Chapter 203: What else do you think it is?
Karl nodded excitedly.
"Yes, Eira," he said cheerfully, "Fourth Uncle is with Mama right now." Then he quickly switched the camera toward Adelyn and added, pointing in her direction from afar, "And guess what?"
Eira’s gaze immediately shifted to her mother.
Through the screen, she could tell from the angle and Adelyn’s distant look that Karl had turned on the back camera just to show her.
"Sister-in-law is cooking a meal for me."
The moment Eira heard that, her eyes glazed over.
But she didn’t cry.
Her lips trembled faintly as she held the tears back with visible effort.
When Karl switched the camera back to himself, he noticed it instantly.
His expression faltered.
He glanced at Adelyn instinctively before looking back at the little girl on the screen.
"You ... are you crying?" he asked, his voice turning cautious.
Eira didn’t respond.
But the moment Adelyn heard that—
Her hand froze mid-motion.
Her brows drew together in a slight frown as she turned toward Karl. "Is she crying?" she asked, already stepping closer.
Karl shrugged uncertainly, peering at the screen. "I’m not sure," he admitted. "The network isn’t very stable. I can’t see clearly ... but it looks like it."
Adelyn’s frown deepened.
Eira was still very young —too young.
Even small, seemingly trivial things could affect her deeply. Adelyn had understood that better than anyone.
Without another word, she set the knife aside and walked toward Karl, intending to take the phone and check for herself.
But just then—
"Fourth Uncle," Eira’s soft voice came from the other end. "Eira isn’t crying."
She rubbed her eyes quickly, as if to prove her point.
"I’m just sleepy. I’ll go to sleep now."
And with that, she didn’t wait and hung up.
Karl had just opened his mouth to respond, but the screen had already gone dark.
At the same moment, Adelyn reached out and took the phone from his hand.
But when she turned it toward herself, it was already back to the home screen.
She blinked once.
"She hung up?" she asked, turning her gaze toward Karl.
Karl nearly flinched under her stare.
It wasn’t exactly threatening —but there was something in it. A quiet accusation, as if she was silently asking what he had done to upset her little cub.
He immediately shook his head. "Sister-in-law, I didn’t do anything. Don’t look at me like that —it’s scary."
"Was she crying?" Adelyn asked again, her tone more serious this time.
Karl hesitated, thinking it through carefully before answering.
"I ... don’t think so," he said slowly. "Maybe I misunderstood. Her eyes could’ve been misty because she was sleepy. Otherwise ... why would she cry for no reason?"
He wasn’t just defending himself. He genuinely believed it. After all, he hadn’t done anything wrong.
And Eira wasn’t the kind of child who cried without reason.
Still—
Adelyn tried calling her back.
Once.
Twice.
But there was no response.
"Sister-in-law," Karl said when he saw her lowering the phone from her ear, "she must’ve gone to sleep. She did look very sleepy."
It sounded reasonable.
But something about it didn’t sit right with Adelyn.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
"Could it be that your brother scolded her?" she asked suddenly, turning toward him.
Karl froze.
His eyes widened slightly. "Big Brother ...?" he repeated, startled.
Adelyn didn’t confirm it aloud —but her expression was enough.
Karl thought about it seriously this time.
Then he shook his head firmly.
"That’s not possible," he said. And seeing her gaze sharpen, he continued more carefully, "Big Brother might look cold ... and his aura might feel intimidating ... but he has never used that to scare Eira."
He paused briefly before adding, more thoughtfully, "In fact ... he has never even scolded her. Not once. If anything, he’s always been unusually gentle with her. More than he is with anyone else."
Adelyn found that easy to believe.
After all—
She had seen it herself.
"Oh—wait ..."
Karl suddenly straightened, as if something had just occurred to him.
Adelyn looked at him, puzzled.
He met her gaze and said, "It’s not just Eira," he said.
Her brows knit together slightly.
"It’s also you."
Adelyn blinked, and he continued,
"He treats you the same way," Karl added, his tone firm. "With the same care. The same gentleness. As if you’re just as precious to him as she is."
She went still.
For a second, she was completely speechless.
Then her lips pressed into a thin line.
When she finally recovered, she looked at him and asked flatly, "Didn’t you say you haven’t eaten since the afternoon?"
Karl nodded instinctively.
"Then how do you still have the energy to come up with such delusional theories?"
His eyes widened immediately. "I’m not making things up, sister-in-law! Big Brother really does treat you well. He—"
Adelyn raised her hand, cutting him off mid-sentence.
Then she pointed toward the table.
"Go sit there quietly," she said. "Or I won’t mind throwing you out with that empty, growling stomach of yours."
Karl instinctively placed a hand over his stomach.
Then, without another word, he obediently walked to the table and sat down.
Adelyn watched him for a moment before her gaze drifted back to the phone in her hand.
In the end—
She chose to believe that Eira might really have been sleepy.
Otherwise ... she wouldn’t have ignored her call.
Opening their chat, Adelyn typed out a short goodnight message.
But after a pause, she deleted it.
Instead, she recorded a voice note —her tone softer, gentler than before —and sent it.
Only then did she set the phone aside and return to the kitchen.
—
Some time later—
The meal was ready.
Adelyn prepared two portions and brought them to the table.
She placed one bowl in front of Karl and took the seat across from him with her own.
Karl stared down at the food.
His expression was ... complicated.
"What’s wrong?" Adelyn asked, a faint but noticeable frown forming on her face. "Eat. Weren’t you starving a while ago?"
Karl swallowed.
He was starving.
That hadn’t changed.
But something about this moment felt ... different.
Slowly, cautiously, he looked at the bowl in front of him and asked,
"Sister-in-law ... is this the dinner?"
Adelyn’s eyes flickered to his bowl, her frown deepening slightly.
"What else do you think it is?"
