Not long after Evan finished tidying up his bedroom, he heard a knock on the door.
Although the doors in St. Freya Academy all had peepholes, Evan didn't use it and opened the door directly.
He saw Kiana holding a large pile of snacks, seemingly wanting to have a long, intimate talk with him.
Without foolishly asking "Is something wrong?", Evan let Kiana in directly. After she sat on the living room sofa, he smiled and said:
"Want to hear me tell stories again?"
"Mhm, mhm! I feel very energetic today. Evan, you're not sleepy, right? If you're not sleepy, keep telling me stories, or chatting is fine too. Consider these payment; they are all my favorite snacks."
Kiana threw the snack bag in her arms onto the table in front of Evan, then nimbly occupied one of the sofas in the living room, finding a comfortable position to collapse on it with a look that said, "I'm ready, please begin your performance."
Previously, when Kiana hadn't passed the history makeup exam yet, she suffered from insomnia due to the pressure of the exam. At that time, Evan told her several fairy tales with good endings to help her adjust her mood.
Although they were somewhat childish fairy tales, Kiana seemed to like listening to them very much. It seemed she didn't have many opportunities to hear people tell stories when she was young.
However, the current Evan didn't plan to tell her stories.
"Let's chat. Is chatting okay?"
"Okay, okay! What does Evan want to chat with me about?"
At this moment, Kiana had already opened a bag of snacks on her own. However, Evan's next sentence made her freeze.
"First of all, although you passed the history makeup exam, your other subjects still haven't been strengthened. In the time that follows, you still need to supplement your knowledge of Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and Biology. Neither Theresa nor I will set a deadline for you, but I hope you won't slack off because of this."
"Aaaah! Is this chatting? Evan, you'd better tell me stories! It's better not to continue this kind of chat. Even without this knowledge, I can still fight Honkai Beasts!"
Kiana was going a bit crazy, which was within Evan's expectations.
"Language allows you to further master written and spoken words. Before, you often said you couldn't understand Fu Hua's words. If you study Language well, you'll naturally understand in the future. Besides that, every other subject will play a certain role in combat. But with me watching over you, it won't be too late for you to learn when you need to."
Evan paused slightly, then revealed a serious expression.
"But there is one thing I hope you can agree to."
"What is it? Ugh... if you show such an expression, I can't refuse anymore. Please don't make a request that's too difficult."
"Tomorrow, Principal Theresa will assign us training rooms, and the Virtual Combat Room will also be open to us. However, compared to training alone, I hope you can study with Fu Hua for a period of time. Not to improve combat power, but to temper your will."
"Will? I feel my willpower is quite tenacious. Sleeping on the cold ground or eating food with poor texture—these things are child's play for this young lady."
"The so-called will doesn't just refer to being able to endure harsh living conditions, but also various other aspects. Kiana, can you promise me?"
"Alright, alright, I know. I'll ask the Class Monitor tomorrow. I don't know if she'll agree though."
Thinking of that Class Monitor who kept a straight face all day, Kiana had a bit of a headache.
Evan didn't worry too much.
"I'll tell her in advance. You just go directly when the time comes."
The consciousness of the 2nd Herrscher existed in Kiana's body. That was an existence flowing in her blood and even deeper in her DNA; it couldn't be simply stripped away. Evan couldn't separate the 2nd Herrscher's will from Kiana in advance. So, besides improving his own power to have the ability to stop the disaster when the 2nd Herrscher awakened, he had to improve Kiana's will.
Even if, due to the gap between humans and Herrschers, Kiana couldn't completely overcome the 2nd Herrscher Sirin and always maintain dominance over the body, at least she shouldn't be at a disadvantage. Otherwise, even if Evan could subdue Sirin when the time came, he wouldn't be able to wake Kiana up.
If it was Fu Hua—who possessed the 8th Divine Key, the Key of Consciousness [Fenghuang Down], and had once reached an extremely high level in mind and will—she could undoubtedly benefit Kiana.
Evan couldn't be sure if curing the pain of memory fragments in Fu Hua's mind would allow her to remember the [Edge of Taixuan], the technique that was unrivaled in the world when she was the number one person in Shenzhou. But even if it was just the basics of the basics, the method to strengthen the heart and mind, in Evan's view, it would be enough.
"Kiana, if one day you start to doubt the meaning of your own existence, then please remember: I, Mei, Bronya, and the others didn't approach you because you are Kiana or a member of the Kaslana family. We like you simply because you are a beautiful girl who carries some clumsiness but is brave, kind, and full of vitality."
"...Why praise me like that all of a sudden? I'll be embarrassed."
Hearing these words, Kiana's fair face was dyed with a trace of blush, and even her gaze became wandering. Evan didn't explain much, just smiled and gently scraped her nose with his finger.
"So, do you remember my praise this time?"
"Although I can't repeat it word for word, I won't forget such happy praise easily. I remembered it!"
In the end, after saying so much, Kiana seemed to only remember this one sentence of praise.
It was tentatively within Evan's expectations. Watching the girl who had, at some point, unpeacefully crawled from the sofa next to him to his side and fell asleep with her head on his thigh, Evan didn't move.
It's just that my thigh will go numb. It's a small matter; just let her sleep well.
After all, starting tomorrow, this holiday would be considered over. There would be a busy period ahead.
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