Honestly.
After Elysia left, Kiana really did feel like her little life was missing something.
Probably… without that splash of pink, her heart felt a little empty.
"Sigh~"
When she was around, sometimes she'd even find her a bit annoying.
But now that she wasn't by her side, she genuinely missed her.
It almost felt like withdrawal symptoms.
Mild, sure, but they were definitely there.
"I can understand… because, that's Elysia for you~" Eden set down the musical score she was sketching and gave a soft, beautiful smile.
Kiana pouted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
She wasn't the least bit lonely. Really~
If she wanted to be clingy, if she wanted to act spoiled, she could just hug and play with Aponia.
Eden was always like a song, a wisp of breeze—never overly clingy, but if she needed her, she'd play along.
So!
She didn't care one bit about that Elysia~
"Hmph"
"She left, so be it. Let's not talk about her anymore."
Kiana's little tsundere act made her seem like a sulking child.
Aponia and Eden exchanged a glance, sharing a knowing smile.
Here, in this café Eden had taken over in Sapphire City, time felt so leisurely.
The soft, warm sunlight streamed in through the window.
The entire room seemed to brighten because of it.
Just looking at it lifted one's mood.
Eden's shop was in a great location, but it hardly ever served strangers. It was even more capricious than back in the days of Moth.
But then again, that made sense.
After all, she wasn't short on money; running a shop was never about that.
It was just a place for friends to gather, have a drink, and chat.
Like how Kiana, sometimes not wanting to stay home, wanting to just laze around somewhere else, would often drag Aponia here.
In the end, it was like a secret base.
What they were after was the atmosphere.
And right now, the afternoon sun was warm and tranquil.
Nestled in Aponia's embrace, Kiana seemed to be melting completely.
Slowly, her eyelids grew heavy.
Then, gradually, it seemed she couldn't hold on any longer.
Or perhaps she wasn't even trying to.
With Aponia-mama rhythmically patting her back and softly humming an unknown lullaby, she drifted comfortably into sleep.
Her cute little breaths weren't quite snores, but they were still rather amusing.
Eden secretly took a photo, saved it, and sent it to Elysia, who immediately replied with a string of adorable emoticons, begging Eden to send more.
Seeing this, Aponia smiled understandingly.
In truth, while Kiana seemed to seek comfort from her, wasn't she herself also finding a sliver of peace in Kiana?
She thought, perhaps she had truly grown fond of Kiana.
After all, this child… the more she looked at her, the more she adored her.
Eden was still chatting with Elysia.
Elysia was also telling her about things on her end.
"My dear Eden~ I'm starting to think the fourth Herrscher might really descend in New Zealand, you know?"
Text bubbles floated up furiously.
Even the font and bubble style radiated a playful, coquettish charm.
"It hasn't been that long, and I've already dealt with more than ten Honkai disasters, big and small."
"If there's nothing wrong with this place… I don't believe it!"
Eden wasn't worried about Elysia's safety.
After all, Kiana had assessed it earlier.
Elysia, wielding her exclusive Divine Key, was more than capable of handling Herrschers below 4500 HW.
You had to be significantly stronger than your opponent to have leeway, to even have the option of capturing them alive.
But even so, Eden still patiently reminded her, "Elysia, be careful in all things."
"I know~"
Elysia didn't know that her rapid growth was largely due to her future self pulling her along.
But she was very confident.
She firmly believed that a cute girl could accomplish anything.
So…
In her view, her own rapid growth wasn't strange at all—in fact, it was only natural?
"Shh…"
Right then.
Aponia seemed slightly surprised, as if she'd noticed something.
She raised a small hand, placed her index finger against her lips, and made a shushing gesture toward Eden.
Seemingly telling Eden to be quiet and not disturb Kiana.
This puzzled Eden.
Her messaging with Elysia didn't make any sound to begin with.
Besides, even if Kiana was sleeping, surely she wasn't that light a sleeper?
Before, no matter how noisy it got, Kiana would sleep like a log.
Like this now… it shouldn't be a problem, right?
Aponia could read the confusion on Eden's delicate face.
She shook her head slightly.
Then, holding Kiana, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully, she beckoned for Eden to quietly come closer.
"?" Eden was even more baffled.
But driven by curiosity, the elegant big sister felt a little mischievous, like a child about to raid a bird's nest.
Aponia gestured for her to check Kiana's breathing.
"…" Eden did so.
For some reason, she felt like a sneaky cat, the sense of stealth intensifying.
Eden even felt a peculiar kind of joy.
It was strange.
"…" Wait!
This… this is…
"!" She's not breathing?!
Eden looked more closely and nearly jumped out of her skin in fright.
In her panic, she instinctively almost screamed.
But Aponia's calm, placid gaze stopped her from making a move.
She could only cover her mouth, wide-eyed, staring frantically at Aponia, signaling with her eyes.
"…" 'Aponia, why are you just watching… have you, have you betrayed us?'
Aponia remained calm, soothing Eden.
"…" 'Please be quiet, Miss Eden. The young mistress's consciousness is merely temporarily absent. Her body has instinctively entered a stasis state. It's an invincible self-protection mechanism.'
Eden still didn't understand.
"…" 'Aponia! She… she's not even breathing, and you call that self-protection?'
She's basically dead… wait, 'consciousness temporarily absent.' Th-That's still a huge problem, isn't it?!
She watched Aponia mouthing words at her repeatedly.
She understood. But she grew even more frantic.
She didn't know if she had fallen for Kiana yet.
But she hadn't felt any particular resistance to the fact that her future self would marry Kiana.
For Kiana to suddenly up and die like this, when she was supposed to be taking a nap like always…
Why did it turn out like this?!
Forget the little feelings that had been quietly brewing through their daily interactions.
Just considering Kiana herself—
If she died, stopped breathing, lost her consciousness—it all amounted to the same thing!
If you rounded it up, it meant the countdown to the Final Herrscher's world annihilation had begun.
The entire world would be doomed along with her!
Th- th- th- this… this is just too ab-rupt!
"…" 'How can you be so calm about this?!'
Aponia!
Eden was always unflappable.
But this time… she just couldn't.
Her mind was a tangled mess.
All the strength seemed to drain from her body.
Completely! At a loss what to do!
She stood in stark contrast to the utterly composed Aponia.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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