"Hua Yi, where did you run off to? I'm starving!"
Upon returning to the dormitory, Hua Yi was met with Kiana's complaints. Hearing her cry for food, he replied helplessly.
"Didn't I give you living expenses? Don't tell me you've spent it all already."
"Uh... no, I haven't."
"Then why didn't you go buy something yourself?"
Hua Yi's question seemed a bit sharp for Kiana; her face stiffened instantly. Just as she was racking her brain for a way to bluff her way through, Hua Yi took a sudden step closer, studying her with a scrutinizing gaze.
"You wouldn't happen to be hoping to have dinner with me, would you? A young girl, keeping watch all alone in an empty dorm building, silently enduring the hollow loneliness... solving breakfast and lunch on her own, only to share dinner with her sweetheart once evening falls is that what you're thinking?"
Initially, Hua Yi had said it as a joke. In his impression, Kiana was hardly the sentimental type. However
"As if! You're exaggerating way too much!"
Kiana's rebuttal was blunt, but the slight flush on her cheeks made her words far from convincing. Hua Yi paused to reflect on his own words. For a moment, he couldn't tell if Kiana's affection for him had truly reached the level of a "sweetheart," or if she simply hated the lonely atmosphere of the dorms and craved company.
Regardless of which it was, it gave Hua Yi a deeper understanding of Kiana. She wasn't quite as heartless and carefree as he had imagined.
"Speaking of which, I'm actually a bit hungry too. Why don't we go out..."
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, the sound of knocking came from the dormitory door.
The main door, which had been damaged previously, had been repaired some time ago. Standing outside now was a beautiful woman whose figure could utterly crush Kiana's in every possible dimension, without any suspense.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Seeing the boy and girl standing so close to each other, Murata Himeko maintained her etiquette, even though she felt a sharp pang in her heart.
As a woman of principle who refused to join the ranks of the "Lily" faction, Murata Himeko was nearly thirty... cough, Miss Himeko had spent many years of her life alone. Looking at the pair before her who looked suspiciously like a couple, she took tons of damage as a lonely single woman.
"Not at all. I was just about to invite her to dinner."
Though he recognized the beautiful woman the instant she appeared, Hua Yi continued to feign ignorance.
"And you are?"
"Murata Himeko. I've been commissioned by Principal Theresa to deliver something to Kiana."
Kiana's eyes lit up at Himeko's words.
"Did Aunt Theresa prepare a gift for me?"
Aunt?
Himeko was stunned. Did Principal Theresa actually have a niece this old? White hair and blue eyes... they certainly shared distinct physical traits. But if so, the Principal's age...
Come to think of it, when Himeko first became a Schicksal Valkyrie, she had already heard Theresa's name. Back then, Theresa was already a powerful Valkyrie and an unquestionable senior.
After all these years, having a niece as big as Kiana wasn't actually that strange. The real question was, how had she managed to keep that "tiny kid" appearance for all these years? Eternal youth? How envious...
But what about the childish behavior the Principal often displayed? Was she maliciously acting cute? It didn't seem like it. Could it be that the price for eternal youth was a partial sacrifice of one's intelligence?
In a short span of time, Himeko thought of many things that would cause Theresa to flip out if she ever found out. Then, catching the expectant look in Kiana's eyes and glancing at Hua Yi, Himeko quickly made a decision.
"There are two gifts in total. However, I haven't had dinner yet either. Since I've traveled all this way, surely you should show a little gesture of appreciation?"
"What do you mean by a 'gesture'?"
Kiana looked back at her with a face of pure, ignorant innocence.
Seeing that the girl wasn't faking it, Himeko felt her previous theory about Principal Theresa might have been slightly off. It wasn't that she sacrificed intelligence for eternal youth; it seemed like the brains of this entire family just didn't work very well.
"A 'gesture' means you should treat this beautiful lady to a meal."
It was Hua Yi who provided the answer.
Kiana suddenly understood.
"Oh! Okay, then let's go to that restaurant from last time. Auntie Himeko, you—"
The girl was cut off halfway through her sentence by Murata Himeko, whose face had turned dark.
"Calling me 'Auntie' makes me sound quite old, doesn't it? You should be like this handsome, discerning young man here and call me Miss Himeko."
Age was the topic women feared most, and as time passed, that fear only deepened. Kiana had touched upon a taboo. The fact that Himeko could still maintain a stiff smile was only out of respect for Principal Theresa.
Kiana didn't think the form of address was a big deal, but sensing the air suddenly grow heavy and the invisible aura of resentment radiating from Murata Himeko, she knew she had to make the wise choice.
"Uh... Miss Himeko, let's hurry up and go eat."
Ten minutes later.
Seeing another unfamiliar woman appear beside Hua Yi, the restaurant's landlady had grown somewhat accustomed to it.
First, there was the gentle Raiden Mei, then the energetic Kiana, and now a mature one. This boy was truly universal in his affections.
Himeko also noticed the landlady's eyes darting back and forth between her and Hua Yi. Viewing herself as the "big sister" figure, she didn't bother to clarify the misunderstanding. Instead, full of curiosity, she began to probe Kiana for information.
Why did Principal Theresa have such a large niece? Were they truly blood relatives?
All these questions boiled down to one thing: curiosity regarding Theresa's age. Although she held her own age as a taboo, Murata Himeko was intensely curious about Theresa's.
Usually, the Principal's consistent behavior made Himeko almost overlook the age issue. If the answer really matched what she suspected, Himeko felt she really ought to discuss the secrets of maintaining beauty with Theresa.
...Or perhaps, there was no need to worry about it too much. After all, she didn't have much time left.
Murata Himeko, who had been smiling while relaxing in the company of a girl as guileless as Kiana, saw the light in her eyes dim for a nearly imperceptible moment.
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