"Kiana, come out for a moment. I have something to talk to you about." Shun stood outside Himeko's villa and sent Kiana a message directly.
Based on his understanding of Kiana, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Time's up.
"Shun, what did you call me for?!" The iron gate in front of him was forcefully opened by a white-haired dumpling wrapped up tightly. Because she had opened the door with great force, the snow accumulated on the gate fell onto her head.
"Let's go to the park. I have a surprise for you." Shun stepped forward, helped Kiana brush the snow off her head one by one, and gently pressed down on the ahoge on top of her head.
Toward this girl he had watched grow up, Shun had always held the greatest care and affection.
"Shun, Shun, what kind of surprise is it? Tell me~" On the way, Kiana kept asking nonstop like a chirping little bird.
"You'll know when we get there. If I tell you the surprise, can it still be a surprise?" Shun looked at Kiana gently and said no more.
Shun led Kiana to the park and stopped in front of a pavilion. Looking at Cecilia, who had been waiting inside for a long time, Shun let go of Kiana's hand and gently pushed her forward.
"What's wrong, Shun?" Kiana still looked completely clueless. She didn't know why Shun had brought her here.
"I'm leaving." Shun waved his hand, activated the Cosmic Juggernaut, and disappeared on the spot.
"What the… so mysterious." After Shun left, Kiana gathered her resolve and continued walking toward the pavilion. However, when she saw the person sitting on the bench inside the pavilion, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.
"Mom?" She had seen this face in the textbooks at St. Freya — the former strongest S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, Cecilia Schariac, also the wife of the Schicksal traitor Siegfried and the mother of Kiana Kaslana.
But… wasn't she supposed to be dead? Back when she and her stinky old man lived in seclusion in Siberia, every year on her birthday, after her stinky old man got drunk, he would always mutter two names.
"You…" Kiana stopped in her tracks, looking at Cecilia, who was smiling gently at her. She seemed unable to believe this was real.
"Kiana, it's Mom." Cecilia opened her arms toward Kiana.
"You're just going to watch from here? Aren't you Kiana's aunt?" Hundreds of meters away from that pavilion, Shun asked Theresa, who stood with her arms crossed.
"I'm just still a little worried. This family's situation is very complicated. Bianca hasn't even recovered her memories yet. If she finds out about the past, will she blame us?"
Theresa's worry wasn't unfounded. No matter who it happened to, this matter would probably be very difficult to accept. But if it were Durandal?
"Theresa, aren't you underestimating Bianca too much? Besides, do you know how much she likes Kiana? Do you think she would be extremely happy to have an extra biological little sister, or would she feel endless anger because Kiana 'stole' her life?"
"I don't know Bianca as well as you do…" Theresa was silent for a long while before she spoke.
"By the way, for Christmas in a few days, I'm going back to Schicksal Headquarters to celebrate. This is an early gift for you."
As if suddenly remembering something, Theresa took out a beautifully wrapped box and handed it to Shun.
"What's wrong? Cecilia will definitely stay at the Far East Branch for Christmas this year. Why are you thinking of going back?" If he remembered correctly, after the Second Honkai Impact, Theresa had never gone back to Headquarters for any holidays.
Why this year, when Cecilia was still here, did Theresa instead want to go back?
"Can't I miss my grandfather? He's an old widower who stays alone every day in that empty Archbishop's office. How pitiful. Besides me, does he have any other family?"
"Then the wedding that was postponed to New Year's…" Originally the wedding had been planned for Christmas, but because of the heavy snow, an outdoor wedding couldn't be held smoothly. Although the weather on those days could be changed, a white Christmas still held great meaning for the girls studying at St. Freya.
Shun couldn't possibly ruin the Christmas joy that those girls had been looking forward to for a whole year just for his own convenience. So the wedding date was postponed by a week and set for the first day of 2014.
"I'll go. After all, I'm still the bridesmaid!"
With that, Theresa gave Shun a dissatisfied look, seemingly quite resentful toward him. She raised her leg and kicked the large tree beside where the two of them were standing.
The tree shook violently from Theresa's kick. Accompanied by the creaking of branches and the rustling of leaves, the thick snow accumulated on the crown of the tree poured down like a waterfall.
The snow cascaded down with overwhelming force, smashing toward the two people standing beneath the tree. Caught off guard, they were instantly engulfed by the sudden snow curtain. Snowflakes danced like goose feathers, blurring their vision. All that could be heard was the continuous pattering sound of falling snow.
Shun didn't activate his Imaginary state and honestly took the hit. He stuck out his tongue and brushed the snow off his clothes and hair.
Some snow had melted into the gaps of his clothes. Although it wouldn't actually make him catch a cold, the feeling wasn't pleasant either.
"Hel… help me." Just as Shun finally finished brushing the snow off himself, a voice so small it was almost inaudible came from beside him.
Theresa seemed to have had particularly bad luck and had almost turned into a snowman, looking far more miserable than Shun.
"Alright, alright. You brought this upon yourself." Shun let out a deep sigh, then slowly walked forward. He reached out and gently patted the snow off Theresa's clothes one by one.
After brushing off the snow on her clothes, Shun didn't stop. He continued to carefully tidy her clothes. He smoothed out every wrinkle, making the originally somewhat disheveled garment neat and proper again.
Theresa silently watched Shun as he tidied her clothes and hairstyle. Suddenly, she grabbed the hand he had extended.
"What's wrong?" Shun felt that Theresa seemed a bit strange today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
"Nothing. Your hands feel quite cold. Let me warm them for you."
Shun rubbed his slightly reddened hands that had been frozen and muttered, "I've been brushing snow the whole time. Of course my hands are cold!"
"Mm." Theresa responded, then let go of Shun's hand.
In the end, he didn't belong to her… In just a few more days, Shun would be getting married. At that time, she would even have to hold Ana's hand and give her to him…
If only she had come first.
(I just realized… it's the season of White Album again…)