Chapter 97: Chapter 97 — Literary Girl Daze
Inside the room, cups of steaming tea sat quietly on the low table.
Nagami sat upright on the sofa, his expression serious.
Across from him, Kiana mirrored his posture, her slender legs—wrapped neatly in white stockings—pressed closely together.
Gone was the usual airheaded clumsiness of the so-called "Tuna." Nor did she carry the graceful elegance of a true noble lady.
After all, Kiana had grown up without the guidance of parents or family.
With few people around her to talk to, Miss Kiana Kaslana spent most of her free time outside of experiments reading books.
Unlike the cool and confident "Second Herrscher" Kiana, this Kiana left Nagami with a very different impression—more like that of a quiet, thoughtful literary girl.
She gave off a different vibe from someone like Raiden Mei, whose calm and gentle presence made her seem like the perfect wife and homemaker.
Kiana's smile, on the other hand, carried a youthful liveliness—playful and bright beneath her composed exterior.
It was like those fleeting moments from your school days: a sunny morning, catching sight of a girl in a white dress, absorbed in a book—and after that, your world would be filled with nothing but that delicate, glowing image.
If she'd been wearing black-framed glasses right now, Nagami felt like he might've taken a critical hit straight to the heart!
He shook his head sharply, driving away the image that had so suddenly and dangerously taken root in his mind.
Trying to steady his wavering heart, he took several deep breaths to calm his restless thoughts.
"Kiana... you met me in your dreams, didn't you?"
His serious tone made Kiana freeze, startled.
The calm, literary-girl aura shattered in an instant, replaced by the panicked look of a child whose secret had just been discovered.
So... her emotional state really was unstable.
"I... I..."
Kiana's hand hovered uncertainly in midair, as if struggling over whether or not to tell the truth.
She knew full well how strange and abrupt her behavior must have seemed.
But in those recent dreams—seeing through the eyes of her 'other self' and interacting with both Nagami and C.C.—she had also realized something else: these two, burned so deeply into her heart, were no ordinary people.
And more than that… they might even be the same person.
But this discovery didn't fill Kiana with joy—instead, it brought fear.
Such a strange, impossible secret wasn't something normal people would want others to know. Yet she'd learned it in this bizarre, inexplicable way.
Would Nagami... come to hate her because of it?
If he'd been unaware, that would've been one thing.
But from his words just now, it was clear: Nagami knew exactly what was happening to her.
This made things even worse.
Kiana sat there frozen, torn between speaking and staying silent, caught in the midst of a painful inner struggle.
Her expression was full of panic and fear, as if an invisible abyss of anxiety was opening beneath her feet—as if she were about to be abandoned and left behind.
At some point, Nagami had quietly risen from the opposite sofa and sat down beside her.
Placing his hands gently on Kiana's soft, pale shoulders, he gave her a warm, reassuring smile—like calming a frightened little animal.
"Don't be afraid. I'm telling you this only because you deserve to know the truth."
Through the dreams the young lady had experienced, Nagami had confirmed Kiana's situation.
There was no need to hide her identity from her—not when she already knew the secret of his dual existence.
"Kiana... have you ever heard of imaginary numbers—no, of parallel worlds?"
Of course, Kiana likely had no knowledge of things like the Imaginary Tree, so Nagami chose a simpler explanation.
"It's like this. The reason you've been having these strange 'dreams'—"
In the quiet room, the rarely serious young man slowly began to explain.
Kiana listened silently. Her expression shifted—first confusion, then worry, then growing solemnity.
By the end, she was left only with uncertainty. Her long, curled lashes drooped slightly, casting soft shadows across her delicate cheeks.
Time drifted by with the gentle breeze stirring the curtains.
Without even noticing, Nagami's calm, clear voice fell silent.
"And so, Kiana Kaslana... the feelings you've been struggling with come from the influence of your alternate self—your counterpart from a parallel world."
Nagami was no saint.
When it came to his true desires, he never tried to hide them.
Just like last night—if something came from his heart, he would follow it without hesitation.
Yes, he did have dreams of building a grand harem.
But even with that kind of resolve... when it came to Kiana and these feelings of hers, he found himself unable to simply accept them without hesitation.
The girl before him had already lost everything.
Nagami simply couldn't bring himself to be so cruel—to tear away the last warmth left in her heart.
"You're saying... even these feelings in my heart are fake?" Kiana's voice was hollow.
The thought of another version of herself in a parallel world—a revelation that should have been earth-shattering—barely registered in her mind.
Her dazed hand slowly rose to her chest as if to confirm the beating of her own heart.
Her sapphire-blue eyes locked onto the boy sitting before her. Joy bubbled up from deep within her heart—but so did sorrow, loneliness, and despair.
A forced, fragile smile trembled on her lips. But her eyes... her eyes were filled only with quiet misery.
'Am I really not allowed to have anything?'
Everything about her—her name, her identity—had been taken away and given to that clone, the "real" Kiana Kaslana, by Siegfried.
She had read the records in Schicksal's archives—files detailing Cecilia the Saint, the mother she had never met.
From those words, she had come to understand just how gentle and loving her mother must have been.
Kiana truly believed—if her mother had lived—her life would not have turned out like this.
To honor the mother she'd never known, she had changed her own name to Kiana Schariac.
Besides that name... she had nothing left. Nothing at all.
And now—even this fragile warmth she'd felt in her broken, battered, empty heart—was that, too, being called an illusion?
Her shoulders shrank inward as helpless fear closed in.
Feeling cold, small, and alone, she opened her mouth—struggling to say something, anything, but no words would come.
Her sapphire eyes dimmed, the light in them fading like someone staring into despair itself.
"No—that's not what I meant at all!"
Seeing her so close to crumbling, Nagami shook his head firmly. His confident, steady voice startled Kiana, making her look up at him in confusion.
"These feelings came from you. The person sitting here, right now—this Kiana Schariac—is real beyond any doubt. So how could your feelings be fake?"
Nagami was not the kind to offer empty comfort, nor was he suited to tragic drama.
He simply told her the truth, nothing more.
"The only reason I explained all this... was to let you understand where these feelings came from. Now that you know the whole story..."
A weight lifted from his shoulders as Nagami smiled warmly, extending his right hand to the stunned girl before him.
"Welcome to our dorm, Kiana. And... I look forward to living with you from now on."
His bright, carefree smile reflected in Kiana's wide eyes.
His words echoed in her mind, slowly dissolving the pain and confusion clouding her delicate features.
For a long moment, she was silent.
Then, as if something within her had finally settled, she smiled—a soft, genuine smile of release.
"Mm!"
She reached out and took Nagami's hand naturally—no more hesitation, no more fear.
The anxious tension inside her faded away, like mist burned off by gentle sunlight.
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Meanwhile—at Schicksal Headquarters, Command Hall.
In a cold, silent room sat a lone man.
Otto Apocalypse listened quietly as Valkyrie Rita reported.
His brows were knit in thought, the icy light in his emerald eyes unreadable, like mist over a deep forest—concealing the true depths of his heart.
When Rita's crisp, elegant voice finally faded, Otto fell into contemplation.
He closed his eyes, and his long fingers tapped softly on the desk, producing a calm, rhythmic sound.
"Rita. Maintain the current status. Wait for my next order."
"Yes, Lord Overseer~"
The graceful figure on the screen gave a slight bow.
The display flickered, and then the projection vanished into the void.
Otto exhaled deeply and massaged his brow.
'This person... is more interesting than I expected.'
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