Su Yu's gaze passed over the rising steam and settled on the figure across from him.
Sirin was elegantly holding a teacup—though it was merely a creation she had casually materialized with her Authority,
her posture as she savored the tea was as if she were seated upon a throne.
She tilted her chin up slightly, her golden lashes lowered, veiling the light that flowed within those amber pupils, like a feline surveying its territory.
"Since this is a deal, then let's start with the basics."
Su Yu broke the silence.
"In your eyes, Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik… what kind of people are they?"
Hearing those two names, the fingers holding Sirin's teacup visibly paused.
She slowly set the cup down; the porcelain base met the tabletop with a crisp little clink.
"Heh."
A cold laugh slipped from between her lips.
She leaned back, her spine sinking into the soft chair, her legs crossed.
"Raiden Mei…" She enunciated the name, the tip of her tongue lightly pressing against her palate, carrying an inexplicable possessiveness and disdain. "That is my other half."
She raised her hand, her slender index finger making a faint point in the void, as though an invisible heart hovered there.
"The Gem of Conquest within her body was mine to begin with. What a pity—that power, enough to destroy heaven and earth, should be housed in such a weak vessel."
The corner of Sirin's mouth hooked into a mocking curve, her gaze turning sharp.
"Indecisive, bound hand and foot by those utterly tedious human emotions. When she need only move a finger to crush every obstacle, she instead chooses to circle around that idiot Kiana all day long like a fawning lapdog."
At this point, as if she'd recalled some supremely absurd joke, her shoulders trembled slightly, and a string of low laughter spilled out.
"The most laughable part is that she was foolish enough to install a bomb on her own heart——for the sake of so-called atonement? Or to keep herself from losing control?"
Her gaze swept over Su Yu, carrying a clear-sighted, see-through sort of mockery.
"Just like the collar that idiot put on herself in this world. Humans always love to manufacture these self-consoling shackles. A heart bomb? Don't make me laugh—a toy of that caliber couldn't possibly kill a Herrscher. She merely shut herself, of her own wishful accord, into a cage named 'weakness.'"
[System Notice: Material "Raiden Mei in Sirin's Eyes" has been recorded. Keywords: other half, weakness, self-binding. Cognition-linked emotions: contempt, exasperation at one who won't rise to the occasion.]
Su Yu did not interrupt her; he merely listened quietly.
He noticed that when Sirin mentioned the "heart bomb," her fingers unconsciously gripped the armrest.
"As for that little squirt called Bronya…"
The mockery on Sirin's face grew thicker, even carrying a trace of disgust.
"Even more laughable—a puppet controlled by a chip, a machine that only obeys orders."
She reached out and made the motion of a marionette in the air.
"Humans always pride themselves on possessing free will, yet it takes only the slightest bit of technological manipulation, the slightest erosion of Honkai energy, to wipe that self they're so proud of clean away. Back in Nagazora, that little thing was like an obedient dog—bite wherever it was pointed."
Suddenly, her movements stopped.
In those amber eyes, the original mockery gradually receded, replaced by a more complicated, more profound emotion.
She stared at a single point in the void, her gaze a little unfocused.
"But still…"
Her voice dropped low, no longer carrying that sharp aggression from before, instead taking on a faint, hard-to-detect… wistfulness?
"To think that little squirt, later, in order to avoid hurting her companions, would actually choose to burn out the biological chip in her own brain…"
Sirin lowered her eyelids, looking at her own face reflected in the teacup.
"Would rather become a cripple than fail to sever that control, hmm… how truly commendable her courage is. Truly… a moving little drama."
Those last few words she spoke very softly, like a sigh.
[System Notice: Material "Bronya in Sirin's Eyes" has been recorded. Keywords: puppet, resistance, courage. Cognition-linked emotions: mockery, surprise, faint resonance.]
Su Yu looked at her.
That Queen who was always lofty and regarded humans as ants was now uncharacteristically quiet.
When she appraised Mei, what she saw was a "self-binding fool."
When she appraised Bronya, what she saw was a "puppet possessing foolish courage."
Though her words were caustic, brimming with the arrogance unique to a Herrscher, Su Yu keenly caught that sliver of emotion leaking out from beneath her hard shell.
For the sake of a companion, sparing nothing to sacrifice oneself.
To protect someone important, willing to defy one's very instincts.
This kind of quality…
In Su Yu's mind surfaced that white giant dragon that, upon the snowfields of Siberia, had fought to its very last moment to protect the Queen.
These companions at Kiana Kaslana's side—their posture of sparing nothing for one another—had they, in some instant, made this lonely Queen recall that one existence which had once, in this world, wholeheartedly protected her?
"It seems," Su Yu set down his teacup with a soft sound, breaking the silence,
"you don't actually detest this kind of foolishness."
Sirin's gaze instantly turned sharp, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, every defense across her body bristling up in a flash.
"Don't go fancying yourself clever, human."
She said coldly, rebuilding that haughty wall.
"I was merely appraising the brilliance of a performance, that's all."
"A performance." Su Yu repeated the word.
He did not dwell too much on this philosophically-tinged topic.
Toward this dangerous element before him who might explode at any moment, empathy was superfluous—even harmful.
What he needed was information, material, the puzzle pieces capable of filling in the blanks of Honkai Impact 3rd's plot.
"Then, let us talk about the prologue of that performance."
Su Yu leaned back, pulling a little distance away from Sirin.
It was an unconscious defensive posture, and also a kind of psychological boundary-drawing.
"In Chapter Two, 'Voice in the Dream.' You took advantage of the time she was preparing for the Valkyrie rank examination to pull her into that dream space."
"What did you do to her? Or rather… what did you make her see?"
The mocking curve at the corner of Sirin's mouth widened.
She seemed to greatly enjoy this sense of a "replay."
Like a masterful hunter showing off to others how, step by step, she had lured her prey into the trap.
"Human, do you know what the most important thing about fishing is?"
Sirin extended a slender finger and drew a faint circle in the air.
"It's the bait."
"That idiot…"
She gave a contemptuous snort, a cruel light like the glee of a successful prank flickering in the depths of her eyes.
"She craved that so-called home far too much. Just give her the slightest bit of news about the father who abandoned her, or about the mother she'd never met… and she'd stick her neck obediently into the collar, like a dog that had caught the scent of a meat-bone."
Su Yu listened in silence.
Although he had long known the plot, hearing such a malice-filled account from the very person involved still made his heart sink slightly.
But he showed nothing on his face, merely nodding, like a dutiful recorder.
"And the dream you spoke of…"
She set down her teacup, her fingertip sliding gently along the rim.
"That was a grace I bestowed upon her, and also a test." Sirin's voice carried a lofty mockery. "That idiot—though the blood of the strongest warrior flows in her body, she spends all day like a child who never grew up, knowing only to circle around those few ants."
She gave a light chuckle, a flicker of contempt passing through the depths of her eyes.
"So I gave her a chance. A chance where, so long as she obediently did as told, she could obtain the thing she most wanted."
"I told her that as long as she could clear the trial I'd set within the dream, I would tell her the news about that irresponsible father, Siegfried, and about that so-called mother, Cecilia."
At this point, the mockery on Sirin's face grew ever thicker.
"And then? She cleared it?"
"Of course. For something so illusory and intangible, the potential humans can erupt with is sometimes truly astonishing. Battered and covered in wounds, she made it to the end and came to demand her reward."
Sirin leaned back against the chair, her long legs crossed, her posture languid and arrogant.
"As a deity who keeps her promises, I naturally told her the truth."
Her voice suddenly dropped low, carrying a venomous delight.
"I told her that she was not Siegfried's daughter at all. She was merely a number, an experimental specimen, a replica named K-423."
"I also told her that the mother she yearned for so deeply, Cecilia—that legendary S-rank Valkyrie—had already died way back in the Second Eruption. Died utterly and completely, without even ashes left behind."
Sirin stared at Su Yu, as if hoping to see an expression of shock or rage on his face.
But Su Yu only looked at her calmly, and even picked up the teapot to refill her cup.
"A very cruel truth," Su Yu remarked, his expression unchanged. "But this wasn't just to deal her a blow, was it?"
Sirin narrowed her eyes, seeming a little disappointed by Su Yu's reaction, and a little surprised.
"Of course not."
She took the teacup.
"That dream, although it ultimately failed to let me completely seize her body, that doesn't matter."
The smile at the corner of Sirin's mouth deepened—the smile of a hunter watching her prey fall into the trap.
"What matters is that I saw her weakness."
"She craves being loved far too much."
"That replica's identity, that truth of having lost her mother—they're like a thorn, driven deep into her heart. As long as this thorn remains, she will never escape fear and self-doubt."
"Cowardice, inferiority, a pathological craving for belonging…"
Sirin raised her hand, looking at her own slender, perfect fingers, as if admiring a work of art.
"These are all fissures upon her soul. And I need only wait patiently. Wait for these fissures to grow larger and larger, until…"
She abruptly clenched her fist.
"Until her will completely collapses, and this body will belong entirely to me."
The space fell into a brief, deathly silence.
Su Yu looked at this haughty, cruel, yet unusually candid Herrscher before him.
She made no attempt to conceal her own malice, and even regarded this kind of spiritual flaying as a sort of glory.
This was an existence completely different from Kiana.
Dangerous, thorny, but… not without weaknesses.
[System Notice: Materials "Voice in the Dream," "The Secret of K-423's Origins," and "The Death of Cecilia" have been recorded. Cognition-linked emotions: despair, truth, foreshadowing.]
Su Yu closed the system notice.
In the time that followed, Su Yu asked about a number of related details, recording them one by one in the notepad the System provided.
This tea party in the depths of consciousness went unexpectedly smoothly.
"I have nothing more to ask."
Su Yu rose to his feet.
Across from him, Sirin was holding her teacup, taking an elegant sip, a few degrees of "I'll grant that you know your place" satisfaction in her golden eyes.
It was about time to withdraw.
Stay any longer, and if this crazy woman suddenly changed her mind, he really didn't want to experience being skewered into a hedgehog by the Subspace Lance again.
Just as Su Yu was about to open his mouth to take his leave, that noisy system pop-up once again leapt out, oblivious to its own mortality, its bright-red bold characters smearing themselves right across his face.
[Congratulations, Host! Side mission 「Tame the Queen」 Phase One accomplished!]
[Obtained key intel: The Queen's Strategy Guide (Ver1.0)]
The corner of Su Yu's eye twitched.
A strategy guide? What was this déjà vu of treating a Herrscher like the heroine of a dating sim to be conquered?
Before he could even finish grumbling, lines of analytical text surfaced upon his retina.
[Target Analysis: Sirin / Herrscher of the Void]
[Essence: Don't be fooled by that puffed-up, hot-shot manner of hers. Whether it's the kind Sirin or the evil Herrscher, their source is one and the same—that little girl in the Tower of Babylon, trembling and craving an embrace.]
[Behavioral Logic: Her coldness, her arrogance, and those off-the-charts chuunibyou lines ("ant," "kneel") are nothing but a thick layer of armor. She uses this method to numb herself, thereby convincing herself that she is no longer that experimental specimen left for the slaughter, but a lofty deity.]
[Strategy Advice: The Host's earlier "reckless, life-be-damned tactics" have already successfully left her with a psychological shadow (strikethrough) deep impression, instilling fear in her. But the whip alone is not enough; the essence of taming a beast lies in—a stick, then a sweet date.]
[Pain Point: Extremely starved of love, extremely lacking in security. Her perception of "goodness" remains almost entirely frozen at the time before she was dragged into the laboratory, as well as… that "home" she briefly possessed within the dream.]
Looking at this text, Su Yu's mood was a little complicated.
He raised his head and looked at the girl across from him who was still struggling to maintain her "aristocratic bearing."
She clearly possessed the power to destroy the world, yet at this moment she was squinting her eyes slightly because of the fragrance of a single cup of black tea, exactly like a cat being stroked with-the-grain until it was thoroughly comfortable.
So she's a child starved of love…
[Host's emotional fluctuation detected, target match successful!]
[Generating exclusive item now…]
[Item Name: Cecilia's Handmade Cake (Reissue Edition)]
[Effect: Imperceptibly dispels violent temperament, increases favorability, awakens dormant conscience.]
With the System's prompt tone, an exquisite paper box appeared out of thin air in Su Yu's hands.
Su Yu felt a wave of headache.
Making him go conquer this crazy woman who had killed him a thousand times, and even once tried to devour Kiana too—
This System's train of thought was simply more convoluted than a Möbius strip.
Forget it.
"For Kiana's sake, never mind giving her a cake—even if you made me dance a Gokuraku Jōdo for her… ahem, that one we'll skip."
Su Yu took a deep breath and adjusted his expression.
He did not hand the cake over directly, but rather, like performing a magic trick, gently pushed the box tied with a pink ribbon to the center of the round table.
"What is… that?"
Sirin's movements stopped.
Her gaze fell upon the box, her nose twitching slightly, as if she'd caught some scent that made her very soul tremble.
"Today's token of thanks."
Su Yu shrugged, his tone as casual as if dismissing a child begging for candy.
"Since Her Majesty the Queen has cooperated so well, as a human, I naturally ought to understand a bit of social courtesy. This is… a small little offering."
He deliberately used the word "offering," precisely striking at that bit of vanity in Sirin.
Sirin's eyebrow lifted, and the corner of her mouth hooked into a cold smile.
"Hmph… I'll grant that you know your place."
She folded her arms, leaned back against the chair, and put on a nonchalant air.
"Are you trying to win me over with this kind of petty favor, human? Thinking that this way, when I return to that world, I'll spare you?"
"Letting you eke out a wretched existence in those filthy ruins… that truly would be a fine little entertainment."
Su Yu did not refute her, merely spreading his hands indifferently.
"Think whatever you like."
He stood up and cast one last glance at the cake box.
"If you don't want to eat it, you can just toss it into Imaginary Space. Either way… I've already given the thing to you. How you deal with it is your own business."
Just handling business by the book—after all, the System never said he had to watch her eat it.
With that said, he made no further stay.
His form began to turn transparent, like a drop of water melting into the sea.
"Well then, see you again, Your Majesty the Queen."
As Su Yu's figure completely vanished, that chair reverted into a void stream of data.
In the vast consciousness space, once again all that remained was that one stretch of glaring pure white, and… that incongruous, brightly-colored cake box on the table.
Sirin still maintained that haughty seated posture, motionless.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Only after confirming that the detestable human had truly left did she tentatively reach out her hand.
Her slender fingers touched the slightly cool paper box.
"…Hmph, since you begged me to accept it."
She muttered, as if making an excuse for herself, and with a light flick of her fingertip, undid that pink ribbon.
The instant the box opened.
A rich sweet fragrance, carrying the scent of vanilla and strawberry, burst open in the air like a bomb.
Sirin's pupils contracted sharply.
It was a very ordinary strawberry cream cake.
No superfluous decoration—only thick, cloud-like fluffy cream, and that bright-red, dripping-fresh strawberry on top.
But this was not merely a cake.
It was… a switch for memory.
In a daze, the pure white space seemed to lose its color.
She seemed to return once more to that warm room, the fire in the fireplace crackling.
That woman with gentle white hair was smilingly carrying the same cake before her, softly calling her name.
"Here, Sirin, Mama made this especially for you."
"…Mama."
Sirin murmured aloud unconsciously.
The next second, she abruptly snapped back to herself, withdrawing her hand as if she'd been scalded.
"No… that's fake, it's all fake."
She gritted her teeth, a flicker of ferocity passing through her eyes.
She wanted to wave her hand, to summon the Subspace Lance, to completely shatter this symbol of weakness before her, erasing it along with all that hypocritical warmth.
But with her hand raised halfway, she could not bring it down no matter what.
That fragrance was like an invisible hand, gently caressing her taut nerves.
"…Hmph."
In the end, she lowered her hand.
"This is just… a spoil of war, something I deserve."
She picked up that little fork again; though her movements still strove to maintain elegance, they betrayed a hard-to-detect eagerness.
The fork cut off a small piece of cake and brought it to her mouth.
The instant the cream melted on the tip of her tongue.
Sweet.
Different from the sweetness of that industrial saccharine.
It was a pure, gentle sweetness, as though it could wrap up her entire soul.
The slight tartness of the strawberry offset the richness of the cream, and the cake base was so soft and glutinous it was like eating a cloud.
Although she was in a consciousness space with no physical substance, this taste seemed to seep directly into her heart, flowing along with her blood to every limb and bone, slowly diluting that cold and malice that had long perched at the bottom of her heart, bit by bit.
This was… a System product—it must be a fine product.
Sirin said nothing.
She merely ate quietly, bite by bite.
The shoulders that had originally been tensed to maintain her "Queen's image" slowly slumped down.
She was no longer that lofty Herrscher; at this moment, she was just an ordinary girl greedily craving this little bit of sweetness.
Before she knew it, an entire cake had been reduced to nothing.
Sirin stuck out the tip of her tongue and, still not satisfied, licked the bit of cream stuck to the corner of her mouth.
That taste… was really wonderful.
She raised her head and looked toward the direction in which Su Yu had vanished.
There was still a stretch of empty pure white, nothing at all.
But in her mind, that man's appearance from moments ago surfaced involuntarily.
That madman who, on the rooftop, had recklessly hurled himself at her, life be damned.
That "servant" who, before the tea table, had taught her how to pour tea.
And… that figure who'd left behind a cake and departed so dashingly.
He was merely a foolish human, an ant she could crush at will if she had her power.
Yet time and again he ruined her plans, saving that weak K-423.
And he even had the gall to want to "help" her, a deity, in his mere human body?
Arrogant, ignorant.
But.
Hmph.
Compared to those vulgar humans, he could, just barely, be called "interesting," perhaps.
"Hmph… human."
Sirin gave a light snort, yet the corner of her mouth hooked into an extremely faint curve that even she herself hadn't noticed.
"Then I'll… spare your little life for now."
She leaned back against the chair, closing her eyes, as if still savoring the lingering aftertaste from before.
"After all… a grand performance like destroying the world ought to have at least one passably pleasing spectator."
Though her mouth spoke harsh words, in the deepest part of that heart occupied by malice and cold, a seed named "anticipation" was quietly breaking through the soil.
She had actually… begun to look forward to her next meeting with that detestable human.
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