Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

"Originally I had a physical examination in the morning, but in order to be with you, I waited until the afternoon!"

Alexia had her hair tied in twin ponytails today. As soon as she saw her appear in the corridor of the basement laboratory, she ran up to her and hugged her.

It was the afternoon after the trip to the amusement park. They and the rest of the Ramirez family would conduct internal routine physical examinations, and Iris was thinking about one day to destroy the database they secretly established. Ennis Te also knew what she was thinking about, but most of the time he just expressed his attitude and responded with a silent gaze.

They entered a room, and Alexia whispered before entering the door:

"This room has the worst soundproofing..."

Ernest interrupted her and said:

"Alexia, so where did you go yesterday?"

The girl looked at him with confusion, and Lucius said leisurely:

“I went to the amusement park and had so much fun, but by the end I didn’t even have the energy to run.”

Alexia said coldly:

"It's better than you, never being able to sit on a pirate ship for the rest of your life!"

When Lucius was a child, he was kidnapped and thrown onto a pirate ship to make a ransom video, which left him with an indelible psychological trauma.

This was an old story, and no one could even remember the kidnapper's final fate, but Lucius's embarrassment was everlasting and unforgettable in their hearts.

"It's my fault. I didn't throw you on the pirate ship when you were younger and crank it up as high as possible, making you fall upside down and kneel down so dizzy that you didn't even have the strength to hold on to the railing and vomit..."

"Do you know that this is called killing zero enemies and losing a thousand to yourself?"

"Shut up, you're a minor who can't even ride a pirate ship."

"Shut up, too!!"

"The word 'ye' means you have to shut up first!"

"Get out of here!!!"

"Minors should just sit on your merry-go-round that sings children's songs, lights up, and swings like it's lulling you to sleep. The name is riding a horse, but it's actually just sitting on a stool and spinning in circles!"

"I hope your protective gear fails when you're on the bungee jumping machine!!"

"Haha, you can't even ride a bungee jumping machine, do you know how to use the protective gear on it?"

"Bring it to you."

"Hey, by the time you hit me, the grass on my grave will be three meters high."

"The grass on your grave is less than three meters tall. I will dig up your grave before your body cools down."

"Brother, look at her—"

*

Amid the noise in the room, Iris Adela was the only one who approached the edge of the room without anyone noticing, and reached out her hand to gently touch the snow-white and cold wall.

*

The noisy sound from across the wall seemed to be right next to her ears, and the burning gaze of the girl in white seemed to be able to penetrate the wall and stare a hole in the barrier separating her and the crowd.

Her face was almost the same as Iris Adela's, except that her gray hair had grown to her waist, and her blue eyes were clearer and purer, a color that had not experienced the hardships of life.

As the instrument beeped, the researcher took out the needles and catheters from her body one by one. She jumped off the bed, her bare feet touched the ground, and her long, slightly swaying hair brushed the edge of the pure white hospital bed.

Beside the window, the armchair made a screeching sound as it moved slightly. The woman who was leaning on the back of the chair and applying lipstick in the light of the window turned her head to look at her and smiled slightly:

"You should tie your hair up, so that you don't lose a few strands of hair every time you walk through a place, leaving too many clues that are unfavorable to you."

The girl looked at the woman, rubbed her chin, and said while thinking:

"The photos you provided of her always showed her with her hair down. I am clearly following your instructions. Besides, your worries will soon be meaningless."

The woman covered her lipstick and stared at her nails casually:

"You're confident in yourself, which is a good thing. But don't forget, if you confront her head-on, you can't win."

The girl took her hair and combed it with her hands:

"Mr. Heir said that someone will help me when the time comes, and I'm not that stupid."

The woman sneered:

"Really? But I think, compared to her, you are really not that smart. Also, what did I emphasize to you repeatedly before? The title. She is not as cowardly as you when facing the young master."

The girl said helplessly:

"Okay, okay, Ernest. If not saying it out loud is cowardice, then you are not very brave either."

The woman watched the girl lower her head and toss her hair. In such a quiet atmosphere, her focused and fearless look was eighty-nine times similar to the "Iris" in the woman's memory. After a while, she called lightly:

"Esilia."

The girl raised her head almost reflexively. After a few seconds, she said expressionlessly:

"You've been calling me by this name since the beginning, but you know I'm not her. When did I get my own name?"

I can’t count how many times I heard this simple and straightforward question, which made the woman feel a headache:

"Listen, I'll say this one last time. When you are no longer needed, you can decide everything about yourself, including your name. But before that, please be professional and don't bring up this issue again. Don't let anyone else hear it."

The girl murmured:

"I promise I only said this to you... and that's because..."

"what?"

The woman seemed not to have heard clearly and asked her again.

"nothing."

Because you are the one who has been taking care of me since the beginning.

Thinking of this, the girl stared at the other person silently, refusing to relax her brows.

The woman saw her familiar appearance, raised her chin and leaned back:

"What's wrong with you?"

The girl stared at her and whispered:

"Did I tell you that I don't like it when you compare me to her."

The woman rolled her eyes and said with disgust:

"If you were my daughter, I would certainly apologize. But, it's——"

She emphasized the word "but" and continued:

"This is your job! Tell me, I want you to be exactly like her. How can I teach you without comparing you to her?"

The girl was choked by these words and didn't reply for a long time. After a while, she said leisurely:

"So, you don't treat me as your daughter?"

The woman suddenly became angry:

"Are you my child? That's why you ask me this question?"

The girl said seriously:

"But you raised me from childhood... Didn't you just say that you taught me? Then I am your adopted daughter. Due to special circumstances, we haven't completed the adoption procedures yet, but once I finish my work, it should be fine, right?"

Seeing the woman's shocked look, the girl instantly felt aggrieved:

"You just said that I can decide everything related to myself in the future, but I know that I have to ask for your permission first for this kind of thing..."

The woman scratched her head with both hands and said angrily:

"I don't want to be a mother! Get out of here, as far away as you can!!"

The girl's eyes were really red now. She stared silently at the woman who yelled at her. She couldn't say a word for a long time, and finally she just said with a slight cry:

"Haven't you been my mother for so long?"

The clear word "mom" squeezed out from her sobs made the single woman's scalp tingle, and she spoke without thinking:

"I think you misunderstood something..."

But the girl covered her ears and refused to listen to her excuses.

The woman said calmly and sternly to the other researchers who shrank their heads like quail:

"Take her back to the lab."

Watching the girl's dejected back as she left, the woman slowly fiddled with her nails.

The woman withdrew her gaze until she disappeared at the end of the corridor. At this time, the only sound left in the room was her breathing, quiet and pale.

The doctor of biology, who was surrounded by four white walls, whispered in this dead silence:

"Copy the genes of a born rebel and demand obedience from the clone..."

The woman laughed, but there was no smile in her eyes. Her figure sitting alone in front of the window became more silent as the afterglow of the setting sun spread.

The dim and brilliant twilight slowly moved to the nameplate on the woman's chest, and the name "Phoenix Ulrich" shone brightly in the afterglow of the sunset.