When the plea left her lips, the answer was already laid bare.
Her ruby eyes took on the fragility of glass. With everything confirmed, Luo Xi could barely stand.
Her energy field was still healing the other woman, but a profound bewilderment filled her eyes.
"Sister Mia, why?"
Mia's throat bobbed rapidly. She was still struggling. "Luo Xi, Luo Xi... wake up! I'm your family. How can you believe what that man says? He's a devil!"
Deep disappointment welled in Luo Xi's eyes. She didn't seem to want to ask anything else.
But the devil in the corner felt it wasn't enough.
Sean pressed a button on the remote control.
Mia, who had been struggling so desperately, suddenly began to pant. Her breaths grew ragged, sounding like a greedy, foul-smelling frenzy beast.
"You—you have to get me out of here!" she shrieked.
Without waiting for Luo Xi to react, she roared, "Do you have any idea what kind of life I live here? Do you know what kind of torture I'm suffering? Go kill that devil right now, and get me out of here!"
To Luo Xi, the Mia before her felt increasingly like a stranger. However, before she could respond, Sean snapped his fingers.
The iron chains binding Mia instantly went slack.
Whether fueled by the healing she had received or the sudden sight of hope, fresh strength burst from the dying woman's broken body. She staggered forward, shoving Luo Xi aside to make a break for the door.
Luo Xi finally reached out and grabbed her, forcing herself to sound stern. "Mia, come back with me... The clan will judge your actions."
"Judge?" Hearing that word, Mia snapped her head around, her eyes bulging viciously like a dying fish. "On what grounds? Why should I be judged? Cecil... she brought it all upon herself!"
The woman's voice was sharp and piercing, her expression twisted to the extreme. "What did I do wrong? Half the pioneer team died just to reach Paradise City... This is paradise! But she wanted us to keep cowering in the garbage dump?"
She grabbed Luo Xi by the collar, the blood on her gums nearly splattering out. "What do you know? When I left, you were just a little girl who knew nothing! You're the sister of the clan's princess; you got to enjoy a life far superior to ours!"
Luo Xi bit her lip, her eyes dimming. "The royal family bears the heavy responsibility of protecting the clan. In our clan, what you receive has always equaled what you give... And... Sister Mia, have you forgotten?"
She couldn't maintain her tough facade any longer, and a tearful choke crept into her voice. "You used to love taking me to play on the back mountain... Do you remember? When my sister came back injured that time, she received a reward... We split that sugar cube together..."
"With my sister beside us, the two of us divided that candy... You broke it into three pieces. You gave the biggest piece to my sister and kept the smallest piece for yourself."
"My sister smiled and said there was no need, and then you smiled and stuffed the candy into my mouth..."
"Do you still remember the rainbow at the peak that day?"
"The day you set out, the clan gave your team all our remaining resources... You told me to wait for you to come back, that you'd take me to a bigger, better place..."
Large teardrops rolled down Luo Xi's cheeks. She pulled out a meticulously preserved dried flower. Even devoid of moisture, its rainbow colors remained vivid and stunning.
"You said this was the most special flower at the peak, a gift from Rainbow Nest... Sister Mia, how could you forget..."
Mia's face trembled. Her gaze gradually grew unfocused as regret and agony surfaced in her eyes.
"Luo Xi..."
Sean narrowed his eyes slightly, then pressed the button again.
The regret on Mia's face dissolved, and she once again devolved into a grotesque state.
She viciously slapped the flower out of Luo Xi's hand. When she spoke, her voice sounded like an old record player dredged from a frozen lake—dry, strained, and agonizingly shrill.
"That's a hellhole I never want to go back to!"
Luo Xi stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.
Mia shrieked, "A piece of candy? Do you have any idea what they have here? Marvelous things that you, me, and your sister have never even seen! As long as I did what they asked, I could... I could become part of the elite in Paradise City..."
She sobbed and laughed at the same time. "I don't want to suffer like that anymore! I don't want to live through starving days ever again! Here, if I just say the word, dozens of people will fall to their knees to serve me. Those high and mighty lords smile and invite me to dance..."
"Look up! The Vile Canopy here never clears, and there are no rainbows! But this is true paradise! As long as I... as long as I do what they say, I won't be Mia the refugee from Rainbow Nest anymore. I'll be an honored guest! They'll call me Lady Mia!"
"Cecil had it coming... and so do you... You all deserved to be sold out... As long as I get to live well—" She seemed entirely deranged, the corners of her manic smile stretching almost to her cheekbones. "As long as I have a good life, nothing else matters..."
She had completely lost her mind, drooling from the corner of her mouth like a rooting pig.
Luo Xi's eyes went completely dead. She closed them in agony. "This isn't paradise..."
Mia roared, "It's not paradise because you're here! Because the rest of you are still alive, this isn't paradise! Not my paradise!"
Her face twisted into a deranged smile. "Quick, take me away! Then I'll offer you up to them! Ha... ha... Then I really will be Lady Mia! Hahaha!"
Luo Xi staggered back, nearly collapsing to the floor. Then, she felt a sudden, icy weight slip into her hand.
She turned her head blankly. Sean was smiling at her, having just pressed a dagger into her palm.
"Don't mention it," he said with a generous smile.
Luo Xi stared dazedly at the blade in her hand before her gaze finally turned ice-cold.
"Mia... betrayal is a sin our clan cannot tolerate. As the new princess of Rainbow Nest, I sentence you..."
Right then, Sean pressed another button.
Mia's madness evaporated. Her eyes went wide with terror as she saw the cold glint of the dagger in Luo Xi's hand.
"No, don't..."
She burst into tears. "Luo Xi... I really had no choice... I don't know what came over me..."
"This place tempted me... I didn't know what else to do... I wanted to save Cecil, so I came here. I—I thought I could earn enough merit to keep her alive... I'm guilty, but I really had no choice..."
But Luo Xi forcefully hauled her to her feet. Biting her lip, she pressed the dagger directly against Mia's heart.
Mia was already at death's door. Weeping helplessly, she clutched at the hem of Luo Xi's clothes. "We... we used to hug just like this..."
Luo Xi stiffened, her cold resolve wavering once more. Memories of their hometown flooded her mind, and she felt her grip on the dagger slipping.
But just then, someone embraced her from behind.
A large hand gently wrapped around hers, steadying the blade.
The gentle devil whispered in her ear, "Poor Cecil... Did she hug you like this? When she died, do you think she missed her adorable little Luo Xi from back home?"
Those ruby eyes trembled, then went absolutely cold.
Warm blood splattered across a frigid face, and the devil standing behind her smiled in complete satisfaction.