Chapter 25
Before Elara and Kafka arrived on Solaria, on a planet countless light-years away.
Inside an apartment that was neither too large nor too small, a petite young girl sat on the couch in the living room. She had long silver-gray hair tied into a high ponytail and silver eyes. She wore a short black jacket over a black crop top that covered the upper half of her body, along with unbuttoned black shorts and a pair of black, white, and blue boots.
The young girl was playing a game on a console. Watching her, anyone could tell she was completely focused on the match from the way she moved during the game.
"Hahaha!"
As the word "Winner" appeared on the screen in front of her, the small girl burst into laughter, her voice filled with pride.
It seemed she was immensely pleased with her victory, as shown by the grin she made no effort to hide.
When she turned her head, a young child sitting beside her came into view. The two appeared to be almost the same height, their main difference lying in their faces. Despite her small stature, which made her resemble a middle school student, one of them possessed a noticeably more mature face than the other.
The little girl on the floor also turned her head toward the tiny girl on her right. She puffed out her cheeks in silence before deciding to ignore her.
The child sitting on the floor had matching violet eyes and hair. She wore black boots with a black skirt reaching her calves, accented with dark patterns. Her top consisted of nothing more than a plain white T-shirt.
Looking at the two "girls" side by side, it was easy to notice that their outfits matched, whether intentionally or not.
The little girl was none other than Elara, Kafka's mysterious daughter who had no known father. After spending twenty seconds trying to stay calm, she suddenly stood up, pointed a finger at the young girl beside her, and complained.
"Big Sister Silver Wolf, how can you be so proud of beating a child? Don't you have any shame?"
As she continued firing off questions, the young woman named Silver Wolf, a name recognized throughout the universe as that of a genius hacker, blushed, whether from embarrassment or irritation at Elara's accusations.
"Stop it!"
After a moment of silence, seeing that Elara had no intention of stopping, Silver Wolf finally shouted.
Seeing her "big sister" surrender, Elara flashed a triumphant grin at her. Silver Wolf merely grumbled, saying nothing despite the complaints raging inside her mind.
"You spoiled little brat... If I dared talk back, you'd run crying to Kafka. Tsk."
She clearly had experience with situations like this, where Elara used her mother's favoritism to dominate her. And judging by everything, Kafka always took Elara's side.
Strangely enough, Elara behaved very differently around her father. Around Adam, she was energetic but obedient. Here, however, she resembled a little demon queen. Whether because of the lingering shyness she felt toward her father or because she simply wasn't as familiar with him, her behavior changed completely depending on whether she was with her mother or her father.
"Want a rematch? I promise I'll go easy on you this time."
Silver Wolf offered with a teasing smile plastered across her face. Anyone could tell she thoroughly enjoyed crushing this "spoiled brat."
Without even taking a second to think, Elara answered,
"I refuse!"
She spoke with such conviction that it only made Silver Wolf even happier.
"So why not?" Silver Wolf asked knowingly. "Didn't I swear I'd go easy on you?"
She continued trying to lure Elara into another game.
But Elara rejected the offer once again. Crossing her arms over her chest, she declared as though stating an undeniable truth,
"You'll just cheat again!"
The declaration left Silver Wolf speechless.
She doubled over, clutching her stomach as she burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
Elara paid her no attention and prepared to leave, but suddenly bumped into someone.
Unlike the petite Silver Wolf, this person was an exceptionally tall man. Compared to her, he could only be described as gigantic.
The tall man had fair skin, long dark-blue hair tipped with crimson, and reddish-orange eyes.
His face alone seemed to tell everyone to stay thousands of meters away from him. Seeing the little girl stumble into him, he crouched down and gently picked her up.
In a flat, emotionless voice, he asked,
"Are you alright?"
Still in his arms, Elara looked up at him. The moment she recognized him, her eyes sparkled, and she wrapped her arms around his neck while happily shouting,
"Big Brother Blade!"
The man named Blade said nothing as the little girl clung to him. Instead, he quietly examined her body. Seeing that she hadn't suffered even the slightest scratch, he gently set her back down on the floor.
"Go wash your hands. We'll be eating soon."
He instructed the two girls in the living room.
After delivering the message, he turned around and returned to what he had been doing. Just before leaving the room, however, he stopped at the doorway and cast one final intimidating glance toward Silver Wolf.
She immediately stiffened before awkwardly looking away, scratching her head and whistling as if nothing had happened.
After giving Silver Wolf his silent warning, Blade finally left the living room.
Watching him disappear, Silver Wolf shot Elara a resentful glare.
Elara simply looked back at her with a smug smile, her eyes full of challenge, as though daring Silver Wolf to complain about her.
Silver Wolf clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"Damn it... This little brat is obviously making fun of me. And why does everyone protect her like she's some kind of angel? Argh... She seriously gets on my nerves."
As her internal complaints continued, she looked over at Elara once more.
The little girl was still wearing that carefree smile.
Seeing it, Silver Wolf's irritation quietly melted away, and despite her best efforts to suppress it, a faint smile appeared on her own face.
"Come on. If we're late, Blade's going to get angry... again."
After standing up, she took Elara's hand, and together the two of them went to wash their hands.
As the two girls walked hand in hand, they looked just like a pair of peaceful sisters.