Late on a midsummer night, the chirping of insects was at its most fervent.
Even the most intricate melody must eventually end, the final, lingering note drawn with care.
Ye Feng rose from Kiana's body and saw the pout on her face like a moody kitten. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Is the realization only dawning on you now?"
The Tuna blinked. "What realization?"
"Ugh…"
That genuine confusion was enough to render even Old Ye speechless.
Kiana stood up, skillfully wiped the sweat from her abdomen, got dressed, picked up a chicken leg from the dining table, and sat down to gnaw on it in silence.
The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water, without the slightest hesitation.
The Tuna looked out the window, somewhat dejected.
"Why couldn't I beat the class rep?"
"Fu Hua? Wasn't your bet with Bronya?"
"Yeah. But this young lady paid such a huge price. Shouldn't it be a given that I'd take first place?"
"If putting in effort and paying a price guaranteed your ideal outcome, then this game called 'Reality Online' wouldn't be called the worst piece of crap in history by so many people."
Ye Feng walked straight towards her, and the Tuna instantly looked at him with vigilance.
"What are you trying to do? We agreed, only one punishment tonight."
"Of course. Like the 'knight' of the Kaslana family, I am a person of my word."
Ye Feng, holding a cup of milk tea, sat down next to the Tuna and poked the cup's seal with a straw.
"However, it's no injustice that the Tuna lost to Fu Hua."
Kiana's lips immediately formed a pout. "You're so annoying. I told you not to call me Tuna, it makes me sound dumb."
"But it's my term of endearment for you."
"I don't want it. Endearment? Is our relationship that good?"
Ye Feng glanced at Kiana's abdomen, then pointed to himself. "What do you think?"
"What do I think? I think I want to smash your damn head in."
The Tuna spoke her mind bluntly.
It was a statement worthy of the Herrscher of Sentience.
Ye Feng just smiled. Her defiant shouts were as fragile as her cries of "no" from moments before.
If Ye Feng hadn't reset her state, Kiana would now be like a dehydrated fish flopping on the shore.
Seeing the Tuna's unconvinced look, Ye Feng said, "Fu Hua's identity is not so simple."
"Her identity?"
"Have you ever heard of the 'Immortals' of Shenzhou?"
"Don't tell me you're going to say the class rep is one of those legendary Immortals from Shenzhou?"
"Several thousand years ago, she had a name: 'Immortal Red Kite'."
"Eh?"
Although she had never heard of it, the name itself sounded incredible.
"Wait, several thousand years ago? Is the class rep thousands of years old? No wonder she's so old-fashioned and stubborn."
"No…"
"Not thousands of years old? You just said that thousands of years ago, the class rep was already the Immortal Red Kite."
"What I mean is, not several thousand years, but fifty thousand years."
"F-fifty thousand years…"
Now that was truly ancient.
Kiana was thunderstruck by this news. She stared with wide Tuna-eyes, her face a mask of disbelief. She froze on the spot, the chicken leg in her hand falling to the floor.
It took the Tuna several dozen seconds to process this information, and what followed was even greater confusion.
"So, why would an Immortal who has lived for tens of thousands of years come to St. Freya High School?"
Ye Feng stared at Kiana with a smile. "You guess."
"If you don't want to say it, then forget it. It's not like this young lady is dying to know anyway."
The Tuna deliberately feigned indifference.
She had discovered that the more she resisted, the more excited this villain became.
That was why Kiana had also acted nonchalant after finishing her "exercise" with Ye Feng.
At the very least, it seemed to keep his interest from being overly piqued.
It had to be said, Kiana had a talent for acting.
The Tuna straightened her clothes, and then another thought struck her—wait a minute. The exam week was already over, so why did she still have to accept his educational guidance? And tonight's questions were clearly a level harder than before.
Fuck! I got scammed!
The word "fuck" was also something she had learned from Ye Feng.
And whenever Ye Feng said a sentence containing that word, it was always in the form of a question.
At those times, the Tuna would just tilt her head, bite her hair, and ignore him.
---o---
The day after the results were announced, St. Freya High School officially began its summer vacation.
Similar to other schools, all the students returned to their own homes to enjoy a wonderful two-month break.
All except for the few homeless residents of the Valkyrie Dorm.
And… Theresa, who was buried under a mountain of paperwork at her giant desk.
This was always her busiest time.
Finalizing the student list for the next semester, many of whom required background checks.
The maintenance and upgrading of school equipment, St. Freya's most critical issue of its budget deficit…
And on top of that, there was maintaining stability in the Far East Branch, investigating ruins, surveying Honkai-affected areas, and so on.
"It's already summer vacation, and great-aunt is still working."
Kiana walked in, sucking on a popsicle.
"This is the Principal's duty. Is there something you need, Kiana?"
"Ehehe, with my results on the Valkyrie exam this time, I'm good enough to be promoted to A-rank Valkyrie, right?"
Kiana skipped over to Theresa's side and looked down. On top of a stack of documents was a file folder labeled "Analysis Report on the Ruins of Jiuyou."
"Great-aunt, what's this?"
Theresa glanced at Kiana's abdomen and said, "Legend has it that a natural Stigma exists within the Ruins of Jiuyou. If we can find it, our understanding of Stigmatas will advance even further."
"Wow, great-aunt cares about me so much! I'm so touched!"
Kiana threw her arms around Theresa and nuzzled her affectionately.
"Your popsicle is melting! Ah, it's dripping on my thigh!"
As the popsicle melted, a sticky, milky-white liquid dripped from Kiana's lips onto Theresa's white tights.
The liquid soaked in, and a dark, damp circle bloomed on the pure, bright fabric.
Kiana giggled and pulled away, saying, "Actually, great-aunt doesn't need to worry about me that much. That guy has a terrible personality and is really annoying, but he won't do anything to actually harm me."
"We can't draw any conclusions yet. This 'Ye Feng' you speak of—we've used every method at our disposal and haven't found even a single clue. Besides… exploring for a natural Stigma is a matter of great significance in its own right."
Then, Theresa looked at Kiana seriously.
"What is it, great-aunt?"
"I just feel like… you've changed recently, Kiana."
"Changed how?"
"You've become a bit like your mother…? I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Eh? Really?!"
Kiana wiggled her waist with delight, leaning forward until her face was almost pressed against Theresa's.
"Great-aunt, can you tell me about my mother?"
Beep! Beep! Beep—!!
Just then, the encrypted communicator on Theresa's desk suddenly lit up. Himeko's voice came from the other end.
"Principal, the science department reports that they just detected a massive Honkai energy fluctuation in Nagazora City. It's suspected to be a Pseudo-Herrscher."
"Oh?"
Theresa glanced at Kiana and murmured, "So it really appeared…"