“Hey, what happened to Mother’s statue?” Nanami suddenly asked, and the dining room fell completely silent. “I just heard about it. The statue is gone, right? Why didn’t anyone tell me? That’s so unfair!” “Ah, well, that’s… um… right now isn’t the best time…” Sis and Ragi leaned forward anxiously. “My statue? It broke? That’s a shame.” Yuri let the words slip out. “What? Why did it break?” Nanami kept asking. “I wonder why…” Yuri finally noticed that Sis and Ragi's expressions had changed. “What’s wrong?” “Mother, why do you think the statue broke?” Ragi asked. “Huh?” “Mother, do you know something?” Sis asked in a low voice. “Huh?” Did I say something wrong…? Yuri's face turned a little pale. Both of them stared intently at Yuri. Yuri stared back at them in silence. “Mother, if you know something, please tell us.” Ragi asked, glaring at her. “What? I don’t know anything…” Yuri faltered. “You just said the statue broke.” “Did I?” “You did. So, the statue isn’t going to walk back home, huh?” Sis said, looking annoyed. What are they even talking about?! Yuri suddenly noticed Lakshmi in the room and was shocked. “Yuri! If you know something about the statue, why didn’t you say anything?” Lakshmi was angry at her too. It seemed one of the kids had informed him. “Yeah! You need to explain! I—I loved that statue. We all did! I’m so sad it’s gone!” Sis complained with a sad expression. “Well, even if you say that… I just heard it broke, that’s all…” “Who told you?” Lakshmi asked. “Well…” “Oh, I know! Mother did something, and Lord Harold smashed the statue out of revenge!” Anastasia said casually. “Huh?” “What?” “No way!” “What? No, no, no!!” Yuri shook her head in a panic. “That can’t be it! The statue just broke for some reason. And that’s the end of the story.” Yuri stood up, trying to wrap things up, but both the children and Lakshmi were still eyeing her suspiciously. “Anastasia, that’s not it. Sis, Ragi, listen. That’s absolutely not what happened.” “That explanation sounds a bit too convenient.” Yuri’s strong denial made Lakshmi even more suspicious. “What? Why? Harold wouldn’t take his anger out on a statue.” “So, Mother, you did something, right?” Anastasia wasn’t giving up. “I did not do anything!!” “So, Yuri, will the statue return from its journey?” “Huh?” “Mikael and Shanaan said they were going to search for it, you know?” “What journey?” Yuri saw a card that Lakshmi had, supposedly left on the statue. After reading it, she burst out laughing. “Yuri, this is no laughing matter!” “Yeah, there’s nothing funny about it!” Lakshmi and Sis glared at her.
