiliya allow Ximo to lift her head. The little maid’s face was flushed red, with a smear of white still at the corner of her mouth.
Xiliya wiped away that bit of cream with her finger and smeared it onto Ximo’s lips. “I’ve thought it over, Ximo. You didn’t actually harm me, so killing you would be a bit excessive.”
Xiliya suddenly felt that Ximo was just like a housecat—silly and cute, simple-minded but prone to little mischief… and most importantly, she remembered the food but not the beatings.
For example, some cats love to paw cups off the edge of the table. You’d clearly already spanked its butt for it, but next time, it would still stretch out that silly little paw.
Naturally, no one would chase a pet out of the house over such a minor flaw, but flaws still needed correction. So Xiliya’s conclusion was—next time, spank the butt even harder.
“So I promise you, I won’t kill you.”
“But if you pull something like this again next time,” Xiliya said with a smile as she patted Ximo’s little belly, “then I’ll crank this thing’s effect to maximum, tie you up, and leave you in the woods outside the city for a night. I’ll pick you up the next day.”
Ximo shuddered at the words. She was already barely holding on at this level—if it went to maximum, she feared she’d pass out directly.
After lecturing the little maid, Xiliya was about to let her go when something suddenly occurred to her.
“Right, back in the warehouse, how did you spot the person hiding in the corner?”
“Uh?” Ximo was also stunned. She had never really thought about it. “Instinct?”
Xiliya said nothing more and just waved her hand to dismiss Ximo.
After her rebirth, though her strength had dropped significantly, Xiliya had at least barely touched the threshold of a mid-level magician. Even she hadn’t detected that beastman priest, which meant the opponent’s strength was no weaker than hers.
Yet an opponent she hadn’t noticed was somehow sensed by Ximo in that moment of crisis…
Xiliya didn’t look down on Ximo, but the little maid’s series of silly antics made it hard for her to believe Ximo had any real strength.
So was Ximo just lucky, or was she deliberately hiding her abilities?
Meanwhile, after returning to her own room, Ximo dragged the handheld suitcase out from under her bed again.
If Xiliya hadn’t mentioned it, she might not have noticed the issue, but now that she thought about it, she really had relied on instinct back then… In any case, she had suddenly sensed the danger.
That familiar yet strange feeling surged up again. Ximo took the black token from the box. Last time, Xiliya’s interruption had prevented her from examining it properly.
The token had almost no extra patterns, pitch-black all over with fine textures. Ximo couldn’t even identify its material for a moment. But as she looked at it, her head began to throb faintly. That vague sense of familiarity brought fragmented memories flashing in her mind.
She seemed to see a narrow and pitch-black room, and… a photo of Xiliya. A blurry voice rang in her ear, “This is your next mission target.”
“Okay.” A simple reply… Was that her voice? No, were these her memories?
Ximo frowned. She had no idea why these things were popping into her head. She was a transmigrator to this world, and that broken System had even given her the wrong identity. Where on earth had these memories come from?
The System’s notification of task completion rang in her mind, but Ximo didn’t voice her questions. Issues like this were pointless to ask anyway.
“It’s just eating some cake. This counts as an important plot node? And it even gave me a whole plot task to torment me.”
Ximo grumbled softly, and immediately received the System’s stern retort.
“Of course it’s important! This is a key experience in the sickly young lady Xiliya’s emotional arc, okay? In the original story, it was while eating cake that Xiliya remembered her mother’s words and resolved to live on properly.”
“And then?”
“And then from this node onward, Masha started taking action step by step, using all sorts of methods to seize the family head position and drive Xiliya out of the Camberlan Family.”
“Xiliya’s subsequent tragic experiences contrasted with her beautiful wish at this moment, highlighting the misery of her life even more. Got it, sweetie?”
Ximo: “…You’ve even started doing reading comprehension now?”
At that moment, in Xiliya’s room, she looked at the half-eaten blueberry cake on the table and picked up the fork to put a piece in her mouth.
What a coincidence— the cake Annaer had prepared at Ximo’s request happened to be her favorite flavor.
Or perhaps she didn’t like blueberry cake that much; it was just that her mother had made it for her by hand in the past.
Gazing at the blueberry cake on the table, Xiliya suddenly recalled her childhood birthdays, when her mother had sat with her making wishes over the cake.
“I hope Xiliya can grow up safe and sound. As long as she’s happy and content, that’s enough.”
…Yeah, in her previous life, she had made that wish her goal, only to end up in tragedy.
So in this life, she understood: just trying to keep herself safe and live on quietly wouldn’t cut it.
Sorry, Mother. This time, she might have to break that promise.
Xiliya savored the taste of blueberries and cream melting slowly in her mouth.
This time, she wouldn’t wish for a safe and peaceful life. She would make Masha… make everyone pay the price.
