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

But...

But it happened when the little Ragdoll cat pounced on its own initiative.

Cecilia bit her lip, trying to keep her thoughts flowing.

Whenever Bubu showed even the slightest bit of cooperation, even just a tiny bit, she would be completely at ease, as if every part of her body was welcoming the child's presence... She didn't know why she was like this, but...

[At the very least, I mustn't let Bubu discover this...weakness of mine.] Cecilia made her decision after a moment's thought.

"The problem is that this isn't a weakness," Mistelin said calmly.

[This is certainly a weakness. I never imagined I had this kind of constitution. I...]

A weakness is something that goes against your will, your common sense, and your instincts. A weakness is something that hurts you when you can't control it.

This is something I can't even control...

"Are you truly unable to control it?" Mistelin suddenly smiled. "Then what are you doing right now?"

Cecilia was taken aback.

Then her expression turned somewhat grim. Yes, she was restraining herself, not showing that... inappropriate attitude towards the child in her arms. This showed that she could control herself; Brunhilde's ability to make her lose control was itself under her control, just as if a serious matter, such as a Honkai Beast attack, suddenly occurred, she could instantly react and enter combat mode.

Can this be considered a weakness?

So, in other words, she was just indulging... herself?

Cecilia remained silent.

Mistelin realized she'd gone a bit too far. She was just being mischievous, trying to speed up the relationship between Brunhilde and Cecilia, but she knew such tricks wouldn't change history. After all, in the actual timeline, Cecilia did marry Siegfried, and her hints were useless.

And she was indeed lying and implying, because Cecilia truly couldn't control her body's instincts; her body had indeed betrayed her brain. After all, Cecilia was only twenty years old, while this body... had accumulated over three hundred years of muscle memory under Mistelin's use.

"I'm sorry," Mistelin said softly.

With over three hundred years of history, even though time travel led to the fusion of beings of the same mass, this muscle memory, which originally belonged only to Mistelin, was still integrated into Cecilia's body.

"But it's none of my business." Mistelin pondered. "Anyway, whether it's my problem or your problem, he's the one who created it, the one you raised."

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

After that, a few days of relatively peaceful days passed.

After the Uniqlo incident, Siegfried noticed, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that his beautiful fiancé and his handsome younger brother seemed to have grown somewhat distant.

how to say.

Cecilia used to be there almost every day when she opened the door, holding the boy while watching TV or reading magazines, or playing those popular Famicom games together. But now, although they still hug and kiss occasionally, it's much less frequent. Sometimes, when Brunhilde sees her come back, he'll even leave Cecilia's embrace to go to the kitchen to cook.

And the food I've been cooking lately has been really delicious.

Brunhilde seemed inexplicably kind to her older sister, though it was probably because Cecilia was a guest. Brunhilde was now taking the initiative to cook dinner, while Cecilia and Shigure Kira, these privileged young ladies, handled all the housework. When Brunhilde returned home after finishing her family affairs each day, she didn't have to do anything; she was practically being waited on hand and foot like a pampered lord.

Back home, Brunhilde used to boss her around, doing all sorts of chores. After all, Brunhilde was a sickly little girl, and you couldn't let her do any housework. These past few days, Brunhilde has been a model younger brother, displaying all the virtuous and refined qualities of the Kaslana family, diligently trying to win Cecilia over!

But even so, Siegfried sometimes felt that something was... not right.

How should I put it? It's an intuition, the keen sixth sense unique to the Kaslana family.

Ever since he saw the two of them embracing and sucking each other's blood at Uniqlo, Siegfried has found himself consciously or unconsciously replaying that scene in his mind. The two have drifted apart, but... if nothing happened, why the drifting apart?

Siegfried had some wild guesses in his mind.

However, she always dismissed such speculations. She knew Cecilia's character well; a pure, even holy, saintly lady was far more conservative than a libertine like Siegfried, whose mind was filled with lewd thoughts. Besides, there was no need to doubt her own brother; he was prettier than any girl, so what threat could he pose?

Siegfried himself felt that it was morbid to use such base and filthy speculation to speculate about his two closest people.

Thinking this through, she hesitated for a moment before parking her car in the underground parking lot of a building outside the hotel.

The hotel did have parking spaces, of course, but parking there would be seen by hotel staff; their suite was on the twentieth floor, offering an unobstructed view. Siegfried parked the car, quietly entered the hotel lobby, and then took the elevator up.

She actually came back early today; it's 3 PM now. Normally she gets off work at 4:30 PM and arrives at the hotel at 5 PM. But because she's going on a date with Cecilia recently, she often turns down all sorts of work assignments from her family—nothing's more important than a blind date, right?

Theoretically, Cecilia should be the only one in the hotel right now, since Brunhilde also gets out of school at 4:30 pm. Normally, she would have to pick Brunhilde up and take her back to the hotel.

Driven by instinct, a strange feeling, Siegfried walked to the suite door, trying to make as little noise as possible, and quietly opened the door.

She was also holding a bouquet of flowers, eleven sunflowers paired with white baby's breath, because today is Children's Day, and sunflowers are flowers given to children. She was preparing a surprise for Cecilia, meaning something like "You're my big kid" or "In my eyes, you'll always be a child." Even if Cecilia was out playing with Shigure Kira and not at home, she could give it to Brunhilde later and say, "Happy Children's Day, sister."

But as she opened the door, her heart was pounding, and for some reason, she instinctively gripped the flowers tighter.

The door opened, but the suite was empty.

Siegfried made a sound, she didn't know why she made a sound, but she just quietly began to look for Cecilia.

There's none in the living room, and there's none on the balcony behind the living room.

Although she had a feeling Cecilia wouldn't be in the bathroom, she still went in to check and found that Cecilia was indeed not there.

Cecilia was nowhere to be found in the kitchen.

There's no small living room either.

Then she went into her bedroom, Cecilia's bedroom, but still nothing. Now there was only one place she hadn't searched: Brunhilde's room. Since moving to the suite, Brunhilde no longer had to live in the living room. Siegfried didn't want to think about it, but she didn't know what she was afraid of.

Nobody's home right now. Brunhilde isn't back, and Cecilia's definitely out shopping... definitely.

Siegfried's body trembled slightly as he walked toward Brunhilde's room, his heart pounding with anxiety.

She didn't want her thoughts to be too wicked, but her mind couldn't help but wander. As Siegfried reached the door, he noticed a small problem.

Brunhilde's door was always ajar, he never closed it, not even when he slept, it was his habit, but now the door was tightly shut.

Siegfried's sweaty right hand rested on the doorknob. She hesitated. She didn't know why she hesitated, or rather, she knew, but she felt it was absurd and ridiculous of her to even have such a conjecture.

But she found herself lacking the courage to drive it.

Siegfried couldn't deceive herself; she knew perfectly well how accurate her intuition was. The Kaslana family might produce stubborn individuals, but stubbornness meant powerful intuition—a bloodline inheritance. Siegfried knew exactly why she felt uneasy.

She was afraid that if she opened the door, she would see something she didn't want to see, even though the probability was very low...

Brunhilde, though only fourteen, was already in puberty. He was indeed a boy, but also a fully developed teenager, full of youthful vigor. And Cecilia liked him so much, spending far more time with him than with her—could she also have those kinds of thoughts…? Anything is possible, isn't it?

Siegfried grew increasingly frightened, shaking her head vigorously to clear her mind. She felt her fantasies were utterly absurd, but gritting her teeth, she pressed her ear against the door to listen for sounds from inside the room.

No sound.

Perhaps the soundproofing is too good.

Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief; she felt her strength return and gently pressed the doorknob. The opening motion was very light, as quiet as possible. Siegfried's only worry was that the door might be locked from the inside, which would make a sound when the lock clicked.

But it was obvious the door wasn't locked from the inside; the handle, pressed to a 30-degree angle, was almost enough to open it. Siegfried slowly pushed the door open, and just then, the latch, not yet fully retracted, slid against the door frame with a soft click!

It's so light!

But Siegfried was drenched in a cold sweat!

The Valkyrie's hearing is astonishing, and the five senses of an S-class Valkyrie are even more unpredictable! Sweat dripped from Siegfried's face, her pretty face filled with fear, and she could only maintain the position of keeping the door slightly ajar for a long time.

She listened intently to the sounds in the room, and after opening the door a crack, she heard faint breathing.

Who is breathing?

Are you sleeping?

—Is it Bubu?

—Or Cecilia?

Siegfried waited for a long time, but the faint breathing didn't elicit much response. Reassured, she carefully pushed open the door.

The bedroom door opened, and the scene inside made Siegfried feel as if his heart had been stabbed, leaving him with an indescribable feeling.

As she had feared most, two people lay embracing in bed, one large and one small, intimately close, both with the same long, silvery-white hair. It was Cecilia, the beloved fiancée she was still pursuing, and Brunhilde, the ragdoll cat from the Kaslana family.

The two slept with their necks intertwined; more accurately, Cecilia was holding the little boy curled up in her arms without any restraint. Siegfried felt like he was about to lose his balance, staggered, and made a slight noise, but even that noise did not wake the two sleeping people.

Why here?

Why did you fall asleep together?

Why did you leave school early without telling me?

—Have you been doing this all this time?

--ah?!

Siegfried gripped the bouquet tightly, suddenly feeling an urge to throw it at the two men.

But she held back; her remaining rationality reminded her to look closely.

Both were fairly fully dressed. Cecilia wore a thin, lace slip dress, but it wasn't disheveled. Brunhilde was also wearing a cartoon pajama set with cat ears, curled up in Cecilia's arms with his knees drawn up, fast asleep and breathing evenly. Cecilia had her arm around his waist and was nibbling on his scalp, seemingly dreaming of eating something delicious.

The bed was also very clean; it was Brunhilde's bed, and he was always a clean freak.

Siegfried sniffed the room. She knew what a certain smell was, after all... after all, Brunhilde was indeed a grown-up child, and she had experience.

But the room didn't have either a boy's or a girl's smell; there was only a faint scent of air freshener.

Siegfried realized he might have been overthinking things.

She glanced at Brunhilde's attire; it was obvious at a glance that Cecilia had forced him into wearing those cat-themed pajamas... Cecilia was probably being unreasonable again, forcing him to wear them to sleep with her.

Thinking about it carefully, it really isn't a big deal. Today is Children's Day, and Brunhilde probably did get out of school early, so it's normal for her to come home and take a nap. As for Cecilia sleeping with her, it's not a big deal either. She was wearing pajamas, only wrapped in a bath towel, and she and Bubu were rolling around on the bed, which Cecilia discovered.

If they were still so insistent on this level, Cecilia would have already concluded that the siblings had some kind of illicit relationship!

Having convinced herself with this reason, Siegfried gradually calmed down. Still harboring many doubts, she quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake the beautiful older sister and younger brother, and slowly walked to the living room and sat down.