After the seventh sandwich, which was bigger than her face, went down, Bianka's hand finally slowed as she reached for the eighth.
"Are you full?" Cecilia asked at just the right moment, smiling at Bianka.
Bianka's mouth paused. She glanced at the significantly shorter loaf of bread and the dwindling pile of toppings, and her face suddenly felt a little hot.
Cecilia hadn't eaten a single bite; she had been preparing new sandwiches for Bianka the entire time.
Each sandwich had a different texture and flavor, but to Bianka, they were all delicious without exception.
Most importantly, Cecilia was fast. Every time Bianka took the last bite of a sandwich, a new one would appear in front of her right on time.
The seamless supply of food undoubtedly elevated the breakfast experience to another level.
But putting down the food she had already picked up wasn't quite right either. Bianka hesitated for a moment, then quickly finished the sandwich in her hand and nodded vigorously at Cecilia.
This time, Cecilia didn't offer any more food, but looked at Bianka with a small sense of pride and satisfaction.
The breakfast session was over. Cecilia leaned back in her chair, stretched one arm high above her head, and arched her back in a long stretch.
At that moment, Bianka nervously fiddled with her sleeves. "Um... Cecilia... -sama."
She didn't quite know how to address Cecilia. Calling her "big sister" was clearly inappropriate, and "auntie" was suitable, but the woman in front of her looked to be in her twenties. Calling her that would probably make her angry, right?
If Rita were here, she wouldn't be troubled by such a problem, would she?
Bianka, vexed, fiddled with her sleeves again, then resignedly adopted Rita's manner of speech, addressing Cecilia as "-sama."
The address clearly made Cecilia pause for a moment. A moment later, she burst out laughing in front of Bianka, bending over with laughter. The crisp sound of her laughter made Bianka lower her head in shame.
"Well~ does little 'Kiana'-sama need something?" Cecilia looked at Bianka with a deep smile, echoing her tone.
Bianka inwardly sighed with relief, though the slight blush on her face hadn't faded.
"It's just... my old clothes..." Bianka began, embarrassed. Although the clothes were not valuable and there was no reason to keep them, they were still "her" things.
It would be terrible if they had caused any trouble...
"Those clothes?" Cecilia paused, not to think, but to give Bianka a chance to confirm or deny.
Although they were now sitting at the same table and Cecilia was willing to take her in, it was still just a willingness. Even if she and Siegfried had agreed, they still needed a third person's consent.
And that was Kiana.
Did Kiana want a sister, a new family member?
These were all necessary. Even though Cecilia knew Kiana would agree, she would not take that step until she had Kiana's actual opinion.
This seemingly slow, even somewhat melodramatic, way of thinking was actually of the same nature as the deliberate pause after a question.
That was respect.
The respect of giving the choice to the person themselves.
Cecilia knew she was lucky. The luckiest thing in her life was that the choice she made for herself was the same as the choice others had made for her, and that was... Siegfried.
Officially, her marriage to Siegfried was an arranged one between their families, a "sacrifice" with no emotional foundation.
And a Schariac would not lose control... Their mastery of control had been refined to the point where they could control their own emotions, thoughts, and everything else.
So... for the greater good, Cecilia would not resist.
Before meeting Siegfried, Cecilia had known Otto. At that time, Otto, having just left Future City, had taken over the entire Apocalypse family and had also learned about this marriage, which had been orchestrated by the Apocalypse family behind the scenes.
The marriage between Cecilia, the most outstanding genius of the Schariac family in centuries, and the next head of the Kaslana family.
Otto had the power to stop this marriage, to kill it in the planning stages... but he didn't.
Both Cecilia and Siegfried's talents had shocked Otto, so he also wanted to see... the success of this marriage, to see the pinnacle of human crystallization.
Having spent so long in Future City, where everyone was desperately trying to break through to a higher level, Otto found that he had been stained with an un-washable aura.
But he ultimately did not belong there.
"This is not fair to them," Kallen had said to Otto. And Otto had thought for a long time before finally making a decision that Cecilia would be grateful for for the rest of her life.
Cecilia ran away... No one knew why Cecilia, who could always control her emotions, would suddenly lose control. Nor did anyone know why the head of the Apocalypse family would publicly announce the matter of bringing Cecilia back, a matter that should have been kept secret.
But that didn't stop those who wanted to curry favor with the three great families from taking action.
At the same time—a piece of news emerged from the last of the three great families.
Siegfried, the young master of the Kaslana family who was about to inherit the family business, had publicly rejected the arranged marriage, and at the same time, declared, "To hell with inheriting the family business, the old geezers in my family can't tie down my free soul with that heavy burden."
No one paid any attention to this, because almost every head of the Kaslana family had gone through this stage. Some were only surprised that Siegfried had waited until he was seventeen to do so.
Previous heads of the family had all run away around the age of fifteen, and the earliest had even started at twelve.
Kiana had run away from home when she was fourteen, her reason being that her stinky old dad and mom were showing off their affection in front of her every day, and she couldn't stand it, so she had to go out and find her own true love.
Siegfried was probably one of the few Kaslanas who had chased after her. It was said that after several months of following her, he had finally understood that it was just Kiana's excuse and had returned home dejectedly.
No one paid attention to Siegfried's escape, so no one noticed the seventeen-year-old girl who was with him when he ran away.
"That was a grand escape, born from the depths of human self-respect. This is the 'future' I want to see," Otto said, watching the two of them run away, his voice filled with a hint of emotion. "Joyce, I don't want to prove who is right or wrong, but this time, I think I will see the truth."
"Isn't it because of my bet with that kid?" Kallen scratched her head, a little puzzled. "That kid is pretty good, I almost lost."