Volume 1 Chapter 116

Volume 1 + Chapter 116: Clues

Listening to Pipim’s words, everyone felt a complex mix of emotions welling up in their hearts. Feelings intertwined and collided, leaving them unsure how to respond for a moment.

That indescribable emotion spread through the air, thick and heavy, freezing everyone’s thoughts in place.

Zhizhi, especially sensitive by nature, already had tears hanging at the corners of her eyes. At some point, several tissues had piled up beside her, which she kept using to wipe away the emotions that refused to stop flowing.

“Then, Pipim… can you tell me why your mother was taken away?”

Qianzhi finally could not hold back and asked the question everyone was curious about. Her voice carried a hint of trembling and urgency.

This was the truth everyone most wanted to know. Even Eve’s heart was filled with doubts… Why would someone she had once helped make such a grave mistake, committing a crime serious enough to warrant the death penalty?

She understood that her actions had never come from blind kindness, but from careful thought and consideration.

Eve was not someone who helped others casually. That kind of behavior was not true compassion, but foolish sanctimony. And those labeled as such, no matter how much they gave to others rarely met a good ending.

The present Eve would not act that way, and neither would the original Eve.

Because no matter where one was, blindly self-sacrificing people were always the first to be eliminated, otherwise, they would inevitably cause serious trouble.

“I’m not really sure. I only know that my mom was taken away in a hurry.”

Pipim spoke helplessly. Whenever she talked about this, she felt as if she were saying nothing of value at all.

A sense of despondent powerlessness crept over her. She had kept saying she wanted to find her mother, even wandering the imperial capital for a long time.

She had endured punishment and suffering alike. The countless nights she was awakened by the cold while sleeping outside still lingered vividly in her mind.

And the many days when hunger made her stomach ache so badly that she had to rummage through trash cans like stray cats and dogs, those memories still filled her with lingering fear.

She was afraid of hunger, afraid of cold nights, but even more afraid of losing her mother.

Because that would mean continuing to endure countless nights of cold and starvation. And worse still, she would have lost the mother she loved and longed for…

“Then think carefully. Before your mother was taken away, did anything unusual happen?”

Hearing Eve’s question, Pipim subconsciously frowned.

It seemed that there really was something…

Although she was usually careless and lazy, unwilling to think about anything beyond eating and sleeping, she did care deeply about her mother.

“It seems that for a few nights before that, several people kept coming to our house.”

“People?”

Eve and Qianzhi exchanged glances. This clue alone was clearly not enough to draw any conclusions, yet unsettling thoughts were already beginning to spread in their minds.

“Yes. Men and women. They didn’t look like villagers judging by how they dressed.”

Pipim had lived in the countryside with her mother before, and she had never felt much yearning for big cities.

Although everyone knew that the imperial capital was the most prosperous place in the world, and that the Empire’s two great academies, the Church Academy and the Imperial Academy were places where talent abounded, where one could rise from obscurity to greatness simply by getting admitted…

Pipim felt no longing for it at all. She only wanted to stay by her mother’s side, even if it meant remaining an ordinary nobody.

After all, Pipim had a very large appetite. From childhood to adulthood, she ate several times more than her peers.

According to her mother, when Pipim was little, her appetite was so enormous that her mother alone could not feed her properly, and she had to hire three or four wet nurses.

But the wet nurses had children of their own. Once Pipim started nursing, she simply wouldn’t stop, leaving several village babies crying from hunger.

And Pipim herself, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, would also cry loudly whenever she was not full.

Because of this, Pipim was often teased by the other village children when she grew up.

“What were those people like? Did they have any distinguishing features?”

“Nothing special, really. They always chased me out and talked with my mother inside the room. Some of the aunties were very gentle and even gave me candy. The uncles, on the other hand, always looked serious and usually carried a briefcase.”

Hearing this, Qianzhi and Eve instinctively looked at each other again.

This was practically the same as saying nothing. This child truly remembered nothing except the candy.

“I’ll get you some biscuits and bread first. Eat until you’re full, and then try to recall everything carefully again.”

Eve sighed and stood up, rummaging through the cabinet.

Fortunately, Umi had sent over plenty of supplies earlier, including ready-made food. One could say that many of the best items from the commercial street had been packed up and delivered by Umi’s mother.

Among them were the best-selling bread, biscuits, and jam from the market, as well as some sausages that could be eaten directly.

“Oh! I remember now!”

Before Eve even finished preparing the food, Pipim suddenly recalled a crucial detail.

“Those uncles had a very noticeable symbol on their briefcases. And on the business cards the pretty aunties gave my mom, there was also a special mark.”

“Like a crest!”

As she spoke, Pipim casually picked up some paper and a pen nearby and began to scribble clumsily.

Only then did Eve notice that Pipim did not even know how to hold a pen properly, she simply clenched it in her fist.

But as the shape gradually took form, Eve began to feel uneasy, and Qianzhi beside her felt her heart tighten.

“This is… the emblem of the Lorraine family.”

Eve blurted it out subconsciously, her gaze immediately shifting to Qianzhi.

Qianzhi’s eyes were also filled with disbelief.

But Pipim was not finished yet. Another shape equally familiar to Eve and Qianzhi was clumsily drawn beside it.

Though the drawing itself was crude, the symbol was far too recognizable.

Even Leah, standing nearby, unconsciously widened her eyes.

“The imperial royal family?”

The second emblem was none other than that of the imperial royal family. Princess Alice’s medal and business card given to Eve bore this symbol, and institutions or knight orders associated with the imperial family also carried corresponding insignia.

“That’s it. The most obvious things on those uncles and aunties were these two symbols.”

Pipim set down the pen and grabbed a piece of bread, stuffing it straight into her mouth.

Seeing how pitiful she looked, Leah considered lighting the stove to cook two hot dishes for Pipim.

Fortunately, Eve reacted quickly and immediately realized her precious daughter was about to blow up the kitchen, so she stopped her at once.

“Were the people who took your mother away later the same ones?”

“Yes. But the last time they took my mom away, she kept muttering all night that she had to find Miss Eve… that she absolutely had to find Miss Eve.”

“And then my mom was taken away.”

Pipim sighed softly. Now she had indeed found Miss Eve, but as for finding her mother, there was still no answer at all.