Ok, I find Dahlia’s claim that she convinced her father to send Iris away to the Hazakura Temple ridiculous (even by AA standards) since she would’ve been a kid at the time so here are my takes on it:
Possibility #1: Dahlia got in a fight with Iris and ranted about her to their dad (as most siblings do when they’re kids) shortly before their separation. When Iris was sent away, little Dahlia wondered if it was her fault because of the timing but in truth she had nothing to do with her dad’s decision. While initially this made Dahlia feel guilty, as she got older and lost her compassion and love for her sister she convinced herself it was a good thing Iris was sent away and that she had a role in it. A major thing about Dahlia is that she often fails, so she likely convinced herself she “succeeded” at manipulating her father into ridding her sister when in actuality she’s giving herself too much credit.
Possibility #2: Mr Hawthorne was going to send both Dahlia and Iris away to the temple but when he told her, little Dahlia convinced him to let her stay somehow (maybe she promised to be more useful or not be a nuisance something idk exactly??). I find it more believable that a little girl could convince her father not to abandon her than convince him to abandon her sister. Again, see above for why Dahlia now sees/reports this as her convincing him to get rid of Iris.
