Finally, Bronya is making her appearance. I must Cook a good celebratory meal tonight.)
Byakuya was busy in the kitchen, skillfully handling various ingredients with his improved cooking skills, honed over the past two months.
Perhaps there was still some distance to the Mei's level, but with his rapid improvement, it was foreseeable that Mei's position as the top chef in Honkai Impact 3rd might not be secure in the future.
"Beet soup is a must-have. Oh, I remember Mei's potato chicken wings were quite delicious before. I happen to have the ingredients, so I'll try making them. I'll also make some egg dishes. She's in the growth stage now, so how can she grow into the future Da Ya Ya without eating well and getting enough nutrition?"
However, just as Byakuya was enthusiastically showing off his cooking skills, a loud bang suddenly came from outside.
Boom—!
"Eh~ which mischievous one is it this time?" Byakuya could only temporarily put down his kitchen knife.
Then, in a blink of an eye, he had teleported to the door of the room prepared for Bronya. After mentally preparing himself, he opened the door and saw a scene that made him laugh and cry.
The culprits of the accident were, as expected, the problem child twin sisters of Hearth House, Rosalia and Liliya.
The two were lying in peculiar poses on the collapsed single bed. The moment they saw Byakuya, their little faces instantly turned pale.
"Papa came too fast! Liliya hasn't even thought of an excuse to blame everything on Rosalia yet!"
"Yeah, yeah, hey wait, Liliya, what did you just say?!"
"Ahem, someone explain the situation to me."
Byakuya lightly coughed, looking at the Vodka Sisters with a dark smile. Under the full-blown aura of a guardian, the girls huddled together, trembling.
Afterward, a girl raised her hand and explained the situation.
It turned out that Rosalia and Liliya wanted to perform a show to welcome Bronya to Hearth Home. The two were jumping on the stage of the single bed, and accidentally caused the bed to collapse.
"Papa Byakuya, we were wrong!"
"Yeah, yeah, if you're going to punish someone, punish Rosalia. It has nothing to do with Liliya."
"Liliya is so mean! I declare it's all Liliya's fault. Daddy, if you want to blame someone, blame Liliya!"
As expected of the famous 'plastic sisters' of Hearth Home.
At critical moments, they immediately sold each other out to save themselves. Close sisters are meant to be sold out in times of crisis!
Byakuya picked them up, one in each hand, from the broken bed, laughing and crying. He breathed a sigh of relief after carefully checking that neither of them was injured.
"Alright, alright, don't quarrel among sisters."
"Papa/Papa Byakuya." x2
"How could I blame you? Rosalia and Liliya accidentally collapsed the bed to welcome Bronya, right? Next time, you must be careful. If you get hurt, Papa will be very heartbroken."
"Papa Byakuya!!" x2
The two sisters were instantly moved to tears, rushing over to give Byakuya a bear hug. At the same time, they swore in their hearts that they would be good girls and obedient girls who wouldn't cause Papa Byakuya any trouble in the future.
However, the next second...
"Let's put this aside for now. I'm very confused. Even though our beds aren't high-end, they were all carefully selected by me with quality assurance. Why could you two make them collapse just by jumping?"
"Ah, this..." x2
Rosalia and Liliya simultaneously looked away guiltily, a drop of cold sweat trickling down their foreheads.
Byakuya raised his hand and pinched their chubby little faces, then bounced the two girls up and down in his arms. Afterward, his golden eyes narrowed.
"You've gotten fat, and quite a bit at that. Each of you has gained at least five or six jin or more... Speaking of which, the snacks I've put on the shelf recently seem to have decreased significantly. Do you two have any idea why?"
"It, it was all Rosalia who ate them!"
"It, it was all Liliya who ate them!"
"Good, very good~"
Byakuya's smile grew brighter, and the twin sisters' expressions became more terrified. The sisters were now clasping their hands together, trembling.
"Starting tomorrow, Rosalia and Liliya are forbidden from having any snacks. If you can't return to your original weight in half a month, then add another half a month."
"No, nooo—!"
"Papa Byakuya, have mercy! Rosalia will die if she doesn't eat snacks for a whole month!"
...You've already accepted that you'll be punished for a month, haven't you?
Byakuya sighed, rubbing his forehead in resignation, wondering when these two mischievous sisters would be as worry-free as Seele. It seemed that without something drastic, it wouldn't work.
"Sin Mal, listen to my command!"
"Yes!"
"I'm giving you a crucial task: starting tomorrow, take these two for a morning run around Hearth Home. They must run at least five laps every day."
At these words, the two girls instantly lost color. Of all people, he chose Sin Mal to supervise them, the worst child in Hearth Home.
"Liliya, I don't think we'll see the sun next month, boohoohoo."
"We're doomed. I should have eaten less. How can Rosalia possibly wake up in the morning?"
"Hmph hmph hmph~ Since it's a task assigned by Papa, of course I'll complete it well. Rosalia and Liliya, tomorrow morning at seven, no, six o'clock, get up and run!"
"Boohoohoo, noooo~~~!" x2
Ignoring their pitiful looks, mischievous children who steal everyone's snacks don't deserve sympathy!
But just as Byakuya was about to return to the kitchen to finish the remaining celebratory feast.
Seeley ran over in a panic.
"Papa Byakuya, come quickly, Sister Bronya, Sister Bronya she...!"
"Seele, what happened? Speak slowly, don't rush."
"I, I don't know how to explain it. Please come and see for yourself."
"Okay!"
Seeing Seele's expression, on the verge of tears from anxiety.
Byakuya no longer hesitated, jumping directly from the second floor to the bathroom on the first floor. He thought that something unexpected had happened to Bronya while she was washing, such as falling and getting injured.
In reality, nothing was amiss. Bronya was sitting peacefully in the bathtub, soaking in a hot bath.
However, the moment Byakuya saw her, he immediately understood the reason for Seele's panic.
"...Damn it, what did those damn beasts do to you?"
"Are you angry?"
"Isn't that obvious! Look at your body, it's so badly injured!"
Byakuya said indignantly.
Bronya's tender skin was covered in scars: gunshot wounds, knife wounds, and many bruises and frostbite. Although it's often said that scars are a warrior's medals, this statement should never be applied to such a delicate and young girl!
Byakuya had never seen such a scarred body. Uh, well, he had actually seen one. When he was in Babylon Laboratory, his body had several times more scars than Bronya's.
"How are these injuries? Do they still hurt?"
"It's not a big deal. Bronya's combat power won't be affected by these."
"So, it still hurts, right?"
...Yes.
Bronya nodded lightly. These injuries were proof of her crossing countless battlefields.
The Ural Silver Wolf, ranked first among mercenaries, was not someone who could easily achieve her feats purely through talent. The life-and-death crises she overcame were too numerous to count on both hands and feet.
Even after healing, these scars would bring a stinging pain, clinging to Bronya like a curse.
"Come, lie down."
"What are you going to do?"
"Why ask? Of course, I'm going to heal you."
Byakuya said as if it were a matter of course, the Herrscher of Death's authority blooming at his fingertips.
Whenever he touched a scar on Bronya, the scar disappeared, as if a curse had been purified.