Filed to story: A Little Princess's Journey from Darkness to Light Novel
The reporters’ cameras immediately started clicking when they saw this! They might not be able to spread gossip about the golden boy of film, but they could certainly fuel speculation about the possible connection between the Crawfords and the Shaws. If the two families were truly going to join forces and work together, it would cause a massive upheaval in the city’s business community…
Jonas and Lilly returned to the ceremony venue, where both uncle and niece settled onto a couch and relaxed. Jonas, in particular, looked like a dashing rogue as he crossed his long legs, exuding elegance.
Lilly, on the other hand, completely relaxed against the back of the couch like a deflated balloon. Rubbing her stomach, she looked sadly down at it and said, “There, there. Uncle Jonas won’t let you eat cake, how can you misbehave like this? He won’t allow you to have sweets, and he didn’t get you anything to drink either! Poor tummy!”
Jonas was left speechless. The little minx was truly a drama queen!
Before they could settle in, they were suddenly surrounded by enthusiastic people who chattered non-stop.
“Ms. Lilly, could you please read my daughter-in-law’s fortune and tell me when she’ll give birth? Will the baby be a boy or a girl?”
“Ms. Lilly! Ms. Lilly! I want to know my fortune, please! When will I become wealthy?”
“Ms. Lilly…”
Everyone was clamoring for Lilly’s attention.
The noise nearly drove Jonas crazy, but he remained resolute. Today, his task was to be Lilly’s bodyguard. He closed his eyes to calm himself, shutting out the commotion around them.
Occasionally, he could hear Lilly’s clear, childlike voice rising above the cacophony of voices. “Granny, your grandson will be born in three more days!”
A respected elderly woman in the group appeared shocked, and a denial slipped out before she could stop herself. “Ridiculous! My daughter-in-law is only eight months pregnant!” There was still a month left before the due date! She felt quite disappointed; this was truly an exaggeration. She scolded herself for believing that Lilly might actually possess the gift of clairvoyance; if the little girl had said two weeks instead, she would have believed her! Grumbling, she pointed out, “My daughter-in-law still has at least a month until she gives birth. This is really too far-fetched…”
Lilly’s prediction was a month premature unless the elderly woman’s daughter-in-law was hiding something from the family and the child was actually from another man…
Lilly simply shook her head. As Pablo had mentioned, in divination, people either believed the predictions or they didn’t. If they didn’t, then it was best not to waste time on them.
The elderly woman left, muttering to herself.
The rest of the people continued to ask for their fortunes, and Lilly patiently answered them one by one.
“Oh? Miss, you mentioned that you wanted to become wealthy. However, what does wealth mean to you?”
A young lady with a fresh face eagerly replied, “Becoming rich overnight! I want to have lots and lots of money, even more than Mr. Anthony Crawford!” She glanced worshipfully at Anthony, who was standing nearby.
However, she was abruptly brought back to reality by Lilly’s young, yet stern, voice. “In that case, Miss, you can only dream!” There was absolutely no way this young lady could hope to become wealthier than Uncle Anthony! Uncle Anthony was very, very skilled at making money!
The young lady stared at Lilly, then wailed, “No! I don’t believe it, that can’t be right!”
Everyone bombarded Lilly with questions. Those who received favorable fortunes left with smiles, while others who were not so fortunate kept repeating, “No, that’s impossible! It must be a fake prediction!” like broken records.
Jonas crossed his arms and smirked derisively. “Indeed, modern-day superstitions.”
Lilly looked up curiously. “Modern-day superstitions? What does that mean?”
Ivan’s expression remained stoic as he placed his hands neatly on his knees. “It’s like when you have a nightmare and wake up saying, dreams aren’t real. But if you have a good dream, then you think, oh, this is a lucky dream! It’s like people say, if your left eye twitches, you’ll have good luck, but if your right eye twitches, it’s bad luck. When their right eye twitches, most people believe that something good is about to happen. But if their left eye twitches, they’ll attribute it to being tired lately and dismiss it as a muscle twitch. That’s modern-day superstition.”
Lilly blinked. Suddenly, she looked over at Ivan, her eyes shining.
When Ivan saw Lilly staring at him with large shining eyes, he immediately straightened up, pursing his lips slightly. “What now?”
Lilly counted on her fingers before exclaiming, “Wow! Ivan, this is the most number of words you’ve ever spoken! That’s so cool!” She had always thought he could only speak five words at a time!
Ivan just stared at her, lost for words. He thought she would compliment him for knowing so much…
Jonas smiled faintly, then shifted to a more comfortable position and propped his chin against his palm, watching the two little rascals. Children were children, after all, and they came up with the strangest observations.
**
Once the ribbon-cutting ceremony finished, Lilly fell asleep because she had eaten too much.
While Jonas carried her carefully, Anthony came over and took off his dress jacket, draping it over her sleeping form. The two men slipped past the barrage of cameras on the red carpet, carefully shielding their precious little burden. Bidding Colton goodnight, they made their way to their car and departed.
Ivan stood at the entrance, quietly watching as the two Crawford brothers drove off.
“Let’s go, son!” Colton told him.
Ivan sighed and took a last look at the car disappearing in the distance. If he met Lilly again, he would give her two sweets. Two, because she liked eating them, and not three because he was afraid she might get cavities…
A short, chubby middle-aged man stood beside the Shaws’ car. With a smile, he bid Colton goodnight. This gentleman was very short, standing only around five feet four or so. The buttons of his dress jacket strained against his rotund beer belly; they looked as if they would pop off any moment.
This was Valentine Taylor, the CEO of Taylor Entertainment.
Valentine’s mother had given birth to two sets of twins, all boys. During her third pregnancy, she had hoped for a daughter and had named the child in her womb “Valentine” for luck.
However, the baby turned out to be a boy instead.
Mrs. Taylor had been so disappointed that she had not bothered to think of another name, so “Valentine” had stuck.
After sending off the Shaws and the Crawfords, the tension in Valentine’s shoulders eased considerably. “That little Crawford brat…” Something enigmatic flickered in his eyes for a moment. “She really is a little devil!”
His mother had fallen ill with some bizarre sickness, and Valentine had heard the story of how Lilly had literally brought young Ivan Shaw back from the dead. Furthermore, everyone present had witnessed the auspicious light that had shone down on the ceremony earlier.
Valentine wondered if he would have a chance to invite the little Crawford devil to take a look at his mother…
As he went back inside, he gave orders to his assistant. “Bear in mind, from now on, Little Miss Crawford doesn’t need an invitation to show up, and she doesn’t need to call beforehand, either. Whenever she visits, get the best pastry chef in Shercaster City to come over immediately and bake a cake for her on the spot. Just remember that the Little Miss can’t have anything too sweet, and she doesn’t like chocolate, but she loves cakes that have lots of fruits in them. She also loves fruit candies and sweets. Note all this down in the employees’ handbook.”
Valentine’s assistant stared at him blankly in confusion. Why would something like this need to be noted down in the employees’ handbook?
**
Lilly was still half-asleep and dreaming when she sensed she was being stared at. She turned and squinted, then realized that an old woman was standing in front of her. This old lady was dressed in what seemed to be a green vintage dress, and her gaze was fixed intently on Lilly.
Lilly was so startled that she woke up immediately. Her eyes sprang open.
It gave Pablo a shock, and he hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lilly’s sleep-filled eyes were still fearful. “Master, I saw an old granny in my dream.”
Pablo was startled. “What did she look like?”
Lilly gestured as she described the old lady. “Her eyes were all sunken in and hollow; her cheeks too. Her eyes were purpley-blue right under here…”
“Have you seen her before?” Pablo asked.
Lilly shook her head. “No.”
Pablo narrowed his eyes and thought hard. A woman with sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, and livor mortis under her eyes, who looked like she was dead…
Most importantly, Lilly had never seen her before. Previously, Ivan Shaw had appeared in Lilly’s dream because she had actually seen him in person. However, this departed soul who had intruded into her dream was a complete stranger to her.
This meant that the souls of the dead were beginning to come in search of Lilly…
Pablo’s face was very grave as he asked, “Tulip, have you dreamed about anything else?”
Lilly shook her head, looking puzzled. “Master, what’s wrong?” Her master’s expression seemed very serious all of a sudden.
“Tulip, if you dream about anything in the future, you must tell me, okay?” Pablo told her. Looking conflicted, he asked, “Do you know why I came to find you back then?”
Lilly was still slightly blurry from sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she answered with a yawn, “Of course I do! Master, are you trying to test me? Mommy asked you to come…” Of course she still remembered what Pablo had said in the past!
Pablo was silent for a moment. In the beginning, he had assumed that his meeting with Jean Crawford had been a mere coincidence; he had agreed to take Lilly under his wing for a while, and that would be it. After that, he had discovered that it was not so easy to protect the girl; he needed to earn merits to prolong his life.
As for today…
Pablo opened his book and noticed that a bright red annotation had appeared under Lilly’s name. It read, “If she declares that someone will die, death cannot be postponed.”
Wasn’t an ability like this only possible if one were the Ruler of Hell?
Pablo’s thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion. Was it mere coincidence that he had encountered the newly deceased Jean Crawford and found his way to Lilly’s side?
“Tulip, do you remember the jar of souls I gave you?”
