In the real world, Nagazora City, at the Raiden residence.
Kiana cautiously approached the walls of the Raiden residence, moving like a thief. She glanced left and right, and after confirming no one had noticed her, she bent her knees slightly. Her toned, powerful calf muscles instantly tensed like springs.
With a single leap, the white-haired girl vaulted over the high wall with the grace of flowing water, landing lightly inside the courtyard.
"Hmph, perfect! As expected of me! For Kiana, sneaking into Mei's house is a piece of cake! If that stinky old man won't bring me here, did he really think I couldn't come on my own?~~~"
Kiana straightened up in high spirits. She dusted off her pale hands, which had picked up some dirt from the wall, and puffed out her chest with pride.
After giving her long-lost father, Siegfried, a good beating, Kiana was still on bad terms with him, but she had suggested they visit the Raiden residence together to properly thank Ren Amamiya for his advice.
Having seen Ren in the real world—not in a dreamscape like Sakuramachi—and having been saved by him from a kidnapping attempt, Kiana's perception of him had completely flipped.
Although it was a bit awkward for her, Kiana could no longer harbor any hostility towards Ren. In fact, she wanted to get closer to him, show her goodwill, and deepen her understanding of the mysterious, handsome young man.
However, even though Kiana had repeatedly assured both Raiden Mei and Siegfried that she would no longer be hostile towards her former love rival, the two of them, as if by prior agreement, consistently refused to arrange a formal meeting for her with Ren.
Finally, the highly proactive Kiana could no longer contain her desire to see him. She snuck into the Raiden residence behind Mei's and Siegfried's backs, preparing to meet Ren face-to-face.
"Indeed, as expected of Miss Kiana. You've effortlessly accomplished what others could not."
A beautiful and pleasant voice, like the singing of a songbird, came from beside her. The flattery and recognition made Kiana puff out her chest even more proudly. She smugly rubbed her nose, accidentally smudging it with wall dust, and naturally responded to the person beside her.
"Of course! For me, Kiana, a wall of this height is a piece of cake. Even if it were twice as high, I could easily—... Wait a minute!!!"
Halfway through her boasting, Kiana suddenly realized something. She whipped her head around to look at the visitor who had noticed her infiltration of the Raiden residence.
A girl in a black and white maid outfit, with a somewhat bewitching rose-shaped accessory in her ash-blonde hair, gave a slight nod. She was clapping gently with a radiant smile, her intoxicating, wine-red eyes reflecting Kiana's suddenly flustered figure with great interest.
"Y-Y-You... You're that bad guy who tried to kidnap me!! Why are you here?!!"
---||---
After a brief moment of shock, Kiana recognized Rita and her body tensed up. Like a big white cat that had just run into its natural enemy, she quickly backed away until her back was pressed against the cold courtyard wall, striking a highly vigilant fighting stance.
"What did you do to Mei and the others, including that stinky old man?! You'd better confess everything, or I won't let you off easy!!!"
Kiana's blue eyes widened as she glared at the relaxed-looking Rita. As aggressive as a wildcat, she bared her small fangs, questioning and threatening her.
"There is no need to be so alarmed, Miss Kiana. Rita is now merely a prisoner confined to this place. I no longer have the ability to do you any harm."
A mischievous urge took hold of Rita, and she smiled sweetly at Kiana for a good while. Only when she sensed Kiana's defenses were about to reach their breaking point, her pale, soft fists clenched so tightly they creaked, ready to fly at any moment, did Rita leisurely raise her hands in surrender, showing Kiana she was harmless.
"Master Ren has placed a binding seal on me. As long as this blood Choker exists, Rita is just a helpless young woman."
Rita, with a subservient attitude, tucked a stray strand of her ash-blonde hair behind her ear. She raised her head, revealing her swan-like, pale, and slender neck. Around her delicate neck was a crimson blood Choker. The Choker pulsed like a living thing, emitting a faint red glow that, for some reason, gave Kiana a strange sense of familiarity.
With the Schariac blood Choker on her, Rita couldn't mobilize a single ounce of Honkai energy. Her physical abilities had indeed been weakened to a level only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's. However, her experience as a successor had not disappeared.
Even against the current Kiana, Rita could hold her own for a while and even had a chance to escape.
However, Rita believed she no longer had any reason to be hostile towards Kiana, let alone fight her. Although she was confident she could dodge Kiana's attacks, if one of those punches, imbued with the Kaslana family's legendary brute strength, actually landed on her, Rita, without Honkai energy or a battlesuit for protection, would really be knocked to her knees.
"...You say you're a prisoner now? Then what are you doing here? What kind of prisoner gets to walk around freely in the yard?"
Kiana narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Though she was skeptical of Rita's words, her clenched fists relaxed slightly.
"As you can see, Rita is atoning for her sins by cleaning this courtyard, doing my best to repay the mistakes I've made."
Following Rita's gaze, Kiana finally noticed the broom and various cleaning tools placed beside her, as well as the clearly half-cleaned courtyard.
"Is Mei home now? And... that Ren Amamiya who saved me..."
Kiana was still wary of Rita, but she silently unclenched her fists. As Rita quietly breathed a sigh of relief, Kiana asked, her gaze shifting nervously.
"Is Miss Kiana here to thank Master Ren in person? Unfortunately, both Master Ren and Miss Mei are not at home right now."
Rita replied to Kiana in a very natural tone, as if she were truly Ren's maid.
---||---
"I see, so they're not home..."
After hearing Rita's reply, Kiana's tone became a little dejected. The thought of Mei and Ren being off somewhere together, doing something she didn't know about, made her chest feel strangely heavy. She really wanted to join them, to be with them.
"It is not proper for a maid to keep a guest standing in the courtyard. Please, follow me, Miss Kiana. Master Ren and Miss Mei should be back shortly."
Rita gracefully extended a hand in an inviting gesture. She seemed to have no self-awareness as a prisoner, instead acting like a maid in her own home, naturally guiding the bewildered Kiana into the living room of the Raiden residence and serving her a cup of black tea.
"I don't need any tea... How long until they're back?"
The clear black tea in the cup gave off an enticing aroma. Even Kiana, who didn't usually drink black tea, couldn't help but swallow. However, after a quick glance at the tea, which reflected her face like a mirror, she immediately looked away.
Tea served by the criminal who tried to kidnap me? I, Kiana, am not an idiot. How could I just drink it without a second thought? Even if it doesn't look like there's anything in it, no way!!
Kiana still vividly remembered how skilled this beautiful, wicked young lady was with poison. She had no desire to experience the feeling of being as weak and limp as a caterpillar again.
"Also, who's that person over there? Is she a prisoner like you?"
Kiana's gaze kept drifting to the other side of the living room. A gray-haired girl in a beige, English detective-style coat was sitting ramrod straight on a wooden chair. Her turquoise eyes stared straight ahead into the void, and she was as still as a wooden sculpture, not reacting at all to the sounds and changes around her. It was as if she were literally in prison.
If it weren't for the occasional blink of her eyes and the slight rise and fall of her flat chest as she breathed, Kiana would have almost thought she was a mannequin. However, after noticing the familiar blood Choker on Fu Hua's neck, the same as Rita's, Kiana realized that Fu Hua really was in prison... But her self-awareness as a prisoner was a bit too strong, wasn't it? It was a stark contrast to the other young lady who had already made herself at home!!
"Miss Fu Hua is my colleague, and my accomplice in deceiving Master Ren... Unfortunately, the deception we carefully wove was seen through by Master Ren in an instant, and he easily captured both of us."
Seeing that Kiana wouldn't drink the tea she had personally brewed, Rita poured herself a cup and answered Kiana while taking small sips.
"By the way, Miss Kiana, you wanted to thank Master Ren in person, but Miss Mei and Mr. Siegfried wouldn't agree, which is why you came here in private, correct?"
Rita held her teacup with elegant posture, her eyes casually lowered, using the cup and the rising steam to hide the slight curve of her lips and her smiling face. She spoke to Kiana in a casual tone.
As the Bishop's confidante in Schicksal, Rita's intelligence-gathering abilities were astounding. Even while imprisoned, she could combine previously collected information with what she had observed in the Raiden residence to analyze the current situation.
"H-How did you know?!"
Kiana leaned back in surprise. She remembered that when she had climbed over the wall, she had only said that her stinky old man wouldn't bring her, not that Mei had also been politely refusing her requests to visit and meet Ren in person.
"How Rita knows is not important. What is important is... why Miss Mei and Mr. Siegfried would be against you meeting Master Ren."
Seeing Kiana take the bait, the hidden curve on Rita's lips deepened slightly.
"W-Why? Do you know the reason why Mei and my stinky old man won't let me see Ren?!"
Kiana clenched her fists nervously. Although Rita was the criminal who had tried to kidnap her, when it came to the explosive inside scoop on why Mei and her father wouldn't let her see Ren, Kiana couldn't care less about Rita's identity or position. She looked at Rita with an eager gaze, wanting to know the answer.
"The answer is actually quite simple... Given your personality, Miss Kiana, it would likely be difficult for you to get along well with Master Ren. If a conflict were to arise, Miss Mei and Mr. Siegfried would be caught in the middle and put in a very awkward position."
Rita sighed with feigned melancholy. She gently put down her teacup and then saw the surface of the tea ripple from a vibration on the other side of the table.
"I-I'll try my best to control myself... No, I mean, I probably won't... But... um... s-so, what should I do? If there's something about me Ren doesn't like, I'll work hard to change it!!!"
Faced with Rita's deliberately malicious words, Kiana completely lost her composure. She ran her hands through her white hair in a tangled and messy way, and then could only turn to the only person she could talk to for help.
"If you don't mind, Miss Kiana, Rita could teach you a few little tricks to get closer to Master Ren... How about we start by changing your image and demeanor a little?"
Looking into Kiana's clear and foolish blue eyes, Rita could no longer suppress her laughter. A smile as beautiful as a flower bloomed on her exquisite face.
Being imprisoned in the Raiden residence, unable to meet or even contact Lady Durandal, Rita had also accumulated a lot of stress.
Normally, she could relieve her stress by teasing Durandal, but now that she had lost her freedom, she could only choose a substitute and use the K423 clone in front of her to satisfy her own mischievous desires.
It was just as well. As a clone created from Lady Durandal's blueprint, Kiana's stray cat-like behavior had long been an eyesore to Rita.
She planned to take this opportunity to at least teach Kiana a little elegance in her appearance, so as not to disgrace Lady Durandal's genes.