Who Says a Child's Parents Have to Be Married to Each Other? (Continued)

As a master of facial expression management, your surprised expression in front of me only makes me feel that this matter is more closely related to you.

But Otto, who is still at the Schicksal Headquarters, is truly dumbfounded this time.

Fu Hua and Rita, who knew part of his plan, both felt that Otto was flooring the gas pedal and accelerating wildly.

But only Otto himself knew—he wanted to apply the brakes.

What made Otto most desperate was that he 'wanted' to step on the brakes, but couldn't find where they were.

During this time, he was so worried about these things that his Soul Steel Body lost a lot of hair.

Kiana and Lin Yu have a child—who the hell is behind this little devil's birth?!

My plan, how could my plan have turned out like this!

Lin Yu's rapid progress is one thing, and I accept his extraordinary talent. With such a large human population, I have no complaints about the emergence of such a prodigy every few hundred years.

But where did this little rascal come from?

Only Schicksal possesses the genes of those three, but I know very well that I did not do this, and I sealed away the genes of Yuno, K423, and Lin Yu after extracting them.

Even Amber wasn't granted access to the genes of those three people, and Anti-Entropy...

Forget it, although these people pose a threat to my plans, they would never do something to help me accelerate Kiana's awakening.

In the end, the only group capable of doing this was the World Serpent.

But now they've been beaten so badly they're running away in panic, and with nothing better to do than become clones of Lin Yu... Could it be that they're planning to use this kid as a fighting force to turn the tide against Schicksal?

Objectively speaking, the enemy's plan failed, and Otto should secretly hide away and laugh three times.

However, if the enemy's plan fails, which could lead to the failure of his own plan, then things would not be good.

"Rita, what are you doing now...?"

After a moment's thought, Otto spoke to Rita in a very serious tone.

"I suspect this child is a tool used by the enemy to sow discord within the Far East Branch. You—no matter what means you use, you must stabilize the situation for me!"

"Your actions concern some important plans, even the survival of the world. You must do everything in your power to prevent those little girls in the Far East Branch from overthinking things."

"The problem isn't Lin Yu or this child, but the World Serpent —your mission this time is to make everyone realize this."

"Yes, I understand."

"Go ahead and do it. If you need support, just tell me and I'll do my best to help you."

After watching Otto finish speaking with an extremely solemn expression on the screen, Rita fell into deep thought.

That's strange. I used to think this child was Bishop Otto's doing, but now...

Even if he's good at pretending, there's no need for him to put on such a show for me, a pawn who doesn't openly threaten his plans.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Although I don't know what Lord Otto was thinking, it's a good thing that he didn't let me use the child's appearance to promote the relationship between A'yu and Kiana.

But...

Rita sighed helplessly at the thought of all the headaches she would have to face in the future.

She only has a preliminary strategy but no detailed plan, and the current situation is very unfavorable for Rita.

Rita, who had spent two years with Lin Yu, knew that although her younger brother was not very obedient, he was very sentimental.

Not long after seeing the child, Lin Yu ignored the complicated looks in everyone's eyes and acknowledged his identity as a father.

I don't know what the original relationship between him and Miss Kiana was like.

But now that they have this child, it's only a matter of time before things warm up between them.

Moreover, it's not appropriate for others to interfere in their affairs—they already have children, so who would have the audacity to intervene at a time like this?

The only person with this right is Ms. Yuno, but Ms. Yuno herself does not have this intention.

As for the others... Mei can't be counted on.

Miss Anna was motivated, but she lacked aggression.

Lady Bianca was originally the most suitable candidate, but now...

Now I understand why Bishop Otto wasn't in a hurry.

No matter how much I think about it now, I can't pull Ayu out of the abyss without telling A'yu the details.

And then he told him the truth about Bishop Otto —given his temperament and understanding, he couldn't hide his true feelings from Bishop Otto.

If I say it, A'yu will want to fight the bishop; if I don't say it, A'yu will eventually get fought by the bishop.

It seems that now I can only take a mixed approach with several plans.

Lady Bianca's charm must be displayed; the fact that she herself has no intention of doing so is actually a good thing.

Because she has no intention, she doesn't deliberately take action, which makes her seem very natural.

As for the others, Ms. Yuno is the right person; I need to find a time to talk to her.

Even that child...

If A'yu focuses all his attention on the child and neglects Miss Kiana, the problem can be solved.

Don't panic, Rita, it's not a big problem yet.

There are so many ways; if the two of them are separated temporarily, Bishop Otto's plan will be postponed.

If I delay now, I might discover more variables and a more suitable plan to save A'yu in the future...

Hopefully, things will unfold as I envision.

Otherwise...

As Rita watched the group of girls enter the hotel at the same time, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes.

Since they're all family members without blood ties, then...

—Everyone, if you are all weak and powerless, then I will have to show A'yu what true feminine charm is.

Lin Yu, who was chasing Kiana, suddenly stopped in his tracks after reaching the hotel entrance.

[What's wrong, host? Your wife and daughter are inside.]

[Move it! Why aren't you moving?!]

Stop talking nonsense, you know exactly what I'm thinking right now.

And don't slander me, I don't have a wife.

Come on, we already have a child, it was just a matter of time.

My child...

I caught up with them before because I was worried about some things happening.

But looking back now, I really feel a little panicked.

In the end, I'm just a kid in my early twenties at most.

Before this, I had never even been in a relationship, and now someone is telling me, 'You're going to be a dad...'

[You weren't prepared, were you?]

Yes.

Normally, I'm either around elders like Sue, Himeko, Theresa, and Ghost, or peers like Kiana, Mei, Yuno, Bronya, and Anna.

Having gotten along fairly naturally with my elders and peers, I've never really imagined how I should get along with my children.

It's normal to feel conflicted, but have you considered that nobody knows what tomorrow will bring?

[You weren't prepared, but when your daughter arrives, she won't care about any of this; when the enemy attacks, she won't care about any of this; when the Honkai and Otto try to destroy you, those monstrous creatures won't care about any of this either.]

[Would Lin Yu, who possesses exceptional adaptability and a quick-thinking mind to devise solutions upon encountering an enemy, be stumped by such a young girl?!]

You're being unusually serious today.

But you're right.

Damn, I'm such an idiot, I completely forgot about something so important.

No one can be fully prepared for unexpected events, and now I'm actually 'hesitating' because of something that fell from the sky.

Yes, look how pathetic you are now.

[Just go ahead and hug her—this system is referring to hugging your daughter.]

You probably meant more than just holding your daughter, right?

[Yes, you already know, I suggest you add—]

Okay, thanks for reminding me, you can shut up now.

After interrupting the system's subsequent words, Lin Yu opened the hotel's glass door and walked into the lobby.

Kiana, who was playing with her child in the hall at that moment, saw Lin Yu...

—It suddenly dawned on me that something was wrong.

Because this child is so adorable, ever since I caught up with her, I've completely forgotten that this matter has anything to do with my senior.

Now, now, now...

Wow!

How should I face my senior?

Should I call him "darling," or "father of the child"—no, how could I be so ungrateful?

Although the senior student didn't show any aversion to the child, the relationship between him and me... was clearly not that close.

We haven't done anything between us. If I suddenly use this kind of address to refer to him at a time like this, it will only bother him.

Bronya once said that a sense of distance is a very subtle thing.

If you keep trying to use forceful methods to shorten the distance between two people, it is more likely to make the distance between them grow even greater.

"Kiana, aren't you overthinking things again?"

Seeing Kiana frozen in place, Lin Yu took off his sunglasses and naturally took the child with outstretched arms from Kiana's arms.

"My head is practically steaming."

"Huh???"

After instinctively touching her head, Kiana glared at Lin Yu angrily and said...

"Senior, you're lying to me! This isn't some Far East comic, it can't be that exaggerated!"

After angrily shouting those words, Kiana suddenly felt the awkward atmosphere between them disappear.

Having spent so much time with Lin Yu, Kiana immediately understood that Lin Yu was using his usual trick of diverting Kiana's attention with jokes, thus pulling her out of her 'dead end' state.

Sigh, it's happening again.

This isn't the first time I've encountered this situation, but every time it's my senior who reminds me not to overthink it.

"Dad!"

After giving Lin Yu warm hug, the little girl smiled and said to him.

"Mom and I had a lot of fun playing in the lobby just now."

"Well, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters. But I think there are some things I should tell you first."

"Hey, what is it—let me guess."

Seeing the fleeting seriousness on Lin Yu's face, the little girl put her finger to her lips, frowned, and pondered for a moment.

Then, as if she had just thought of something, she said to Lin Yu very happily.

"You must be going to talk about your relationship with the Mom!"

?

???

Upon hearing the little girl bring up a topic they had never considered, Kiana and Lin Yu were both immediately taken aback.