Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

Kiana stroked her chin and looked at the timid Anna, who was hiding cautiously in the corner of the big bed against the wall, clutching a pillow, too ashamed to lift her head.

Kiana subconsciously licked her lips at the sight of the girl looking so vulnerable and pitiful, like a wronged little wife. Then, realizing she was there to demand an explanation, she forcibly suppressed her admiration for the beautiful girl and raised an eyebrow.

"Sister Anna, you're really good at pretending, but you can't fool me. How could a proud and arrogant young lady like you possibly lower yourself to the level of a junior brother... Hmm, we both know, you're just doing this on purpose for me. So, why are you making me angry?"

Anna gently tossed her chestnut hair and whispered, "Does Miss think I'm making you angry?"

"No, stop calling me 'Second Miss,' it's like I'm using my family status to bully you. You're the rightful eldest daughter of the Shaniat family, and I haven't even lived in this castle for more than a few days." Kiana waved her hands repeatedly. "What are you doing, trying to annoy me? Are you saying you like my junior brother? Think about it carefully, do you think I'd believe that?"

"What if?" Anna whispered.

Kiana paused for a moment, then grinned mischievously, "Sister Anna, are you arguing with me? If you're serious, I'll give you my junior brother, how about it? Let's see if you dare to take him?"

Anna was silent for a while. She didn't dare to continue the topic. She knew in her heart that Kiana no longer suspected her. Facing Kiana's naive gaze, she felt a little ashamed and could only change the subject: "Kiana, I'm getting engaged."

"Huh?" Kiana was genuinely stunned this time.

Then it dawned on her, "No wonder you acted that way in front of me on purpose. You don't like this engagement? You want me to cooperate with you and use your junior brother to ruin it?"

Anna stared blankly as she looked up, the pillow in her arms falling to the ground. She didn't quite understand how Kiana had come to this conclusion.

Kiana stroked her chin thoughtfully, "Sister Anna, you want me to misunderstand that you and your junior brother have a secret relationship, and then make me act out, so that this matter will reach your fiancé's side and make him think you are a fickle woman? To scare him away?"

The melancholy beauty in her silk nightgown and stockings instantly lost her melancholy and woke up completely—what was this? How did this white fluffy thing come up with this idea? She had just suddenly become a little temperamental and wanted to create some misunderstanding between Shen Liang and Kiana; she hadn't thought about all the subsequent plot developments!

"But you didn't expect that I'm not some naive, love-struck fool who's easily fooled. I'm quite clever," Kiana said proudly, puffing out her ample bosom. "Anna, you can't rely on this. It will ruin your reputation. You're from a prestigious family, an A-rank Valkyrie, one rank stronger than me, with a bright future ahead of you. What will people think of you if this gets out? This is worse than an engagement!"

Anna stared blankly at the endless chatter of the white fluffy ball and nodded.

Kiana frowned in thought, then casually pulled out a bottle of hot milk and poured oatmeal into it. This was her midnight snack, and she handed Anna a portion as well.

"The other person's name is Chen Tianwu, right? It seems he's from China like my junior brother. What's your relationship with him?"

“He works for the World Serpent Consortium, codenamed Night Owl. Because I once saved him, we've corresponded a lot over the years. A few days ago, he proposed to me and has already submitted the engagement letter to my family. My parents are very happy.”

"You don't like it?"

“I…I think…” Anna glanced at Kiana furtively, feeling both ashamed and relieved, “I don’t think I’m ready to get married right now.”

“Yeah, you’re still young. I saw that Chen Tianwu’s picture. He’s not bad looking, but he’s nowhere near as handsome as Anna.” Kiana shrugged. “By the way, I’m a total face-obsessed person. In my eyes, people can only be categorized by their faces. Only someone with a face like my junior brother’s can I accept as a beautiful young man.”

"It's not good to judge a book by its cover. Night Owl... is actually a good person."

"So, do you want to try or do you want to refuse? Don't be vague, think it through." Kiana pouted. "There are plenty of good people in this world. I'm asking Anna how you feel. Do you want to try it out first or refuse decisively? Don't care about others, just say what you think."

“I…” Anna said softly, “I don’t really care.”

"Doesn't matter?" Kiana didn't understand.

“I don’t know what to choose. I’ve reached the age where I need to get married.” Anna closed her eyes. “Actually, I’ve thought about it for a long time. Even without Night Owl, I would still face another engagement. I’m not like you, Kiana. You can live the life you want, but I’m a daughter of a noble family. I have to do certain things when I reach a certain age… I don’t have the freedom you have.”

"What era are we living in? Arranged marriages still happening?"

“It’s not an arranged marriage, it’s… responsibility,” Anna said softly. “Having enjoyed the family’s privileged conditions, I naturally have to shoulder the family’s responsibilities. No one is forcing me to make a choice, but I must be self-aware. I must choose my future life… whether to start a family and build a career outside the home, or to become a complete appendage of the Shaniat family.”

My family...

Kiana understood. The branch families of the Schariac family didn't just follow the main family around, drinking and eating meat; they also had to make choices. Their genius daughters, upon reaching adulthood, would either leave the Schariac family or join the main family and become part of its strength.

Anna is very talented, like Maria and Angelia, and she has lived in Neuschwanstein Castle for a long time. Now she must choose whether to live her whole life with her family or leave and fly far away.

Perhaps her parents would have preferred that she not be bound to the Shaniatbun family for life.

Since she's going to get married eventually, Chen Tianwu, whom she's known for several years, isn't the worst choice.

Sometimes, it's not that you can refuse someone just because you don't love them. People don't choose between loving and not loving; most of the time, they find the least painful way to continue living when they have no other choice.

"Well..." Kiana felt her throat was a little dry and hoarse. A wave of sympathy welled up inside her for the somewhat withered girl in front of her. She gritted her teeth and asked, "Don't you really have anyone you like? If you have to get engaged... at least you should marry a boy or girl you like, right?"

Anna gave a soft, bitter smile, raising her head to look at her quietly, her pink eyes filled with an inexplicable sorrow. Kiana instinctively avoided her gaze.

"It's definitely not going to work to let Anna tarnish her image to avoid the engagement..." Kiana frowned, took a sip of her cereal, and suddenly had a brilliant idea. "That's it! A shield!"

Anna was taken aback. "What shield?"

"I'll be Anna's shield!" Kiana chuckled. "As long as Anna is attracted to girls, Chen Tianwu won't be able to propose, right?"

"This...this isn't a good idea," Anna said weakly, having never thought of such a solution. "Besides, if you do this...little Pandora will be jealous..."

"Hey, what do you take my junior brother and me for? We're best buddies! He can see right through this pretense. Don't worry, he won't be jealous and will even cover for us!" Kiana said confidently. "My junior brother and I are in great sync! We're practically like father and son, not an old married couple. We wouldn't let something like this cause a misunderstanding... Do you think I was misled by your little tricks?"

Kiana was so engrossed in her conversation that she didn't notice the somewhat gloomy and sorrowful look in Anna's eyes when she heard her say "old married couple."

"I envy you so much, Kiana." Anna thought to herself as she looked at the enthusiastic girl in front of her. "So, could you lend me just a little bit of your sunshine... even just a tiny bit would be nice."

"I'm sorry, Miss Kiana, I really need...warmth more than you do."

--------------

The next morning at 8:30, Shen Liang threw Rosalia, who was biting his neck as if she were dreaming of eating lamb, out of the room. He then drew back the curtains, enjoyed a good sunbath at Neuschwanstein Castle for a while, and then began to wash up.

With the power of the Moon Transformation, he doesn't really need to brush his teeth, but he still needs to wash his face. Also, Rosalia has terrible sleeping habits, and she easily drools when she sleeps on him.

After changing her clothes, Shen Liang went downstairs for a morning run around the garden path.

He doesn't actually go for morning runs in Teyvat, but on Earth, thanks to Kiana's supervision, he has to run at least 15 kilometers every day to improve his physique.

Don't underestimate the improvement in physical fitness from running. Shen Liang's strong physique comes not only from the bloodline of Hai Zhi Ji Jun, but that bloodline essentially only increases your attribute values. To make use of the bloodline, you must train your own strong physique.

Despite sharing the same bloodline as the Sea Goddess, none of the three Coral Palace Heart Sea cultivators possessed his strength, simply because the little shrine maiden never engaged in physical training. Shen Liang's strength, however, was comparable to that of Coral Palace Liu Ge, because both were martial artists who honed their physical abilities.

Of course, he didn't train as hard as the High Priestess, but he was a boy after all, and he had a natural advantage over women in terms of strength training.

Even Kiana would have a hard time beating him in an arm wrestling match now, Shen Liang thought with considerable pride. With his physique so strong, he wouldn't be bullied by Bronya and the others in the future, effectively maintaining his brother's absolute dignity.

"Stop training. No matter how much you train, you'll never become a 1.8-meter-tall hunk." Torachiyo always inexplicably tried to stop him from doing physical training. Even though she was also a hand-to-hand combat fighter, she really disliked his physical exercise... It was very strange.

Shen Liang ignored her. He knew that he had undergone a second growth spurt at the age of eighteen, so he firmly believed that even if he became smaller and prettier, he would definitely grow into a muscular man in the future.

As long as you work hard to exercise, run every day, do push-ups, drink more milk and eat eggs, you can become a strong and healthy person.

As he gradually increased his running speed, he saw a young girl doing her morning exercise on the path by Swan Lake ahead. She was slender, wearing a loose denim jacket and super short denim shorts for easy movement. Her long, fair legs were clad in dark black boots.

Her attire and appearance were rather unrestrained, with a punk girl vibe. Her long, dark chestnut hair bounced up and down behind her as she ran. Shen Liang guessed that she was probably a young girl from the Shaniat family. In fact, most of the girls in the Shaniat family had light-colored hair, with chestnut and blonde being the most common.

There was very little white hair; probably only Cecilia and her daughter had white hair.

He didn't intend to greet her; he simply sped up to overtake her. When he was parallel to the girl, he casually glanced at her, and then his expression froze.

Maria looked at him with some surprise, but didn't say anything. She just wiped the fine sweat from her face and continued running.

Shen Liang subconsciously slowed down to keep up with her. It was just the two of them by the Swan Lake in the morning, so they weren't worried about bumping into each other. The two continued silently along the Swan Lake, with the branches of the not-so-tall oak trees gently brushing against their heads.

"Was it Cecilia or Sirin who told you to get up now?" Maria suddenly said as we were running. "Hmph, what a waste of your efforts."

"Why don't you suspect that Kiana told me?" Shen Liang asked casually.

“That idiot doesn’t have that kind of emotional intelligence. She couldn’t even think of such a method… No, she never even considered the idea of ​​us getting to know each other.”

"Nobody reminded me. I just have a habit of jogging in the morning. Believe it or not."

Maria's cold, beautiful face showed a hint of displeasure, and she snorted, "You have no manners. Have you forgotten how to address me?"

"You don't need to do this when there are no outsiders around, do you?"

“Etiquette is something that should never be abandoned,” Maria said coldly. “Even if you are only seeking refuge, now that you have my protection, remember at all times that we are mother and child, and a child should not disobey his mother.”

Shen Liang also acknowledged the principle that one has to bow one's head when under someone's roof, especially since it wasn't him, Maria, who made the sacrifice in this mother-son relationship.

However, the women of the Shaniat family were simply too young. Cecilia looked like Kiana and Sirin's older sister, while Maria looked like she was only twenty years old, with a figure and appearance no different from a young girl, and even more dashing and beautiful than most young girls.

However, he still lowered his proud head and said, "Mom."

“Remove the word ‘old’, it’s rude, I don’t like it.” Maria was not very satisfied.

"Mother."

“Can’t you speak human language? This kind of old-fashioned term is only used in medieval court dramas!” Maria sneered. “Nobles are people too. The most common word is enough between mother and son. Really… it seems you need to receive some etiquette education from the Shaniat family.”

Shen Liang sighed helplessly, "Yes, Mom."

After running three laps around Swan Lake, Maria finally felt a slight sense of relaxation and stepped into the carnation garden by the lake, sitting down on a cool stone table. Shen Liang followed her in at her prompting and sat down amidst the blooming flowers.

“The morning dew is heavy; three laps should be enough. Without using Honkai energy, that's enough to fully stretch your muscles.” Maria casually propped her smooth legs up on the stone table, glanced at him, and said, “I usually eat breakfast here. What would you like?”

"I'm fine with anything, I'm not picky."

“Whatever? I hate people who say whatever when ordering.” Maria snapped her fingers. “Give him two of my breakfasts and one.”

Chapter 211 Being a First-Time Mom is Still a Clumsy One

Just as Shen Liang was wondering where breakfast came from in the lakeside garden so early in the morning, a maid pushing a cart appeared silently behind him and presented the silver-white trays to the table one by one.

The head chef even followed behind the food cart, bowing respectfully to Maria before quietly disappearing into the depths of the garden. Clearly, they had likely been preparing Maria's favorite foods since the day before, and might even have made something new on the spot if Maria suddenly felt like it.

Luxury capitalism.

The insulated cover was opened, revealing a whole roasted pork knuckle, a serving of pickled cabbage, a large bowl of mashed potatoes, a plate of vegetable salad, and a one-liter carton of pure milk.

Shen Liang could hardly believe that Maria, such a slender and aloof "beauty," would have such a good appetite. And this was breakfast! The pork knuckle alone looked to weigh two kilograms!

"Aren't you going to eat? I know you Chinese people have high standards for food, but in Germany, we always have pork knuckle, potatoes, and sauerkraut, nothing fancy." Maria took a big bite of the pork knuckle, and frowned when she saw Shen Liang's surprised look. "You are my first child, you should learn from your mother how to adapt to German food."

Braised pork knuckle, potatoes, and sauerkraut made Shen Liang feel like he wasn't in Germany but in Northeast China, on the streets of Shenyang.

Shen Liang scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes, then looked at the table and said calmly, "But when you eat, could you put your legs down? I don't want to eat with my shoes on my stomach."