"Hmm."

    Although it was a bit strange that the family photograph only had three people, Leon, having seen other photos with himself and his parents, didn''t think much of it. He casually asked,

    "When was this picture taken? Why is it just you in the family photo without the three of us?"

    "It''s just a mistake by the photo studio."

    Seeing that Leon wasn''t overthinking it, Anna secretly breathed a sigh of relief and tried to answer as smoothly as possible,

    "When we were getting the photo taken, the previous family had just left, and the person taking down the props accidentally left the family photograph sign, which resulted in this particular picture.

    Mom wasn''t very happy and wanted them to take down the sign and retake the photo, but Dad really liked Mom''s smile in the photo, and since the studio agreed to charge only half the price, they decided to keep it as it was."

    "So that''s what happened…"

    Nodding in sudden understanding, Leon lay on the bed, inhaling sharply and then said nonchalantly,

    "What about the three of us? Why were you the only one there?"

    "Because Melanie and they weren''t born until the following year, and this picture was initially meant just for me."

    Anna opened the photo album, flipped through it, and took out another photo with the same background. Handing it over, she smiled brightly and said,

    "It was after a community school exam. Your score was among the lowest in the whole school, while I got first place. Mom asked what gift I wanted, and I said I wanted a photo to commemorate it.

    See, the badge on my chest was given by the school to the first-place winner. Although I wanted you to join in the photo, you were sulking at the time, saying you didn''t want to be in it because your grades were bad, and you stubbornly refused to be photographed with me. In the end, it was just me."

    "Ah… Was I really that stubborn when I was little?"

    Hearing about his childhood antics, Leon, who didn''t have related memories, couldn''t help but scratch his head, looking at Anna with a little embarrassment.

    "Were you disappointed then?"

    "Not really, because I did it on purpose."

    Flashing a mischievous smile at Leon, the frail girl smiled brightly and said,

    "When we were kids, you always liked to snatch things from me, even trying to take my dolls. But you ran faster, jumped higher, and were physically stronger, even ate more than I did, and I hated it!

    Luckily, you were particularly mischievous and always did poorly in school. I finally had something over you, so I seized that chance to annoy you, and that''s why you were too sulky to take that photo with me."

    "You''re really… holding grudges since childhood."

    Leon shook his head speechlessly, then, while lying on the bed, waved his hand dismissing Anna,

    "Alright, since the ointment is applied, you should hurry back to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow!"

    "Then I''m heading back. Be careful while you sleep, so you don''t hurt yourself again."

    *You know it hurts and still used such force!*

    "Got it, got it!"

    Mimicking his sister''s expression, Leon rolled his eyes at her, then turned his head to look at the small window in the guest room, casually asking with his back to the door,

    "By the way, are you sure about my birthday?"

    ?!!!

    Hearing Leon''s question, Anna, who was about to leave, trembled all over and then replied softly without looking back,

    "How could that be wrong? Why did you suddenly think to ask this?"

    "It''s nothing really, I just met a divination master who is said to be very accurate."

    Lying on the bed, Leon narrowed his eyes and then yawned as he explained,

    "She asked for my birthday and then calculated a bunch of gibberish, and everything she calculated was inaccurate. Maybe feeling embarrassed, she insisted that the birthday I told her was wrong… hehe, it''s like someone with three legs blaming the road for being uneven. Funny, right?"

    "That depends on whether you paid her or not."

    Hearing that Leon was asking casually, Anna, relieved, regained her composure and responded with a smile, "If you didn''t pay, then she''s the funny one; if you did, then you''re the funny one~"

    "Go on, you''re the funny one! It''s so late, just go back and sleep!"

    Putting on the "elder brother''s authority," Leon shooed away his teasing sister. But after seeing Anna''s reflection in the small window, relieved and somewhat hurriedly leaving, his brow furrowed tightly.

    Though Anna covered it up well, there were still hints of abnormality.

    Maybe others wouldn''t notice, but to Leon, who had once lived with her day and night and endured Hell for two years, these abnormalities were too apparent.

    *She was hiding something from me…*

    Based on Anna''s character, seeing the photo fall, she would likely only say, "Oh dear, it fell." instead of giving such a long explanation. Moreover, she stopped packing and sat on the bed, almost deliberately giving him a chance to ask questions.

    Plus, looking at her photo, it must have been at least seven or eight years ago, maybe even longer. Yet, upon hearing his question, she responded without any process of recalling.

    Just a few sentences, and she recounted everything from back then in detail, explaining it all seamlessly, almost as if she''d rehearsed it countless times.

    When he asked about his birthday later, her visibly startled reaction in the window reflection confirmed his suspicions.

    Just like the Black Goat said, the Master of Starry Skies almost never made mistakes, so the day at the hydro company was indeed his birthday.

    And Anna''s peculiar behavior proved she certainly knew something, yet for some reason didn''t want to tell the truth, even concocting a pre-prepared lie…

    Faced with such blatant evidence, influenced by all sorts of dramatic storylines in his previous life, Leon instantly formed a natural suspicion.

    *So… was I adopted?*

    Entertaining this rather dramatic idea, Leon, laden with an unusually complex mix of emotions, immediately got out of bed. Quietly tiptoeing to the packed luggage, he pulled out the old photo album and started flipping through it.

    However, after looking through the old photos for a while, Leon turned his gaze back to the small window, staring at the reflection of the jet-black hair identical to his father''s and the sharp features strikingly similar to his mother''s, and once again felt confused.

    *Even if it was an adoption, it wouldn''t be possible to simultaneously have features from both sides if I were the child of a relative, right? Am I overthinking this?*

    …

    With a stomach full of unresolved confusion, Leon tossed and turned until the middle of the night before barely catching a little sleep. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    When dawn was just breaking, although far from enough sleep, he was awakened from his dreams by Anna, and upon learning that the coach had arrived, Leon could only bleary-eyed, get up, shoulder the luggage, and head to Veteran Lane''s entrance.

    Struggling to stuff the luggage into the cargo compartment, and after telling the coachman the location they had rented, Leon, who had slept only for about an hour, gathered his equally sleepy younger siblings and climbed into the four-person carriage.

    As Anna, following behind and getting into the carriage, watched him so tired that he barely could open his eyes, she helplessly yet amusedly complained,

    "Bro! Didn''t you go to bed quite early last night? Why are you this tired now?"

    "Last night… ha… last night my mind was a bit cluttered… barely slept in the first half of the night… uh… let me lean for a bit…"

    Swaying slightly with the movement of the carriage, leaning against the shoulder of Anna, who appeared somewhat flustered, Leon, indeed extremely tired, narrowed his eyes slightly and, with three parts probing and utmost sincerity, whispered a promise in her ear,

    "Don''t worry… about the things you don''t want to say, I won''t ask.

    "Also, you can lean on me just as I''m leaning on you… I promise you, no matter what happens in the future, you will always be my sister."