“You look like her! You look so much like
her!”
Karl circled around Nora. “If I didn’t know who you were, I’d have been convinced that you were Black Cat.”
Nora: “…”
Actually, it wouldn’t hurt even if she told him the truth, but she was currently in the open while Barbarian and the rest were hidden in the dark. She didn’t want them to find out too many of her different identities.
Thus, she didn’t say anything.
After circling around her twice, Karl said to Black Panther, the assassin ranked second in the Assassin Alliance, standing next to him, “If anything happens, you are to handle it. Don’t let Ms. Smith do it, lest it expose her identity.”
Black Panther glanced up and down at Nora, curled his lips, and said, “Fine.”
Karl then smiled again. “But there’s no fear even if she has to fight. Ms. Smith is no delicate, sheltered young lady. She’s the Big Sister of Quinn School of Martial Arts in the States… Her moves are not any worse than Black Cat’s!”
Black Panther was not happy to hear that, though. He sneered and said, “Now, I don’t like the sound of that, Boss. How are her moves on par with Black Cat’s? Even if the two are more or less equals in their fighting abilities, Black Cat is still an assassin. She is an existence that people can’t even begin to guard against. If Black Cat and Ms. Smith have to face each other in a fight, Ms. Smith would probably be killed before she even realizes what’s going on!”
“What nonsense are you saying?”
Karl gave Black Panther a push and then looked at Nora and apologized. “Don’t take what he says to heart, Nora! Black Panther is a diehard fan of Black Cat and is a huge supporter of her. Don’t hold it against him…”
Nora would never hold it against Black Panther, of course.
Because of her, Black Panther had even changed his codename as an assassin, saying that he wanted to be part of the same series as her. He even made a big hoo-ha about this in the Assassin Alliance, such that the codenames of all the members of the Assassin Alliance were now things like “Black Bear”, “Black Ram”, “Black Hound”, and so on. The place had pretty much become a zoo of large black animals.
Nora nodded.
Only then did Karl breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, he spoke again. “Nora, don’t mind me if I talk a bit more, okay? Uh, don’t tell Tanya what I do outside of the States, all right…? She’s a delicate and proper young lady raised in a well-to-do family. Let’s just let her stay at home and try for a second child with peace of mind. Don’t let her know what we men are doing outside, lest it worry her…”
Nora was surprised. “… She wants a second child?”
“Yeah!” Karl said, “When I was on a video call with her, she said that you have already given birth to three children while she has only one, so she must hurry to catch up with you and strive to have three children too!”
II
11
Nora’s lip corners spasmed. Tanya probably wanted more children only because her relationship with Joel was really good!
But she kinda understood how she felt.
Neither Tanya nor Joel had many whom they truly considered their kin, so they must feel especially lonely.
She could still remember what Tanya had once said. She actually had a dream when she was a child: to have many children and treat them especially well.
Since she didn’t have a mother who treated her kindly, she would give her children a good mother, instead.
At that time, Tanya and Joel had already broken up and she was living abroad.
Her only child had also gone missing.
Nora had asked her why she wasn’t having children right away-after all, with another child, her guilt towards her missing child would lessen and she would also be able to start a new lease of life.
Tanya’s answer at that time was that she hadn’t yet met the person whom she was willing to bear children for.
Now that she had met Joel, Tanya must be planning to kick off her grand baby-making plans, right?
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: She Becomes Glamorous After The Engagement Annulment