System's POV
chapter-160

"Come, Zion. I'll show you around the Residence."

An excited Briella grabbed Zion's hand and started to drag him away, not even the least bit worried about the Black Snake, who was angrily hissing at her.

"Calm down, Tiona," Thirteen said when the snake crawled on the boy's shoulder, headed toward Briella's hand, which was holding her Master's hand. "Don't bite, okay?"

Tiona hissed angrily at the woman and even used her tail to repeatedly tap her hand as if trying to pry it away from her Master's.

"Awww, how cute," Briella commented after feeling the Black Snake's attempt to pry off her hand from Thirteen's hand. "Your pet is quite amusing."

"… Yeah." Thirteen didn't know if Briella was fearless or if she simply didn't know that the Black Snake, whom she was calling cute, was actually the most poisonous snake in the world.

Although Tiona's bite would not instantly kill her, it would make her suffer terrible pain as her body withered away due to its poison.

"This is the Garden," Briella said after arriving at the place that was filled with flowers. "I personally picked all the flowers planted here. Aren't they beautiful?"

The boy arched an eyebrow after seeing the beautiful flowers, which were all poisonous.

"Beautiful and deadly," Thirteen commented. "You have good taste, Lady Briella."

"I know, right?"

"Mmm."

The younger boy now understood why the Tigerkin Lady found Tiona cute.

It was because she liked to handle poison, so whenever she found anything poisonous, it was cute or beautiful in her eyes.

As the two toured the garden, Thirteen had to fight the strong urge to collect some of the poisonous flowers in order to use them in alchemy.

Some of the flowers that were blooming in the garden were actually rare herbs, and they were not often found within the Human territories of Solterra.

Seeing the boy's interest in her flowers, the smile on Briella's face widened.

"Do you know what this flower is, Zion?" Briella asked as she pointed at a beautiful purple flower.

"It's called the Sleepy Wolfsbane," Thirteen replied. "If someone were to eat any part of this flower, they would feel drowsy, but it is only the side effect of the poison that is spreading inside their bodies.

"If not treated right away, the victim might enter a coma, and die after a few months. Touching it can irritate the skin, causing purple sores to appear at the place of contact. Turning this into powder and slipping it on the food or drinks of people is the ideal way to use it.

"That way, people would die in their sleep, making others think that they died because of a nightmare or a sweet dream that they refuse to wake up from."

Briella clapped her hand because she didn't expect that the boy would be able to identify the flower, let alone give her its information.

"You know a lot about flowers, Zion," Briella said.

"I don't know a lot, Lady Briella," Thirteen smiled. "I just know what I know. Um, can I have a few flowers later?"

Briella giggled after hearing the boy's request.

"Who are you planning to kill, Zion?" Briella asked. "Just say the word, and Mother will help you."

The smile on Thirteen's face twitched because he didn't know if Briella was just teasing her or was serious about making him her adoptive son.

Either way, he already had a mother, so he had no intention of being adopted by anyone.

"You know, Zion, I have good eyes and a very sensitive nose," Briella said as she took a stroll while holding the boy's hand. "I know when a person is dangerous or when a person is not. And I have never seen someone as young yet as dangerous as you in my life. You are just like the Sleepy Wolfsbane.

"You lull your victim to sleep and make sure they don't wake up ever again. Are you sure you don't want to be adopted by me?"

"I'm sorry, but I already have a mother, Lady Briella," Thirteen replied. "I'm afraid I can't accept your offer of adoption."

"Understood. You want me to become your adopted mother." Briella nodded. "From this day onward feel free to call me Mother, Zion."

"…" The seven-year-old didn't know if Briella had selective hearing or if the two of them weren't speaking the same language.

Anyway, he knew that the Tigerkin that was holding his hand was dangerous.

Extremely dangerous.

Although she was smiling sweetly right now, the boy knew that she could have the same smile, as she poisoned people to death.

"There you are, Mother," a Tigerkin, who seemed to be in his early twenties, called out to Briella from a distance. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

The smile on Briella's face stiffened, but this only lasted for a second before she introduced Zion to the Tigerkin that was approaching them.

"Zion, this is Anwir," Briella said. "He is my adopted son. Anwir, this is Zion, my new adopted son."

Anwir's gaze hardened as he looked at the seven-year-old human, whom Briella was holding hands with.

"Mother, you shouldn't joke around like that," Anwir stated. "Father asked me to find you, as well as… our guest here. He wants to have a talk with him."

"Is that so?" Briella replied casually before nodding her head. "Let's go, Zion. It's time to meet your adopted father."

The Tigerkin Lady dragged Zion away without even bothering to look at her other adopted son, who was glaring at Zion's back.

Thirteen glanced behind him and looked at the boy, who changed his expression in the blink of an eye and smiled back at him.

'Hah… I think I understand this setup,' Thirteen thought. 'I see, so that's how it is.'

The seven-year-old was a System, so he could see the pattern when it came to the relationship of people.

With his thousands of years of experience, it was fairly easy for him to guess why Briella didn't like Anwir.

While some people didn't jump to conclusions based on conjecture, Thirteen was different.

He was a System.

He didn't need any proof or evidence.

All he needed to do was calculate things inside his head, and he would arrive at an answer with the highest probability.

'Too bad there isn't any popcorn here that I can munch on while I watch this family drama,' Thirteen thought. 'Still, if I play my cards right, this trip to Karabor City might be more advantageous to me in more ways than one.'

Since Briella was looking in front of her, she didn't see the evil smile that appeared on Thirteen's face.

Only Tiona, who was paying close attention to her Master, noticed the changes on his face.

This prompted her to rub her head on his cheek as if telling Thirteen to let her join in on the fun once the seven-year-old finally dared to take action.