Anna nodded, took the document, and lowered her head to read it carefully.
Theresa Starts to Panic
Bai Yan slept rather restlessly that night. When he woke up, it was only five in the morning, and his mind was still foggy.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Kiana clinging to him like an octopus, her face buried against his stomach.
The sensation was actually pretty nice.
Kiana was still rather skinny now, only slightly better built than he was.
With Fu Hua as such a fine example before him, he did not need to wear padded frontal armor, making it less likely for him to be exposed.
If Kiana was such a big eater, then the question was, during the time she had wandered alone, what had she used to fill that black-hole-like stomach?
Did Schicksal airdrops really guarantee delivery? And how had she fooled Kiana during the period when her brain had been altered?
No wonder Kiana was so thin. Before coming to stay with her aunt, she had probably never had enough to eat.
It took Bai Yan quite some effort to slip out of her bear hug before he began making breakfast.
After preparing the ingredients and setting the steaming and cooking times, he returned to the bedside and crouched down.
"Drooling again. I should take a few pictures as blackmail."
Click, click...
Bai Yan checked the time, put his things away, and headed to the kitchen.
Near dawn, Kiana woke up.
"Mmm, what time is it... Huh? This is..."
She instantly became alert. An unfamiliar room!
Hearing the sound of slippers from the kitchen, she darted in like a flash.
"Xiao Yan?"
"You're awake? Breakfast will be ready soon. Go wash up first."
"Got it, hehe... By the way, what are we having this morning?"
"Fried eggs, steak, and porridge."
Kiana looked at the steak in the pan, sniffed the aroma, and her eyes lit up.
"Wow, there's so much! It smells amazing!"
"Is it enough?"
"Enough, enough..."
After the two finished breakfast, Bai Yan quickly washed the dishes, wiped his hands, then took two cartons of milk from the refrigerator and handed one to Kiana.
"Thanks, Xiao Yan. Um, sorry about last night. I don't know how I ended up falling asleep."
"It's fine."
Kiana stopped being polite and started eating.
Sometimes Bai Yan felt as though he had gained a buddy, but her voice and face would always pull him back out of that illusion.
The moment they went downstairs, Bai Yan saw Bronya standing beside the flower bed, silently watching him and Kiana.
Just as he was about to greet her, he noticed that her gaze shifted slightly.
Bai Yan followed her line of sight.
Raiden Mei was staring at him.
"Mei, morning!"
"...Mm, morning, Kiana."
She forced out a smile and hesitated for a long time before speaking.
"Kiana, why weren't you in your own room last night?"
"Oh, yesterday I was doing practical combat training with Xiao Yan and the class monitor. After I helped Xiao Yan home, I got really tired, then fell asleep. I only woke up this morning."
"Is that so..."
Raiden Mei's sharp gaze swept over him. Bai Yan seemed to see an illusion of lightning filling the sky, while the purple-haired girl appeared ready to sprout horns and transform into a demon king.
Bang!
"What?!"
Consumed by anger, Theresa sprang up from the sofa, vaulted over the desk, and barely landed in front of Fu Hua.
"You said Kiana? She was there too?"
"Uh, is there something wrong with that?" Fu Hua asked in confusion.
"...Nothing. I'm just a little surprised. It's a good thing, all good things, haha."
Theresa forced a smile, feeling only that her luck was terrible and fate cruel. All her careful planning had turned to nothing, and she had only ended up dropping a stone on her own foot.
Originally, one top student was acting as a crutch. Now there were two top students serving as a wheelchair. Even if Kiana were disabled, she could still aim for A-rank Valkyrie.
Her authority as an aunt was about to crumble...
Forget it. Whatever. Let it be.
Theresa completely wilted. She trudged back to the sofa and collapsed onto it, waving a hand. "You've worked hard, Fu Hua. Go prepare for class first."
"Yes, Principal."
Once Fu Hua left, Theresa grabbed Humo and hugged it fiercely, looking as though she wanted to squeeze the doll apart.
At last, she released the miserable Humo, sighed, and began considering how she should talk to Kiana.
In any case, she was doing this for Kiana's own good. Sigfried was no good either. Her niece had probably learned all those bad habits from him.
You stole my Cecilia and even led my niece astray. Sigfried, your crimes are unforgivable!
"This Bai Yan... I think Ragna recommended her. I have to admit, she really is talented."
After calming herself, Theresa's parental instincts kicked in.
"I need to give her some special treatment. The others are useless. Only she can make Kiana study obediently."
Theresa set Humo down, clasped her hands behind her back, and paced back and forth through the office.
A moment later, she stopped.
"Kiana has been climbing over the walls again lately, but her grades are decent, so let it slide. Blocking is worse than guiding."
Theresa could not help straightening her back, her perspective broadening along with it.
"I can't let that brat corrupt Xiao Yan. Besides, if she can pass the A-rank exam, ninety percent of the credit will belong to Xiao Yan."
She narrowed her eyes.
No, one hundred percent!
There was a loophole. Her authority could be saved.
From now on, any good opportunities would go to Xiao Yan first!
What right did that troublesome niece have to claim credit? She was a poor student. As principal, Theresa would be fair to everyone.
Theresa folded her arms.
This was the gravitas of a veteran S-rank Valkyrie!
"Hm? A communication from Headquarters?"
She opened it.
A large projection of Rita appeared before Theresa.
"Good day, Lady Theresa."
"It's Rita. What is it?"
"My apologies for disturbing you. Rita needs to relay a notice from the Bishop."
"A notice? What does Grandpa need to notify me about?"
Theresa looked puzzled, unable to guess what Otto was plotting this time.
"This is not a notice directed solely at you, but one for the many branches of Schicksal."
"According to the directive, in order to evaluate each branch's results in training Valkyries, Headquarters has specially prepared a guided sparring event..."
As Rita explained, Theresa's expression became exceptionally colorful.
The so-called event was for two S-rank Valkyries from Headquarters to lead several A-rank Valkyries to each branch and challenge them—conducting guided sparring matches.
Victory and defeat were not the key. The important thing was to assess the overall combat strength of every branch.
That was the official explanation, and it was all the branch heads, including Theresa, were allowed to know.
Otto's true purpose was to see the core of his plan and his beloved granddaughter.
As for Durandal, she wanted to... Anyway, she simply wanted a legitimate reason to visit the Far East Branch.
Schicksal was truly rotten. A tiny act of willfulness from a teacher and student would cause countless Valkyries to lose sleep all night.
Theresa was numb.
Although the Far East Branch had some talented people, its overall training intensity was much lower than that of the other branches.
If they were assessed like this, they might be stripped down to their underwear.
She forcibly kept a straight face, refusing to lose her composure as Rita slowly finished speaking.
"The order of this competition will be random, so please remain prepared at all times, Lady Theresa. There is no need to be overly nervous. The Bishop merely wishes to understand the specific circumstances."
"I-I understand. Is there... anything else?"
Rita calmly glanced at the beads of sweat on Theresa's forehead and gave a slight bow.
"That concludes the message. If you have no other questions, Rita must relay it to the next person in charge."
"No, that's all. Go ahead and get busy."
"Then Rita will take her leave. Thank you for your consideration."
The projection vanished, and Theresa completely deflated.
All the authority she had displayed moments ago disappeared as she gritted her teeth and muttered, "Grandpa, did you do this on purpose?!"
All for This Dish of Vinegar
Classroom.
Whispers and unease filled the entire classroom, all because of the latest notice from Schicksal Headquarters.
The exam-focused students only understood two words: unified exam.
Using age as the standard, anyone who had reached the specified age would have to undergo an assessment.
That naturally included Kiana and the others.
As everyone knew, The Big Three Families were considered transfer students at St. Freya. They were around Anna's age; Anna had officially become a Valkyrie at twelve and advanced to A-rank at sixteen.
In terms of timing, Kiana and the others were all Valkyries who had started halfway through.
Bronya, however, was a natural academic genius, while Raiden Mei was intelligent. With their talent, they could keep pace.
Kiana... was difficult to describe.
One could guess what quality of education Kiana had received in Siberia from the time she was rescued from the laboratory until Sigfried left without saying goodbye.
And after that, from 2010 to 2014, Kiana had wandered alone from Siberia to Changkong City.
How many chances had she had to receive an education during those years?
The three years at St. Freya had certainly been Kiana's happiest period, because at all other times, she had nothing except that lousy father of hers.
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