"Huh? Auntie, you also... think Lynelle seems like Mom?"
"Yeah, I think so too... Wait, Mom?! That's not what I meant at all! You almost dragged me into your nonsense, you dummy!"
Only now realizing what embarrassing thing she'd just said, Theresa's cheeks burned.
She gave Kiana a solid thump on the head. "What I meant to say was... Lynelle really does have a certain feeling of Cecilia about her."
"Cecilia...?"
"That's right. Cecilia Schariac. An S-Rank Valkyrie for Schicksal, and also your mother..."
Theresa sighed. "Fifteen years ago, she stayed behind on the battlefield of the Second Honkai Eruption."
"Though, about the specific circumstances of the Second Eruption, my memory's a bit fuzzy. But I'm absolutely certain, Cecilia really is..."
"Couldn't there be some special circumstance?"
Hearing news about her mother, Kiana instantly perked up. "For example, there's a saying from Class Monitor's hometown, called reincarnation..."
"Dummy, don't believe in all that supernatural hocus-pocus. What you're talking about has a scientific term. It's a phenomenon clearly observed within the bubble worlds of the Sea of Quanta, called the 'phenomenon of counterparts'! Weren't you paying attention in class again?!"
"Ow, ow, ow... Sorry, Auntie..."
"Sigh. Anyway, you should head back for now. I truly don't know much about Lynelle's situation, but your feeling isn't wrong. If you really like her, then go spend more time with her. It's not like Lynelle is some antisocial shut-in who hates interacting with people."
Theresa sighed, waving a hand to shoo Kiana away.
To be honest, she did have some conjectures about Lynelle herself, just nothing as far-fetched as Kiana's.
Her own hypothesis was a bit more practical, you could say, or rather, based on her own personal experiences.
Schicksal's research on the God-Slayer Serum had never stopped, and Theresa knew all too well that she herself was a being born from the experiments to create a replica of Kallen.
So, in order to continue researching the Saint's Blood after Cecilia's death, would Grandfather possibly...?
But if Lynelle really was a clone of Cecilia, then where did her other half of the genes come from?
Why didn't she look anything like Cecilia at all?
--+--
"You're saying Kiana already came to find you? And she wanted to ask about my past?"
Lynelle, having awakened once again at St. Freya Academy, looked at Welt who had come to find her the moment she was up, a surprised expression on her face.
"Kiana's that proactive? I've only been here for less than four months."
"Guess that just shows how strong your appeal is."
Welt shrugged. "You might not believe it, but to get information about you from me, Kiana actually managed to finish a whole semester's worth of history homework... In a way, your positive effect on Kiana's grades is probably greater than all her teachers combined so far."
"At least now, Kiana has gone from scoring less than sixty points across several subjects combined, to having her history grade alone match the sum of all her other subjects."
"Uh, well..."
The Cecilia Stigma on Lynelle's body began to faintly grow warm. Though it was hard to say whether this was Cecilia expressing satisfaction with Lynelle's "teaching results," or concern over Kiana's absolutely abysmal culture class grades.
"Of course, the possibility closer to the truth is that due to the lack of maternal love during her upbringing, and Kiana having no memories before the age of eight, she's extremely sensitive to the feeling of a 'mother.' And you, Lynelle, just happen to possess all the qualities she yearns for."
"In a sense, you're like Kiana's natural partner, perfectly capable of filling all the gaps she's missing. So, it's no surprise she finds you so compelling."
"Th-that's a bit much, isn't it..."
Lynelle pinched the lock of hair dangling by her ear, somewhat guiltily averting her gaze.
"You make me sound like some kind of humanoid succubus. I'm just a little cute, a little enthusiastic, and show Kiana a bit more concern, that's all..."
"You might have some misunderstandings about the word 'a little.'"
"How should I put it... The fact that Kiana can still exercise extreme restraint when interacting with you, instead of sticking to you unabashedly like she does with Raiden Mei, is already worthy of praise for her willpower."
Recalling the "Lynelle Swimming Class Photos" that were being sold for astronomical prices on the St. Freya forums, Welt couldn't help but sigh at the strange culture of the academy.
"Anyway, since Kiana's affection level is already this high, it's about time we found an opportunity to investigate what's really going on with Kiana's memories."
Lynelle stretched, working out the stiffness from her body after sleeping for several days.
"Do you need any help from me?"
"Of course. I'll probably need you to cooperate a bit with the teaching schedule, Mr. Welt. Let's set the time for tomorrow..."
--+--
And so, one day later, due to a sudden emergency at Teacher Welt's home, the usually meticulous teacher actually forgot to assign homework in his rush to leave the classroom—and it just so happened that the main content of that afternoon's culture class was history.
Even more coincidentally, Lynelle, who regularly visited Kiana's dorm to play games with them, had just brought a brand new game beta cartridge today.
Rumor had it this was the super-secret beta cartridge for the highly anticipated sequel to the globally popular Homu: The Game, with no leaks even from the internal uncle insiders at the developer.
So, naturally, the three of them sitting in front of the console accidentally played well into the wee hours.
"Ah, crap! How is it this late already?"
Lynelle, having just finished a round, yawned and glanced at the wall clock showing 1 AM, then promptly feigned a look of "shock and dismay."
"Does Sister Lynelle have class tomorrow morning?"
Bronya tilted her head. For a gaming addict like her, pulling all-nighters was commonplace, so she naturally wasn't feeling sleepy.
"Not that, it's just that at this hour, the faculty apartments are definitely locked..."
Lynelle sighed. "Forget it, I'll call the dorm supervisor. I hope she won't be too mad..."
"How about this then."
A lightbulb seemed to light up over Bronya's head. "Why doesn't Sister Lynelle just stay and sleep here tonight? Big Sister Himeko and Principal Theresa aren't here today anyway."
"But... wouldn't it be bad to sleep in their rooms without their permission..."
Hesitation was written all over Lynelle's face.
"That's simple."
Bronya discreetly poked Kiana from behind, intending to give this dense white-haired dumpling a bit of an assist.
"Kiana's room is the biggest among ours. Sister Lynelle can sleep in hers for the night."
"After all, we're all girls. No big deal."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.