"Theresa, Theresa, wake up, stop sleeping." Theresa was curled up in bed wearing her pink rabbit pajamas, sleeping soundly. In her groggy state, she heard a familiar voice.
She slowly woke from her deep sleep. Her eyelids felt as heavy as if they were glued shut, but they eventually opened a narrow slit. However, in that instant, an extremely familiar face suddenly appeared right in front of her, almost touching her cheek! The proximity was so close that she could even feel the other person's warm breath on her skin.
"Ah!" Theresa screamed in terror. The last traces of sleepiness vanished instantly. She jerked backward as if electrocuted, her body springing up. Her heart pounded violently from the fright, as if it were about to burst out of her chest.
"Can you not scream so loudly?" Shun put a finger to his lips and shushed her. Fortunately, Theresa lived in the villa area of St. Freya, quite far from the neighbors, so the sound probably hadn't carried outside.
"Sh-Shun, are you finally going to make a move on me?..." Theresa swallowed hard, then continued as if realizing something.
"We… we can't do this to Ana. Aren't you two getting married soon?"
Hearing the words that slipped out of Theresa's mouth in her panic, Shun felt countless black lines instantly appear on his forehead. Why was Theresa acting so brain-dead today?
I clearly belong to the Great Leiyin Temple. How could I betray it just to crave your flat chest? Don't let your imagination run so wild, you heretic from the Little Leiyin Temple!
"You're overthinking it. There's not even two ounces of meat on your chest, yet your thoughts are quite beautiful. Look who I brought." Shun got off Theresa's bed. If the bed weren't so big, he wouldn't have climbed onto it to wake someone.
By this point, Theresa also realized she had overthought things. It was all her grandfather's fault for suddenly calling her today and saying those things.
"Wait, the room is too dark. I'll turn on the light." Theresa reached out to turn on the bedside lamp.
"No need, I'll do it." Accompanying this gentle, melodious voice that sounded like an oriole singing, there was a soft "click." The room, which had been shrouded in darkness, was instantly filled with soft, bright light.
Theresa squinted for a moment before her eyes adjusted to the brightness, then looked at the other person Shun said he had brought.
But the moment her gaze truly landed on that person, Theresa could no longer stay calm.
"Ce… Cecilia?" Theresa rubbed her eyes again. She couldn't believe the scene before her was real.
"I must be dreaming…" Because she had dreamed of this exact scene more than once, she really couldn't tell whether this was reality or a dream.
"It's real, Theresa. I'm back." Cecilia opened her arms toward Theresa, revealing the familiar gentle smile she knew best.
"Waaahhh… Cecilia, where have you been all these years? I always thought you were dead! Cecilia, I missed you so much…" Without the slightest hesitation, Theresa threw herself into Cecilia's arms and cried out. Her appearance matched her childish looks perfectly.
"I'm sorry. Back then, when I fought the Herrscher of the Void, I accidentally fell into the Sea of Quanta because of her ability. I only ran into little Shun tonight."
Cecilia's explanation had clearly been rehearsed with Shun beforehand, because the matter of resurrection was far too shocking.
Theresa's eyes were red at the corners as she looked toward Shun, her expression seemingly seeking confirmation from him.
Shun nodded and said, "You know that Abyss Flower is in my hands. Cecilia was its previous previous owner. Tonight, when I was bored and went for a stroll in the Sea of Quanta, Abyss Flower told me it sensed the aura of Schariac holy blood, so I went to look."
"To be honest, when I first saw Cecilia, I thought she was from another world. But after we exchanged some details, I realized she was from our world. After all, there isn't a second Shun in this universe who is the little brother of the Herrscher of the Void, right?"
"Huh? Shun, when did you have any connection with the Herrscher of the Void? Why don't I remember?" Theresa's memories had been modified by Otto, so she naturally forgot the experience of fighting alongside Shun during the Second Honkai Impact.
"It was probably the Lord Bishop who modified your memories, Theresa. It's fine. I'm back now, aren't I?" Cecilia gently stroked Theresa's head and comforted her.
"Don't forget, my little sister Seele was also fished out of the Sea of Quanta by me. She's Bronya's little sister too! I'm a professional when it comes to finding people in the sea!" Shun felt his explanation was flawless.
Under the coaxing of Shun and Cecilia — two of the people Theresa was closest to — Theresa finally accepted the explanation. Although falling into the Sea of Quanta and being found more than ten years later was ridiculous, it was still more reasonable than resurrection. Moreover, with Seele as a precedent, Theresa had no choice but to believe it.
"By the way, Theresa, what did you mean earlier when you said little Shun and Ana were getting married? Ana — is it the little Ana I remember?"
Mentioning that name, Cecilia couldn't help but think of her niece, Ana Schariac. When she had left back then, Ana had only been a little over four years old. Thinking about the current time, she was probably already eighteen.
"That's right, it's your niece, Cecilia. Actually, it was Shun who told me about Ana's identity. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have known you had a niece!"
"Because my brother's family has always been very low-key. But… it really is little Ana! She's with little Shun? After I di… after I fell into the Sea of Quanta, did my brother's family adopt little Shun? Are they childhood sweethearts?"
Cecilia's string of questions left Theresa stumped. She really didn't know anything about it, so she could only look toward Shun, who was standing by on standby.
"It's not what you think. I also fell into the sea with you back then, just at a different landing point. Have you forgotten?" Shun winked at Cecilia while also adding to the setting for himself.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry. Back then I was too heavily injured, so I accidentally let go of your hand. I'm sorry, little Shun." Cecilia wasn't stupid either and immediately followed Shun's lead to supplement the setting.
Come to think of it, if Cecilia hadn't mentioned her brother just now, Shun would have almost forgotten that his father-in-law was Cecilia's biological older brother.
Theresa and Cecilia — these two close best friends — were still catching up. As a grown man, Shun didn't want to interrupt, so he took out his phone and sent a message to his father-in-law.
"Father-in-law, I've prepared a surprise for you. You'll see it when you come to the Far East Branch."
Not long after, Friedrich's reply arrived. Calculating the time difference between the Far East and Germany, Shun realized that his father-in-law had pulled another all-nighter. He would tell his mother-in-law about it later.
"You brat, don't tell me it's a B-ultrasound report, or I'll make you fly!"
"Hehe, it's even more explosive than that." After leaving this cryptic message, Shun put his phone on silent.