The girl had beautiful chestnut-brown hair and pink eyes, and on the left side of her hair was a blue-violet hairpin.
She also wore a black beret, with two white four-pointed star decorations on it.
She wore a white Valkyrie uniform, and over her left shoulder hung a blue-violet cape marked with white four-pointed stars.
She had a pretty face. It was just such a cute girl who blurted out that her size was B.
A size large enough to look down on Fu Hua and Theresa.
But the moment the words left her mouth, Anna snapped back to her senses. The back of her Valkyrie uniform was already soaked through with sweat.
The Lord Overseer had asked for her age. What kind of answer had she just given!?
I'm such an idiot!
Anna had only just recovered from freezing up, and now she'd fallen straight into panic instead.
After hearing herself answer like that, would the Lord Overseer get angry?
Anna lifted her eyes and looked toward Otto uneasily.
But she saw the Lord Overseer looking at her with a thoughtful expression.
Then she heard what he said.
"Not just that, right? It should be a little bigger." There was a smile on Otto's face, but the words he spoke left Anna stunned.
What did the Lord Overseer mean? Had that look just now really been him sizing up her chest? Though to be fair, it had felt tighter lately...
With someone discussing such a private part of her body, the girl couldn't help shrinking in a little, as if trying to hide the fullness of her chest.
It was just that Otto hadn't meant anything special by it.
When Anna said "B" just now, he'd been puzzled. Why had he asked for her age, only for her to answer with a letter?
How old was B years old?
The size of certain body parts was not within young Otto's range of knowledge.
But he understood in an instant. This girl had probably just been too nervous. In her head she'd meant the number thirteen, but what came out was B instead.
It was just that thirteen was a little too young. According to the materials Amber had given him, Anna's age was definitely more than thirteen.
And just from her appearance alone, she was clearly older than thirteen. She'd probably just been too nervous. Back when he was little, the first time he met his mother's father, he'd been just this nervous too.
Otto understood Anna. She was about the same age as him, so he felt he ought to cut her some slack.
Thinking that, he stood up. But Anna was like a startled little rabbit—the moment she saw Otto rise, she jumped straight backward.
Her hands even came up to cover her chest by reflex.
But she quickly realized how disrespectful the movement was. In a panic, she straightened up and lowered her head.
"My deepest apologies, Lord Overseer." She was apologizing for her disrespect. Even if the Lord Overseer really was interested in her chest, she would still have to offer it up to the Lord Overseer with both hands.
She straightened her body, lifted her head, and thrust out her chest, looking almost like someone marching off to die.
Otto walked over to Anna. He was in a good mood. Beautiful things were always pleasing to look at, and Anna was exactly the sort of gentle-looking beauty that soothed the eye.
Even Otto thought so. He still had a boy's temperament, after all. Even when he worked on inventions, he cared about how they looked on the outside.
He remembered how his father used to speak to his elder brother. He raised a hand and patted Anna on the shoulder.
"There's no need to be this tense. It's exhausting."
Anna was flattered and alarmed at once. The current Overseer Otto seemed especially approachable—not at all like an Overseer who held great power. He felt more like the older brother next door.
"We'll be getting along for a long time from here on, so you don't need to stay this stiff. You can even think of me as an older brother."
"After all, if you trace it back far enough, I have blood ties with the Schariac family."
Though that had been more than five hundred years ago. If he really counted it out, he was this girl's ancestor.
Otto wore a gentle smile instead of his usual blank face, because the girl in front of him wasn't familiar with the original Otto. That let him show a boyish smile without any scruples.
He said comforting things, trying to bring the two of them closer—just the way his father used to speak to his elder brother. His clever, gifted elder brother had been the child his father loved most. Almost all of his father's tenderness had gone to him.
Otto placed himself in his father's role, then treated Anna as though she were his elder brother.
"Lord Overseer…" Anna lowered her head. Otto's treatment had eased some of the tension in her heart. His right hand was still moving up and down along her back, steadying the breathing that had turned hurried from nerves.
Somehow, when the Lord Overseer touched her like that, it gave her the same feeling as when she was little and her father held her on his lap and soothed her.
She was already at that age when emotions came quickly and strongly, and all at once they surged up.
Although Anna was slender and long-limbed, standing in front of Otto, her forehead only reached his chin.
The Lord Overseer felt like a father.
Looking at the man's jaw, Anna's eyes went hazy.
Anna's eyelids were heavy. She'd rushed to Schicksal Headquarters overnight, her mind wound tight the entire way, without getting any proper rest.
And now the atmosphere had softened. Together with that warm feeling, her exhaustion hit all at once.
She was sleepy. Really, truly sleepy.
Otto slowly stroked the girl's back. Then he felt something press against his chest.
It was Anna's head.
"Daddy…"
The girl's murmur made Otto's face stiffen. His original plan had been to make Anna see him as an older brother, to close the distance between them.
But I wanted to be your brother, and you want me to be your father?
If he remembered right, Anna's parents were still alive. Was this really appropriate?
But then again — he already had an adopted daughter whose biological parents were both alive, and even a granddaughter he'd never met.
One more daughter didn't seem like that much of a problem.
And being an older brother was for the sake of drawing the two of them closer. So becoming a father — wasn't that also drawing the two of them closer?
Still, being called "Daddy" by a girl around his own age really was a strange experience. Kiana was his adopted daughter in name, and she'd never once called him that.
Without hesitation, Otto spoke gently by the girl's ear.
"There, there. Daddy's here."
Amber, holding a pair of white crystalline goggles, knocked and walked into Otto's room. She'd come to deliver the goggles to the Lord Overseer. But the moment she stepped inside, she saw Anna lying in Otto's arms.
"Anna?"
Amber's eyes widened behind her goggles. She stepped forward. If Anna was the sort of seductive little thing who waltzed into Headquarters and immediately tried to tempt the Lord Overseer —
Then for the Lord Overseer's sake, she would have no choice but to remove her.
But when she got closer, what she saw was Anna clinging to Otto, head resting against his chest, eyes shut, a happy smile on her face.
Like a good daughter sleeping soundly in her father's arms.
Otto tilted his head slightly and looked sideways at Amber. His left arm was around the girl's slender waist. His right hand rose to his lips.
"Shh. Keep it down."
"Anna fell asleep."