How could this be…
Takatsuki lay on the bed in the room where he woke up this morning.
This bed was a standard double bed, and the room had many decorations, mainly wedding photos of Takatsuki and Durandal.
Because Takatsuki wasn't someone who liked to decorate, the room's decor hadn't changed since their newlywed days.
What? You ask why Durandal didn't change the display?
Because Durandal slept in another room!
For some reason, Takatsuki couldn't recall when he started sleeping in a separate room from Durandal.
Was it after the little one was born?
After all, if they hadn't shared a room, where did the little one come from?
But that was many years ago.
They slept in the same bed, under the same quilt. They were clearly an old couple, yet they still treated each other with respect.
"Bianka…"
Takatsuki could clearly feel his bedmate's body tremble slightly with that call.
She seemed to tense up subconsciously but quickly relaxed.
"Mmm…"
Durandal's voice was muffled, sounding as if she was covered by something.
Could she have hidden her head under the quilt?
Although the dark room wasn't pitch black, it was still difficult to see things clearly.
"How long has it been since we slept in the same bed like this?"
Takatsuki was clearly just making conversation. He didn't know why, even though they were so familiar, he still felt so nervous he couldn't sleep.
In the darkness, Durandal also fell silent.
After a long while, just as Takatsuki wondered if she had fallen asleep, her voice came out.
"It seems, ever since Ai was born."
So it was that time, after all.
"That must be five years, then."
Ai was already five years old, which meant they had been sleeping in separate rooms for five years.
"Mm…"
"You must be tired after playing all day today."
Takatsuki's throat bobbed. "Let me give you a massage…"
Seeing that the other person neither agreed nor objected, Takatsuki slowly reached out towards the person beside him…
…
Meanwhile, in another room, Ai and An sat in their bedroom.
"An-chan, I know what you want to do."
Ai sat cross-legged on the bed, swaying her body in a bear-themed pajama, looking at An, who was wearing a rabbit-themed pajama and looked like a little white rabbit, with white hair and red eyes.
"Who exactly are you?"
An suddenly spoke, "This should be the world I created."
"Hehehe, I have the same goal as you, you know."
An's eyes widened slightly when she heard this. "Then why are you stopping me?"
"Harming Daddy and Mommy is not allowed, you know."
Ai said with a giggle, "As long as you're obedient, I'll make your wish come true. How about it?"
An looked at the girl in front of her. Her current state was thanks to this girl.
The control of the dream world, which should have been hers, was completely out of her hands, and she couldn't even end it.
"Oh my, it's already begun."
Ai suddenly looked towards the door with some delight.
An also followed her gaze.
Although she didn't have control, as one of the "organizers," she still had some special privileges.
Naturally, she could see what was happening on the other side.
"Is this your goal? What's the point?"
"Oh dear, you just need to be obedient. Daddy is very capable, it seems I don't need to use aphrodisiacs, after all."
An looked at the very happy Ai opposite her, unable to understand why she was doing such a thing.
But now, without authority, she was essentially living under someone else's roof, so she naturally couldn't say anything. She could only play the role of a daughter, as Ai had said.
She, who should have had no personality, was originally supposed to appear in the form of a Lesser Grail's vessel personality.
But even this point was tampered with by the girl in front of her.
…
Takatsuki was completely unaware of what was happening under the same roof.
He woke up early the next morning.
Looking at his still sleeping wife, Takatsuki gently kissed her cheek and released his hands and feet that had been restraining her body.
"Such a grown woman, yet her sleeping posture is still so bad. Could it be because of this that we slept in separate beds? But, you were amazing last night."
Takatsuki rubbed his thigh, which Durandal had kicked in the middle of the night. Thankfully, it was her instinctive action, and not much force was used.
After that, he simply restrained her with his own body.
Quietly getting up, Durandal was very tired, so naturally, Takatsuki would have to prepare breakfast today.
"Hmm?"
Takatsuki frowned as he looked at the bedsheet beneath him.
He thought he had just seen something red on the bedsheet, but it disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Did he see wrong?
He reached out and touched the bedsheet; there was nothing red.
It must have been an illusion.
After confirming again, Takatsuki shuffled in his slippers towards the kitchen.
What he didn't know was that when he was puzzled earlier, In his dear daughter's room, the black-haired little girl let out a sigh of relief and wiped away non-existent sweat from her forehead.
"I almost gave it away. I completely forgot about that part."
An watched Ai's actions without speaking.
But she knew what had just happened. The person in front of her had instantly deprived another person of consciousness in this dream and then erased something.
She didn't know what it was.
After all, her current body had no related knowledge, and even her personality was forcibly pieced together, leading her to a quiet and emotionless demeanor.
What did she do?
Thinking this, An got up from the bed, wanting to go out and see.
"Hey, hey, An-chan, where are you going?"
But Ai grabbed her arm, not letting her leave like that.
"It's still too early. Little children shouldn't wake up so early, you know."
Ai pointed to the cute Honkai-shaped alarm clock on the bedside table. The time on it was just past six.
But I'm not a child…
An wanted to say that, but her current identity and position…
In the end, An chose to give in and obediently let Ai pull her back to bed.
Although children shouldn't wake up so early, they had actually been awake all night. She was looking for a chance to slip away, and although Ai in front of her was smiling, she had been guarding against her, not giving her any opportunity.
An regretted it a little. She shouldn't have actively sought out Takatsuki and Durandal to break through this predicament. If she hadn't sought out the two most core people in this world, how could she have been captured by this terrifying existence in front of her?
So, what exactly is she!?