https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-75-Learning-from-Others-and-Losing-Control/12969587/
Chapter 74: The Mystery of Origins and Promises
Chapter 74: The Mystery of Origins and Promises
"Hmm."
Looking at the family photo with only three people in it, Lyon couldn't help but find it odd, but after seeing other photos of himself with his parents, he didn't think much of it and casually asked, "When was this picture taken? Why is it just you in the family photo and not the three of us?"
"It was just a mistake by the photographer."
Seeing Lyon's curiosity, Anna couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. She tried to keep her voice steady as she replied, "When we were taking the photo, the previous customers had just left, and the photographer forgot to remove the family photo backdrop. So, we ended up with this picture."
"I see..."
Lyon nodded in understanding and lay on the bed, sighing. He then casually said, "So, what about the three of us? Why were you the only one there at the time?"
"Because Melanie and the others weren't born until the following year, and this photo was originally taken for me."
Anna flipped through the photo album, took out a photo with the same background, and handed it to him with a mischievous smile. "It was the community public school exam. You were at the bottom of the school rankings, and I was first. Mom asked me what gift I wanted, and I said I wanted a photo to commemorate it. See, the badge on my chest was given to me by the school for being first. Although I wanted to include you, you were being stubborn at the time, saying you didn't want to be in the photo because of your poor grades. So, in the end, we only took a photo of ourselves."
"Was I that stubborn as a kid?"
Lyon scratched his head, feeling embarrassed as he had no memory of this incident. He looked at Anna's expression and asked sheepishly, "You must have been disappointed then?"
"Not at all," Anna replied with a smile. "You were always taking my things when we were young, even my dolls. But you were faster, jumped higher, and were stronger than me. You even ate more than I did. I really disliked you back then.
Fortunately, you were quite mischievous, and your grades were always poor. I finally had something I was better at than you, so I seized the opportunity to tease you a little. That's why you were being stubborn and didn't want to be in the photo with me."
"You've always held grudges, even as a child."
Lyon shook his head, slightly speechless, and waved his hand dismissively as he lay on the bed. "Alright, the ointment is done, so you should go back to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow!"
"I'll go back to sleep, but be careful when you sleep. Don't bump into anything painful again."
"I know, I know!" Lyon mimicked his sister's expression, rolling his eyes. He then turned his attention to the window's reflection, letting out a sigh of relief. He asked casually, his back still facing the secondary bedroom, "By the way, is my birthday correct?"
Anna's body trembled at Lyon's question, and without turning around, she whispered, "How could it be wrong? Why are you asking about this suddenly?"
"It's nothing, really. I just met a fortune teller who is supposedly very accurate."
Lyon yawned as he lay on the bed. "She asked for my birthday and did some calculations, but everything she predicted was wrong. Maybe she felt embarrassed, so she insisted that the birthday I told her was incorrect... Haha, it's like blaming the road for being uneven when it's her own three legs that can't walk straight. Isn't it funny?"
"That depends on whether you paid her or not."
Hearing Lyon's casual inquiry, Anna relaxed and responded with a smile, "If you didn't pay her, then she's the funny one. But if you did pay, then you're the funny one."
"Go, go, go! It's late, go back to sleep!"
After shooing away his teasing sister, Lyon watched her leave through the window's reflection, his brows furrowing in concern.
Although Anna did a good job of hiding it, there were still some unnatural signs.
Others might not notice, but for Leon, who had lived with her for months and endured two years in hell together, these signs were far too obvious.
She's hiding something from me...
Given Anna's personality, when she saw the photo had fallen, she would likely have just said, "Oops, how did it fall?" instead of giving such a long explanation. She then stopped packing and sat on the bed, as if deliberately giving me a chance to ask questions.
Moreover, the photo was at least seven or eight years old, or even older, but when I asked her about it, she didn't even pause to recall. She immediately answered, recounting the events of that time in perfect detail, leaving almost no room for doubt, as if she had rehearsed it countless times.
When I asked about her birthday, her clearly startled reaction in the small window's reflection confirmed my suspicions.
As the Black Sheep said, the probability of the Star Sovereign making a mistake is almost zero, so the day I went to the water company was indeed my birthday.
Anna's strange behavior proves she knows something, but for some reason, she doesn't want to tell me the truth, and she has even prepared a fake story in advance...
Faced with these nearly undeniable pieces of evidence, Leon, who had been exposed to all sorts of melodramatic plots in his previous life, almost instantly formed a reasonable guess.
So... am I adopted?
This rather melodramatic thought left Leon feeling incredibly complex. He immediately got out of bed, tiptoed to the packed luggage, and took out the old photo album to flip through it.
However, after looking at the old photos for a while, Leon turned his head to look at the small window, seeing the black hair identical to his father's and the prominent eyebrows that closely resembled his mother's. He couldn't help but feel perplexed.
Even if I were adopted from a cousin, it would be unlikely to have features from both sides, right? Could I be overthinking this?
...
Carrying a belly full of unresolved confusion, Leon tossed and turned until the middle of the night, barely managing to sleep for a short while.
When the sky was just beginning to lighten, although he was far from fully rested, Anna woke him up, informing him that the carriage had arrived. Leon, still half-asleep, got up, picked up his luggage, and walked to the entrance of Veteran Alley.
Struggling to stuff the luggage into the cargo box and giving the location to the carriage driver he had hired in advance, the barely awake Leon, who had only slept for a little over an hour, climbed into the four-wheeled carriage with his equally sleepy younger siblings.
Anna, who followed behind and got into the carriage, looked at Leon, who was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open, and couldn't help but scold him with a mix of exasperation and amusement:
"Bro! Didn't you go to bed early last night? Why are you so sleepy now?"
"
His body swayed with the carriage's movement and leaned against Anna's shoulder, who looked somewhat flustered. Truly exhausted, Leon squinted his eyes, with a hint of hesitation and utter seriousness, and whispered in her ear:
"Don't worry... if there's something you don't want to talk about, I won't ask.
And, you can rely on me just like I'm relying on you... I promise, no matter what happens in the future, you will always be my sister."
(End of Chapter)
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