"Schicksal before the Second Honkai Eruption was very strong. As Schicksal's only S-Rank Valkyrie, Cecilia, holding the Sixth divine key—Black Abyss White Flower, could face any Honkai Beast."
"Kiana, the daughter of Siegfried and Cecilia, was also very happy. Kiana, a mix of the Kaslana Family and the Schariac Family, was like a princess. However, everything changed after the Second Honkai Eruption…"
At St. Freya Academy, Raiden Mei, Himeko, and Fu Hua listened in Theresa's office to this story, Kiana's story, which none of them knew.
"If that incident hadn't happened, Kiana should have lived happily. Although Siegfried and Cecilia both didn't want Kiana to inherit their bloodline and become a warrior against Honkai, Kiana was very happy in her childhood. Siegfried and Cecilia both showered her with love. But… with Cecilia's death, everything changed."
"Schicksal, having lost its S-Rank Valkyrie, discovered four gems when retrieving the Honkai core of the Second Herrscher—Sirin, one of which was recovered by Anti-Entropy."
"Coupled with Cecilia's death, which left Siegfried devastated. The death of her mother, plus the father's despondency, gradually lowered Kiana's status in Schicksal."
"Since Cecilia died and Siegfried no longer had the desire to continue fighting, someone had to be chosen to replace them. At this time, Grandpa Otto turned his gaze to the then-young Kiana."
At this point, Theresa lowered her head. She really didn't want to speak about the following events, because she knew this matter was too heavy.
Compared to the current Kiana [K-423 will be used to replace her, otherwise, it's troublesome to add 'true' before her name every time], the true Kiana was undoubtedly the most pained.
Kiana possessed extremely high talent, a perfect immunity to Honkai Energy, and an undeveloped ability to manipulate Honkai Energy, which made Otto target Kiana.
For this reason, Otto wanted to use Kiana to formulate a plan, named — 'Sirin Project'.
This plan gave birth to the current Kiana, while the true Kiana, under Otto's control, remained in Schicksal. Besides Otto, no one knew what she experienced during those ten-plus years.
Raiden Mei and the others, having heard all this, fell silent. They never thought that the usually carefree person had such a story.
No matter what, this was not something that could be easily accepted.
After saying all this, Theresa seemed to have been drained of strength, lying wearily on her chair, looking up at the ceiling.
When Kiana came to St. Freya Academy, Siegfried had actually come to find her. Just as Siegfried said, he had actually always paid attention to Kiana's growth.
Siegfried told Theresa to take good care of her precious daughter, but this sentence made Theresa feel very uncomfortable.
Kiana, the Original Body, had her rightful father's love stolen by her clone. Why could the clone receive everyone's love, while she could only endure loneliness in the shadows?
"Then… how do you really feel about Kiana, Director Theresa? How do you really feel about Kiana?"
"Me? You really asked a difficult question, Mei."
Theresa shook her head with a bitter smile. This was a question she had always avoided. She didn't want to think about it.
When Kiana arrived at St. Freya Academy, Theresa saw Kiana lying in the infirmary bed and treated her as the original Kiana, showering her with all her care.
"It might sound a bit disingenuous to say this, but I've never treated her as a clone of Kiana. Even if they have the same appearance, the same hair color, and the same name, I still consider her my niece."
At this point, Theresa's gaze became very serious. Although she didn't want to think about the issue, she knew very well that if she only treated Kiana as a substitute to repay her years of debt to Kiana, and gave her all her care just to atone for her sins and soothe her guilt over the years, she would only feel extremely hypocritical and disgusting.
Why did Siegfried claim Kiana as his daughter? Why would Siegfried give the name of his important daughter to Kiana, even knowing she was just a clone?
Theresa didn't know what happened when Siegfried was evading Anti-Entropy's pursuit with Kiana, nor did she know why Kiana gained Siegfried's approval.
She only understood that the Kiana currently at St. Freya Academy was her niece, the daughter of Siegfried and Cecilia, and someone she needed to take care of.
"Is that so? As expected, Director Theresa's thoughts are the same as mine."
Raiden Mei was silent for a moment, then smiled at Theresa.
"When Kiana is with you, she also treats you as a real family member. I can feel Kiana's usual reliance on you; she really likes you, and she really depends on you. However, whether it's Kiana or the real Kiana, I think Director Theresa, you shouldn't give up. After all, you've already promised someone to take good care of her, haven't you?"
"...Is that so? You're right. Because I couldn't leave the control of Anti-Entropy, and Kiana was always with Grandpa Otto, I've never been able to leave Anti-Entropy. Now... maybe it's time."
Theresa didn't notice that when she said this, a flicker of light flashed in Fu Hua's eyes beside her; no one noticed this unusual situation.
"The main objective now is still to bring Classmate Inaba back, Director Theresa. Don't forget, the reason Lady Cecilia appeared was because of Classmate Inaba."
"...Yes, Tsukiyo-chan. I never realized that the person I was looking for was right beside me all this time."
This was the so-called 'light under the lamp' phenomenon. She had been searching for the initiator of that video all this time, but she never expected that person to be right beside her.
She met them every day, drank bitter gourd juice made by them every day, yet she never realized that this person was the one she had been searching for.
"I... sigh~ Tsukiyo-chan must think I'm an idiot every time she sees me. An S-Rank Valkyrie, and I didn't even notice this."
As soon as Theresa finished speaking, she suddenly felt an unusual silence. She looked up and saw Raiden Mei, Himeko, and Fu Hua looking at her with strange expressions, as if saying, 'You just realized that?'
"You... what do you mean by that! Do you all think I'm an idiot?"
Theresa angrily waved her fists. Her seemingly soft fists could actually kill an adult.
Everyone shook their heads in unison, as if denying Theresa's words, but what their true thoughts were, only they knew better.
This made Theresa even more furious, but realizing it wasn't the time for such things, she could only suppress her displeasure.
Just then, Himeko seemed to remember something. She took out her phone, operated it, and brought up the footage she had found earlier from the surveillance cameras.
The screen showed a golden-haired girl in a red dress. There were two pieces of footage, taken in Changkong City and St. Freya Academy, respectively.
"Theresa, I told you last time that when I first went to Changkong City to deal with the Honkai, there was a girl fighting the Third Herrscher."
Glancing at the silent Raiden Mei beside her, Himeko displayed the phone screen as a light projection in front of Theresa.
"When Anti-Entropy invaded last time, I also saw this girl appear there when I arrived at the scene. At that time, she introduced herself as Nero Claudius."
"Nero Claudius? That name... I feel like I've heard it somewhere before?"
Theresa scratched her head. She felt like she had heard that name somewhere, but she couldn't remember where.
"That name belongs to the fifth emperor of the Roman Empire, full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. If you still can't recall, then Director Theresa should have an image of the Roman tyrant Nero."
"Ahhh!!! I know! But wasn't that a long time ago? And the Roman tyrant is actually a girl? And such a cute girl?"
Well, almost everyone would complain about this, and Theresa was no exception.
The others present were actually very surprised too, but now was not the time for surprise; they had more important things to discuss.
"When the Anti-Entropy members invaded before, I was wondering where Tsukiyo had gone. At the time, her explanation was that she went for a walk, but would a walk take that long? Since she can transform into Lady Cecilia's appearance, then perhaps things can be explained."
"...Himeko, are you saying Tsukiyo-chan has the ability to transform into others? But that's impossible. She just used the power of a divine key. I know very well that it was the power of a divine key. If she really can transform into others and use their powers, then... then..."
That would be too terrifying. Theresa didn't finish her sentence.
If Inaba Tsukiyo really had this power, then if she transformed into other characters and possessed their powers, Inaba Tsukiyo's strength would probably be unimaginable.
"However, I think that even if Tsukiyo's ability is to transform into others, when she transformed into Miss Cecilia, her personality was clearly different from usual. It was as if... as if she really was Kiana's mother."
That gentleness, no matter what, could not be faked. Cecilia's feelings for Kiana at that time were genuine, and Theresa was very clear about this.
Everyone fell silent again. Such a big BOSS had been among them for so long without being discovered; thinking about it was truly embarrassing.
"I think it's best to get Classmate Inaba back as soon as possible. I still need her to help me draw... no, the academy needs her combat strength. If she joins Anti-Entropy, then she will become our enemy."
Facing everyone's gazes, Fu Hua raised her eyes, swallowed her original words, and said.
Everyone nodded, but finding Inaba Tsukiyo would not be an easy task.
"Will she really... become an enemy?"
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