Xu Yanwu softly sang in the small room.
Keeping time with the song, he gently patted Kiana's body.
With his current body formed from a thread of energy, Xu Yanwu raised his body temperature slightly so Kiana would not catch a chill.
As for Kiana, curled up in Xu Yanwu's arms and hugging a pillow as she listened to his heartbeat, she felt a complete sense of security she had not felt in a very long time.
The singing by her ear, the heartbeat, the warm and strong embrace, and the hand lightly patting her body.
All of it let Kiana slowly... slowly drift peacefully into sleep.
Noticing that Kiana's breathing had gradually steadied, Xu Yanwu's singing slowly came to a stop as well.
Only his gently patting hand did not stop.
Looking at Kiana's sleeping face in his arms, Xu Yanwu felt a pang of heartache.
Perhaps Xu Yanwu was the only one in this world who knew what Kiana would have to face in the future.
She was a Herrscher vessel. She was the real Kiana. She was K423. She was the protagonist of this world, and her future concerned the future of the entire world as well.
She was destined to become a Herrscher. She would surely master a Herrscher's power. She was a warrior against the Honkai, a knight of the Kaslana family, someone Xu Yanwu acknowledged. She was...
She was only a child.
She was only a child under eighteen, still a minor.
Yet so many things had already appeared around Kiana.
And Kiana herself...
She did not know about these things, nor was she ready to accept them yet.
Whenever he thought of these things, Xu Yanwu felt a measure of guilt.
Kiana was still just a child, yet she had already gone through