The backdrop can also be propped up.

The next morning, Maria Elisa went downstairs to find something to eat.

Pollalid was right a few days ago—there really isn't much to do here.

However, there are many food vendors, which should provide travelers with cheaper and tastier food than the hotels.

Maria Elisa found two nut breads that looked like local specialties for breakfast and also bought a bottle of milk.

Taking a bite of nut bread and sipping milk, Maria Elisa walked toward the Polialard family's shop—she was helping Polialard escape his original fate, and the owner would welcome her to sit inside. Since she could choose a place closer to sit and eat, why walk all the way home?

With this in mind, Maria Elisa made no attempt to be reserved and went straight into the Pollalid family's shop. She greeted the owner, Pallas, and then found a table to eat at.

Pallas was overjoyed to see Maria Elisa arrive—he no longer had to worry about his shop being robbed, since there was a very capable fighter here.

Thinking that his brat was still sleeping, and looking at Maria and Elisa, who were up early and running around full of energy, Pallas couldn't help but yell upstairs, "Bolader!!! Time to get up!!!"

Pollard was having a sweet dream when his adoptive father yelled at him, waking him up. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and went downstairs.

Then Pollalid saw Maria Elisa sitting at the table eating.

Pollalid initially thought he was still half asleep, so he turned around and slapped his forehead hard. When he turned around again, he found that he was awake and Maria Elisa was indeed sitting in the shop.

Pollalid felt like his head had exploded—his clothes were undone, his hair was a mess, his face was unwashed, and his teeth were unbrushed, all displayed in their raw, untouched state before Maria Elisa.

Maria Elisa saw that Pollalid was staring at her blankly, so she raised her hand to greet him.

To Maria Elisa's surprise, Pollalid ran back upstairs without warning.

Maria Elisa silently lowered her hand.

A few minutes later, Pollard returned. This time he felt that he had done nothing wrong, so he breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to Maria Elisa.

Pollalid carefully considered his words before asking, "Why did you come so early today?"

"Because I didn't want to walk home for dinner, I ate downstairs first," Maria Elisa replied nonchalantly.

"Where did you go yesterday? Did you go to town?" The words were barely out of his mouth when Pollard regretted them—why had he asked that? Would Maria and Elisa find him offensive?

"Well, no, I just took a walk around the area, but I didn't go anywhere to play." Maria Elisa didn't seem to care that much.

Pollard breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled. He was about to say something to Maria Elisa when Maria Elisa suddenly spoke first: "Hey, Pollard, keep it up! Keep that smile!"

Pollalid instinctively listened to Maria Elisa's words, and with a click, Maria Elisa's personal computer flashed—that was the sign that the photo had been taken.

Pollard saw that Maria Elisa had taken a picture of him and was about to say something, trying to get Maria Elisa to delete the photo, when Maria Elisa pushed over another nut bread she had bought and said, "I have to go now, this is for you. If you don't want it, you can feed it to the cats and dogs. I just saw it this morning. Also, call me Lisa from now on, Pollard."

After saying that, Maria Elisa ran off in a flash, completely unaware that Pollard was staring blankly at her back.

After returning home, Maria Elisa opened the pocket watch, picked out the photo of Pollard, lowered its transparency, and then projected the lowered transparency photo onto the photo on the pocket watch.

Pollalid's face overlapped with the woman's face on the pocket watch; they were almost identical, especially the eyes, which were practically cast from the same mold. The only difference was that one was male and the other female.

"They look so alike!" Lu Renkui exclaimed in surprise, then, as if remembering something, asked, "System, did you find out what Pollard's birth mother's name was in the original text?"

"I know what you want to ask. But finding Polalid's birth mother won't be easy. Well... how should I put it? In the original story, Polalid's mother is actually on the same level as Maria and Elisa. They're both cannon fodder from flashbacks," System WQBYRZM replied. "She's completely dead now, and probably no one even has the chance to inhabit her body."

"What could their relationship be? If it's just that they look alike, that's too unlikely." Maria Elisa pondered, shaking her pocket watch, and began to think about how to get Pollard and Whip Alark's hair.

If the two are indeed related by blood, then that's interesting. Although it's unclear what use this evidence will be for now, having another piece of evidence won't hurt, right? An idea gradually took shape in Maria Elisa's mind.

If they really are father and son, then things will get interesting. Let's try steering Pollard towards revenge. Would that cause a greater change in his personality?

But what reasonable reason could she give him to talk to him about it? Maria Elisa wondered.

"Why don't you try hanging your pocket watch somewhere conspicuous on your person and showing it to him on purpose?" Lu Renkui suggested. "He seems to care about you, maybe he'll ask about it?"

“Yes, you’re right,” Maria Elisa said with a smile. “But before that, we have to make sure he gets stronger, right? Ideally, we also have to save his adoptive father’s life.”

“It’s such a hassle to help you,” Maria Elisa stretched. “But we’re all in one body now, so this is all I can do to help you.”

“If that old bastard Hepburn Alarc knew that even though he framed his first wife, she still gave birth to a child, and that the child he so desperately wanted, what would his reaction be when he sees Pollard? As far as I know,” Maria Elisa laughed even more unrestrainedly, “that old guy is a staunch believer that Alphas should be at the top of the food chain, and since he himself is an Alpha, he's convinced that his own son must also be an Alpha. What would happen if he found out that his only biological child is actually an Omega…”

“If this O is better than his A sons, that would be even more interesting.” Maria Elisa put away her pocket watch, a knowing smile on her face.

Upon hearing this, Lu Renkui thought it was indeed a good way to get revenge: it was both morally sound and could infuriate people spiritually.

Upon hearing this, the system WQBYRZM felt as if it was about to be carried away by its host once again.

"Let's not delay, let's call Anx first." Maria Elisa pulled up the contact list for her brother.

The phone rang for two seconds before being answered. A somewhat tired voice came from the other end, but the owner of the voice still sounded happy. "Lisa, what's wrong?"

“Anx, I’m doing very well on Itana.” Maria Elisa opened the pocket watch again. Most of the sticky stuff on the watch had been wiped away, and the woman’s original beauty could be clearly seen. “But I found a pocket watch that’s very interesting! The original owner of that pocket watch was named Bellalide Mantia.”

On the other end of the phone, after hearing Maria Elisa's words, Ankadis's already slightly tired but still smiling face smiled even more deeply, squeezing out much of his fatigue—he also knew that there was a woman named Belladondia, who was Hep Alarc's first wife, who had been framed by Hep Alarc and whose whereabouts were unknown.

However, Hewlett-Packard pretended to have been searching for her for many years, even offering a million stars to anyone who knew his wife's whereabouts. After all, to gain votes, he had to cultivate a public image of a devoted husband to garner sympathy.

So how did Ankadis and Maria Elisa know about this? The reason is simple—when Mr. Ottolai was still alive, the two saw him storm into the villa one night, cursing Hepburn Alarc for being so despicable as to think of using his wife's reputation to increase the votes for the Alarc family's supported Tob Party, and regretting that they hadn't thought of this method sooner.

When Ancadis heard Maria Elisa say that she had discovered something even more amusing, her smile deepened.

“I’ll send you a person’s hair in a few days, Anker. Try to get some hair from Hewlett-Packard so those two can do a paternity test.” Maria Elisa looked out the window at the restaurant. “Because I’ve discovered that the person could very well be Hewlett-Packard’s son.”

“I’m waiting for your good news, sweetheart.” After Maria Elisa said goodbye, Ancadis immediately called the spy he had planted in the Arak house, instructing him to collect some of Hewlett-Packard’s hair at the right time, preferably with the follicle still attached.