Mage Manual-Chapter 294 - 252: Cried from Being Scolded

Red Death Cultist: "Thank you, I really like it."

Black Butler: "Eh? Do I get one too? After all, I hardly spoke with you... heh, it’s pretty nice looking."

Diya: "White queen, let’s let it slide this time, after all, we didn’t tell her in advance."

"Right, right." Liss nodded vigorously: "It’s all the shopping channel’s fault, so many goods and all so nice, either I caught a limited time offer, or it was a special sale day, or there might be a little gift included... White sis, I really didn’t mean it."

Watching Liss with her pitiful look, the queen sighed: "You all indulge her! When something goes wrong, we’re still the ones to pick up the pieces." freewebnøvel_com

"We’re used to it." Black Butler said: "Every time Diya causes trouble, aren’t we the ones to pick up the pieces? Herding one sheep is herding, herding two is also herding, no difference."

Red Death Cultist: "We are experienced, we perform our duties faithfully."

"How did this get pinned on me." Diya wasn’t having it: "I’ve hardly been bothering you guys lately!"

Black Butler snorted: "Is that so, then who was it that got held back by the Observer last night for a psychological counseling session?"

Liss blinked: "What’s going on with you guys and the Observer?"

"Nothing." The queen quickly replied: "Liss, let’s just let your unilateral decision slide this time, since it’s our fault we didn’t convey to you the importance of that money, innocence lies in ignorance..."

"White sis, I know I was wrong!"

The queen said: "I’m not asking you to admit your fault, but I hope you could also consider issues together with your sister. We’re currently forced to follow Hanna’s orders, our personal freedom restricted, and those 10,000 copper coins represent the most easily liquidated asset we have, which we could have used for many more things... such as giving gifts to others. On that note, you did well, Liss."

"But giving gifts isn’t done this way, there are two parts to gifting, one is the ’gift,’ and the other is the ’giving.’ The act of giving is just as important as the gift itself. Like this time you gave gifts to everyone, although it looks nice, there are many problems upon closer inspection."

"For instance, when everyone sees the gifts, they will compare, and comparison breeds hierarchy, hierarchy leads to differences in closeness. With someone like Igula, he would definitely check the value of each gift in secret. If his gift isn’t the most valuable, his fondness for you will reset; if his is the least valuable, he might even hold a grudge against you."

Diya was shocked too: "There’s such a tactic?"

"However, Igula doesn’t have a bracelet connected to the Veil for now, so we don’t have to worry about this." The queen said: "Besides, giving gifts to everyone is absolutely not as effective as giving individually. If you were to give Ash a gift by himself, he’d be thrilled to the extent of 10 out of 10, but now that you’ve given gifts to everyone, he’d only feel a satisfaction of 3 out of 10, even if the gift was to his taste."

"Why?" Liss didn’t understand: "Isn’t it the same?"

"What if Ash made a red velvet cream cake just for you, would you be happy?"

"Yes!"

"But if when you’re ready to eat it, he divides the cake into five pieces and gives some to others, would you still be that happy?"

"Umm..." Liss pondered thoughtfully: "But I think I could eat half the cake... and the red velvet cake was especially made for me, right?"

"Liss is smart to catch the key point so quickly." The queen praised: "’Specially for me’ is the key to gifting. Like a cake meant for everyone, Liss, you wouldn’t think it was made specifically for you and naturally wouldn’t enjoy it as much."

"The same goes for your gifts, everyone got one, so they might feel that theirs is just something Liss handed out. Only if you give privately, can they feel valued."

Considering this, Liss nodded: "White sis makes a good point... So, in the future when I give gifts, I’ll trick them by saying ’This gift is only for you, nobody else got one, I spent a lot of time choosing it especially for you, don’t tell others, or I’ll feel embarrassed.’"

Black Butler: "Little witch, your deviously clever approach surprisingly fits well with me, White, how about I take over teaching her?"

Queen: "Black, stop causing trouble, one of you is enough headache for me. Liss, that’s all I have to say, I just want to tell you that your sisters’ Wisdom can help you, and we wouldn’t refuse your suggestions. If you want to buy gifts, we will all agree, and even discuss with you what gifts are better to buy and when it would be appropriate to give them."

"Little witch, right now you are Liss, and most of the time we won’t stop you from doing what you want, but you can’t act on your own while we’re all in the Void Realm."

"To tell you the truth, I am very hurt, not because you’ve been naughty, but because I didn’t earn your trust."

"No!" Liss hurriedly shook her head: "I didn’t—"

"You bought the stuff before we got back, and didn’t tell us upon our return, not until the courier delivery made it impossible to hide and you had to admit your mistake."

The queen said calmly: "You clearly don’t trust us, thinking we would cancel the order, so you wanted to wait until the dust settled to come clean, forcing us to accept the outcome, right?"

"I, I’m not..."

"You’re not trying to deceive us? Not trying to force us to accept the outcome? Not distrusting your sisters? Your actions certainly don’t show that."

"Now you still want to argue your case?"

"Sister hates children who make excuses the most."

Drip.

Liss, her face turned downwards, not looking at the mirror, large tears dropped onto the back of her hand, her shoulders trembling slightly, her nose twitching.

(Wow.) Black Butler: (Such a familiar scene, reminds me of when Diya was scolded to tears back in the day.)

Diya: (I have never been scolded to tears by the White Queen!)

Red Death Cultist suddenly chimed in: (Eh? Then who was it that cried and hugged me after being scolded?)

Diya: (Definitely not me!)

Black Butler: (Come to think of it, Diya does have a purpose. It’s because of Diya that White has become so skilled at teaching children.)

Diya: (We are all eternally 15, not children at all!)

Black Butler: (We average out to 15, but little Red is probably 12, I am a normal 15, and White is mature like a 28-year-old, so that means Diya, your age is roughly...)

"I, I."

Liss was crying so hard she was choking up, rubbing her eyes, tears flowing more as she rubbed, chokingly said, "I was just afraid of being scolded by sister... I didn’t dare to tell you... I don’t distrust sister, I really am not a bad child, sniff... Sisters, please don’t hate me..."

Feeling the time was right, the White Queen also softened her tone, "Sister of course won’t hate you, no matter what happens, we will always love you."

"Then, the next time something like this happens, and we happen to not be around, does Liss know what to do?"

Liss sniffled, "Wait for the sisters to come back before discussing it."

"What if it’s something urgent that requires an immediate decision?"

"Then I’ll make a decision first and tell you as soon as the sisters return."

"That’s our good little sister." The White Queen smiled and said, "I forgive you this time. What about you two?"

Diya: "Having Ash apologize to me was already the best gift, I am very satisfied."

Black Butler: "I love seeing my little sister cry, I choose to forgive her; it will make her more arrogant, and the next time she makes a mistake, White will scold her to tears again."

Liss rubbed her tears vigorously and said loudly, "I won’t make the same mistake again!"

Red Death Cultist: "Don’t listen to her, the Deacon is always so unpleasant to listen to, but she was holding onto the queen the whole time pleading on your behalf."

Black Butler: "What I meant was for White to not stop..."

"But." Diya asked, "Apart from the gifts for us, there’s still a lot left. What are those?"

"They’re gifts I bought for myself!" Liss laughed with her eyes red, "The best gifts I always keep for myself!"

After a brief silence, the White Queen helplessly said, "Also, when you give gifts, don’t let the recipient find out you’ve bought better ones for yourself."

"Why?"

"Because even your sisters will dislike you for it!"

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