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

Giving up one's destiny and returning to one's family means giving up many opportunities.

“I probably have to apologize to a lot of people,” Cecilia said softly.

But Maria's expression was disdainful as she said this: "No, everyone understands the dangerous situation of the Shaniat family. No one resents the family. On the contrary, this division is the last thing Otto wanted to see. Forcing us away is a loss for Destiny. Moreover, everyone in the family knows that the family's success today depends entirely on my sister. If it weren't for my sister... Shaniat would never have let Destiny hesitate to act until now."

"That's right, I'm amazing." Cecilia happily admitted, pleased with the compliment.

The title of the strongest Valkyrie in Schicksal's history will forever remain. As long as Cecilia lives, no matter how outrageous the Schariac family's actions, Schicksal will never break ties with them. In fact, it could be said that as long as Cecilia lives, the one who could truly break ties with the Schariac family is not Schicksal, but at most Otto.

Because the Saintess's name resounded throughout the realm of the supernatural, countless Valkyries, admiring her, joined Schicksal. Even if one day Otto could no longer tolerate the Schariacs's rivalry, would the Valkyries he rallied and commanded... truly raise their swords against the Schariacs?

“But that’s precisely why it’s unlikely that arriving at headquarters now would be dangerous,” Maria said.

"Is that why there's no danger? Why?"

Maria snorted coldly, "Headquarters and the Shaniat family are currently in a cold war, but a cold war is actually the best thing, no one wants to be caught red-handed first. This time, Sirin and Pandora's visit to headquarters is a sign of easing tensions. Otto is not stupid, he will definitely protect them both and would never have any ulterior motives."

“I don’t know Otto very well…” Cecilia pouted in frustration. “Is he very smart?”

“He’s very clever, so he wouldn’t act rashly for some petty gain. Pandora is just a male candidate, so he has no reason to attack her, and attacking Sirin is even more pointless. These actions would only completely offend you, sister. Think about it, do you think he dares to face you? He probably wishes you would die of illness sooner.”

"Hey!"

"In fact, the most dangerous thing about this trip to Schicksal is the possibility that outsiders might have designs on Pandora and Sirin, such as using it to incite conflict between Schicksal and the Shaniat family... But if I can think of that, Otto certainly can too, and he won't let that happen."

"Hehe, that's good. Maria, you always put my mind at ease! You truly are a reliable adult woman who would let me entrust Pandora to you!"

Maria rolled her eyes at her. "I've always been reliable. The most unreliable person in the family is you, sister."

“Isn’t it Kiana?” Cecilia tried to throw it at her daughter.

"Kiana wasn't trained by you? She inherited every single one of your flaws except for her face!"

“But inheriting my face means you have no flaws.” Cecilia innocently uttered the most arrogant words in the world. Maria was stunned and stared at her face in silence for a long time.

"Yes, you are right."

"It's rare that Maria didn't argue with her sister."

"You have always been the most beautiful woman on the extraordinary side."

"Hmph, that was true in the past, but I can't compare to the young kids now. Although I can only stay in the ice cellar, it's really great to see Celine and the others jumping around in the streets. I was just as energetic and youthful when I was young, wasn't I?" Cecilia chuckled softly. "Sometimes I think, youth is so short. Do you remember when I was twenty, I took a photoshoot and put the photos in a box and buried it underground, thinking I'd dig them up thirty years later? Yes, that way I could see myself at my sexiest in my old age."

Maria remained silent, thinking about that scene, about this woman revered as a saint, who had amazed the world from her youth to her current old age. A sudden pang of sadness struck her; she wondered if Cecilia would still be alive then, and even if she did, how cruelly she would feel torn apart by the memory of her former beauty in her withered state.

Then she suddenly paused, realizing what she had done, and asked, "Sister, when did you put it in?"

"Twenty years old."

Is your twenties the most beautiful time of your life?

Maria stared at the human before her, who still looked no different from a young girl, at most three or four years older than Kiana, who was seventeen or eighteen. The beautiful white-haired girl in the lace nightgown tilted her head, her azure eyes sparkling as she pondered her thoughts, her pink lips slightly upturned, a charming smile on her face.

She suddenly felt that all the emotions she had just cultivated had been wasted, by that old woman from Versailles.

--------

"Actually, the main reason I came back this time is to inform you that I have to leave Neuschwanstein Castle for a while," Shen Liang said.

Bronya and Seele's bedroom was decorated in a style perfectly suited to young girls, or rather, children. The sofa in the small living room was a soft beanbag chair, and an even softer cartoon wool rug covered the floor. This decor, which clashed with the overall ancient and luxurious atmosphere of Neuschwanstein Castle, was clearly a children's room specially made for them; the Arlene sisters next door also had a similar room.

At this moment, he was comfortably lying on the beanbag sofa, completely sunk into it. Bronya, whose usual spot had been taken, was also lazily leaning against her brother's stomach, her legs curled up against her laptop, working diligently.

"Another trip planned, and on Earth again?" Bronya frowned. "The multi-barrel machine gun that Bronya designed for her brother hasn't been sampled yet. If we go to other parts of Earth now... Bronya can't provide immediate support."

"There's no danger. Let's go with Sister Xilin."

"Traveling far away with the Shaniat family? Where to?"

"Guess what? It's the country we used to dream of most in movies, famous for its black tea, Lolita fashion, black silk maid outfits, and gatherings of aristocratic young ladies!"

“Britain? The headquarters of Destiny?” Bronya’s subconscious reaction. “Britain doesn’t have black silk maid outfits or Lolita ladies. That’s something from two hundred years ago… No, it didn’t have the things my brother fantasizes about three hundred years ago either. Bronya knows that two hundred years ago, most women in Britain worked in the textile industry, and the calluses on their fingers were thicker than my brother’s calves.”

"Shut up, don't try to erase my fantasies about beautiful British girls, okay?"

"But before Brother Liang came to Germany, he fantasized that all German beauties were like Prinz Eugen in the game you played—cool, lewd, and sadistic, with long silver-white hair, stockings, and high heels. When they got home, they would ask you if you wanted to take a shower together to relax," Seele said coldly while watching a video nearby.

Shen Liang immediately knew that Hei Xi'er was accompanying him this time.

"Is this what beautiful girls in Germany are like?" Bronya nudged Shen Liang's chin with her soft, silver-gray hair.

Shen Liang thought about the various sisters in the Shaniat family and hesitated for a moment.

"Actually, I think they're about the same."

“…” Bronya and Black Seele fell silent at the same time. Then Black Seele spoke with a slightly distorted expression: “It seems that Brother Liang has become a little complacent after staying outside the orphanage for too long. He needs to be corrected.”

"Perhaps it's the girls in the Shaniat family who need some correction."

"That's true, Germans are too unreserved."

Shen Liang laughed without a care, hugged Bronya's waist and moved her slightly aside, then snapped his fingers to make room for her. This meant there was space there.

Hei Xi pouted, but her body still betrayed her, leaning closer and sitting in Shen Liang's lap just like Bronya. The two half-grown girls exchanged a glance in Shen Liang's arms, both showing helpless smiles.

"Don't worry, no matter how many pretty girls try to seduce me in Germany, England, or Japan, your brother, Mr. Shen Liang, swears here and now!" Shen Liang pulled the two sisters closer together, hugging them even tighter, then rested his head on their shoulders and laughed, "I promise that my favorite people will always be my sisters! Always Bronya, Seele, Rosalia, and Lilia! Don't be jealous!"

"Who's jealous..." Hei Xi just pursed her lips when she heard this blatant declaration of love.

The emotionless loli didn't even blush, she just sighed: "That's not what Bronya wants to hear."

"Huh? What else do you want to hear?" Shen Liang looked completely confused. "Isn't this enough? That's too much. I haven't even told your Kiana that I love her yet."

"Tch." Hei Xi clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

“It’s precisely because you can’t say that to Kiana that this sentence is important. Saying it so simply to Bronya and Seele proves that brother doesn’t even…” Bronya complained in a very low voice for a while before coldly snorting in a voice that Shen Liang could hear, “Bronya is truly suffocated by brother’s stupidity.”

Shen Liang shrugged. Anyway, little girls' minds are hard to fathom. Although Bronya and Seele are more mature, they're essentially still little girls like Rosalia. Little girls just rely on their brothers; they'll grow up and stop harboring hostility towards pretty girls like Kiana. They'll realize they're not enemies who stole their brothers from them.

It seems so?

Shen Liang thought of Anna, who had been shy and timid earlier that day. While he was out chatting with his sisters, comforting them, and putting them to bed, Anna should have already finished showering in his bedroom, changed into that pretty lace lingerie with stockings, and was lying on the bed waiting for him to finish comforting his sisters and come back, right?

Really been waiting!

Shen Liang felt a slight heat rising in his body. All he wanted to do was end his nighttime conversation with his sisters and get back to his own place as soon as possible.

So he quickly changed the subject.

"However, this time it's just me and Sister Xilin, so we can't take you guys with us. Otherwise, we could have gone to Buckingham Palace for a visit."

"Does brother know anyone at Schicksal headquarters?" Bronya sat on his lap, wiggling her little bottom as if she was a little uncomfortable.

"It seems not."

What should I do if I encounter danger?

"With Sister Xilin around, it's unlikely we'll run into her," Shen Liang laughed. "I'm her cook, she'll take care of me."

"Remember to call Bronya if anything happens." Bronya twisted her body again.

"Mmm, goodnight." Shen Liang hugged the two pretty little girls, kissed their cheeks, and then picked them up and put them on their big bed. "I won't disturb you two little ones sleeping together. You've been complaining about me for a long time, haven't you? I'm not such an insensitive man."

"Is it because Brother Liang is in a hurry to go back to find Sister Anna?" Hei Xi replied abruptly.

Shen Liang paused, then pushed open the door and left without looking back.

The two little ones looked at each other and sighed in unison.

Then the two of them fell silent for a while.

Bronya asked in a low voice, "How did Seele guess that brother was going back to find Anna?"

"Bronya can't guess?" Blackie whispered.

Bronya remained silent for five seconds, seemingly hesitant about whether to speak, before finally touching her pert bottom and speaking with a slightly embarrassed tone:

"I couldn't guess, it was... something I sensed."

"Ha, who isn't?"

Both the silver-haired, emotionless loli and the black-haired, mad loli felt a surge of inexplicable frustration as they spoke.

"We've failed so badly, Seele."

"We've failed so badly, Bronya."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Day in the Life of Intern Raiden Mei

11 p.m. UK time, Soho, West London.

Soho, located near Westminster Abbey, was originally London's largest red-light district. It declined due to historical reasons, and because the area is adjacent to the financial district of Mayfair, many people who commute to and from the financial district come to Soho for entertainment. Over time, it has become an excellent and fashionable neighborhood, with many bars, nightclubs, hotels and entertainment venues. It is one of the most vibrant nightlife areas in London, attracting a constant stream of tourists.

London's famous Chinatown is also located in Soho. This street, after more than a century of evolution, has become the heart of the Asian community. It boasts over a hundred restaurants, bars, and shops, all prominently displaying Chinese characters and red lanterns. These lanterns signify that, according to Asian custom, the establishment offers slightly suggestive but never inappropriate services.

At night, red lanterns are hung at the entrance of the shop. Under the lanterns, young people who come here to relax get drunk and are kicked out and lie on the ground, where they are then groped by passing thieves or picked up by people of the opposite or even the same sex.

A woman dressed in a low-cut top, sparkling and heavily made up, perfect for picking up rich guys in nightclubs, pushed open the back door of Chunshan Bar and helped a man who was completely drunk out of the house. Every man who saw her from the alley behind the back door showed envy, because she was indeed a top-tier beauty. In a place like this, a man and woman so drunk had no other possibility of going to a hotel to take things further.

Townsley gave a flirtatious smile to a young bartender who was watching them, which made the young man blush immediately and hurriedly move away. She shrugged and helped the man continue walking.

The man, who was over 1.8 meters tall, carried her on his shoulder without much effort. She walked briskly and quickly reached the depths of the alley.

As Tangsley walked, she daydreamed. That handsome young man she'd just seen seemed quite young; if she stayed here tomorrow, she'd choose him. Although a more muscular man would suit her taste better, a glamorous encounter with a younger, fresh-faced guy would be more interesting, and a petite one would make it easier to take advantage of him, right?

Townsley was wearing a charming smile.