Four Split Personalities

"Why are you smiling?"

In the crowd, Yi Dong turned his head to look at the Lizardman girl beside him and asked with surprise and uncertainty, "He was your father, wasn’t he?"

Just twelve years old, Tatiana Frith nodded and solemnly replied, "Yes, Mr. Rin Winter."

The Zombie, clad in a sky-blue robe, felt a bit confused and took a moment before lowering his voice to ask, "Does your dad treat you badly?"

"No."

The little Lizardman shook her head vigorously, her voice clear and sweet: "Father is very good to me, even though he’s often not at home, but whenever he has time, he’ll come back to be with me, and he’ll bring me a lot of beautiful gifts."

Yi Dong continued to be baffled and using his imagination, he asked, "Could it be because he was mean to your mom or something that made you hate him?"

"I don’t hate Daddy, I really like Daddy."

Tatiana blinked her eyes and chirped, "I’ve been living with Daddy since I was little; I don’t even know who my mom is."

The corners of Yi Dong’s mouth began to twitch: "But your dad’s dead..."

The orphan of Sak Frith nodded: "Yes, that’s right."

"So, little girl..."

As Yi Dong led Tatiana away from the crowd, he lowered his voice, full of incomprehension, and asked, "Although it seems somewhat inappropriate for me to say this, as I’m the accomplice of the chief culprit, and indeed your father deserved to die, why did you start smiling in such a situation? Isn’t he the dad you like a lot?"

Tatiana tilted her head to think, then whispered in reply, "Because my father was indeed a bad man, and when a bad person dies, it should be a happy occasion, right?"

"Uh..."

Yi Dong shuddered, then with an unusually stiff expression, he stared at the Lizardman girl who wasn’t as tall as his chest and after a long moment, he suddenly gripped her shoulders and said sternly, "Come on, tell Brother Rin Winter, what exactly did that scoundrel Tan Mo say or do to you!? How did he turn such a perfectly good child into someone so morbidly twisted?"

The death of a bad person being cause for celebration isn’t inherently problematic, but coming from Tatiana’s mouth at this moment seemed somewhat morally shocking, which is why Yi Dong’s first thought was of the man who had entrusted the girl to him.

"Hm?"

Tatiana paused and then gently shook her head, "Brother Tan Mo didn’t say anything to me. Um, why would Brother Rin Winter think Anna is morbidly twisted? Even if it’s my dad, if he did something wrong, shouldn’t he be punished? If the wrongdoing is severe, then he can only be killed, right?"

Yi Dong took a deep breath, waved his hand somewhat confusedly, and said, "Just wait a moment, I’m a bit overwhelmed."

Then he led Tatiana to a bench, asked her to sit quietly for a moment, and quickly opened his friends list to send a message to [Tan Mo/Chaotic Neutral] at top speed: ’What’s the deal with Tatiana? Did you indoctrinate that girl with some weird ideology?’

’Oh? What’s wrong with her?’

Motan’s leisurely reply soon appeared.

Yi Dong’s eyes twitched as he responded, ’Do you know she was delighted after witnessing her own father’s head being chopped off?’

’Heh, I haven’t indoctrinated her with any weird ideas, but I do know a bit about this issue. Well, how can I put it, it’s a classic case of derailing family education. Comrade Sak has obviously neglected his child’s psychological well-being while lavishing her with all sorts of care. Fortunately, little Tatiana didn’t turn out twisted; unfortunately, she turned out too ’right’, something like that.’

Motan expressed some regret with his usual equanimity.

Then Yi Dong just stared blankly at Tatiana, relentlessly pondering why someone would think the child turned out ’right.’

"Brother Rin Winter?"

The Lizardman girl looked up in curiosity, asking, "Is there something on Anna’s face?"

Yi Dong immediately shook his head and chuckled awkwardly, "No, no, I was just a bit distracted. If everything’s alright, let’s set off then; I’ve prepared all the necessary things."

[With that guy’s money.]

He silently added in his heart.

"Mhmm."

The little Lizardman obediently hopped off the bench, gripping the edge of Yi Dong’s robe, "Anna understands."

"By the way, girl..."

Yi Dong, somewhat helplessly rubbed Tatiana’s chilly little head, leading her towards Sālāmù’ēn’s western gate while hesitantly asking, "I mean, why did you want me to bring you to see this execution? I thought you just wanted to see Sak for the last time, but... uh..."

At a loss for words, he suddenly fell silent.

"Anna wanted to see Daddy for the last time. Daddy hasn’t been home for over two months, and Anna missed him very, very much. It was really great to be able to see him in the end."

Tatiana bounced along beside Yi Dong, cheerfully adding, "And since Daddy was a very, very bad man, it’s comforting for Anna to witness his death with her own eyes. Otherwise, he might have sold many innocent people, right?"

"Is that so..."

"Yes, that’s how it is."

"Anna, you really are... remarkable."

"Eh? Am I?"

"Haha, to tell you the truth, I’m starting to be a bit scared of you."