"This blonde girl, she shouldn't be my daughter, right?"
Cecilia said with some uncertainty.
"Ahem, how should I put this, strictly speaking, this one is your biological daughter. Her current name is Bianka Ataegina. As for the white-haired one, she is your daughter by blood, a clone of Kiana. In the future, she inherits the name Kiana Kaslana. As for the reason, it's because when Bianka and Siegfried went to rescue this Kiana, they were attacked. Bianka fell from several thousand meters high and was then rescued by Otto, but she lost her memory, and her hair also turned this color. Siegfried always thought his biological daughter had died, so he gave this name to the current Kiana."
Although he couldn't openly mess with his mother-in-law's mindset, he could still tattle.
Takatsuki was quite satisfied seeing Cecilia's shocked expression.
"This… are they doing well?"
"Yes, they're doing exceptionally well. Bianka is the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal in the future. In my time, she has already recovered her memories. Kiana is currently at St. Freya Academy."
Takatsuki swiped through several photos, which were group photos from St. Freya Academy, and even included Takatsuki himself.
However, he didn't notice that when Cecilia saw the photos, she glanced at him while he was cheerfully introducing them.
"This is the Far East Branch that Theresa built later according to your dying wish. Aside from defaulting on staff salaries every month, there aren't too many other shortcomings."
Takatsuki cheerfully even took a jab at Theresa, which made Cecilia look at him even more strangely.
"Can I look at it myself?"
Cecilia pointed at the terminal in Takatsuki's hand. Takatsuki wasn't stingy and handed it directly to her.
Anyway, there were no unspeakable photos in it.
Cecilia took the terminal and quickly swiped, soon finding the photos she wanted to see.
At this moment, Takatsuki had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation.
"Thank you. Seeing them so lively, I'm satisfied."
Cecilia put down the terminal in her hand.
"You're welcome, this is one of the wishes, after all. So, what's your second wish?"
Takatsuki had just reached out to take the terminal, but Cecilia retracted her hand, not letting Takatsuki get it.
"My second wish, I want to know… what is your relationship with these girls?"
Seeing Cecilia's somewhat cunning smile, Takatsuki typed out a row of question marks.
"?????"
"Uh, are you sure you want to ask this? This question has nothing to do with you, right?"
As soon as Cecilia asked, Takatsuki realized the seriousness of the problem.
If he had been asked this before knowing Durandal, he would have had a clear conscience, but now…
Lie?
Takatsuki's thought of lying was immediately extinguished. Lying would be courting death. If it was discovered in the future that he had lied now, the result would be similar to how he messed with Cecilia's mindset earlier.
"Of course it does. I just looked at the photos. These girls seem to be very close to you."
"Uh… that's because St. Freya Academy is full of Valkyries, so everyone is friends."
Cecilia smiled and did not refute, instead, she pulled up a photo: "What is your relationship with this girl?"
This photo was a group picture of Takatsuki and Mei in the world of Nier with the Bunker space station in the background. It was originally just a photo taken like a check-in, and he didn't pay too much attention to it.
"That… is my… fiancée."
Cecilia nodded without saying anything, nor did she ask who the girl in the photo was, but opened the next one below.
Takatsuki originally thought his photos were all scenic and check-in pictures, with no embarrassing childhood history or anything, and even if there were, Cecilia wouldn't understand them.
But he didn't expect Cecilia to pull them out one by one and ask about them.
And with each question, she would stare intently at Takatsuki, as if discerning whether he was lying.
To be honest, even when asked about Kiana, Takatsuki could truthfully say they were friends with a clear conscience.
But when, finally, Cecilia brought up Bianka's photo, Takatsuki was already sweating profusely.
"She's… my fiancée…"
Cecilia put down the terminal, looking at Takatsuki with a half-smile: "Then, Mr. Takatsuki, can you tell me why this girl and my daughter are both your fiancées?"
"I'm sorry! Mother-in-law! But we truly love each other!"
Takatsuki never thought he would say such words one day. He clasped his hands together and apologized to Cecilia, but he stopped the Hamon supply, making Cecilia almost faint. He quickly restored the Hamon supply in fright.
"Whew… you don't need to apologize to me. About this, Kiana, no, does Bianka know?"
Perhaps because she had been so close to death from the sudden cut-off of the Hamon, or perhaps because of the address "Mother-in-law," Cecilia's face was somewhat flushed.
"Yes, they both know."
Takatsuki nodded. After hearing this, Cecilia didn't press him further: "Since that's the case, then I'll leave this matter for the children to decide themselves. But if I find out you betray Bianka, then even if I become your Throne of Heroes, I won't let you off."
"No, no, I am serious and responsible towards them."
And so, Takatsuki received his mother-in-law's approval, even for being involved with two women, which was truly outrageous.
Perhaps it was also because Cecilia didn't have much time left.
"My last wish, can this child sign a contract with you?"
Cecilia looked at Sirin in her arms.
Due to the time stop, she seemed to be asleep, motionless.
"This, not really. Although I can indeed sign a contract with her, it would affect the future."
Takatsuki shook his head. In fact, he had already tried before, and the result was that the percentage in the upper right corner suddenly soared to 30%, so he naturally didn't dare to do it.
"Why? Will this child still affect the world after she dies?"
Cecilia couldn't understand. Would a child who was about to die still affect the future?
Takatsuki stroked his chin: "Mother-in-law, since we've come this far, I won't hide it anymore. Actually, the future Kiana is Sirin. Sirin died, but her soul is still within the Herrscher Core. Otto used your daughter's genes to create clones and placed them into the Herrscher Core. The only one that successfully developed consciousness was Kiana, K423. Her dying wish caused her to split into two personalities: the personality that lost all memories and wanted to be a daughter, and the Herrscher personality that retained all memories and only had hatred. However, the Herrscher personality is currently suppressed by me, so you can rest assured about that."
"Sirin… Kiana…"
Cecilia held Sirin in her arms: "She must have suffered a lot."
"Well… I can't really say, after all, I didn't know Kiana back then."
Cecilia didn't bring up the third wish again.
It seemed that the previous questions had already satisfied her.
However, after signing the contract, Cecilia still said some things to Takatsuki.
Regarding the problems and mistakes in some of the things Takatsuki had just done.
Looking at the plain engulfed by the explosion, Takatsuki left this time and space and returned to his room.
He glanced at the alarm clock by the bed; the time was the same as when he left, almost unchanged.
"It's a good thing the first person I met was my mother-in-law, but what she said is indeed true. I revealed too much at the beginning, and it would be troublesome if the other party went back on their word."
After organizing his thoughts, Takatsuki glanced at the new figure in the Throne of Heroes, pondered for a moment, and then activated the Throne of Heroes again.