He reopened the door and reluctantly extended his hand to Kiana, "Please."
"..." Kiana pondered for a moment, took a deep breath, and walked into the store as if facing a formidable enemy.
As soon as she walked into the store, a beautiful maid with long flowing hair came to greet her with impeccable elegance. That charming face with a teardrop mole at the corner of the eye, which Kiana had seen several times before, had a gentle and humble smile.
"Is this customer alone?"
"..."
Kiana didn't dare to answer for a moment, her brain was working at its limit.
What does this sentence mean? A provocation? A warning? Or... a threat?
...Or did she see through the squad leader who was following her?
She thought of ten thousand possibilities, but she never expected that the other party was really just asking her if she was alone.
"Why does she look like she's not very smart?" The store manager glanced at the silent Kiana and muttered to himself, then waved in the direction of Brownie: "Brownie, prepare a glass of walnut milk for her first. Let her replenish her brain a little."
"Good~"
Miss Hare Rabbit responded casually in a casual tone.
"..."
Kiana, who was inexplicably criticized for her IQ, couldn't help but feel her face turn black.
I can bear it...!
The corner of her eye twitched, and she took a deep breath in her heart, found a table for two and sat down, then turned her gaze to the girl in the hood.
Brownie? Isn't she Bronya?
She watched as Brownie walked to the back of the bar in a very familiar manner, stood on tiptoe, quickly took out a small bag of nuts and a few cans of ingredients from the cupboard, and then began to prepare the drinks. His movements were so skillful, as if he had been immersed in this for many years.
"Dear customer, you seem to be very suspicious of the employees of this store. In order to prevent you from misunderstanding, I will explain it in advance."
Just as Kiana was paying attention to Bronny's every move, a maid with long flowing hair suddenly came to her seat.
"If you have ever seen someone who looks similar to us outside, please rest assured that we are not the same person as them."
"?"
The extremely frank and straightforward explanation made Kiana stunned for a moment, and then she immediately raised her head: "What do you mean?"
"You are quietly on guard against me in your heart. Of course I can feel it." Rita smiled. "Perhaps, in the outside world, there is a little gap between you and Rita Rossweisse. But please let me make it clear that I am standing here and this is the first time I meet you. We have no direct conflict, and I have never thought of asking for anything from you."
"After all..." As she spoke, the corners of her mouth suddenly raised a charming smile, "It's just a small space power. The manager of this cafe has already obtained power far superior to that."
"So, please rest assured."
"No one in this cafe is interested in the power you possess."
“…Oh, that’s right.”
"That also includes the lady hidden inside you."
The burgundy pupils reflected Kiana's dazed expression, as if they could see through everything they saw.
Chapter 34: My aunt is in love, who should I catch?
The moment the maid's soft, gentle, yet meaningful voice fell, Kiana almost drew out her double guns again.
But she forced herself to suppress her hostility, raised her face slightly, looked directly into those wine-red eyes, and said in the calmest voice possible: "What are you talking about? What do you mean by the lady inside me?"
"You still don't believe what Rita said?" The maid's lips curled up slightly, "It seems that Rita will not be able to gain the precious trust of the customer in a short time. This is really a pity."
"Ignore this bad-tempered guy." Suddenly, a lazy voice sounded in Kiana's ears. Kiana turned around and saw the hooded "Bronya" slapping a cup of milky white liquid on the table. She said lightly, "I'll give you a piece of advice. Leave as soon as you are full. Otherwise, with Ms. Rosemary's personality, you might reveal all your past without realizing it."
"This is a huge misunderstanding, Miss Brownie." The maid laughed, "I was just bored for a moment, so I had the idea of chatting with Gu. If this customer is willing to tell some stories, that would be great. Of course, if the customer is unwilling to open up to Rita, Rita will naturally not force anything."
"That would be great if that's the case." Brownie shrugged, then turned his casual gaze towards Kiana: "Omurice, spaghetti, or curry rice, which one do you prefer? Although the remaining ingredients are not limited to these three dishes, it's so late now, you probably don't want to sit here and wait too long."
"..." Kiana stared at Brownie's face for a long time, pursed her lips and said, "Then prepare an omelette rice for me."
"Got it." Brownie turned around and said, "Stop talking to customers here. Come over and help me. Or are you going to ask the manager to work another half an hour?"
"How could that be? It's my honor to work in the kitchen with Miss Brownie." Her soft gray-gold hair fluttered slightly in the air. With her usual humble words, Rita turned around and followed Brownie into the door curtain behind the bar.
"Ah, I'll come and help too." The adult woman with silver hair and red eyes followed Rita and Brownie into the kitchen.
The young store manager sat at the edge of the bar, tapping the tip of his index finger restlessly on the marble counter, and he didn't seem to have any intention of talking to Kiana.
At this moment, the plain-dressed "Theresa" suddenly moved a high stool to the side of the young store manager. She climbed onto the stool, sat down facing the bar, and then took out a hardcover account book from the drawer under the bar.
She spread out the account book and gently touched the store manager's waist with her elbow: "Hey, if you have nothing to do, come with me to record today's accounts."
Seeing that the aunt in ancient Chinese costume actually took the initiative to talk about work, Kiana felt the world change color and took a breath of cold air instantly, and pricked up her ears unconsciously.
"Bookkeeping?" The store manager was obviously stunned for a moment, with a puzzled look on his face, "Does our store still need to keep accounts?"
"..." Kiana looked at the manager's face in shock.
One day she actually saw her aunt actively looking for someone to work, and the person who was found actually wanted to slack off?
"Theresa", dressed in ancient costume, rolled her eyes at the store manager. Her charming demeanor made Kiana, a bystander, easily smell the scent of adultery from the atmosphere between the two of them.
"I just want to do something with you. Why are you so ignorant as to refuse?" She pushed the account book in front of the store manager and leaned her entire upper body towards the store manager.
The rosy, tender cheeks and the young face of the store manager were so close that they could smell each other's breath.
"...I didn't think this through." The store manager smiled indulgently, "Let me see how much revenue we made today..."
"Goo."
As her throat rolled, Kiana swallowed hard.
She looked at her "Aunt" and the store manager who were creating an extremely sweet atmosphere, tremblingly picked up the walnut milk that Brownie had prepared for her, put her lips to the rim of the glass, and gently took a sip of the drink in the cup.
As a sweet, snoring taste spread and flowed down her throat, the girl's heart suddenly became filled with the intuition that she had eaten something shocking.
...No, wait.
Come to think of it, when I just broke in, I seemed to see the young store manager and her lover kissing each other, right?
Because of the angle at that time, Kiana did not see clearly the upper body of the other person who was kissing the manager deeply, and could only see the lower body of the other person. But now thinking back, those white silk like ice cream and the petite and cute simple cloth shoes, aren’t they exactly the clothes worn by this "Theresa" in ancient costume?
In other words, my aunt and this boy who looks about the same age as me, or even younger, are in a relationship?
A hint of contempt for the fetishist flashed across Kiana's eyes, but it turned into suspicion the next second.
Even though her aunt has always seemed like she never grows up, if it were outside, anyone who saw her in a relationship would probably take her boyfriend to the police station without hesitation.
But as the saying goes, family members know their own business. Since Kiana knows that Theresa is her aunt, she naturally already knows Theresa's real age.
So, if a woman who looks 10 but is actually over 40 develops a romantic relationship with a teenager who also looks underage but is actually around that age, which one should be reported to the police?
Then again, the young store manager doesn't look like an adult. Judging from his face, he's probably only about sixteen or seventeen years old. So even if we ignore his inner age and just look at his appearance, the age gap between him and Theresa isn't to the point of being inappropriate.
Hiss, wait, come to think of it, if my aunt has a child, then can I be the older sister?
Kiana's mind was wandering, and her eyes gradually lost focus while she was advising her aunt on her love affair, and an expression like her aunt's smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
"..."
Feeling the strange smile formed by Kiana's facial muscles, the will hidden deep in her mind let out a long sigh.
...This guy is hopeless.
Chapter 35: One of the world’s three unsolved mysteries: Why is Zhuge Kongming Theresa?
I don’t know if it was because of that sigh that woke Kiana up from her fantasy, but at a certain moment, Kiana, whose mind was filled with pink fantasies, suddenly came back to reality with a startle all over her body.
No, no! Now is not the time to think about that.
She lifted up the glass, raised her head, and drank all the walnut milk in three or two gulps. She looked around with a sly look, and after confirming that all the shop assistants were not paying attention to her, she quietly retreated into the depths of her mind.
"Monitor, can you hear me?" she asked silently in her heart.
——You still remember me?
If it could show its physical form now, the will inside Kiana would probably roll its eyes at her speechlessly.
Although that voice did not sound directly in Kiana's mind, she could still vaguely feel the other party's true emotions from the helplessness and slight blame that came from that consciousness.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Kiana couldn't help blushing. She coughed and snorted, pretending nothing had happened and asked, "Squad Leader, now that we're in the store, do you feel anything strange about this cafe?"
No, it seems that I shouldn’t ask this... As soon as she asked it, Kiana felt that this question was stupid.
So she added: "To be more specific, can you help me figure out what's going on with Auntie, Rita, and the 'Brownie' in this store?"
As the holder of the Key of Consciousness, even though she has lost many of her abilities due to being in a special state without a body, the will in her body can easily see through the disguise of the physical level and reach the soul essence of the target.
"..." The voice was silent for a moment, then said softly, "At least, I can see that each of their bodies perfectly matches their own consciousness, so there is no situation of possession."
"That is to say, the employees of this store are all 'real persons', not clones of Yu Duchen, right?"
"Ah."
"Could it be possible that this was a clone created by that bastard Otto?"
After asking this question, Kiana clenched her fists subconsciously.
However, the voice inside her immediately denied this answer.
"At least, from what I can see, it's not like that at all."
"...In other words, even if they are clones or experimental subjects on a biological level, from the perspective of consciousness, all the employees in this store are smooth and natural, without any flaws that clones should have."
"At this point, even clones are no different from normal people, or even slightly better."
At this moment, "Theresa", who was talking in a low voice with the store manager, suddenly raised her head. The azure blue pupils that Kiana was very familiar with were filled with majesty that she had never seen in such pupils.
Kiana's pupils shrank slightly.
There was clearly a pink atmosphere of a girl in love just a second ago, however, when the girl, who looked just like her aunt, cast a look full of scrutiny and admonition at her, the noble spirit brought by being in a high position for many years made her subconsciously want to escape.
"It seems that it is not a polite behavior for this customer to casually spy on other people's will."
The clear and tender voice exudes a king-like majesty and heaviness.
Kiana's head was covered in cold sweat, and she subconsciously said, "Hello, sorry..."
"It's just this once, it won't happen again."
"Theresa" glanced at Kiana coldly, then calmly withdrew her threat and put her face closer to the manager.
Kiana breathed a sigh of relief and whispered in her heart, "Class monitor, did she notice it?"
"Hmm." The voice inside her body said, "If I'm not mistaken, the person who looks like Theresa seems to be surrounded by an extremely special energy."
"Is it Honkai energy?" Kiana asked quickly.
"No... Rather than saying it's Honkai energy..." the voice's tone suddenly became a little confused, "rather, it's very similar to a special ability I've seen once before."
"Has the monitor ever seen it once?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure if my memory is correct." The voice said hesitantly, "You know, due to some accidents, most of the memories in my mind have been burned."
"But... during the time when I studied with you at St. Freya's College, through history classes, I was able to barely find some traces of the memories that remained after being burned."
"History class?" Kiana was stunned, and then showed an embarrassed expression, "Why did you suddenly bring this up?"
"Because the special ability surrounding the body of 'Theresa' is too similar to that of a wise man who was active two thousand years ago."
"Who?"
"His name is Zhuge Liang... You may not have any idea of what this name means, but from my perspective, the astrology and formations used by that genius are definitely much stronger than those of an average A-rank Valkyrie even in modern society."
Kiana's brain was a little insufficient: "Zhuge Liang? Isn't this a Shenzhou name? How is she related to my aunt? Is the man named Zhuge Liang also from Kaslana?"
"Also, why would an ancient person from thousands of years ago appear in this store?!"
"Uh... this..." The consciousness in her body was suddenly at a loss for words. "I don't know why she has the appearance of the Kaslana family and looks the same as Theresa. Moreover, I can't confirm whether the 'Theresa' in this store is the Zhuge Kongming I have seen."
"But no matter what, one thing that is certain is that, apart from her appearance, this girl who looks the same as Theresa actually has little to do with Theresa. I also don't sense the aura that belongs only to a fusion warrior in her body."
"So, Bronya is not Bronya, and Auntie is not Auntie either?" Kiana frowned and muttered in a low voice, "So, Rita is not Rita either... So she didn't lie to us?"
Chapter 36: The Night Is Not Over Yet
"If she hadn't deceived us, Kiana, what were you going to do?"
