In the City of Sighs, breakfast time had passed. The streets in the morning were gradually becoming crowded, but in this massive city, they still felt somewhat empty.
Two figures, one large and one small, appeared on the street, hand in hand, observing the goods sold at the roadside stalls.
Cecilia had filled the canteen that Bianka always carried with water. The canteen had been cleaned by Cecilia and now only showed some signs of use, looking about eighty percent new.
"Little 'Kiana', here, water is the money you use to buy things," Cecilia said with a smile.
She herself didn't carry a canteen. Unlike the other women on the street, Cecilia didn't even have a small bag; she was completely empty-handed.
Her white dress was simple to the extreme. At a glance, the most intricate decoration on Cecilia was the embroidery on the hem, also done with white silk thread, which created a slight "embossed" effect.
Bianka still didn't have much of a reaction to the word "money." She just blankly took the full canteen of water from Cecilia, then looked up, staring straight at her.
Seeing Bianka's helpless expression, Cecilia wanted to laugh, but she held it in. A Schariac's powerful self-control was no joke.
She, Cecilia Schariac, had only lost her composure once in her entire life!
In the central area of the City of Sighs, Siegfried suddenly sneezed, earning him a glare from Shigure Kira.
"We're not going home for lunch today. If we don't have water, we might not even be able to eat," Cecilia said, patting Bianka's head.
Bianka instantly became alert. Her hands, which had been hanging uselessly at her sides, suddenly found their purpose. One hand pressed down on the canteen, and the other gripped the strap tightly.
Did she just hear "can't eat"?
Was the problem that serious?!
Seeing a familiar figure in Bianka's actions again, the smile on Cecilia's lips never faded. But she controlled her tone, and with a "this is really important" expression, she reminded Bianka again.
"To make sure we can eat a full lunch today, little 'Kiana' must protect our water well."
Bianka nodded seriously, her eyes wide with a fierce glare, as if she wanted to stare down anyone who tried to steal their water.
With her, Bianka, here, not a single drop of water would be stolen!
Bianka had no idea how devastating her wide-eyed, determined expression was to Cecilia.
Cecilia had already suppressed the urge to pick Bianka up and give her a good hug countless times. She could only silently repeat in her mind, "Bianka is not my daughter yet, I must be reserved, I must be reserved..."
Bianka's resistance was a small matter. If she scared Bianka away, that would be a big problem!
The people in Siegfried's family were notoriously good at running away.
"Achoo—!!" Far away on the other side of the city, Siegfried sneezed heavily again.
"Siegfried!" Shigure Kira looked at the small speck on the document in her hand and instantly exploded. "Why didn't they cure your cold yesterday too?!"
Siegfried didn't dodge a single one of the rain of fists, taking them all on his head.
"I don't have a cold! Your Excellency Kira, you must be fair!" Siegfried estimated that Shigure Kira had thrown enough punches, then got up, holding his head, and ran.
Of course, Shigure Kira chased after him. She couldn't outrun Siegfried in the wilderness, but could he escape in this small room?
"I sentence you to death today! Come and get it!" She grabbed a nearby chair and, with the resentment of a defeated dog from last night, charged at Siegfried, smashing it down without mercy.
As she expected, Siegfried dodged it this time. It seems he really didn't have a cold.
She put down the chair, annoyed. Shigure Kira pulled out a piece of paper in frustration and vigorously wiped off the dots on the document. Looking at the spot where not even a watermark was left, Shigure Kira became more and more depressed.
It was she who had come first! It had always been she who had come first!
Damn you, Siegfried... Shigure Kira really wanted to open her mouth and bite this man who had "stolen her love" to death right here.
"That's not a handkerchief, it's a document," Siegfried's thoughtful reminder came from the side. Shigure Kira glanced at the document that she had brought to her mouth, then turned and bit at Siegfried.
Siegfried, having done nothing wrong, dodged! He looked at Shigure Kira with a smug expression.
Hmph! Want to fight me? You're two hundred thousand years too early!
Siegfried swaggered away, leaving Shigure Kira fuming, so angry that she wanted to give him a nasty nickname.
And at this time, the Cecilia-and-Bianka mother-daughter pair had already arrived at the shopping street.
It was the street where Siegfried had subdued the villain.
Because of the City of Sighs' canopy, the street was still lit by lights. Unlike other streets that had quiet periods due to normal human schedules, this place was always bustling with activity.
The endless cries of the vendors were exactly the same as yesterday. Bianka stood at the end of the street, suddenly feeling that her grip on the canteen wasn't so tight.
I can definitely do it, I can definitely do it!
Cecilia pulled out two pairs of sunglasses from somewhere and put the larger pair on her own face.
In an instant, Cecilia, who had been like the purest lily in the world, became a young lady of a great family in a gray world, the kind where if you looked at her for too long, several suited thugs would rush out from a corner and drag the offender into an alley to be beaten up.
You can't doubt Siegfried's taste when it comes to looking cool.
In contrast, the sunglasses Cecilia gave Bianka were originally her own. The heart-shaped frames and light yellow lenses, paired with the cute clothes Cecilia had specially made for her, made Bianka the most out-of-place person on this street.
The occasional glances made Bianka's whole body gradually stiffen, her hand almost welded to the canteen on her body.
Every glance could be one that wanted to take away her lunch today... to take away her water. This made Bianka have to face every glance seriously.
"Alright, let's start shopping now," Cecilia really wanted to laugh, but she had to hold it in.
"Let's start with... buying a wardrobe full of clothes for little 'Kiana'!"