Imagination is beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Inheriting all of Sirin's memories, the Herrscher of the Void, who had witnessed Sirin get arrogant only to eat dirt time and time again, took this phrase to heart.
Therefore, she had to find a way to perfectly maintain the lie that "she = the real Kiana" in order to reach that beautiful future currently existing only in her dreams.
To do this, the first person she needed to be wary of was the party involved, Kiana.
"Other me! This young lady is going to tell Ah-Li about you right now! Hehe, he'll definitely be very happy!"
See, I knew it!
Reflected in her eyes was the white-haired girl's eager and excited appearance. The Herrscher of the Void was speechless.
Kiana was definitely not the type to hide things intentionally. With such explosive news, she would definitely tell Fuli immediately.
And how would the person involved react?
Answer: He wouldn't believe a word of it!
In Fuli's impression, Ah-Quan was a negative will generated spontaneously by the Herrscher Core Otto implanted into Kiana's body.
Because her extreme personality was highly likely to harm the host personality, Mei, worried about her best friend's safety, took action to seal her.
Once Kiana revealed everything she just heard, Fuli would immediately realize the contradictions in the information, and the probability of deducing the truth about K423 would increase significantly.
If it really unfolded like that, the Queen's plans would all go down the drain!
Besides, Raiden Mei and Theresa also needed to be guarded against.
When the former locked the Queen into the mental dark room, although the latter didn't act directly, she was standing by to suppress the situation.
The sharpness of the Oath of Judah still prickled at her back. Thus, the Queen was certain these two were also aware—at least partially—of K423's origins.
Once Kiana proactively mentioned this matter, they would definitely have a series of negative reactions!
Especially that stinking woman, Raiden Mei!
Usually acting frigid as if she cared about nothing, but once pushed to the wall, who knows what crazy things she would do!
Therefore, she spoke: [You must keep the matter of my awakening a secret. Do not tell anyone.]
"Eh? Why?"
Confused, Kiana looked innocent. "You don't know how much Ah-Li misses you, he's almost..."
As she spoke, her voice gradually lowered.
The sourness in her heart grew thicker, and her delicate fist clenched unconsciously.
[Precisely because that man misses me to death, I cannot rashly appear before him.]
The Queen sighed: [Do you know why I fell into a slumber for eight long years?]
"Why?"
[When we were eight, that insane Schicksal Overseer implanted the Herrscher of the Void's core into this body we share.]
The Queen delivered the lines she had prepared long ago: [For these eight years, I had to fall into slumber to tame this core.]
Kiana suddenly understood. "No wonder after the Third Eruption, I inexplicably knew a lot of spatial abilities, and a while ago I even awakened the highest sequence Void Stigmata. It turns out you were working hard in the shadows all along!"
Her eyes curved, revealing a smile as pure and flawless as the bright moon. "Thank you! Other me!"
When her eyelashes trembled, it was like stars falling into a clear pool; the curve at the corners of her eyes was like a new moon hanging on a willow branch.
[...]
Facing such a pure and stainless smile, even with a personality as nasty as the Queen's, her gaze involuntarily shifted away for a moment.
This reminded her of another person in Sirin's memories, a foolish woman with the same gentle smile who became Sirin's mother for several years in the illusion—Cecilia Schariac.
[Call me Sirin.]
The Queen whispered: [We need a name to call me by.]
"Okay, okay!"
Kiana nodded like a chick pecking at rice, silly and happy.
[Taming a Herrscher Core requires a price.]
Sirin raised a slender index finger covered in a silk glove and tapped her own smooth forehead: [During the eight years of struggling with it, I forgot many things related to the past.]
"Huh? You forgot too, just like Big Sis?"
Sirin knew who the 'Big Sis' in Kiana's mouth was—Bianka Durandal Ataegina, the strongest Schicksal Valkyrie whom even Raiden Mei found tricky to deal with.
For some reason, Kiana was naturally very close to her. Recently, they had simply started calling each other sisters (Volume 3, Chapter 18).
What? Why didn't Sirin find her tricky?
Her Majesty the Queen, who hadn't recovered her full Herrscher powers yet, wasn't qualified to sit at that table.
Sirin waved her hand: [Unlike Durandal who completely lost her memory, I only temporarily forgot a part of it. As long as you ask that man—Ah-Li—about what happened when we were young, I will naturally recall it slowly.]
Yes, this was her entire plan.
Deceive Fuli, making him continue to believe K423 is the real Kiana;
Pretend to be disobedient and let Mei suppress her. While Mei is unsuspecting, secretly drive K423 to find out what the real Kiana was like in Fuli's mind, making her constantly align with the fiancée in his memories through her words and deeds.
K423 was already a product of combining the real Kiana's and the Second Herrscher's genes. Once she saw herself as the real Kiana, who could distinguish the difference between the two?
In this world, no one had seen what the real Kiana looked like grown up.
Someone with the same appearance as the fiancée in your memories, whose words and deeds highly matched, with the same surname and name, the same age of sixteen, and who was genuinely attached to you from the bottom of her heart.
In that case, on what grounds could you say she isn't your long-lost fiancée?
...
The steam in the bathroom condensed into a heavy mist, veiling the glass door like gauze. Water droplets on the tiles slid slowly down the smooth surface. The dripping from the showerhead had ceased.
"Quietly ask about stories from the past to help you recover your memories, Sirin?"
Clasping her fair hands against her chest, Kiana took a deep breath, her dreamlike heterochromatic eyes full of determination. "Okay! I understand!"
Sirin nodded in satisfaction, not forgetting to gaslight her a bit: [Ultimately, if your previous behavior hadn't broken Ah-Li's heart too much, I wouldn't have insisted on waiting until I fully recovered before appearing in front of him.]
She naturally referred to the great impatience Kiana had shown Fuli when he chased her to the Far East.
The implication was: Since 'I' already 'forgot' him once, I shouldn't appear before him in an incomplete state and make him feel disappointed again.
This move was indeed effective on the kind-hearted Kiana. The white-haired girl in front of the mirror slumped her shoulders, even her trademark ahoge drooping listlessly.
"I'm sorry, sob..."
She whispered.
Boohoo, torturing the husband is fun for a while, chasing him back is a crematorium.
She thought such tropes only appeared in novels, but it actually happened to her.
However, despite saying that, Kiana felt more relaxed than ever before.
No memories before age eight?
Smelly Dad's strange reactions?
None of that mattered anymore!
The Kiana Kaslana from before age eight was right here. Could her words be fake?
[Since you know you're sorry, then work hard for me!]
Sirin felt not a shred of guilt for deceiving the stupid girl: [What's with that expression? What's with that look? What are those tears? Can your tears defeat those bad women and snatch Ah-Li back from their hands?]
"I don't need to snatch him back."
Kiana continued to whisper: "As long as you (Real Kiana) appear in front of Ah-Li, he won't be ambiguously involved with so many women like now, right?"
Childhood sweetheart from the sky + Ultimate White Moonlight. Who could defeat this combo!
The genre instantly turns into Pure Love, doesn't it!
[That doesn't mean you can relax your guard!]
Sirin looked down from above, coldly spitting out a few words: [That man is now already an A-Rank anomaly. If you don't work hard to keep up, sooner or later you'll be left far behind!]
Theresa, Durandal, the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, the Golden Scions...
Even if she were in her prime six-core state, these were incredibly tricky enemy types.
Furthermore, with Fuli's ability to attract bees and butterflies, the number of strong enemies in the future would only increase, not decrease.
Sirin didn't want to run into eight women who had slept with him just by going out to buy groceries in the future! To avoid having a green prairie on her head like Raiden Mei, Kiana had to become stronger!
The white-haired Tuna blinked, thinking she heard wrong. "Ah-Li is already an A-Rank Breaker? How much time has passed?"
The Queen huffed and activated her ability, unfolding a light screen in front of them.
It was a diagram with nine sides, each corresponding to an attribute, divided into a total of twelve layers, not counting equipment amplifications.
If it reaches I (1), it is equivalent to the level of a D-Rank Valkyrie;
If it reaches II (2), it is equivalent to C-Rank;
If it reaches III (3), it is equivalent to B-Rank;
If it reaches IV to VII (4-7), it is equivalent to A-Rank;
If it reaches VIII to XI (8-11), it is equivalent to the Critical Class (S-Rank threshold);
If it reaches XII (12), it represents approaching the domain of S-Rank;
And if the subject's strength goes a step further on this basis, they enter the strange domain known as the Sequence Level, which cannot be estimated.
[This is that man's current data.]
Her Majesty the Queen drew on it, and Kiana leaned in to observe.
Strength, speed, durability, physical defense, magic resistance, and Honkai energy reserves all fluctuated between 6 and 7. Agility and Spirit had even reached the Critical domain.
This was already an extremely excellent standard. There were four full tiers between A-Rank and Critical Class.
And the most prominent attribute in the enneagon—Precision Manipulation Control—
"If it's X (10), isn't that just a bit short of the S-Rank standard?!!"
If it's Ah-Li, it's not surprising he can do this.
Kiana scratched her hair. Besides being surprised, she was a bit impatient. "What about me? What about me?"
[Basically hovering between 4 and 6. A few can reach 7.]
The Queen crossed her arms: [Now you know how big the gap is between you and that man, right?]
Her tone rarely contained a hint of frustration at iron not becoming steel.
Unlike others, as a natural-born Herrscher, Kiana's way of gaining power was less about 'training' and more about 'retrieving'.
Even though Sirin, who was more compatible with the core, was sealed by Mei, it was unreasonable for Kiana—who awakened the Void Stigmata and gradually controlled the Herrscher's authority—to be left behind by Fuli, who started from scratch.
Does this make sense? No!
Then it must be that this white-haired Tuna was slacking off all day while she was sealed. Otherwise, there was no explaining why this happened!
If there was a jeep here, Sirin would definitely drive it and run her over without a word.
It's you slacking off and not working hard! Look at me, Paramecium! Look At My Eye!
"Boohoo, stop scolding, stop scolding!"
Kiana squatted in the bathtub holding her head, feeling super aggrieved. She really kept Aunt Himeko's instructions in mind: study hard when it's time to study, eat well when it's time to eat, play well when it's time to play, rest well when it's time to rest, always striving to become stronger.
And according to the girl's observation of Ah-Li, he basically followed this schedule every day too.
He even worked six days and rested one!
Every Sunday he would curl up in the blankets and sleep until noon. No matter how she shook him while straddling him, it was useless!
Seeing the white-haired Tuna's bright eyes filling with tears, Sirin curled her lip: [How about this? In the future, as long as you train hard, I will give you some 'rewards' based on the situation.]
Mei's reformation did have some effect. The Herrscher of the Void, tempered by centuries in the mental dark room, was no longer the reckless brute of the past.
Not only did she know how to formulate a plan to replace the real Kiana and patch its holes, but she also understood the principle of the carrot and the stick.
[Take this.]
She waved her hand, and an unfamiliar memory suddenly appeared in Kiana's mind.
It was a dark room. 'She' was sneaking up behind Fuli, who was playing games.
With a pounce, she hugged him.
The black-haired boy put down the controller as the game flashed GG and spoke helplessly.
Even without turning his head, he knew who was hugging him.
"Want it again?"
He asked.
A feverish smile appeared on 'her' lips, and she nodded frantically.
"Alright."
Fuli picked 'her' up and casually tossed her onto the soft bed.
The next moment—
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!!!
The tips of Kiana's ears instantly turned red and shiny, and fine steam rose from the back of her neck.
"You you you you you! You you you you you!"
The girl pointed incoherently at Sirin. Her other hand gripped the hem of her skirt so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her boiling cheeks sizzled, three marshmallow-like steam clouds puffed out from the top of her head, and she shrank into an ostrich pose, hiding in the drifting white mist.
[Exciting, right?]
[As long as you listen to me from now on, there will be similar rewards every day.]
The Queen smiled wickedly and vanished in a flash.
The part of the memory she imported was precisely some of the daily couple activities that happened between her and Fuli in the mental dark room.
Immersive version, five senses fully synchronized.
[And don't forget, you have to go to the dining room to eat after your bath.]
An ambiguous teasing voice echoed in Kiana's ears: [Quite a bit of time has passed. If you want to use that memory, you'd better hurry up.]
"Sh-Shut up!"
Kiana stomped her small foot hard.
"Who wants to use that thing!"
Inexplicably feeling a bit guilty, which immediately turned into secret delight.
"Fiancée! Hehe, I'm Ah-Li's fiancée~"
The steam in the bathroom brewed the warm light into translucent amber, and those eyes curved into a pair of beautiful crescents.
Soaked in the water, the girl tried to bite her lower lip to suppress her joy, but the delight rippling from the corners of her lips had long overflowed past the tip of her nose, just like melted honey dripping into the pool water, creating layers of sweet ripples in the misty vapor.
...