Chapter 750: Treasure and Handkerchief

"Mother!"

While Emma and Leon were talking, little Ellie behaved well and didn't disturb them, only occasionally glancing longingly in their direction.

When Emma finished her conversation and entered the garden, Ellie, unable to wait any longer, finally ran over, gently tugging at Emma's skirt and holding out her hand as if presenting a treasure.

"Look, look!"

This… holly berries?

After recognizing the small orange-red fruits before her, Emma smiled softly, bent down, and plucked a leaf hanging from Ellie's cap.

"That's wonderful—I thought all the holly berries in the garden had already been eaten by the little animals… where did you find them?"

"Over there!"

Pointing to a small patch of shrubbery that had been pushed aside, little Ellie, her forehead slick with sweat and specks of dirt on her nose, beamed with excitement.

"Melanie took me to peek inside, and there were exactly these red little berries—and lots of footprints like little dogs!"

Dog-like footprints?

Emma paused slightly, puzzled.

"Are there dogs in the garden?"

"I don't know… but there really are lots of little footprints!"

Ellie shook her head, eyes sparkling.

"I've checked every corner of the garden many times, but this is the first time I knew there were little dogs! William and the others are so clever! They just looked and spotted the footprints behind the shrub, and even found a secret passage!"

Secret passage? Is there a secret passage in the garden?

"Really! There really is a secret passage!"

Seeing Emma's skeptical expression, Ellie grew anxious.

"I'm not lying! After we found the passage, Melanie wanted to crawl in, but Aunt Anna wouldn't let her, so William went around to the other side, climbed a tree, and tricked Aunt Anna… oh no!

No! That's not it… it wasn't tricking! It was just… just that…"

"…"

Got it—you two staged a diversion, lured Anna away, classic feint-and-flank!

These two troublemakers are coordinating now!

Watching Ellie panic and clamp her mouth shut after accidentally revealing too much, Leon sighed inwardly, then stepped quickly into the garden and circled to the front of the shrubbery.

Sure enough, a small wiggling bottom was half-stuck in the shrubbery; Melanie, her upper body inside the so-called secret passage, was twisting desperately and groaning:

"It stinks! It stinks! Pull me out!"

"Eww! It's disgusting! Ellie! Ellie, help!"

"…"

I knew you two would pull some stunt on me!

Yanking apart the shrubs and pulling Melanie out of the passage, Leon glared at his mud-caked sister.

"What did you promise me yesterday? Forgotten?"

"Huh? Big brother?"

Seeing Leon's darkening face, Melanie's excitement vanished. She felt a pang of guilt and, forcing a nervous smile, pointed behind her.

"There's… a secret passage! And something's inside—I grabbed a handful! Maybe it's treasure!"

Treasure?

Looking at Melanie's outstretched hand, Leon hesitated, then reached out, still doubtful—but seeing her eager expression, he let her place the so-called treasure in his palm.

Hmm… dark brown, fairly hard, slightly flattened cylinder, about one centimeter in diameter, and it smells foul…

"These look like badger footprints."

After examining Leon's "treasure," Emma, who had followed with her daughter, pointed to the prints on the ground and chuckled.

"These footprints aren't like dog paws—they have five toes, and the front paws are much larger than the hind ones, just like badger prints. So what they found isn't a secret passage, but a white-striped badger's den.

As for the treasure in your hand… hmm… you might want to wash your hands?"

"…"

Treasure dug out of a badger's den… that's just dried feces!

After hearing Emma's assessment, Leon's hand jerked involuntarily. He frantically shook off the dried turd, his face darkening several shades. While little Ellie had rushed to present her berries to Emma, Melanie had crawled through a dog hole and handed her big brother a handful of badger dung.

The contrast was truly stark…

As Leon glared at his scheming sister and scrubbed his palm with a handkerchief, Anna, having been distracted, arrived with William, slightly out of breath, coming around from the other side.

"I knew you two were up to something!"

Seeing Melanie covered in dirt, Anna—who had spent years outwitting her younger siblings—instantly realized she'd been fooled. She grabbed William's ear and, gritting her teeth, glared at Melanie's sheepish face.

"Your promised gift is canceled! And your allowance for next week is cut too!"

"No way!"

Though she'd guessed the gift might be canceled, she hadn't expected her allowance to be taken too. Melanie turned pleading eyes to her favorite brother, blinking desperately, hoping someone would step in to "deliver justice." But…

"Don't look at me!"

Recalling the feel of those dried turds, Leon hardened his heart.

"Your allowance is definitely cut. And not just that—you'll wash your own dirty clothes today. No asking Anna for help!"

"Wah!"

…

After the minor chaos caused by the "secret passage treasure," Leon's family accepted Emma's invitation and entered the small wooden cabin beside the garden.

After brushing the dirt off the three children, Emma took out two slightly damp towels, handed one to Anna, then held Ellie close and gently wiped her face.

Anna, meanwhile, pinched her mischievous sister's cheek with her left hand and scrubbed her face vigorously with the wet towel.

"Gentle… gentle! It hurts!"

"Tough it out! I can't be gentle!"

"Then… uh… just wipe me like you did Ellie!"

"No!"

Anna scrubbed Melanie's forehead hard until her little head turned bright red, then snapped:

"Ellie only had dust on her face. Your sweat mixed with dirt into mud—how else are you going to clean it?"

"But… it hurts!"

With her face pinched, Melanie fought back, clinging to her last hope.

"Could you wipe William first? I can wait until after Aunt Emma finishes with Ellie…"

"Hold still!"

"O… okay…"

Hmph, my foolish sister!

Seeing Melanie still trying to drag him down even now, William—whose face was just as dirty—glanced sideways at her, then smirked with arms behind his back, basking in intellectual superiority.

Even though the mud on my face was uncomfortable, I knew Anna was furious, so the first one to get cleaned would suffer. So I stepped back half a pace, letting you go first—then when Anna's anger had cooled a bit, I'd…

"William, come here!"

Watching his sister and Emma caring for the children, Leon felt slightly awkward, so he took a handkerchief from the Mirror World and waved to William.

"Don't wait for Anna—I'll wipe your face!"

Big brother?

Hearing Leon's call, William hesitated briefly, then decided it wasn't so bad. He nodded, walked over with a cool expression, and tilted his face up to Leon.

"Puke!"

"Big brother, your handkerchief smells kind of bad…"

(End of chapter)