Chapter 11 - Reina and Her 'Father-in-law'

Inside an apartment room that wasn't too big or too small - just enough for two to four people to live together comfortably.

"Here's some tea," Reina said, placing three glasses filled with warm tea in front of the other two people sitting across from each other.

Kiana was glaring sharply at the man across from her, while the man clearly looked like he was desperately trying to find a way to escape this place.

But he didn't want to wreck their home or hurt the two girls in front of him. Not that it mattered - even if he tried to run, Reina wouldn't let him escape. She could easily chain him down with her ability.

"Should I leave? This is a rare reunion between father and daughter, so I feel like I'm kind of third-wheeling here..." Reina asked the two, who had remained silent up to now.

"No, you stay here. If I'm left alone with this human, I'm definitely going to kill him for what he did to me a few years ago," the one who answered wasn't Kiana, but Sora.

Hearing that reverberating voice coming from Kiana's mouth, Siegfried immediately realized - it wasn't his baby doll speaking.

"That voice and those eyes... You're the Herrscher of Void? But how...? You're already awake but you not trying to kill humans?" Siegfried said, confusion and disbelief filling his voice. He still clearly remembered the moment the Herrscher of Void had appeared she immediately try to kill him without hesitation.

Even now, Siegfried could still feel the killing intent coming off her. Yet, she didn't move at all and simply sat there, staring at him.

"Oy, stop taking over my body so suddenly like that! My head gets all dizzy every time - at least let me prepare myself first!" Kiana shouted this time while clutching her head.

Every time the two of them swapped control of the body, Kiana's consciousness would appear inside the room where Sora usually resided.

So with her mind constantly shifting between body and mind, it made Kiana feel incredibly dizzy.

"Hmph! It's my body too! We share the same body, so I can control it whenever I want!" Sora huffed, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Hahhh, first of all, I'm the one who used this body first! You're the one who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started controlling me!" Kiana shot back immediately.

The two of them started bickering with each other as usual. This kind of squabble happened almost daily, where they argued over random things without any real reason.

The funny part was that as they kept switching control of the body, Kiana's eyes kept flickering between blue and gold. It was quite a sight - and it always made Reina chuckle quietly whenever she saw them like this.

"They're just so adorable, right?" Reina said with a bright smile, watching the two. "Kiana's so cute when she refuses to lose against Sora, and Sora's just too much of a tsundere to admit it~."

"Sora...?" Siegfried muttered, his face showing clear shock. "Is that the Herrscher of Void's name? You actually named her?"

"Of course she has a name," Reina replied without hesitation. "Do you think Welt Yang's the only Herrscher allowed to have one?"

"You know Welt??" Siegfried's voice rose in disbelief.

"Nope. I just know his name - and that he's the Herrscher of Reason, and that he's currently hiding," Reina said casually, as if it was common knowledge.

Now Siegfried was even more stunned. Not many people knew about Welt Yang's existence, much less the fact that he was currently undercover as a history teacher at St. Freya Academy.

Yet this random girl not only knew his name but hinted she might know even more.

"You do realize she almost wiped out every single human on earth, right?" he asked, glancing toward Kiana, who was still busy bickering with Sora.

And what he said wasn't wrong. During the Second Eruption, the Herrscher of Void Sirin had nearly driven humanity to extinction by herself.

If it hadn't been for his Shamash and Cecilia's sacrifice, she would've succeeded.

But then, without warning, Reina's atmosphere changed completely. Her face turned serious, her red ruby eyes narrowing sharply as she glared at him.

"And whose fault do you think that was?" she said coldly. "If not for Otto and his sick obsession, none of that would've happened. Sirin would've still been alive."

The moment Reina's voice dropped, Siegfried instinctively tensed.

His body, trained through countless battles and life-or-death moments, immediately screamed at him-the girl sitting in front of him was dangerous.

Not dangerous like a Herrscher going on a rampage, but something else... something even deeper. Like a beast quietly lying in wait, capable of swallowing everything whole if angered.

Siegfried tightened his fists unconsciously.

His instincts as a warrior were flaring red alarms.

Even without releasing any Honkai energy or aura, Reina's sheer presence alone made it feel like the air around her was heavier, suffocating.

Then, Reina slowly spoke, her tone calm yet filled with chilling conviction.

"Don't worry," she said, her ruby red eyes locking onto his with a terrifying clarity.

"I'll take care of Otto soon enough."

The way she said it-quiet, absolute, without a hint of hesitation-made Siegfried's spine shiver.

There was no doubt.

This girl fully intended to destroy Otto Apocalypse, and more than that, he could see it.

Not a dream, not a wish-a certainty.

Siegfried swallowed hard. For the first time in a long while, he realized...

He didn't want to make this girl his enemy.

And then, just as suddenly as it had shifted, the heavy atmosphere disappeared-like it had never existed in the first place.

"Anyway, Otto is such a snake. I'm sure he has a lot of backup bodies or stored consciousness somewhere, so I can't just deal with him recklessly without a solid plan," Reina said with a small, casual smile, as if the chilling aura from earlier was nothing more than a passing thought.

She turned her attention toward Kiana, who was still caught up in bickering with Sora, completely unaware of the earlier tension between Reina and Siegfried.

"Kiana, Sora," Reina called out sweetly, "if you two keep arguing like that, we're just going to end up eating takeout for dinner instead."

The moment those words left her mouth, both Kiana and Sora froze and instantly stopped arguing-like flipping a switch.

Reina could tell at a glance that it was Kiana who had control of the body now-her clear blue eyes were enough of a sign.

With a soft sigh, Reina stood and picked up the now-cooled teacups from the table.

"I'll be back. The tea's gone cold, and I need to start preparing dinner too. So, you two have fun talking with each other~" she said in a teasing tone, casting a playful glance toward Kiana before heading off toward the kitchen.

Now, only the two of them remained-Kiana and her father-seated across from each other in the quiet room. The playful mood faded just slightly, replaced with a quiet tension that neither of them seemed sure how to break.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the soft clinking of Reina's activity in the kitchen echoed faintly in the background.

Kiana sat stiffly, her arms crossed as she stared at the table—not looking at him, but clearly not ignoring him either.

Siegfried shifted in his seat, his hands clenching slightly on his knees.

"...Kiana—" he started, but the word caught in his throat. He glanced at her, saw her eyes twitch slightly, and went quiet again.

Another long moment passed.

He tried again, leaning forward slightly. "I..."

Kiana didn't move.

"...." Siegfried looked away, rubbing the back of his neck with a frustrated sigh. His lips parted as if to speak again, but once more, the words refused to come out. He clenched his fists harder.

This was harder than any battlefield he'd ever stepped into.

Kiana stayed silent, gaze unmoving from the table. Her expression was unreadable, but there was something cold about it.

In the end, Kiana exhaled deeply, her tense shoulders loosening slightly as she finally turned to look at the man across from her.

"You know... I don't even understand why you left me alone in the middle of a destroyed forest that day," she began, her voice calm, but tinged with quiet pain. "After I woke up and found your letter, I decided to look for you. You were the only family I had."

Siegfried tensed at her words, his jaw tightening. But he said nothing—he couldn't.

"At first, I asked around the city near our home," she continued, her gaze drifting off to some distant memory. "I went to the place where we used to buy food... then to the bakery where we always got my birthday cake. I went to so many places, hoping for even a sliver of a lead. But everyone said the same thing—that they didn't know where you were. Some of them even offered to help me, but... I didn't want to bother them, so I left."

Her tone remained steady, but it pierced Siegfried like a blade. Kiana's story unraveled before him, raw and unfiltered—how she hid inside random trucks just to travel to a new place, how she stole just enough money to survive another day, how she asked strangers for scraps of food and water, and how she wandered, searching for a place to rest her head each night.

Each word weighed heavier on him than the last. He had left her behind thinking it was temporary, intending to heal his worsening Honkai infection with Anti-Entropy's help before returning. But treatment took far longer than he anticipated, and by the time he was finally ready, she had vanished without a trace.

"But then..." Kiana's voice lightened—just barely—as a small, genuine smile spread across her lips. She turned her eyes toward the kitchen.

"I'm glad you left me alone back then. Because of that, I met her. Those two years of being alone, of almost dying from hunger, thirst, and freezing snowstorms... it was all worth it."

Her smile softened as she spoke, the warmth of it quiet but profound.

"After I met her, every day became happy. She wakes me up every morning, helps me wash my face and fix my hair. Then we eat breakfast—food she made just for me. And during the day, we just stay together... doing all kinds of things."

"But there were also times when she really scared me... especially my other self during training," Kiana muttered, a shiver visibly running through her body as she recalled those intense, terrifying moments. Even now, just thinking about it made her flinch slightly.

Siegfried's hands clenched tightly in his lap. His throat felt tight, his chest heavier with each passing second. His eyes were already starting to water, but he bit it back—he had to stay strong. His daughter was telling him everything, and he owed her that much.

Kiana took a breath, then looked straight at him with a bittersweet smile. "And then... my objective changed. At first, I wanted to find you so I could beat you up for leaving me."

"E-Eh...?" Siegfried blinked in confusion.

In the next instant, Kiana's blue eye shifted—her left iris glowing gold—and without warning, an overwhelming aura surged from her body.

Siegfried's instincts screamed at him, but he was too late.

BOOOM!

TWACK!

"GAHH!"

"TAKE THIS, YOU SHITTY OLD MAN!"

A solid kick slammed into Siegfried's stomach with terrifying force, launching him across the room and crashing him into the wall with a loud thud.

The entire apartment shook for a second. Kiana stood in the aftermath, arms crossed, golden eye glowing with fierce satisfaction.