CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 164: LISA, THE BLOODHOUND

The little girl was just about to set down her schoolbag when she paused, her delicate nose twitching as she picked up a strange scent. Her face showed confusion: "That’s odd... What’s that smell?"

Following the scent, her gaze landed on the bedroom—where she saw Malena sitting on the bed, hair disheveled, covering her pale thighs with the hem of her sweater.

At once, Lisa sensed that something was amiss.

What’s wrong with Mom?

Why does it look like she isn’t wearing pants?

Her imagination began to run wild, but before she could dwell on it, her thoughts were interrupted. Out of her line of sight, Charles stepped from behind the door. Instantly, the girl’s eyes lit up: "Priest!"

She set off at a run, legs pumping. Still too young to grasp adult matters, Lisa drew no odd conclusions—even with her mother seemingly pantsless and a priest emerging from the bedroom.

Charles hurried out, closing the door behind him to cut off Lisa’s view of Malena, his face wearing an awkward smile to buy Malena time to change: "Lisa, isn’t it early for your lessons to be finished?"

"Yes!" the little girl chirped, clutching his leg and setting her schoolbag on the chair. "Today’s lesson was easy, so Sister Andny let me out early!"

Andny? Wasn’t Sophia covering lessons today?

Wait—Andny?

Realizing Andny’s familiar probably knew exactly what he’d been up to, and still sent Lisa home early, Charles cursed silently.

You troublemaker!

Determined to give the Insect Witch a serious scolding later, Charles kept up his smile: "That’s good—sounds like everything went well."

Lisa, still hugging his thigh, was easily scooped into his arms, helping ensure she wouldn’t bolt into the bedroom.

She had no resistance, but her wide eyes roamed the room, finally settling on the now-shut bedroom door: "Priest, what were you and Mama doing in there just now?"

Realizing she’d likely seen far too much already, Charles broke out in a cold sweat. He was just about to concoct a story when the little girl suddenly turned, leaned in close, and sniffed at his mouth: "That’s Mama’s scent?"

Charles felt his face burning with embarrassment, quickly setting her down. He coughed. "We were just discussing new clothing designs—she’s changing now, she’ll be out soon."

Lisa, now on the floor, looked around—and spotted something. Her eyes widened and she shrieked, "Mama’s clothes!"

She hurried to the coffee table and picked up Malena’s bra off the floor. "Oh, Mama, you’re so careless! Dropping your clothes on the floor—aren’t you worried about them getting dirty?"

Charles massaged his forehead, wishing the earth would swallow him up. Even if Lisa didn’t seem to have made sense of anything uncanny, he still felt his cheeks burning with shame. "Ahem... Maybe there were just too many clothes and something got dropped by accident..."

But Lisa hardly seemed interested in his answer. Instead, her expression grew even more confused as she pressed the bra to her nose and sniffed before turning to Charles: "It smells just like you?"

Now Charles was drenched in cold sweat.

Lisa, are you a divine soul warlock or a bloodhound?!

How could you even tell?!

His mind blanked, he couldn’t think of a single excuse to evade the relentless, sharp-nosed little girl.

Just then, inside the bedroom, Malena reemerged, now dressed in conservative gray homespun trousers. The blush had faded from her face, and her voice was flat and even, as though nothing at all untoward had happened.

If not for a slight awkwardness in her gait, Charles might have believed she’d fully recovered her composure.

"Oh."

Lisa obediently handed the bra to Malena. Malena, without a trace of embarrassment—even with Charles present—folded it neatly and put it in her pocket. She then turned, her bright eyes fixed on him. "Thank you, Priest. Your suggestions were a great help, I feel inspired with so many new ideas."

"I hope we’ll have many more opportunities to exchange inspiration and ideas in the future."

Her tone was all business, and if it weren’t for the clear implication in her words inviting a repeat of today’s intimacy, Charles would almost have thought she was simply being polite.

He nodded lightly, a slight smile at his lips: "Yes, I look forward to the next time we can have such thorough and deep collaboration."

It was clear that Malena’s cheeks colored again at this.

Clinging to her mother’s thigh, Lisa scrunched up her little nose, sniffing up along her mother’s hip, then glanced over at Charles.

He didn’t dare give this little bloodhound another chance to sniff him over, so he quickly turned and made for the door. "Then I’ll be off for now—I’ve got things to attend to this afternoon. Madam Malena, Miss Lisa, until we meet again!"

"Yes, goodbye!"

Lisa had wanted to invite Charles for lunch, but with her mother acting so strangely, she could only wave farewell politely.

Once he had gone, the oppressive atmosphere eased. Lisa hopped up with a cheer. "Yay!"

Malena bent down, scooping her daughter up, peering at her curiously. "What is it? What’s got you so happy?"

"Of course it’s because of Priest Charles!" Lisa wrapped her arms around Malena’s neck, giggling. "Mama’s getting healthier every day, and Priest comes over all the time to play. Two wonderful things—together they make me so happy!"

She planted a kiss on Malena’s cheek. "And I could smell it—Priest carries Mama’s scent, and Mama has Priest’s. That means you two get along so well..."

Malena’s heart pounded wildly—how could her daughter be this sharp-nosed, able to sniff out even that?

Although Lisa didn’t understand any of it, Malena certainly didn’t want anyone else to find out about what had happened. She straightened her face and scolded her daughter, "Don’t talk nonsense, do you hear me?"

Lisa paused for a second but then broke into a mischievous grin, utterly unfazed by her mother’s sternness: "Mama’s embarrassed again, hehe!"

She teased unabashedly, and faced with such a clever, impish daughter, Malena could only press a hand to her forehead, full of helplessness.

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