She took out a booklet from her wristwatch and handed it over. Sabrina, expressionless, accepted it, clearly pleased with Lillie's tact.
"This is a compilation of all the cheesy lines Carl has ever told you," Lillie said with a cheerful smile.
Sabrina froze, nearly dropping the booklet. Without a word, she teleported to the hot spring in the backyard. If she stayed any longer, she feared she might faint on the spot.
Caitlin watched, dumbfounded. "What's going on? It's one thing for Serena to run off, but Sabrina too?"
"Caitlin!" Lillie called sweetly.
Caitlin instinctively braced herself. This girl had already managed to unsettle two people.
"I'm not interested in Carl," Caitlin said seriously. "Sharing a man isn't something I can do."
"I know," Lillie tilted her head. "But have you ever thought about something?"
"What?"
"Do you plan to stay here much longer? Carl has the power to fulfill any wish. The longer you stay, the higher your standards will become, and eventually, you'll find no one else can match him."
Lillie looked Caitlin in the eye. "With your personality, you'd rather be alone forever than settle, right?"
Lillie continued to gaze into Caitlin's eyes. "But what if Carl falls for you?"
Caitlin was at a loss for words. She knew that if Sabrina and Carl got together, she wouldn't settle for anyone less than Carl. Was she really destined to be alone? If Carl showed interest in her, could she refuse?
Logic told her to leave, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The thought of the future left Caitlin's mind in turmoil.
"You're scary," Caitlin admitted, looking at Lillie with a hint of fear.
Lillie shook her head with a smile. "I just read a lot, that's all."
Caitlin felt like the naive younger sister. "And what about you? What do you think?" she asked, unwilling to concede, and then left without waiting for an answer.
In the garden, Lillie was left alone. "As for me," she mused, gently brushing her hair, "I'll just let things happen naturally." As she skipped back inside, she muttered to herself, "I wonder when Carl will win over Mom. He better not take too long. With Mom's stubbornness, she won't agree easily."
Elsewhere, Lusamine's answer completely caught Lillie off guard. "I agree with Lillie's suggestion."
Moonlight streamed through the cave's opening, spilling onto the water. Lusamine sat on a rock, hugging her knees, gazing up at Carl, the shimmering water reflected in her eyes.
Carl found it difficult to read the woman before him. No, ever since the world merged, many women's personalities, including Lillie's, had changed in ways he couldn't fathom. Like Lusamine, who was willing to make a life-changing decision.
Lusamine's expression was serious, showing no hint of jest or disappointment.
"Try this on," Carl offered her a set of his clothes and then looked up at the night sky.
He'd already noticed the tattered pants and skirt by the pond, likely damaged during Lusamine's time in the wild.
"Not going to sneak a peek?" Lusamine teased.
Carl thought to himself, "You're curled up on the ground. What could I see?" But he held his tongue. Who knew what Lusamine, with her unstable emotions, might do? Though he wouldn't mind, he didn't want to be misunderstood.
With a chuckle at Carl's silence, Lusamine dressed, the sound of fabric rustling in the air.
"All set," she announced.
Carl turned back to her, asking, "Why did you agree to Lillie's suggestion?"
"In a hurry, are we, little one?" Lusamine stepped forward in heels, a playful smile on her face.
Carl realized she was the tallest woman he'd ever met, her heels allowing her to meet his gaze. He fully understood Lillie's discomfort at being called a child.
"I'm not little," Carl retorted defiantly.
Lusamine was momentarily taken aback, a blush rising to her cheeks, but she quickly regained composure. "I can agree with Lillie, but I have conditions."
"Conditions?" Carl wasn't surprised; it felt normal.
In his mind, Lusamine seemed like the type to follow her husband in death. The title of the perfect wife wasn't for nothing. He thought he'd have to persuade her with arguments about Lillie's loneliness.
The current scenario was unexpected. While passing through the portal, he'd prepared for fierce resistance or drastic actions. What could have prompted Lusamine's change of heart?
"Perhaps Lillie's suggestion wasn't just on a whim?" Carl speculated. "Do you want me to find Mohn?" That seemed to be Lusamine's main concern.
"Mohn?" At the mention of the name, Lusamine's mouth twitched slightly, her nostrils flaring for an instant, a subtle reaction Carl noticed. With his enhanced observational skills, he clearly read the emotions within.
This puzzled him. Logically, Lusamine shouldn't have animosity towards Mohn. Could the world's merging have caused such a drastic change? Yet Carl trusted his judgment.
"Yes, find him," Lusamine smiled nonchalantly. "If you do, I'll return the Aether Foundation to him or Lillie, and I'll consider being with you."
Her lighthearted tone felt slightly dissonant to Carl.
But the current relationship didn't allow him to ask more. Instead, he inquired, "Why do you think I can find Mohn when the Aether Foundation hasn't in thirteen years?"
"Lillie trusts you, so I trust her judgment," Lusamine countered.
Carl merely smiled, finding the reasoning unconvincing.
"How dull." Lusamine dropped the jesting, turning serious. "The teleporting power earlier, that was Hoopa, wasn't it?"
"You knew?" Carl was genuinely surprised. Hoopa's existence was a closely guarded secret, yet she not only knew about it but seemed well-informed.
"It was a coincidence," Lusamine said, brushing back her hair, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Five years ago, during the expansion of Desert City in the Kalos region, the mayor sought investment from the Aether Foundation. I saw it as a chance to connect with the Union, so I agreed.
"Using an old saying, it was a fortunate mishap. After attending a project launch, I stayed in Desert City for a few more days and happened to encounter Hoopa.
"I was captivated by her miraculous teleportation abilities."
"I tried everything to please her, hoping she'd teleport a person for me, but it didn't work!"
"Failed?" Carl's brow furrowed.
Hoopa had failed?
He distinctly remembered Hoopa's teleportation could locate even him.
Then he realized the success was due to him not activating the World Tree's protection. Hoopa's teleportation could pinpoint spatial coordinates, track signals, even perform facial recognition to locate someone. The latter was too modern, something he hadn't anticipated, and was a loophole exploited.
Now, as long as he didn't allow it, Hoopa couldn't sense anything within the World Tree's domain. Hoopa's inability to find Mohn was due to the World Tree's formidable power, not Hoopa.