"Kiana, wake up..." The golden-eyed "Kiana" clutched Raiden Mei's throat, her giggles echoing incessantly.
-
"Waaahhh!" The white-haired clump jolted awake on the white hospital bed, gasping for air.
Before she could catch her breath, Mei pounced on her excitedly. "Kiana, you're finally awake!"
The white-haired clump's consciousness snapped back to reality. Standing around her bed were Himeko, Theresa, Bronya, Kyuusyou, and Ninti, all watching her with varying degrees of concern and curiosity.
"What happened...? How did I end up here? Wasn't I supposed to be on a mission in Singapore?"
"You reckless girl! You lost consciousness during the mission after being struck by a powerful surge of Honkai energy—how careless! Thank goodness Snow, who was vacationing in Singapore, and Fu Hua, who was with you, found you in time and brought you back."
"Remember to thank them later."
Himeko crossed her arms, shaking her head at Kiana's bewildered expression. The white-haired clump, now fully awake, felt as if she had been hit by a battering ram—every muscle ached fiercely.
Ninti, watching Kiana's grimacing, seemed to remember something.
"Sister Kiana, Sister Fu Hua said you did an excellent job on the mission. She's planning to give you a perfect score!"
"Yay! Class Monitor is the best!" The white-haired clump instantly forgot her pain and cheered.
"...But Sister Kiana, you're still missing over thirty credit points this semester," Ninti reminded her earnestly, looking puzzled by Kiana's sudden outburst.
"...Mei, is it too late to faint again?"
"Kiana—!" Mei's exasperated voice rang out, accompanied by the laughter of the others in the room.
-
In a distant corridor, a golden-haired, green-eyed man walked side-by-side with his daughter.
These were the very culprits responsible for the White-haired Clump's excruciating aches.
"How are you feeling, my child?" the man asked casually, strolling leisurely through the academy.
"The fight felt good," the girl replied after a moment's thought. "And that Herrscher Consciousness is such a noob, yet it's so addicted and never shuts up..."
"A noob, addicted, and never shuts up..." The man's lips twitched.
"...I wasn't referring to that, my daughter. I meant—what are your thoughts on my plan: having Fu Hua take K-423 on an outing to assess the plan's progress?"
"The Herrscher Consciousness is already becoming increasingly active. It's projected to fully awaken within the next year or two, and through special stimulation, it will completely seize control of this body."
"This one to two years will be more than enough time for K-423 to forge deep bonds within this academy."
"And then, my dear old Dad, you can finally test whether your 'power of love' can truly allow a human heart to control a Herrscher's power."
The girl recited her father's plan with a bored expression, showing neither mockery nor dissuasion.
"You don't seem to object at all?" The man gazed at his daughter, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
"...Object? To your plan? No, no... Your plan actually suits me quite well." The girl shook her head.
"Is that so... A plan, by its very nature, remains subject to variables and unforeseen events, no matter how meticulously refined or how thoroughly its gaps are filled."
"And you, my child, you seek to exploit these loopholes, transforming variables into constants and turning accidents into predetermined realities, thereby altering the course of the plan itself."
"Rather than exhaust yourself devising an entirely new scheme to oppose it, you've chosen to leverage the plan that was already in place from the beginning."
"You've quietly embedded elements of change, pivotal turning points, and transformative actions within its framework—ensuring that the plan's orchestrators see it as perfectly logical, all while imperceptibly altering its trajectory."
"I've obtained the experimental data, but what have you gained, my child? I find myself quite curious..."
The man nodded in approval, then abruptly shifted his tone.
"However, my child, if you merely seek to exploit this situation for personal gain... you will ultimately fail to alter the final outcome."
"You needn't worry about that, Father... You should be more concerned about how you'll explain the life-sized, one-to-one scale figurine hidden under your desk when Mother returns."
"...How did you find out?" Cold sweat suddenly trickled down the man's face.
"Even though you looked really cool when you transferred Simon Lailey to my team, Father—"
"You looked utterly flustered when you first hid it under the desk... especially with that large floor-to-ceiling mirror right behind your office chair."
"I saw everything—" Snow glanced at Otto, who was already starting to turn ashen beside her.
"My child—let's make a deal..." Golden feathers began to materialize around the man's hands.
"Awooo—"
"Absolutely not."
Without hesitation, the good daughter punched her deadbeat dad squarely in the nose, interrupting his spellcasting.
"Fine... let's make another deal. Keep this quiet, and I'll design a custom Valkyrie Battlesuit for each member of your team."
"And I'll formally recognize your relationship with that little rabbit—spit, spit, spit—that little darling. What do you say, my daughter?"
Otto presented what he believed to be an irresistible offer, while Snow scrutinized his face for an agonizingly long time. Otto began to wonder if he'd forgotten to brush his teeth that morning, perhaps with a stray piece of vegetable stuck between his teeth.
Just as the man's self-doubt was about to be validated, the girl finally responded:
"Alright, you said it yourself, Father. I didn't force you, right?"
"Right, right, right!" The man nodded frantically.
"Then it's settled... Oh, and one more thing..."
"My dearest Father, have you thought about how you'll explain this to your dream goddess?"
"You know, the one who suddenly has a daughter with your bloodline?"
"..."
Otto Apocalypse, the greatest Overseer in Schicksal's history, abandoned all rational thought in that moment.
"Aha hah... Child, can I put you back where you came from?"
"Realistically speaking, you can't, so please face reality—"
"And your established domestic hierarchy." Snow wagged her index finger at the man in a gesture of dismissal.
"Furthermore... as your only daughter and Theresa as your nominal granddaughter—"
"What should I call her? What should she call me?"
"Even though European noble relations are quite tangled... are you planning to perform—whether it's 'My Daughter' or 'Mine's Daughter'—isn't this taking the chaos too far?"
"...Daughter, your old man suddenly remembered some unfinished business at Headquarters! I can't stay to chat any longer."
"See you next time—!"
Under the girl's barrage of questions, the man spoke softly. His Soulium muscles began to activate, especially those in his legs.
Then, with a burst of astonishing speed, he vanished before his daughter's eyes.
"Tch—"
Escaping is shameful, but effective...