I Am the Saintess of Heavenly Mandate Chapter 8

Since she wanted to mold herself into the true Kiana Kaslana, the most important thing was to fool Theresa's eyes.

When Cecilia's close friend Theresa believed she was Kiana Kaslana, no one would question her identity.

Not hearing any gossip about Theresa, she naturally felt quite regretful.

But she also looked forward to meeting Theresa.

Then, under Amber's arrangements, she met Theresa at St. Fountain in Schicksal Headquarters.

And then...

Then she stared blankly at the 12-year-old little girl before her who called herself "Theresa."

8. Theresa and Cecilia (Revised)

The seemingly 12-year-old loli, after announcing the name Theresa, suddenly lunged forward and hugged her tightly.

Smells kind of nice~

"It's great, it really is Kiana..."

Theresa tightened her arms, feeling the sensation of the little girl.

"???"

She was naturally confused by Theresa's enthusiasm and struggled a bit in her embrace.

Perhaps realizing her actions were too warm and had caused her trouble, Theresa quickly let go and stepped back a little, then reached out to pat her head and said, "Because Grandpa kept refusing to let me meet you, I was worried something had happened to you."

"A few days ago, I heard you participated in the Valkyrie Experiment, but lost a lot of memory due to an accident. I don't know if you still remember me. I was your mother's best friend. Cecilia even wanted me to be your godmother. Don't be so reckless in the future—you'll definitely become a Valkyrie like your mother."

Theresa couldn't hide the joy on her face.

After years of separation, being able to hug Kiana again naturally made Theresa very happy.

So.

This little brat really had a thing with her mother, huh?

"W-wait a moment, Lady Theresa, are you really Lady Theresa?"

The fact that Theresa suddenly hugged her did make her forget the shock of seeing Theresa for the first time.

In the information Amber provided, Theresa was born in 1972, and it was now 2006, meaning she was at least 34 years old.

Just from the data, Theresa was close in age to her mother Cecilia, which was how they became close friends.

In her imagination, even if Theresa wasn't as good as her mother Cecilia, she should still be a beautiful woman.

The kind with curves in all the right places.

So when Theresa announced her name, she was completely stunned.

But the legal loli before her was far too different from the beautiful woman she had imagined.

This is fraud!!!

"Yes, I am Theresa. You've really grown up. Last time I saw you, you were this small. Do you remember? I held you back then. You were so small and very cute."

Theresa immediately threw out the kind of words relatives would say during the New Year in her past life.

At the same time, she used her hands to gesture how tall she used to be.

It was probably around the height of True Kiana at age 2.

She imagined what True Kiana looked like at 2 years old and almost got a nosebleed from the cuteness.

Theresa withdrew her hand from on top of her head, turned to Amber, and said.

"You may leave."

"As you command, Lady Theresa."

Faced with Theresa's dismissal, Amber wasn't tactless.

She knew Theresa had a problem with her.

Maybe it was the rejection between a finished product and a defective product of the same clone model, or maybe because she was Bishop Otto's assistant.

Knowing she wasn't welcome, Amber left immediately.

But after leaving St. Fountain, Amber waited outside. She couldn't just leave the two alone without keeping an eye on them.

After driving Amber away, Theresa let her nature loose even more, took her hand, and led her to the open-air dining table in St. Fountain, which was now covered in delicious pastries.

"Kiana, do you really not remember anything?"

"I'm sorry, Lady Theresa, I really don't remember anything. Bishop Otto said my memory loss was due to the experiment accident, and maybe I can recover in the future."

In truth, Bishop Otto never said that.

She herself had only met Bishop Otto a few times. Although he liked to add drama, it was also to deepen the impression that she was Kiana Kaslana.

Besides, memories that never existed in the first place could never be recovered.

Theresa said sadly, "I'm sorry. When you needed me most, I wasn't by your side."

"...It's not your fault. This is really delicious."

She picked up the pastry from the table and took a bite.

The pastry was so sweet as it went down that she couldn't help taking another bite.

The fruit slice on the pastry burst open in her mouth with a pop, thick juice instantly flooding her palate.

"If you like it, eat more."

Theresa didn't mind her gluttonous behavior at all.

"Don't eat so fast, no one's fighting you for it. Have some black tea."

"Thank you, Lady Theresa."

Feeling Theresa's care, she accepted it humbly.

She admitted that because Theresa shared the same surname as Bishop Otto, she had developed a prejudice against her, even thinking Theresa was just as much a bastard as Bishop Otto.

Think about True Kiana's situation now.

No matter what proof Bishop Otto produced, it couldn't change the fact that he nearly drove True Kiana insane.

"...Then, Lady Theresa, what exactly did you call me here for? Or was it really just to see me?"

"I promised your mother I'd look after you, but I broke that promise."

Thinking of Cecilia, Theresa's expression darkened instantly.

"Your personality has changed so much. It seems Grandfather really did a lot of terrible things to you, but you don't have to be afraid anymore. I'll be with you often from now on."

In the early days of Schicksal's formation, its structure was built on a religious framework, and its leader was called the Grand Bishop, exercising centralized authority. Even after centuries of development, though the organization's religious overtones had faded considerably, Schicksal's leader was still called the Grand Bishop, and centralized management remained. As Grand Bishop, Otto naturally held supreme power.

But even within Schicksal, an organization dedicated to fighting the Honkai, there were many who disagreed with its philosophy.

Theresa had found clues from those who didn't approve of Bishop Otto's methods and ideas.

As Schicksal's Grand Bishop, Bishop Otto rarely conducted experiments personally anymore, but according to the clues those people provided, he was still running terrible experiments in his private lab, this time even using Cecilia's daughter Kiana as a subject.

This was something Theresa could not tolerate.

It was also why she had repeatedly asked Bishop Otto to let her see Kiana.

Thinking of how a little girl as bright as the sun at age two had become what she was now, Theresa felt her heart ache.

"If you're willing, I'll ask Grandfather to let me take care of you from now on."

Saying this, Theresa scooped up a piece of pastry with a small spoon and brought it to her lips.

"Ah~ Cecilia used to feed me like this too."

The scent of lilies wafted over.

"..."

She felt like it was practically confirmed that her mother Cecilia and Theresa had a thing.

Watching the little girl open her mouth to eat the pastry off the small spoon, Theresa was naturally filled with deep emotion, her expression dazed.

It was like seeing Cecilia feeding her pastry back then.

Few people knew about this.

Theresa also remembered the smile Cecilia wore at that time.

Though she was now the one doing the feeding, seeing the satisfied smile on the little girl's face as she ate the pastry, she suddenly realized that to see that smile again, she would definitely do many things she knew she shouldn't.

Thinking of this, she suddenly laughed bitterly.

She had made similar vows before, but in the end, she hadn't been able to protect anyone she wanted to protect.

9. Unreliable Theresa (Revised)

Theresa was extremely enthusiastic.

Her care for her went far beyond the bounds of a mother's friend.

This made her seriously suspect that her mother might have been truly in love with Theresa, and only chose her never-met father for the sake of producing the next generation.

The little maid had said her mother Cecilia Schariac's marriage was a political one, a strong alliance between the Schariac and Kaslana families.

Speaking of the Schariac and Kaslana families, the Apocalypse family naturally had to be mentioned too.

Schicksal was supported and operated by three families.

They were the Apocalypse family, representing the "Bishop"; the Schariac family, representing the "Saintess"; and the Kaslana family, representing the "Knight."

Among them, the Schariac family had the ability to manipulate Honkai Energy, while the Kaslana family was born with strong resistance to Honkai Energy. Only the Apocalypse family, which ruled Schicksal, lacked the ability to directly confront the Honkai like the other two.

But there was no doubt that the actual power holder of Schicksal was the Apocalypse family.

To be precise, Otto Apocalypse.

The union of her mother Cecilia Schariac and her father Siegfried Kaslana was arranged by Bishop Otto.

Just as the little maids said about a political marriage, it was a political union between two of the three families within Schicksal.

Even without memories, she could conclude that Schicksal was now dominated by Bishop Otto alone.

After all, without immense power or control over Schicksal, how could he have committed the evil of imprisoning Kiana Kaslana?

One must understand that Cecilia and Siegfried were respectively the heads of the Schariac Family and the Kaslana Family.

Kiana Kaslana, who inherited the bloodline of both, could be said to be of unsurpassable nobility—even the next head of the Kaslana Family, or the next head of the Schariac Family.

Hmm, the name Kiana Schariac does sound quite nice.

It seemed she didn't have to fight True Kiana over the name either.

She reined in her wandering thoughts a little.

After all, jumping from the fact that her mother had a thing (tongue roll) with Theresa to the political marriage between the two families that the Little Maids talked about was indeed a bit far-fetched.

But once her mind started heading in that direction, Her imagination simply couldn't stop.

In fact, just from looking at Theresa, she had thought Theresa was her sister.

Both the white hair and blue eyes were very similar to hers.

If Theresa hadn't given her surname as Apocalypse, she would have thought Theresa was a Kaslana.

So... what were the odds that True Kiana was actually her mother and Theresa's child?

Should she call Theresa "Mother" or "Father"?

Although her head was empty now, with no memories of her past life, the knowledge from that past life that occasionally surfaced in her mind did mention that when technology developed to a certain point, female-female childbirth would no longer be a fantasy—her era had already had similar theories.

Of course, she wasn't deliberately badmouthing her never-met father.

But from what the Little Maids said, the head of the Kaslana Family, Siegfried, was a playboy, and the union between her mother Cecilia and him had made so many Valkyries weep in despair.

So many Valkyries who admired her mother wished they could make a voodoo doll.

She just couldn't stop her wild imagination from running loose.