Scolded to Tears

Red Apostle: "Thank you. I like it very much." Black Butler: "Oh? There's one for me too? After all, you and I haven't talked much... Heh, it's actually pretty nice." Diya: "White Queen, let it go this time. After all, we didn't explain it to her beforehand." "Yeah, yeah!" Lisi nodded vigorously. "It's all the shopping channel's fault! There were so many good things, and either I managed to snag a limited-time discount, or today was a special sale day, or they offered free little gifts with the purchase... Sister White, I really didn't do it on purpose." Looking at Lisi's pitiful expression, the White Queen sighed. "Just keep spoiling her! When trouble comes, aren't we the ones who have to clean up the mess?" "I'm used to it," Black Butler said. "Whenever Diya makes a mess, don't we always end up cleaning it up? Herding one sheep is no different from herding two. It's all the same." Red Apostle: "We are experienced. We do our duty faithfully." "Why drag me into this?" Diya protested, indignant. "I've barely caused you any trouble lately!" Black Butler sneered, "Really? Then who was kept behind by the Watcher last night for psychological counseling?" Lisi blinked. "What happened between you and the Watcher?" "Nothing," the White Queen replied swiftly. "Lisi, I'll overlook your acting on your own this time. After all, we didn't explain the importance of that money to you, and those who act in ignorance are blameless..." "Sister White, I know I was wrong!" The White Queen said, "I'm not asking you to admit fault. I want you to consider things together with us sisters. Right now, we are forced to obey Annan's orders and our personal freedom is restricted. Those 10,000 copper coins were our most readily liquid asset, and we could have used them to do so much more... like giving gifts to people. In that regard, you did well, Lisi. "However, that is not how you give gifts. Gift-giving is divided into two parts: the 'gift' and the 'giving.' The act of giving is just as important as the gift itself. Giving everyone a gift like you did this time might look nice on the surface, but upon closer examination, there are plenty of problems. "For instance, everyone sees each other's gifts. Seeing them leads to comparison; comparison breeds ranking; ranking determines favoritism. Someone like Igola will definitely look up the price of each gift in private. If his gift isn't the most expensive, any goodwill he had toward you will drop back to square one. And if his gift happens to be the cheapest, he might even hold a grudge against you." Diya was also stunned. "That's a thing?" "Though Igola doesn't have a bracelet connected to the Curtain, so we don't need to worry about that for now," the White Queen said. "Aside from that, giving gifts to everyone will never be as effective as giving one in private. If you had given a gift to Yaxiu alone, he might have been ten out of ten happy. But giving gifts to everyone only makes him three out of ten happy, even if the gift suited his tastes perfectly." "Why?" Lisi didn't understand. "Aren't they both the same?" "If Yaxiu baked a red velvet cream cake for you to eat, would you be happy?" "Yes!" "But right when you're about to eat it, he divides the cake into five slices and gives them to others. Would you still be that happy?" "Um..." Lisi pondered deeply. "I think I could eat half the cake... and wasn't the red velvet cake made specially for me?" "Lisi is very smart; you grasped the key point right away," the White Queen praised. "'Specially for me' is the heart of gift-giving. Just like a cake meant to be shared with everyone, you wouldn't feel it was made specially for you, so naturally you wouldn't be as happy. "It's the same with giving gifts. When everyone gets one, they will think their gift was just something Lisi handed out casually. Only by giving it in private can you make them feel truly valued." Lisi nodded thoughtfully. "Sister White makes a lot of sense... Then from now on when I give gifts, I'll trick them and say, 'I only got a gift for you. No one else got one. I spent so much time picking it out specially for you, so don't tell anyone, or I'll be embarrassed.'" Black Butler: "The Little Witch's manipulative, scheming mindset suits me surprisingly well. White, how about letting me teach her instead?" White Queen: "Black, don't cause trouble. One of you is enough of a headache for me. Lisi, I won't say much more, but I want to tell you that your sisters' wisdom can help you, and we won't reject your ideas. If you want to buy gifts, we'll agree, and we can discuss what presents would be better and when it's appropriate to give them. "Little Witch, right now you are Lisi. Most of the time, we won't hinder what you do, but you cannot act behind our backs while we're all in the Void Realm. "To be honest, this sister of yours is heartbroken. Not because you were naughty, but because I haven't earned your trust." "No!" Lisi shook her head in a panic. "I didn't—" "You hurried to buy everything before we returned, said nothing to us after we got back, and only admitted fault when the delivery arrived and you couldn't hide it anymore." The White Queen said calmly, "You clearly didn't trust us. You thought we'd cancel the order, so you wanted to wait until the dust settled before confessing, forcing us to accept the outcome, didn't you?" "I... I wasn't..." "You weren't trying to hide it from us? You weren't trying to force us to accept the outcome? You didn't distrust your sisters? Your actions show none of that. "Even now, you're still making excuses. "Sister hates bad children who make excuses the most." *Drip.* Her face turned down away from the mirror, fat teardrops fell onto the back of Lisi's hands. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her nose twitched with sniffling. (Whoa.) Black Butler: (What a familiar sight. Back in the day, Diya was scolded to tears just like this.) Diya: (I was never scolded to tears by the White Queen!) Red Apostle suddenly chimed in: (Oh? Then who was scolded so badly she cried in my arms?) Diya: (Definitely wasn't me!) Black Butler: (Speaking of which, Diya really does serve a purpose. It's precisely because she had Diya to practice on that White is so good at disciplining children.) Diya: (Aren't we all forever fifteen?! We're not children at all!) Black Butler: (Our *average* is fifteen. Little Red should be twelve, I'm a normal fifteen, and White is mature enough to be twenty-eight, which means Diya's age is probably...) "I... I..." Lisi choked on her sobs, rubbing her eyes as more and more tears flowed. Choking back sobs, she stammered, "I was just scared of getting scolded by my sisters... I didn't dare tell you... I didn't distrust you, I'm really not a bad child, *waah*... Sisters, please don't hate me..." Feeling that she had pushed far enough, the White Queen softened her tone. "Of course your sister wouldn't hate you. No matter what happens, we will always love you. "Now then, if something like this happens next time and we happen not to be around, does Lisi know what to do?" Lisi sniffled. "Wait for my sisters to come back before doing anything." "And what if it's an urgent matter that requires an immediate decision?" "Then make the decision first, and tell you immediately as soon as my sisters return." "Now that's our good little sister," the White Queen said with a smile. "I forgive you this time. What about the rest of you?" Diya: "Having Yaxiu apologize to me was already the best gift. I'm very satisfied." Black Butler: "I love watching our little sister cry most of all. I choose to forgive her—that way it'll feed her boldness, and next time she messes up, White can scold her to tears all over again." Lisi rubbed her tears away vigorously and declared loudly, "I won't do it again!" Red Apostle: "Ignore her. Butler's words are always harsh, but she was tugging at the Queen just now, pleading on your behalf." Black Butler: "I clearly meant for White not to stop..." "Though," Diya asked, "aside from the gifts for us, there are still plenty of things left. What are those?" "Gifts I bought for myself!" Lisi opened her red-rimmed eyes wide and giggled. "I kept the best gifts for myself!" After a brief silence, the White Queen said helplessly, "Also, when you give gifts, never let the recipient find out you bought something even better for yourself." "Why?" "Because even your sisters will hate you for that!"