Axel nodded slowly, the faint smell of tea lingering in the air, before his gaze sharpened as if something had just occurred to him.
After a brief pause, he looked at Lana and spoke, his voice casual yet carefully measured. "Have you already found your real parents?"
Lana froze for a split second.
Her fingers stiffened, and a ripple of surprise passed through her eyes before she masked it with a small smile.
"I don't really understand why you're asking that," she replied, her tone light, though her chest felt strangely tight.
"But yes, I've found my biological parents. They're… troublesome."
She exhaled softly. "I don't plan to acknowledge them or get close to them."
Hearing that, Axel leaned back slightly, his eyelids lowering as if he were replaying fragments of an investigation in his mind.
After a moment, he looked at her again and spoke gently, "If possible, you should keep your distance from them."
