I Am the Saintess of Heavenly Mandate Chapter 9

"Kiana? Are you alright?"

Theresa asked with concern.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She quickly waved her hand.

She didn't want Theresa to discover the random thoughts she'd just been having.

In truth, whether her parents' marriage was political or whether Theresa had something going on with her mother—most of it came from other people's mouths and her own wild guesses, with no evidence to support it.

Of course, perhaps her parents' marriage did involve political elements.

But she felt her mother had met the right person.

There was no real evidence, just pure intuition.

"Fine? That's good. Come on, try this too."

Theresa scooped up another spoonful of pastry and offered it to her.

Though she felt a bit embarrassed, she wasn't opposed to the gesture.

Even though Theresa also bore the surname Apocalypse, she didn't stir in her the same impulse she felt toward Bishop Otto—that urge to charge in swinging if he ever showed a health bar.

"Aunt Theresa..." Looking at the little girl who appeared to be only about twelve years old and not much taller than herself, she found it really hard to force out the word "aunt."

She'd much rather call her "Little Sister Theresa."

"You can call me that."

Theresa clearly saw her hesitation and nodded, agreeing to the address.

"...Can't you take me out of here?"

"No, I'm sorry."

Theresa lowered her head, even though she desperately wanted to protect the Kiana in front of her.

But she knew she was powerless.

"I'll try my best. Can you wait for me?"

Theresa lowered her voice as she spoke, a bitter smile spreading across her face.

To bring Kiana out of Schicksal—Kiana's father, Siegfried, had once tried.

But he failed.

As a result, Siegfried became a traitor to Schicksal.

And Kiana was locked up by Bishop Otto under the pretense of following Cecilia's will and the subject's own wish to become a Valkyrie.

Theresa naturally didn't believe a word about that will, but Bishop Otto used it to silence the other two families who had protested.

"Wait for you?"

Seeing Theresa lower her voice, she naturally leaned forward and whispered into Theresa's ear.

"Aunt Theresa, do you have a plan?"

"How did you know?"

Theresa asked, somewhat startled.

Watching the look of shock instantly appear on Theresa's face, she silently criticized her acting skills as terrible and naturally didn't put much stock in Theresa's plan to rescue the real Kiana.

Or rather, she felt Theresa's plan was very shaky.

For all she knew, Bishop Otto might suddenly pull some feint within a feint, and instead of getting the real Kiana out, he'd end up sending her—this experiment subject—or another experiment subject out instead.

Thinking about how Bishop Otto had deliberately reinforced the impression that she was Kiana Kaslana, she felt it was very likely he was using her as a substitute for the real Kiana.

"I don't think your plan is reliable. Bishop Otto probably already knows about it."

She couldn't help but warn.

In the end, Theresa might think she'd rescued the real Kiana and run off far away with her, a fake, while Bishop Otto could happily continue experimenting on the real Kiana.

Without even having to worry about his own granddaughter pining for her.

"Grandfather knows? How could he? This..."

Theresa hesitated.

She'd wanted to snap back indignantly—after all, how was her plan unreliable?

She'd even found a very powerful outside ally.

But when she met K422's gaze, she suddenly felt that her plan seemed full of holes, as if it really wasn't reliable at all.

"Aunt Theresa, if you really want to take me out, make sure you investigate exactly where I am. Bishop Otto created two clones, maybe more... One of those clones is being raised by Bishop Otto as my substitute."

Even though Theresa seemed unreliable and her plan might have problems, that didn't stop her from considering Theresa one of her own.

Anyone who could help the real Kiana was naturally one of her own.

But since it wasn't appropriate for her to reveal that she herself was a clone, for now she could only pretend to be the real Kiana and speak in the real Kiana's voice.

10. Life Is a Drama, Everyone's an Actor (Revised)

She and Theresa talked in the garden for quite a long time.

Though floating monitors surrounded them, both kept their voices low, whispering and occasionally breaking into laughter.

On the surface, they looked like close sisters amusing each other.

"...Reliable."

Hearing the silvery laughter, Theresa nodded inwardly.

Through this conversation, she had come to understand K422's level of reliability.

Of course, at this moment, she believed the other was True Kiana.

When she heard that her grandfather had created two clones, Theresa naturally thought of her own experience.

After all, her own birth had come from a similar experiment.

Thinking of the hardships Kiana had endured, Theresa's eyes reddened, and she nearly lost her composure.

Luckily, she was quick-witted. She decisively hugged Theresa and whined, "Aunt Theresa, don't go, okay~"

Of course, even she was shocked by her own cutesy tone.

A child acting spoiled wasn't too forced, and even carried a bit of charm.

Theresa snapped back to reality and said, "I don't want to leave either, but I still have things to do. Kiana, I'll come see you again in a while."

"Really? Really??"

Her face lit up with joy.

The gloom and sorrow vanished like a passing storm, revealing a big, adorable smile.

Reliable.

That was her assessment of herself as well.

Good thing she had reminded her—otherwise, going by Theresa's original plan, she would have brought outside reinforcements and charged straight into Schicksal Headquarters, fighting her way from the front gate all the way to the depths, rescuing True Kiana, and then fighting her way back out again.

A bit like Zhao Zilong's seven charges in and out at Changban Slope.

No way.

They'd probably be caught red-handed by Bishop Otto the moment they stormed in, and after fighting tooth and nail to save someone, it would turn out to be a fake.

"Aunt Theresa, try to scout things out as thoroughly as possible before acting. I don't even know where I'm being held."

Pretending to be True Kiana was going smoothly.

She had even convinced Theresa to scrap her reckless plan.

Then it was naturally time to part.

Just as Theresa had said, her time with Kiana was short.

Whispering had taken up most of it, leaving her with too little chance to learn about her mother.

She had wanted to get more information from Theresa, who was close to her mother Cecilia, but when she saw Amber enter the garden, she knew time was up.

"Lady Theresa, your time is over."

"I know."

Theresa said with a frown.

There were actually still over ten minutes left, but Amber's attitude clearly showed that Bishop Otto didn't want her to stay any longer.

"I'll leave now... I just hope next time my request won't be held up by Grandpa for so long."

Leaving that remark, Theresa reached out and patted her head, then turned and walked straight out of the garden without looking back.

Amber bowed toward Theresa's retreating figure.

Though she represented Bishop Otto's will at this moment, she also knew of his fondness for Theresa.

After Theresa left, Bishop Otto naturally summoned her.

He asked what she and Theresa had talked about in the garden.

She couldn't possibly tell Bishop Otto the truth. Though she didn't know if her lies could fool him, she did her best to fabricate a false scene.

"Aunt Theresa said I look a lot like Mom, and she told me a lot of interesting stories."

"Oh, interesting stories? Let's hear them?"

Bishop Otto showed an intrigued expression.

"I don't remember."

She answered bluntly.

And didn't forget to shoot Bishop Otto a glare.

Of course, if she could, she'd rather smash a brick over his head.

"Jokes are just things you laugh at and then forget, aren't they?"

As she spoke, she looked at Bishop Otto with a strange expression.

It was practically written on her face: "You don't have any friends, so no one tells you jokes."

Bishop Otto's mouth twitched at the sight.

He felt that something was off about K422, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He could sense the hostility K422 was hiding from him.

But the hostility itself didn't surprise him.

Since K422 was also an experiment subject created from Kiana Kaslana's DNA and the Second Herrscher's DNA—and one he and Amber believed might have inherited the Second Herrscher's personality—it was only natural that she would inherit the Second Herrscher's hatred for him.

If anything, the Second Herrscher's emergence was largely due to Schicksal's human experiments.

One could say Schicksal created the Second Herrscher, and Schicksal also killed her.

But death wasn't the end... Bishop Otto ordered Schicksal to collect the Second Herrscher's remains and even used her DNA in experiments.

As the chief culprit and Grand Bishop of Schicksal, he was naturally the most hated by the Second Herrscher.

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of her, Bishop Otto decided to let her go rest for now.

"Kiana, go rest for now. I'll have Amber accompany you back. If you need anything, you can ask Amber."

She nodded without refusing.

For now, she was under someone else's roof, so how could she dare not bow her head?

Even if Bishop Otto really showed his health bar, it would be a full ten bars with a row of enhancement buffs. With her current short arms and stubby legs, she definitely couldn't beat him.

Amber beside her nodded in acknowledgment. "As you command, Lord Otto. This way, Lady Kiana..."

After she left, Bishop Otto pulled up the garden surveillance footage.

From the footage, after Theresa fed her cake a few times, she quickly broke through K422's defenses. The two soon started chatting, and their relationship improved so fast that they were whispering in each other's ears.