Night had fallen thick and heavy, and Arc City's neon lights streaked backward across the car windows.
Su Yu kept both hands on the wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
The passenger seat sat empty. Kiana was curled up in the back, small against the wide seat, her gaze locked on the streets rushing past outside the window.
The air inside the car felt a little stifling.
The two of them had just finished that meal of Red Braised Pork back at the rented apartment, and made a phone call that was sure to cost Siegfried a sleepless night tonight — now they were on their way to Arc City First People's Hospital.
Waiting at a red light, Su Yu tapped the brake and glanced at the quiet white-haired girl in the rearview mirror.
"Speaking of which..." Su Yu broke the silence in the car. "Any movement from Sirin's end?"
He'd figured that after crawling out of that damned Spatial Rift looking like something the cat dragged in, that hot-tempered Queen would at least throw a tantrum in his mind, or come looking for a reckoning.
Instead, Sirin had gone utterly silent, as if fast asleep — not a peep out of her.
That kind of calm-before-the-storm quiet sent a chill down Su Yu's spine.
He was half afraid that one of these nights, right in the middle of a good sleep, that Queen would simply seize control of his body and pull off something beyond his wildest imagination.
Hearing the name, Kiana turned her head back.
She remembered the dream — Sirin seated high on her throne, looking down at her, spitting out those sharp, cutting words.
Kiana shook her head.
"She hasn't said a word since we got out of that Spatial Rift." Kiana's voice was soft, echoing faintly in the car. "Who knows what's going on in that head of hers... maybe..."
"Maybe she regrets acting on impulse back then, lending me the Herrscher's Authority and core, and now she's sulking in some corner of my mind, scheming over how to take this body back."
The second half of that thought only rolled around on the tip of Kiana's tongue — she never actually said it.
Su Yu didn't press the matter further.
He hit the throttle, and the car merged back into traffic.
If Sirin's consciousness meant to make contact with Kiana, it would have to happen within this range.
After all, she wasn't a Herrscher of Sentience, and she didn't have some absurd cheat like Yu Ducheng at her disposal.
Once they reached the hospital and cleaned up this whole Kaslana family mess, he'd probably need to check when Squad Monitor Fenghuang could wake up, and ask her to guide him through it.
If worst came to worst, he'd just have to wait until Kiana fell asleep, then slip into the depths of her consciousness to see what state that Queen was really in.
The car glided smoothly down into the hospital's underground second-level parking lot.
Su Yu found a spot, cut the engine, and parked.
The moment the two of them stepped off the elevator into the ground-floor outpatient lobby, they spotted a figure pacing anxiously.
Theresa was wearing a casual hooded sweatshirt today.
She carried a small shoulder bag, and her ankle boots tapped now and then against the polished marble floor.
The instant she saw Su Yu step out of the elevator, relief washed visibly over Theresa's face.
She looked exactly like someone who'd fought a lonely three-day battle and finally spotted reinforcements arriving.
But that joy lasted less than two seconds.
The instant Theresa's gaze slid past Su Yu and landed on Kiana — trailing half a step behind him, head down, anxiously tugging at the hem of her shirt — her expression changed in a flash.
Theresa strode forward, grabbed Su Yu's sleeve, and yanked him behind a nearby vending machine.
"Hey!" Theresa hissed, keeping her voice low. "Why would you bring this child here?!"
Su Yu stumbled from the pull, barely catching his footing before Theresa's interrogation continued.
"Are you seriously planning to talk about her mental illness right in front of her? If Cecilia asks about the girl's condition, what are you going to say? It'll trigger her!"
In the tightly-reasoned, practically report-worthy fantasy Theresa had constructed in her head, Kiana was a poor, orphaned illegitimate niece — abandoned in the wilderness as a child by that scumbag Siegfried, left to fend for herself with no one to depend on.
The unimaginable suffering she'd endured as a child had left her with a severe dissociative identity disorder — that whole "Sirin" business.
"Um..." Before Su Yu could open his mouth to explain, a soft, sweet voice sounded behind them.
Kiana leaned out from the other side of the vending machine, glancing first at Su Yu, then turning her eyes to Theresa.
"Auntie." Kiana took a small step forward, her hands twisting together nervously. "Actually... I already know about everything Su Yu's been doing."
On the way to the hospital, Su Yu had used every spare moment to cram her on the whole insane cover story currently circulating around Arc City.
Right now, in Miss Theresa's eyes, she, Kiana Kaslana, was a bona fide pitiful soul.
Fortunately, she'd crossed paths with this world's magnanimous Bishop Otto, and that indie game producer, Su Yu.
The two of them had hit it off instantly and built her, all alone in this city, a warm little nest — the studio called miHoYo.
And that game modeled after her, Honkai Impact 3rd, wasn't some commercial project at all — it was a secret "psychotherapy" program tailor-made to heal her mental illness.
Not only that — over the phone, Auntie had made a domineering vow to Su Yu.
No matter whether the child showed Kiana's timidity or Sirin's temper, no matter how many personalities she had — as her Auntie, Theresa would make up every ounce of missing love.
She was going to love this child fiercely!!
Hearing that, Kiana felt something was deeply wrong.
The impact was no less than taking another hit of Judgment of Shamash.
Was even the arrogant Herrscher of the Void, who ranted daily about destroying all humanity, about to get "loved fiercely" by this pint-sized Auntie?
This world's Auntie might look small, but the things that came out of her mouth were... honestly stunning.
At Kiana's words, Theresa froze completely.
Her blue eyes, still full of accusation a moment ago, suddenly rimmed red at a visible speed.
Tears welled and swam in her eyes.
"Good girl..." Theresa let go of Su Yu's sleeve, turned, and stepped forward to grab Kiana's hand.
"You... you already knew?" Theresa's voice began to tremble, thick with heartache and self-reproach. "You poor thing... all these years, having to bear so much all on your own — I'm so sorry!"
The sudden movement startled Kiana into flinching back, but she forced herself to stay put and let Theresa hold her hand.
"Don't, don't you worry!" Theresa took a deep breath, as if steeling her resolve. "Cecilia is a very kind person — she would never hurt you!"
"Auntie promises you... I will personally bring that irresponsible scumbag Siegfried to justice, and give you and Kevin a clear, honest explanation!"
She clenched her small fists.
Watching Theresa, full of righteous fury and looking ready to sacrifice family ties for justice, Kiana and Su Yu exchanged a quick glance.
Both of them silently offered up a heartfelt prayer for tonight's doomed victim — Mister Siegfried.
For the hard-won peace of this world, and so that Auntie's fragile-yet-unshakable worldview wouldn't collapse on the spot.
Siegfried would just have to suffer for it.
Theresa let go of her hand, pulled a tissue from her bag, and dabbed at her eyes.
"If you're not ready to see Cecilia yet, Auntie understands." Theresa's tone softened, as though soothing an injured kitten. "After all... after all, this kind of thing really is awkward. But remember — none of this is your fault. You have nothing to be ashamed of. The only one at fault is that bastard Siegfried!"
At the name Cecilia, Kiana's breathing grew noticeably heavier.
She turned her head to glance at Su Yu beside her.
Of course she wanted to see Cecilia.
In fact, ever since she'd fallen out of that pitch-black Spatial Rift, she'd been looking for a chance to properly talk with this world's Mom Cecilia.
Even though, better than anyone, she knew the woman in that hospital room wasn't truly her Mom Cecilia.
She wasn't really Cecilia's child to begin with — at most, a clone made from their daughter's genes.
An imposter.
A monster who'd stolen someone else's life.
But then she thought of that figure in the Rift — wounded, and still insisting on fighting alongside her.
Kiana knew that the woman in this hospital room was the same as the one in her memories.
Given her personality, the moment Kiana stood before her, she'd surely treat her — just like that scruffy old dad Siegfried — with total disregard for her true identity, embracing and caring for her as though she were truly her own daughter.
And it was precisely because she knew that, that she found it all the harder to face.
Kiana's hands slowly curled into fists.
Unable to make up her mind, she instinctively shot Su Yu a pleading look, hoping he'd make the decision for her.
Su Yu caught the look. He didn't give her the answer she wanted.
"Do you want to see Cecilia?" Su Yu looked at Kiana.
He wouldn't make the decision for her.
On this road, destined to intersect with this world's preordained cause and effect, there would be countless forks.
He could protect her, but he couldn't walk it for her.
A child has to learn to walk alone, or the day of growing up will never come.
"I..." Kiana lowered her head.
She fell silent for a long moment.
The only sound in the corridor was the squeak of wheels as a nurse pushed a dressing cart past.
Su Yu reached out.
His broad hand settled over her slightly mussed white hair and rubbed it, not too hard, not too soft.
"All you need to say is whether you want to, or you don't." Su Yu withdrew his hand, looking at her face, lifted in startled surprise. "When you get the chance to decide, follow your first instinct. Don't do anything you'll regret when you look back on it."
Kiana blinked, caught off guard.
She looked at the man in front of her — the one who always, in his flattest, calmest tone, pointed her toward a direction whenever she was most lost.
Slowly, she unclenched her fists.
"I want to see her."
The instant the words left her mouth, most of her tangled hesitation seemed to dissipate with the breath she let out.
Kiana finally nodded, her voice a little firmer now.
"I want to see Mom Cecilia, Su Yu."
"Then let's go see her."
Su Yu reached out, quite naturally, and took hold of Kiana's wrist.
Beneath the thin sleeve, he could feel the faint stiffness of her nervousness.
"Let's go, Theresa." Su Yu said to Theresa, who was still watching them.
"Ah, right..." Watching Kiana trail obediently behind Su Yu like a lost child being led by the hand, Theresa hurried to lead the way, and the three of them headed toward the VIP ward of the inpatient department.
Meanwhile, on the fifteenth floor of the inpatient building, inside a quiet, high-grade private room —
Cecilia sat propped up in the hospital bed.
Her face was still a little pale, medical tape from an IV line stuck across the back of her right hand.
The room was so quiet she could hear the ticking of the electronic clock on the wall.
Her thoughts drifted back three days.
Ever since narrowly escaping that monster-infested Rift, she'd fallen unconscious. When she woke, she was already lying in this hospital bed.
The doctor said it was just overexertion and some scrapes, nothing serious. The first thing she'd done was contact Otto to confirm everyone's safety.
As she'd started to describe over the phone what she'd encountered, an image had surfaced unbidden in Cecilia's mind — the maid-dressed Rita she'd met in the Rift, and the snow-white-haired girl wielding twin pistols: Kiana.
She also recalled, faintly, what she'd overheard before losing consciousness — Theresa's sharply accusatory muttering, and that absurd conclusion about "Siegfried's illegitimate daughter."
Cecilia had originally intended to tell Otto everything that happened in the Spatial Rift, in full detail.
After all, that bizarre scene — those monsters that defied every ordinary law of physics — was something she, in her entire career as a top agent, had never encountered before.
But before she could get out any of the details about the monsters, the hospital room door had banged open, and Theresa came barreling in like a whirlwind.
On the other end of the line, Otto had clearly heard Theresa's unmistakable voice.
"The detailed report on the situation... let's save it for next time, Cecilia." Otto's voice had dropped low, punctuated by a couple of theatrical coughs.
"Whatever you do, don't let anything slip in front of Theresa! It took her days to finally come around — I don't want her turning around and painting me as some grand villain plotting against the whole world to resurrect a lost love, toying with everyone's feelings all day! That's all, bye!"
The line cut off with a decisive beep.
Cecilia sat there holding the now-blackened phone.
Even across the phone line, she could easily picture the Supreme Bishop of Schicksal on the other end, flustered and scrambling to yank the phone cord out.
This had become one of the great mysteries weighing on her mind.
What Schicksal was currently doing — all those operations hidden beneath a surface of peace — was indeed, in some sense, for the sake of so-called "justice."
But Cecilia also understood that, more often than not, upholding that weighty "justice" inevitably meant dealing in things that couldn't see the light of day.
Knowing just how deep and murky those waters ran, she agreed with Otto's approach — she didn't want an innocent like Theresa exposed to any of it.
Cecilia had assumed that whenever Theresa stepped out for water or the bathroom, she'd find a chance to call Otto privately and report the situation.
But who could have guessed that once Theresa took charge of this room, she'd turned into a round-the-clock surveillance camera, hovering at the bedside without leaving so much as a step — Cecilia never got the chance to dial that classified number.
That wasn't all.
For three straight days, that girl's mouth hadn't stopped, rattling on and on with a string of jaw-dropping revelations that left Cecilia utterly stunned.
Something about Grandpa Otto and that producer, Su Yu, having secretly known each other for ages, thick as thieves behind the scenes.
Something about Otto and Su Yu teaming up to design, specifically for Kiana — the poor Little Junior Sister of the Taixuan Sect, abandoned as a child by heartless parents in the Deep Mountains and Old Forests — a fully immersive psychotherapy program right here in Arc City.
Something about how Kiana's childhood trauma had left her with a severe dissociative identity disorder, and how both of her wildly different personalities were, deep down, desperately starved for love and needed someone to soothe them.
On and on like that — every single premise riddled with holes, and strung together, the whole thing was absurd beyond belief.
Cecilia's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Bishop Otto — is this really the story you cooked up out of thin air just to fool your own granddaughter?
Don't you think this script would sound completely ridiculous to any ordinary person?
As someone who carried not only the blood of House Schariac but also possessed exceptionally high intelligence and analytical skill as a top-tier agent, Cecilia had needed less than a minute to pick apart Theresa's story into shreds.
— This was a lie.
Clearly, Theresa had no idea the Spatial Rift even existed, let alone what kind of monsters lurked inside it.
She had no idea just how far beyond ordinary human ability the girl called Rita and the white-haired girl Kiana really were.
Cecilia reasoned that this glaring gap in information most likely arose because whatever mysterious organization stood behind Kiana had, for some unspoken purpose, deliberately concealed the truth about the Rift and the monsters.
As for Otto, out of concern for Theresa — and to keep certain of Schicksal's core secrets buried — he'd chosen to play along.
Or perhaps he'd simply gone with the flow, which was how Theresa ended up spinning a fantasy worthy of a third-rate soap opera.
Having reached this basicconclusion, Cecilia's brow furrowed slightly as she realized she now faced several new questions.
What exactly was the true nature of that mysterious organization operating in the shadows?
Kiana, who'd fought alongside her in the Rift, and Miss Rita with her scythe, were clearly members of that organization — likely even its core combat strength.
And that organization clearly held no hostility toward her.
Not only had they saved her under those extremely dangerous circumstances, but afterward they hadn't confined her or silenced her either.
On the contrary, in the three days she'd spent in this hospital, aside from the doctors and nurses doing rounds, she hadn't spotted a single person who seemed to belong to that organization restricting her freedom in any way.
If anything, it was the outsider Theresa, self-appointed as her protector, who'd set up a checkpoint at the door and interrogated even a stray fly for half an hour — genuinely restricting Cecilia's freedom of movement.
It left Cecilia not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
It seemed clear that getting to the bottom of all this by relying on Otto was hopeless — she'd have to speak directly with the people involved: Kiana, or Miss Rita.
Or perhaps go meet this "Su Yu" — the man who came up constantly in Theresa's stories, even described as some kind of healer.
Cecilia's instincts told her that this man named Su Yu was certainly the leader of the mysterious organization, or at the very least someone of the highest authority behind the scenes.
Just as Cecilia lay back against her pillow, mulling over what excuse she might use to have Theresa bring the two of them to the room, Theresa — who'd been sitting bedside peeling an apple — suddenly bolted upright.
"Excellent!" Theresa stared at the phone in her hand, tossing the paring knife she'd just been using onto the plate, practically bouncing three feet off her seat.
She jabbed a finger at the phone screen.
"Cecilia! That Su Yu guy just posted in the group chat! He's finally back from wrapping up his business trip! I'll call him over right now — if you still don't believe what that bastard Siegfried did, you can just ask him all the details in person!"
Cecilia blinked.
Talk about falling asleep just as someone hands you a pillow.
"Sure." Cecilia nodded readily, her tone calm.
Footsteps sounded from the corridor, breaking Cecilia's train of memory.
The door swung open.
Theresa came in first.
She tucked her phone into her bag, turned around, wearing an oddly awkward expression, even scratching at her own cheek with one finger, her gaze flicking back and forth between Cecilia and the doorway.
"Um, Cecilia—" Theresa dropped her voice. "Kiana — the child I've been telling you about these past three days — she came along too. Are you..."
At that name, Cecilia's body straightened up on its own.
She felt intense curiosity about this child.
Not just because of that head of Kaslana-signature pure white hair. Not just because of Theresa's outlandish claims about Siegfried's illegitimate daughter.
But even more because of the extraordinary skill that girl had shown, fighting in that pitch-black hell of a Spatial Rift.
Among the strong, there's always mutual attraction.
As an agent who'd crawled through storms of gunfire, Cecilia felt that in that brief span of fighting side by side, she and the girl named Kiana had forged an unspoken understanding.
Kiana was a warrior who, though she still looked a little green, was already strong and brave enough in her own right.
That alone was enough for Cecilia to genuinely admire — even like — the girl.
"Let them in, Theresa." Cecilia nodded.
A gentle smile crossed her face.
The door swung fully open.
A young man in ordinary casual clothes walked in, carrying a beautifully wrapped fruit basket.
His other hand held the white-haired girl's.
"It's been a while, Aunt Cecilia. I heard you were in the hospital, so I came to see you."
Su Yu set the fruit basket on the bedside cabinet, greeting Cecilia in the bed with easy naturalness.
Cecilia studied the young man.
The instant she saw Su Yu's face, a flicker of brief hesitation passed through her mind.
She'd heard this name countless times from Theresa before, but now, seeing the real person, the first impression that surfaced in her mind was —
Wasn't this her son Kevin's good friend? She seemed to recall seeing him a few times outside the school gates.
This was the head of that mysterious organization?
Cecilia fixed her gaze on Su Yu, the instincts honed by years as an agent beginning to stir.
This man — his clothes, his hairstyle, even the casual way he set down the basket — everything about him was too ordinary.
His presence was as clean and blank as a sheet of white paper.
Drop him into the crowds of Arc City's morning rush-hour subway, and not a single person would spare him a second glance.
But to someone as experienced as Cecilia, that very extreme of "ordinariness" was the biggest tell of all.
No one's breathing could stay that perfectly steady, without a single fluctuation — unless he'd undergone some rigorous training in concealment, or he simply possessed some technique capable of flawlessly masking his own presence.
Whichever the answer, this young man playing the role of "ordinary friend" in front of Kevin was clearly no simple character.
Only now did Kiana, trailing behind, holding Su Yu's hand, slowly shuffle forward, poking half her head out from behind Su Yu's broad back.
She avoided Cecilia's probing gaze, looking timidly toward a corner of the room instead.
"Um, um... Mom Cecil—" Kiana bit her tongue and forced the word back down, correcting herself. "Miss Cecilia, are we disturbing your rest?"
Cecilia watched the girl.
The contrast with the sharp-eyed warrior wielding twin pistols she'd seen in the Rift was so stark it was almost like meeting a different person.
Was this, then, the so-called "dual personality" Theresa had mentioned before?
In everyday life she was soft-spoken, even a little socially anxious, but in combat she became someone else entirely?
"Come on now." Su Yu let go of Kiana's wrist, giving the top of her head a couple pats in passing. "Weren't you the one insisting on seeing Aunt Cecilia before we even got here? She's right in front of you now — stop hiding."
Nudged along by Su Yu, Kiana reluctantly shuffled forward two steps, finally sitting down, uneasily, in the chair beside the bed.
She'd been thinking all along about getting a proper look at this "mother," and here she was, sitting less than half a meter away.
But now that it was actually happening, Kiana felt as though a wad of cotton were stuffed in her throat — she couldn't force out a single syllable.
All she could do was keep her head down.
Her cheeks slowly flushed red with nervousness and overwhelming embarrassment.
Her hands gripped tightly at her knees.
Watching the girl look so at a loss, as though she'd committed some enormous wrong, something tugged gently at Cecilia's heart.
Theresa's accusations about Siegfried's illegitimate daughter circled through her mind once more.
She'd been firmly convinced it was just Theresa's nonsense. But now, looking at this girl with Kaslana-white hair, her eyes brimming with guilt and helplessness in Cecilia's presence...
Could it be that Siegfried — that idiot always off running missions somewhere — had really stirred up such a scandal behind her back?
The thought lingered in Cecilia's mind for barely two seconds before she cut it off outright.
She looked at Kiana.
Whoever she really was, whatever blood tie — if any — this white hair had with that idiot Siegfried...
In this moment, in Cecilia's eyes, she was simply a bewildered little girl, sunk deep in guilt for some reason.
Nothing more.
Cecilia drew her left hand — the one without the IV — out from under the blanket.
She leaned forward on her own and took hold of Kiana's hand, still clenched on her knee.
"It's alright, Kiana." Cecilia's voice went soft, as though soothing an infant. "Take a deep breath..."
Kiana's whole body trembled at the gentle words.
The warmth of that hand seeped through her skin.
Not scorching, but carrying an irresistible sense of warmth and steadiness.
In an instant, all the fear that had jolted her awake from nightmares on countless nights, all the self-loathing coiled around her heart, seemed to briefly melt away in that warmth.
A sting of tears rose behind her nose.
Kiana clenched her jaw.
"What happened before—" Cecilia glanced at Theresa, still sitting on the nearby couch looking somewhat indignant, and stopped short of naming the Rift outright, "—I haven't had the chance yet to properly thank you for it."
It was the only way she could convey her gratitude for that life-saving debt to the girl in front of her — vague and roundabout.
"Cecilia." Theresa caught the key word in that sentence and immediately turned, alert. "Before... don't tell me you and this child have already met in private?"
The air in the room froze for a beat.
That was Auntie for you — most of the time hopelessly off the mark, but every once in a while, she'd hit the nail right on the head.
"Ah, um—" Kiana panicked.
"Ahem." Cough. Su Yu immediately pulled over a nearby chair and sat down, smoothly cutting into the conversation.
"Actually, here's what happened — a few days ago, Kiana went out to buy a late-night snack, and happened to run into Aunt Cecilia, who was lost in the Old District of Arc City at the time. So she just gave her directions — it was really nothing much."
Su Yu's straight-faced improvisation earned him a look from Cecilia in the bed, full of "grateful cooperation."
"Ah, yes, yes, exactly! That's exactly what happened!" Kiana nodded along rapidly, as if grasping at a lifeline.
Theresa didn't think twice about the explanation, swallowing it whole without a second thought.
"Honestly, Grandpa!" Theresa clenched her fists, launching into a tirade against Otto. "I'm definitely calling him later to give him a piece of my mind! Cecilia, you were already exhausted from your mission, and instead of letting you rest when you got back, he sends you all over the place on business trips to somewhere like the Old District, where even GPS gets lost! That's just too much!"
At this, Cecilia in the bed and Su Yu in his chair exchanged a look, entirely without meaning to.
Both their expressions were priceless.
There was an indescribable awkwardness to it, but in that moment, the thought running through both their minds was, remarkably, identical.
Let Bishop Otto take the hit — one more blame to carry wouldn't make a difference at this point.
As long as Bishop Otto shouldered it all, everything would turn out fine!
Far away at headquarters in Europe, Otto let out an enormous sneeze, feeling an odd stiffness in his neck — probably from all the blame being piled onto him lately.
"Um, um..." Kiana finally recovered her wits.
She gave Cecilia's hand a slightly firmer squeeze in return, lifting her head, a flicker of longing shining in her mismatched eyes — mixed with the fear that speaking up would only bring rejection.
"Cecilia... can, can I call you... Mom Cecil—" The word slipped almost to her lips before she forced it back down.
"Can I call you sister?" Kiana asked, the words barely more than a breath.
Cecilia didn't pull her hand away.
She looked at the girl's nervous expression.
"Of course you can, Kiana." Her eyes curved into a smile.
"Hey, hey!" Theresa, sitting nearby, could no longer stay put. She sprang up off the couch, eyes wide, pointing at the two of them. "Kiana, you're calling Cecilia sister? Then — then if you call her that, the whole family order gets thrown completely out of whack!"
"What's there to fuss about." Su Yu pointed at himself. "If you think the family order's a mess, work this out — if Kiana calls Aunt Cecilia 'sister,' what should I call Miss Cecilia from now on? I can hardly call her 'sister' too, can I?"
Kiana turned to look at Su Yu, at that expression of his that clearly relished stirring up trouble.
"We can each have our own arrangement." Kiana muttered under her breath, her voice trailing off smaller and smaller. "If you really feel you're losing out, you... you could call me Auntie from now on, I suppose..."
"Are you seriously trying to steal Auntie's lane here?!" Su Yu shot back on the spot.
"Su Yu! You—!" Theresa's cheeks flushed red as she shouted at him. "I've told you how many times already — I am NOT your Auntie! Stop picking up Kevin and Kiana's habit of calling me that out in public!"
For a moment, the room — once thick with cautious probing and heavy tension — dissolved into cheerful chaos over this utterly pointless squabble about family hierarchy.
Watching Kiana's expression finally relax, Theresa's shoulders slowly slumped in relief.
She'd known all along that with Cecilia's bone-deep gentleness, she'd surely get along wonderfully with this long-suffering illegitimate niece.
That was enough.
Just as the mood in the room had fully eased...
The phone in Theresa's shoulder bag suddenly let out a short, buzzing notification.
She walked over and pulled it out.
On the screen was an urgent message from Bronie.
[Target location locked. Wild Siegfried spotted. Come at once. — Hack Bunny]
"What?!"
Theresa stared hard at the screen, and the blushing, diminutive elder who'd just been flustered over family titles vanished in an instant.
The Auntie determined to sweep Arc City clean of villainy and hunt down the deadbeat with unstoppable fury was back online.
"Got it!" Theresa fired off a voice message into the phone.
She spun around, slinging the small bag over her shoulder.
"I've already tracked down where that bastard Siegfried is holed up in this city — before he can slip away, I'll be right back!"
Theresa's tone was murderous.
She reached the door, turning back for one last word.
"Tonight, I'm going to make that irresponsible scumbag kneel on a mechanical keyboard and confess every dirty little detail from the past decade or more, in full!"
Bang.
The hospital room door slammed shut.
As the rapid clatter of Theresa's footsteps faded down the corridor, the room fell suddenly quiet.
Only Cecilia, Su Yu, and Kiana — still seated at the bedside — remained.
After a brief silence...
Cecilia released Kiana's hand and adjusted her pillow to a more comfortable angle.
She didn't look at Kiana, instead casting her gaze past the bed, straight at Su Yu sitting a short distance away.
"Su Yu." The gentle smile faded from Cecilia's face, the sharp instincts of an agent gathering once more in her eyes.
"That message Bronie just sent — you had it arranged in advance, didn't you, to get Theresa out of the way?"
The timing had been far too convenient.
No sooner had Theresa helped smooth things over than intel on Siegfried's location arrived on her phone, precisely on cue.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of intelligence work could work out, with a little calculation, that this had been deliberately arranged.
At the question, Su Yu betrayed no trace of panic at being caught out.
"Seems these little tricks can't slip past Aunt Cecilia's eyes after all..." Su Yu stood up.
He walked to the window beside the bed and drew the blinds, shutting out even the last sliver of light filtering in from the corridor.
"That's right." Su Yu turned around.
"Both you and I — in everything we just talked about — have some secrets we absolutely don't want Theresa knowing right now."
He walked up to the bedside.
"Theresa's off hunting down Uncle Siegfried now — no telling how long his skills can hold off an Auntie that furious. So let's not waste time on pointless feeling-out. Let's cut straight to it."
Su Yu looked down at Cecilia before him.
The teasing warmth was gone from his eyes now.
"Miss Cecilia."
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉