To "take responsibility." The phrase has its origins in ancient texts, meaning to bear a duty.
But in the context of a relationship between a man and a woman, what kind of situation would necessitate the use of such a term?
Kiana's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
Her expression was one of utter disbelief.
Ah Li... slept with Seele.
"Ah Li, you're just joking, right?"
The white-haired girl, who had always believed Li Zihan would choose between her and Mei, let her arm, which had been wrapped around the boy's neck, fall slack.
She forced a smile and spoke.
"This might be a bit sudden, but... it's the truth," the boy, who had indeed been intimate with Seele, said with a somewhat wistful expression. "This is what happened."
Everything suddenly became painfully clear.
Before this, Kiana had found it strange that Li Zihan, a known pervert who loved to flirt with different girls, would suddenly make a definitive choice. After all, once you have an official girlfriend, it becomes much harder to mess around with other girls, doesn't it?
For a playboy to make such a decision at an age when he was clearly not done sowing his wild oats was truly suspicious.
I should have figured this out long ago, shouldn't I?
The girl's pale face twisted into a bitter smile.
Now the answer was obvious. He had slept with a girl and reached the stage where he had to take responsibility. Naturally, he had to start reining himself in.
"Can... can you tell me the specifics?" the girl asked, her smile strained as she looked at the boy's melancholy face.
"Seele has a dual personality. Her second personality is very aggressive and loves to tease people. We were living together, and... one thing led to another."
The vague words left the boy's lips and entered the girl's ears. The description was hazy, but Kiana could vividly imagine the scene.
A seductive soul borrowing the body of a pure and innocent girl, teasing the never-well-behaved Ah Li.
And then, it was probably... night, a bed, and a bloodstained sheet.
The next part of the story was even clearer.
The girl demanded that the boy who had taken her body take responsibility.
And that led to the current situation.
As she pieced together the sequence of events, the girl's face grew even paler.
So... she was just out of the game like that?
Kiana felt a weakness she had never experienced before. She had gone hungry after separating from her father, while searching for him. Back then, her entire body had felt drained of strength.
But the sense of powerlessness she felt now was more than ten times greater than what she had felt back then.
"Then... Ah Li, what are you planning to do next?" the girl asked, clinging to the last sliver of hope, though she already had an idea of what was coming.
"Probably... I'll go to Anti-Entropy and arrange for the temporary release of Seele's guardian, Cocolia. Then I'll go back to Siberia with Seele and her." The boy's voice was tinged with guilt.
A stateless person wishing to marry a Federation citizen must first establish residency and obtain proof thereof.
A memory flashed through Kiana's mind—the sight of Bronya flipping through the Federation's family law, and this exact passage.
So, the next step is getting proof of residency? And the step after that...?
Kiana couldn't bring herself to think about it.
Instead, her mind was flooded with scenes of her and that bastard.
It was him who went with her to the love hotel and baited her missing father out of hiding.
It was him who called her Great-Aunt from the Far East Branch so they could finally meet.
It was him who, despite his busy schedule, always made time to play games with her. And when she lost, she'd throw a tantrum at him.
It was him who peeked at Mei in the bath with her.
It was him who, after angering her with a prank, stopped using Fenghuang Down on her.
...
Ah Li, who put up with all her nonsense, had to like her, right? And she liked him, too. People who like each other are supposed to end up together. Isn't that the rule?
So why? Why did Ah Li end up with someone else?
For a rare moment, a flame of rage ignited in the heart of the usually carefree Kiana.
She truly... hated this feeling.
"Heh, how pathetic."
In her daze, a voice rang in her ears. It was almost identical to her own, yet steeped in arrogance. Kiana knew who it was—her other self. The one Ah Li called her second personality.
"Oh, my poor other half, give me the body," the arrogant voice echoed in her mind. "Leave the punishment of this servant, who so casually gets involved with other women, to me."
"Give me the body."
"Ah Li is not your servant," Kiana, knowing just how terrifying her other self was, retorted in her mind.
"HE IS MY SERVANT!!" The arrogant voice, as if triggered by Kiana's defiance, roared with palpable fury. "HE HAS BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME! HE JUST DOESN'T REMEMBER IT NOW!!"
He doesn't remember now?
Kiana was bewildered. My other self... knows Ah Li? From long ago?
"My foolish other half, I, Sirin, the Second Herrscher, command you! Give your—no, MY body back to me!"
The Herrscher's voice—the true identity of K423—grew more frantic.
Original body, other half, my body, Second Herrscher. Sirin, Chaldeas...
A series of words connected into a single line in Kiana's mind.
Chaldeas, the Second Honkai War, her own lost memories, her other self who commanded Imaginary power...
A hazy truth began to surface in "Kiana's" mind.
So... I was the second personality all along? The personality born while the real me was sleeping?
Perhaps... her name wasn't Kiana.
It was—
Sirin.
"Kiana, what's wrong?" Sensing that something was deeply wrong with the girl beside him, the boy narrowed his eyes.
The girl didn't answer. She simply closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they swirled with a golden light.
"Servant, everything you have belongs to me."
The Herrscher of the Void, who had already been beaten by Li Zihan several times, once again summoned her armament.
The girl with brilliant golden eyes ground her teeth.
A sphere of Imaginary power materialized from the void, splitting into multiple spiraling bands. The armament known as the Lance of the Void manifested in the mortal world once more.
And then—it shot forward.
"There is a price to pay for messing around with other women behind your master's back!"
Author's note:
ps: I'm dead