Hug Me and You'll Die

22: Her approach to curses was also unconventional.

Unsurprisingly, Kale reacted to Desmia's denunciation of the woman he loved with disbelief and indignation. "On what grounds are you making these absurd claims, young mistress? You barely even know Sherry!"

Desmia turned up her nose. "I know enough to call out a malefactor when I see one. Sherry Amarone is incredibly suspicious for various reasons; however, it's clear to me that you're too blinded by love to see it."

"What reasons could there possibly be for you to suspect her? She's beautiful, kind, and smart!"

Desmia arched an eyebrow. "Well, for one, she's not hideous for a human but calling her beautiful is a stretch don't you think?"

With family members whose peerless beauty transcended the realm of language for comparison, Desmia's standards for attractiveness were higher than the heavens. Thus, practically no mortals entered her eyes. In her opinion, unless one was fond of imperfections, mortals could never compete with deities when it came to looks.

"Two, isn't it evident that she feigns kindness as a means for deception? You're less likely to suspect someone who seems nice and courteous of doing unscrupulous activities than someone who's openly nasty and rude. And three?" Desmia shrugged. "Eh, sure I can admit that she's clever. I'll let you have that. Yet, as clever as she may have been, ultimately, she still couldn't escape from my sharp senses and brilliant web of reasoning so really it's me who deserves praise."

"Un...No one is greater than big sister." Ferris' hands were clasped together as if in worship.

"Obviously." Desmia haughtily flipped her ponytail over her shoulder as if brushing away the mediocrity and incompetence she perceived from those around her.

Meanwhile, Kale's bottom lip was quivering. "Well, Sherry's great in other ways too, okay? She works extremely hard every day!"

"That's what makes her successful," rebutted Desmia. "It takes a lot of effort and ambition to be an accomplished bad guy otherwise you'd get caught pretty quickly."

Kale's eyes reddened as he struggled to suppress his negative emotions. "I can't believe you're so dead set on the idea of Sherry being a bad person when she's been nothing but nice to you!" His voice cracked in the middle of his sentence. "I really thought you were supporting me, young mistress!"

Desmia narrowed her eyes as she leaned towards Kale . "...Are those tears? Kale...are you seriously crying right now?"

"No!" Kale hurriedly shielded his face and turned away but his abrupt movements forced a stray teardrop to fly from his face.

Desmia's face was painted with incredulity. "Oi, is there a need to be so emotional about this? It's just one girl. So what if she's a bad apple? Look at the world you're in. Look how many girls there are. You basically live in an orchard. There are dozens of other apples for you to pick from. Shinier, tastier, fresher apples!"

Ferris nodded. The metaphor was lost on him but he liked apples. In spite of his extremely dull sense of taste, he enjoyed eating apple slices that had been cut into a variety of whimsical shapes such as rabbits and swans. "Un...apples are a nice fruit, Uncle Kale...Don't...don't cry...Our family has many apple trees at home....We can...we can give you lots of apples...."

Desmia nudged Kale's side in an attempt to be comforting. "Just take it from me, your infinitely wise mistress, once you drop the bad apple you'll have your hands free for all the other apples."