Honkai: Strijder
Chapter 439: Do You Know?
It was supposed to be time for breakfast, but Durandal was walking down the corridor toward Rita's room, carrying the slightly risqué-dressed maid Rita on her back.
Come to think of it, Rita had always been an excellent cook and knew Durandal's taste preferences extremely well, so she could always prepare the five daily meals that Durandal liked. But Seele, Mei, Wendy, and the others were hardly bad cooks either. Especially Sigurd, who was talented in many fields, his standards for evaluating food and his cooking skills were both extremely high. Under his guidance and urging, their cooking had also become outstanding.
In short, since she ate Rita's cooking every day, having the chance to taste different yet equally delicious food now and then made Durandal rather look forward to the three daily meals here.
"Ah…."
Walking down the hallway, Durandal couldn't help sighing softly.
Although she didn't mind taking care of Rita, and the sigh was very light, Rita still heard the hint of regret in it.
The maid wrapped her arms around Durandal's neck and laughed lazily and softly.
"Lady Durandal, are you regretting missing breakfast?"
"…I am not!"
"You hesitated! Just like before, whenever you lie to Rita, you always hesitate. Someone as upright and kind as you really isn't suited for lying."
"…"
Durandal rolled her eyes, unable to respond, and simply smacked the soft, rounded backside she was supporting.
"Ah! Lady Durandal, please be gentle. Rita can't endure your whipping right now—I'll break~~"
"Ah! That's enough, Rita!"
Durandal still couldn't get used to Rita's strange remarks. No matter the situation, whenever Rita spoke, it somehow turned unhealthy. There had to be something wrong with this woman's personality!
Durandal strode forward and couldn't resist giving Rita another slap on the backside.
Rita shivered on her back and let out an ambiguous gasp.
"Ah! I'll stop talking! Lady Durandal, spare me~~"
"Just shut up!"
Durandal already felt a little powerless. She couldn't understand why Rita had been so exhausted and weak in Sigurd's room, yet once she was on her back, she suddenly became so talkative.
Rita rested her face against Durandal's fragrant shoulder and giggled.
"Hehe~ But speaking of which, when we were young, it was usually Rita carrying the mischievous and adorable Lady Durandal back to your room after you got tired from playing. Situations like this are really rare."
"Nonsense. When you trained with me until you were exhausted, I also carried you back!"
"But those were mostly princess carries, Lady Durandal."
"Don't get hung up on the details! Carrying is carrying, whether in my arms or on my back! By the way, why were you in Lord Sigurd's room?"
Durandal turned her head suspiciously toward Rita.
This time Rita lost her smile, replaced with a look of deep resentment.
"It's nothing…"
"Don't try to fool me. Just like you can see through my lies, I can tell when you're hiding something too. What exactly happened? These past two days you've seemed like you're hiding a lot of worries but refuse to tell me."
"What if I said I admired Lord Sigurd's heroic and majestic bearing, so I went to offer myself to him late at night?"
"That's unlikely. You're not a lovestruck fool… I think?"
Durandal recalled occasionally catching Rita staring at photos of Theresa—or of Durandal herself when she was younger—with an extremely strange smile. Her words suddenly became hesitant.
Before Rita could question her resentfully, Durandal added:
"Although Lord Sigurd's private life seems a bit chaotic, in any case he's not the kind of person who behaves recklessly. Besides, I know you're quite afraid of Lord Sigurd. You wouldn't have the courage!"
"…You really do see things clearly."
Rita sighed faintly.
And yet, despite being so rational and perceptive, why couldn't she see the subtle yet persistent attitude Sigurd had shown toward her for so long?
Lady Durandal truly was a silly goose, hopelessly so.
Then Rita regained her spirits and asked:
"Before Rita answers, please tell Rita first, why did you spend the entire night in Lord Sigurd's bedroom together with Lady Kiana?"
"Th–that…"
Durandal's steps paused, and her thoughts stalled as well.
The truth she had learned last night was indeed extremely explosive, and it probably involved many things. Although Sigurd had not asked her to keep it secret, she herself understood that it probably wasn't suitable to spread this matter casually for the time being.
'Something's wrong!'
Rita narrowed her fox-like, seductive eyes. From Durandal's brief pause, she immediately sensed something unusual.
"Did Lord Sigurd ask you to spend the night with him, and Lady Kiana stayed up all night trying to persuade you?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! When you have time, you should really take your brain out and wash it, Rita!"
Durandal's face flushed red as she refuted loudly and quickly.
Rita placed a hand on her chin and nodded.
'No lie… so it's not the worst-case scenario. Then what could it be? Lord Sigurd's bedroom is not a place just anyone can enter. For him to be so tolerant of Lady Durandal—and for someone as principled as her not to refuse—there must be something behind it!'
Under Rita's scrutiny, Durandal finally said hesitantly:
"I… I'm not sure yet whether it's appropriate to tell you. Anyway, it's not really a big deal. Just let me think about it first."
"Very well. Everything will be as Lady Durandal wishes. As for me… I simply noticed that you hadn't returned for a long time, so I went to check what was going on. It just so happened that Lord Sigurd was busy with work and urgently needed help, so I stayed to assist. That's all—nothing more happened, Lady Durandal."
"…You're still not telling the truth. But since I hid something from you first, I'm not in any position to force you. If you don't want to say it, then forget it. We're here, get some good rest."
Durandal pushed open the door to Rita's room and spoke helplessly.
After placing Rita on the bed, Durandal was about to leave when Rita grabbed her hand.
"Rita?"
"I'm a little tired, but I'd still like to take a bath. Could you help me, Lady Durandal?"
"Alright. I'll go get some clothes and run the hot water. You take off this outfit first."
"Yes~~"
Having finally managed to get Durandal to personally take care of her, Rita smiled particularly sweetly.
Of course, the so-called "help with bathing" was skillfully turned by Rita into a shared bath full of fanservice. The details will not be described here.
…
Meanwhile, on Sigurd's side, he had just brought Kiana to the dining hall and finished a lively breakfast when Theresa stopped him.
"Um, Sigurd… Siegfried and I have something we'd like to discuss with you privately. Do you have time right now?"
Theresa tilted her head up and smiled in an especially gentle and adorable way.
Sigurd was the type who responded to softness but not force. Acting with a bad attitude would only cause oneself to suffer losses. Besides, Sigurd now held authority over the entire civilization, so in both sentiment and reason, Theresa had to be polite.
At that moment, Kiana popped her head out from behind Sigurd, blinking her big, innocent eyes.
"Auntie, Dad, what do you want with Sig? Tell me too! Telling me is the same as telling him!"
'No, this is exactly the one thing we can't casually tell you!'
Theresa's mouth twitched. Forcing herself to maintain a loving smile, she stood on tiptoe and patted Kiana's head.
"Kiana, this is official business involving some planning documents for the Far East Branch and the Siberian Branch—"
"Ah! Sig, Auntie, I just remembered I promised Senti we'd spar today! I've gotta go now—let's talk next time, bye!"
Kiana finished speaking rapidly and disappeared in a flash.
Sigurd watched as Kiana was easily sent away. Thoughtfully, he glanced at Theresa, then at Siegfried behind her.
Theresa remained calm.
Siegfried, however, went through a series of strange facial expressions before finally whistling awkwardly and letting his gaze drift toward the ceiling.
Sigurd wasn't blind. He could naturally tell something was strange.
"To the observation deck."
Thinking it would be a good chance to look at the scenery and relax after working for a full day and night, Sigurd turned and walked outside, with Theresa and Siegfried following behind him.
Reaching the rooftop among the clouds, Sigurd sat down under a pavilion, poured three cups of tea, then calmly sipped his tea while looking at the two strangely behaving people across from him.
"So, what is it? Speak."
"..." ×2
Siegfried and Theresa looked at each other silently, even exchanging a brief round of secret gestures and eye signals.
Finally, the now much more reliable Theresa spoke first and asked an extremely outrageous question:
"Did you know that Kiana might be pregnant?"
Boom!!!
A thunderclap exploded inside Sigurd's mind.
Sigurd stopped thinking.
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Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 490: There's Going to Be Trouble[1]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/Strijder/posts/honkai-strijder-161536858
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Strijder/posts/honkai-strijder-161536858