Warm light and cold shadow met beneath her skirt in a conflicted yet perfect intersection.
Most of the students at Chiba Academy were from aristocratic backgrounds, making the roads incredibly congested during dismissal.
After walking out of the school gates, Kiana didn't head toward any of the black sedans idling by the curb, nor did she join the crowd of commoner students at the bus stop.
Instead, she leisurely adjusted her direction at the crossroads and turned into a secluded, narrow alleyway.
The alley was so cramped it could barely accommodate two people walking abreast. Potholes littered the ground. The air was thick with the scent of grease from home-cooked meals and the soapy fragrance of drying laundry.
This was one of the few remaining old residential districts in Nagazora City. Kiana stopped in front of a weathered building over ten stories high.
She looked up at the familiar, faded exterior walls. A few bricks had fallen off just a couple of days ago; fortunately, no one had been hit. The walls were bare in spots, exposing the concrete beneath. The security bars on the windows were rusted through, and laundry of various colors—neighborly underwear and socks—was hung out to dry on the balconies, completely unabashed by the eyes of strangers.
She stepped inside.
Unlike the sun-drenched playground of Chiba Academy, the stairwell of this old apartment was narrow and dimly lit. The voice-activated lights were sluggish; she had to clap her hands firmly before a faint, yellowish glow would flicker to life.
There was no elevator. Kiana climbed the stairs in silence, stopping before a sheet-metal security door on the seventh floor.
She slid the key into the lock. A crisp click echoed as she turned it.
The door opened.
The interior was small enough to be seen in a single glance. There were only three rooms: one served as both living room and bedroom, one for washing up, and the last was the kitchen.
One could walk through the entire apartment in ten seconds.
The only two decorations were a small transparent glass bottle on the kitchen windowsill containing an unknown white wildflower surrounded by a pile of withered leaves. The final remnants of the sunset's glow filtered through the slightly grimy glass pane, illuminating the dead foliage.
Kiana Kaslana. The mere suffix of her name was enough to make any power player in Nagazora City hold their breath and bow their head.
Yet, in the place where she lived...
There was no butler, no maid, no priceless artwork, and certainly no luxury to flaunt her status.
No one would ever guess that the world-renowned Eldest Miss of the Kaslana family lived in such a cheap, dilapidated rental.
Kiana took off her school uniform jacket and hung it on a flimsy, cheap wooden rack. She walked to the window and pulled it open, letting the last light of day spill into the room.
"It's not too late. I can cook without turning on the lights... though it seems electricity prices went up again recently..."
Kiana wrapped a tacky, oversized red scarf around her neck and stood before the stove. She began washing vegetables—heaps of bean sprouts and greens—along with discounted potatoes and a canned fish that was nearing its expiration date, supposedly a Nagazora specialty.
Even with such ordinary ingredients, Kiana was confident she could make them delicious!
The "smoke and fire" of a mundane life rose from the pot, the fumes a bit stinging. Fortunately, Kiana was used to the smell. She gave a simple sniff before continuing to toss the wok.
Once the meal was ready, Kiana sat in her tiny bedroom of barely a dozen square meters. A stool served as her chair, and the windowsill was her dining table.
Eating while enjoying the "view" from her rental was quite cozy.
Night fell like ink spreading across rice paper. All of Nagazora was soon shrouded in a dark mantle, but this city never lacked for prosperity or extravagance. Countless neon lights flickered to life one after another, adorning the city in a breathtaking display.
But Kiana didn't long for that life. Compared to the glitz and glamour, she was more than happy to be intoxicated by this simple, homely atmosphere.
Even if it was mediocre, even if it was dull, even if she spent her whole life in obscurity—as long as she could grasp this ordinary freedom, it would be wonderful.
I'll cook, read, and go for walks when the world is quiet to look up at the stars and the moon, Kiana thought.
If I found a partner I liked, I could joke around with him. I'd look at the starlight in his eyes, watch the way he eats, and see his expression when he's asleep. What would that be like?
He'd probably look as peaceful as a sleeping baby...
If I were like a normal person, reaching the age of marriage would be a bit of a headache. After getting married, things like cars, houses, and children all have to be considered. If I couldn't help at all, he'd probably feel a lot of pressure...
But her grades were excellent. In the future, she could find a great job. Supporting a family wasn't something one person should have to do alone. If she were just an ordinary person, she could definitely help her other half.
Everyone said weddings were expensive. Aristocratic weddings easily cost tens or hundreds of millions, which was just ridiculous.
She would only need a few tens of thousands. If that wasn't possible, just buying a wedding dress would be enough. They'd just invite both sets of parents over for a home-cooked meal. She'd put on her wedding dress and cook, and they'd be married after the meal. As long as the two of them were happy, the sense of ceremony didn't matter.
But would that make her seem too "cheap"? Would he agree with her ideas?
And the dress... should it be Western style, or one of those vermilion dresses from Shenzhou? Maybe even a Xiapei Fengguan?
[T/N: "Xiapei Fengguan" refers to the "Phoenix Crown and Cloud Cape," the traditional, highly ornate wedding attire for brides in ancient China.]
Kiana let her mind wander.
As she thought, the world presented itself before her eyes in full clarity—so incredibly real, yet so incredibly distant.
It wasn't until every scrap of food in her bowl was gone that Kiana snapped out of her fantasy. The gentle ripples in her eyes suddenly stilled, becoming as calm as autumn water.
That soft, silly expression vanished instantly. Like the evening clouds, it hid away as soon as the fantasy ended and night descended.
Kiana took out her phone and dialed an international number for a contact labeled "Mommy."
The call was answered almost immediately. Cecilia's voice rushed through the line along with the cool evening breeze from the window: "Kiana! You finally thought to call your mother! How is it? Are you happy at Chiba Academy? How's the food? Have you run into any trouble? Is anyone chasing you? Do you like anyone? Should Mommy use her annual leave to come spend a few days with you? Though it might be hard to explain to Overseer Kallen... maybe I'll just let the Schicksal Research Institute draw a liter of my blood as a trade. I want to go to your side so badly... I miss you..."
Like most mothers, she was incredibly excited to receive a long-awaited call from her daughter. She opened with a barrage of questions before casually dropping some very reckless suggestions.
"What? Is that Kiana? My baby girl, I miss you to death! Don't worry, with Dad here, I definitely won't let them draw your mom's blood. They can draw two liters of mine!"
At the same time, in a manor assigned by Schicksal on the other end of the line, Siegfried slapped his thigh and rushed over, speaking in an exuberant tone.
Kiana couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm doing very well, Mom. And Dad, stop saying such terrifying things with such a straight face. Even if our constitutions are different from normal people, drawing that much blood will still make you weak."
Siegfried nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes, my daughter is right. Dad is just being silly, haha... Ow! Ow! Stop pinching me, wifey! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
————————