Chapter 0046

Sylphie looked at the intelligent yet gullible woman before her.

How did those to con artist raise Erica to be so filial?

Guarded yet unguarded.

Vicious yet kind.

Worldly yet naive.

Prickly yet loving.

The mass of contradiction that is Erica can’t remain in the precarious position she is in right now. One day soon, the two idiots will destroy their precious daughter without realizing how they’ve done it.

Sylphie did not bear any malicious intentions towards the vulnerable woman before her. Despite the tense relations between the Calbot and the Burkett, they are family. Her father might have intervened on the Calbot’s behalf. Sylphie was inclined to let things be.

Unlike her father, Sylphie never had the desire to monopolize her ward’s attention. She was content with silently guarding their happiness. Leviene stayed within the boundaries of Sylphie’s tolerance, never pushing her boundaries like her other wards.

Sylphie was luckier than her father. Eric Deveraux has two wards who were rebellious at best, work to kill him at worse. He was a tyrant who tried to rule their lives with an iron fist. Sylphie saw first hand how it didn’t work.

Humans want the right to choose regardless of the consequences.

Humans want to live with the idea that they are free.

Eric Deveraux didn’t understand it. He told them what to do, where to go to school, who they can associate with. The more he dictates, the more they rebelled.

Until John Calbot came. Because they were never close to begin with, Eric Deveraux devoted more time to get close to John, thereby loosening his hold on his other two wards, giving them enough space to either fight back or run. They chose to run, leaving John to handle the repercussions of their actions.

Sylphie pitied her father.

She knew better than to follow his harsh ways.

One of Sylphie’s other ward wasn’t interested in the in fighting, nor was she rebellious, choosing to accept the bodyguard and surveillance as part and parcel to being rich. Sylphie allowed her the freedom to be under the condition that safety comes first.

Leviene knew how to balance the various forces interested in her.

“Denieve…”

Erica caught the word Sylphie unconsciously uttered and pounce like a dog with a bone. “Leviene doesn’t just have you. The Denieve dotes upon her like a treasure!”

“What do you know about the Denieve?”

Erica flounder from herself importance, “Weird, rich, French aristocrats.”

“The Denieves does not like to be touched. It isn’t a phobia. It’s like they suffer if they are touched. Human babies need love and affection to grow up normally and touch is the medium those feelings are transmitted to babies, however members of the Denieve family suffer varying degrees of pain if they are touched, even when they are young.”

“No wonder they grow up weird.” Erica jeered. The Ruse Marren was putting up a front. Erica is insensitive to the needs of others, but she isn’t malicious. She isn’t one to make of fun of people for something they can’t control. Oh, well call an idiot an idiot when they are wrong, but those are the choices they choose to make or mistakes which they are at fault.

As for making fun of people for their handicap, it’s like calling a person with who had their legs amputated a cripple, while it is technically true, it is derogatory and beneath her.

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Erica fight with those who can fight back. Leviene maybe act like a baby hyped up sugar, but can fight her own battles.

Syphie smiled sardonically.“Can you imagine what these weird strangers would do when they suddenly found a little girl they can touch without feeling pain?”

“They didn’t do anything to Leviene right?” Erica exclaimed in fright, then reassure herself with the following sentence, “The Deveraux would have retaliated against the Denieve if it were to happen.”

“I told you before, you need to get rid of your assumptions! Dad would have retaliated on behalf of John and I definitely would have, but the rest of the family will not do so. Not everyone is willing to protect the child of an outsider who happens to look like dad.”

“Then Leviene....” All the horrible possibilities run through Erica’s head. Crazy pent up NEET getting their hands on a helpless little girl, depraved perverts unleashing their lust on an innocent Leviene, child molesters, rapist…

Smack!

“What was that for?” Erica yelled at Sylphie.

“Wash that brain of yours! Nothing happened to Leviene. She may be a flake most of the time, but when it comes to her safety, she knows what she’s doing. The Denieve did nothing her, not because they didn’t want to, but because there were too many people in the family interested in her that if they did make a move, there would be a major upheaval in the family which will affect their interest. Giving Leviene back to the Deveraux then interacting with Leviene on a personal level with a chaperone was the compromise they came up with. If Leviene were to beg a favor from them, then they have justifiable reasons to interfere with her life. The Deveraux helped Leviene because they can use her as a leverage against the Denieve.”

“I’m sorry.” Erica said after she had digested the information. She was assured of the authenticity of the information because Sylphie had no reason to lie to her.

Erica didn’t doubt for a moment Sylphie can and will spin the greatest sob story for her if it benefits her, but Erica had no value. She may own a portion of an accounting firm, but it’s peanuts compared to the Deveraux fortune.

Lying to her now is counterproductive, and Sylphie doesn’t do anything unless it is a sure bet.

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Leviene. She’s the one you wronged.”

“.... Not possible.”

“Why not?”

“I may have a wrong perception about her, but her irritating me is real.”

“Ugh, you’re -”

“Hello ladies!” a carefree voice interrupted their conversation, angering Erica to the extreme.

How often does Sylphie admit Erica was right and she was wrong? Try never in the time that they have known each other. Time might have been the limiting factor as these two rarely see each other and when they do meet, they rarely speak much less have an in-depth conversation.

Erica wanted to savor the moment, burn it into her brain and store it in the back of her memory to be retrieved at a more convenient time to be savored later on, like a movie downloaded onto the computer.

Before she can get the most important part out of Sylphie’s mouth, they were interrupted by a carefree bastard who happens to call out at the most critical time.

Of course Erica is angry.

“What do you want?” Erica snarled. He is lucky she didn’t attack him when he interrupts the conversation. Asking her to be nice to him is harder than asking her to give free consultation.

“Oh, we just want to have a conversation with you two beautiful ladies…”