“You’re not being serious, right?” I asked.

“S-She reflected a lot. Really…” Dialugia stuttered.

“We don’t know whether she actually reflected on what she had done or she’s just depressed because our plans went down the drain,” I responded.

I had an idea about what happened at the nest, even though I wasn’t there. At first, Dialugia agreed to the punishment I bestowed on Smartie, and I even recall her nodding when I told Smartie was grounded, but after returning to the nest, I was sure she eventually felt bad when Smartie kept crying with tears rolling down her face. Even I had to look away from Smartie when she started crying earlier, so Dialugia’s feelings toward her crying daughter could easily be deduced. Seeing that Dialugia had come all the way here to see me, I knew what she told Smartie. Maybe…

‘I’ll talk to your father.’

Or...

‘I’m sure he didn’t mean it. Don’t cry, Dialuria.’

If not those, then…

‘I’ll help you. Trust your mom.’

The situation may have been a bit different, but right now, Smartie was no different from a child lying in the middle of the market and throwing a tantrum until she got what she wanted. That worked before, so she...