Chapter 228. Loyalty 

Translator: Lili

Weekly Chapter 2/6

— Well, the thing is…

If she could find out the train schedule and departure times, Shushu might be able to track down Elma’s parents. Her hopeful tone practically sparkled, and even though Bluebird couldn’t see it, she could picture Shushu’s shining eyes clearly in her mind. The thought was maddening.

‘What exactly is she plotting this time?’

Despite her meek appearance, Shushu occasionally pulled off the most unexpected stunts, leaving Bluebird’s head spinning.

Still, she owed a debt. And though it was a national security matter, there were ways to get the information—through her old acquaintance. That person happened to be the immigration director’s child, someone who had memorized his father’s security codes and used them to secretly monitor new immigrants for people matching his… preferences.

However, this ‘person she knows’ also happened to be Bluebird’s ex-lover. And not just any ex-lover—the kind you never want to contact again because things ended in the most spectacularly ugly way possible. In fact, it wasn’t just ugly; it was downright catastrophic. They had broken up after catching each other cheating—a mutual betrayal that marked the relationship as a complete disaster.

Sure, when they broke up, the ex had begged her, practically groveling at her feet to take him back. So if she asked for a favor, he’d probably agree just to please her. But imagining the process of groveling her way through that conversation made her skin crawl.

‘This is going to drive me insane!’

Bluebird tapped her forehead in frustration. In her mind, a little devil version of herself appeared, sneering and saying,

‘Are you seriously thinking of contacting that person to ask for help? Are you out of your mind?’

But then, a tiny angel with Shushu’s face showed up, crying and clinging to her.

‘Waaah! Bluebird! Help me!’

Bluebird slammed her fist on the desk.

— Fine, screw it! I’ll do it! I’ll contact him! Just give me a minute!

She muttered to herself with resolve,

‘I may have a criminal record, but I’ve still got loyalty!’

Roughly ruffling her hair, she made a firm promise to Shushu that she’d figure out the departure schedule, time, and train details for the immigration route.

“Thank you, thank you so much, Bluebird!”

Bluebird clicked her tongue, imagining Shushu nodding her head enthusiastically on the other end of the line.

Though agreeing to help left her feeling deeply unsettled, she didn’t regret it. Bluebird wasn’t exactly the kind of person who felt compelled to repay every debt out of sheer righteousness, but she wasn’t so much of a garbage person that she could ignore someone who had genuinely helped her.

As Bluebird let out a heavy sigh, Shushu hesitated on the other end of the line, clearly reluctant to hang up. Bluebird immediately picked up on what was going through her mind and scowled.

In truth, Bluebird had initially assumed that if Shushu were to call her in a panic like this, it would almost certainly be about Mini Cat.

“So… about Mini Cat…”

—I knew it. I was wondering when that would come up.

Bluebird clicked her tongue again. When Shushu let out an awkward laugh at her blunt response, Bluebird sighed even more deeply in exasperation.

“I’m not asking you to find her or anything. I just… I just wondered if, before she left, she said anything about me…?”

— …

The unmistakable glimmer of hope in Shushu’s voice was impossible to miss. It left a bitter taste in Bluebird’s mouth.

When Mini Cat’s departure had been finalized, she hadn’t left a single thing for Shushu. No letter, no message—nothing.

Bluebird, who had thought that Mini Cat might have actually grown attached to Shushu after all the money and care she’d given her, had been proven completely wrong. Mini Cat had disappeared without even a word of goodbye.

It turned out that the image of someone smiling while holding a shard of glass close to their chest on a bed of stones was a feeling borne by only one person in that dynamic.