Kiana hadn't originally planned to do anything to the Cocoon of Finality.
Or perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that for now, at this moment, she didn't want to do anything. It wasn't time yet.
But after Seele brought it up...
She did start entertaining a few ideas. Together with the System, she carefully scrutinized countless possible futures.
In almost none of the possible worldlines did she see the Cocoon of Finality harboring any ill intentions toward her. This indicated that she was probably safe.
She could go there directly if she wanted.
"What a pity my strength still isn't enough... When it involves these higher-dimensional beings, everything always gets a bit fuzzy, hard to see clearly..."
Kiana muttered under her breath.
The System comforted her.
[But at the very least, we can see the broad strokes—whether it's auspicious or inauspicious. It's far more accurate than direct divination or fortune-telling, isn't it?]
"True enough!" Kiana nodded.
"Big Sister... have a tangerine." Seele had peeled a satsuma and was looking at Kiana with expectant eyes.
Kiana smiled faintly and didn't refuse.
Because if she refused, Seele would be sad. And with the way that little brain of hers worked, if she were truly rejected, she'd probably start overthinking things endlessly.
It was adorable... but also unnecessary. So troublesome~
"Let me feed you~" Seele chirped happily.
"Alright... Ahh~" Kiana played along.
Perhaps after Seele's confession earlier, she seemed to have relaxed a bit, so the distance between her and Kiana wasn't as great as before.
It wasn't like before, where they seemed close on the surface, but there was actually a sense of distance, a bit of fear.
She seemed to be trying to curry favor. But it clearly wasn't just that!
It was as if she had found her pillar of support. But it also seemed like she had gained a certain girlish sentiment, a genuine affection, not a pretense.
When Kiana ate the tangerine, she was a bit careless and accidentally licked Seele's slender finger. Seele flinched like a startled little quail, her face flushing red like a tiny apple.
She seemed even cuter. Although Kiana hadn't done it on purpose, seeing Seele like this was rather pleasing to the eye.
She liked it.
So... after that, she did it on purpose.
Seele kept her eyes downcast, didn't make a sound, didn't resist, and just pretended not to notice, her face still flushed, patiently attending to Kiana.
It looked like she was trying to please. But what was truly going on... only she herself knew. Right?
All in all.
Kiana was quite fond of Seele.
Moreover, after she had anchored the future and converged the past, it seemed likely that, going forward, all the Herrschers would indeed be created from nothing by the Honkai.
And, just like how Miss Heavenly Punishment was a replica of Dr. Mei.
How Miss Streaming Winds bore the form of Wendy.
How Miss Seele was the Seele of the Previous Era, yet not the Seele who had truly lived...
She was a newly born individual.
So, looking at it this way!
The soon-to-arrive Seventh Herrscher probably wouldn't be Himeko either.
But! She'd most likely still look like Himeko. Wouldn't it be more interesting to let Himeko meet this Seventh Herrscher?
She'd think about it later~
For Kiana, the most important thing was that this proved the worldline she had converged was indeed influencing the future, achieving the effect she wanted.
Not only were the original Herrscher vessels saved.
The newly appearing Herrschers, while they were problem children of all sorts, seemed easier to deal with.
After all, lacking common sense meant there were opportunities to be found.
Although it was unclear for now whether this was an intentional result of the Honkai or just an accident of their birth.
But look. It wasn't a bad thing. Right?
As time passed, the outside world, due to the sky screen, was paying even more attention to Kiana's birthday.
And so!
With Eden's promotion, and the vigorous efforts of all the aunts, uncles, and various relatives in the family!
Kiana's birthday this time was shaping up to be a much bigger production than any previous year.
She wasn't really the type to enjoy extravagance and waste.
And such a huge fuss was troublesome.
But she couldn't stop the entire world from seeming so enthusiastically invested, so she just let them have their fun.
'As long as you all don't mind the effort, I'm fine with it.'
'Just don't bother me; I'll just participate.'
"Of course!"
"You're the star of the birthday, how could we trouble you with the work?!"
"Yay! The young lady's first birth festival must be livestreamed from start to finish!"
"Big Sister Yuzu is attending the young lady's birth festival? We want to go too!"
Online, people all over the world were discussing it.
Offline, it was the main topic after meals and during tea breaks!
Some discussions were serious, some weren't.
But everyone was happy.
Gradually, the atmosphere became quite festive. Some regions had already started putting up decorations.
Some companies, and even countries, officially announced at the governmental level that the day would be a new statutory holiday.
The holiday length was tentatively set for fifteen days.
It could be said to be the longest planned holiday period in the world so far.
No shift adjustments, no overtime allowed. Any company or enterprise was strictly forbidden to feign compliance while acting otherwise.
This was to show respect for the young lady.
Although Kiana was no longer in school, younger sisters like Rin, or Seele, could still enjoy this wave of benefits quite well.
Including Carole and Hua. They were in for it too!
"Waaaaaaaaah! Young lady, couldn't you have a few more birthdays a year, please?"
Carole was being particularly greedy.
She called to ask.
Kiana couldn't help but chuckle.
"Rather than me having more birthdays, why don't you look to Elysia? If Elysia wanted a huge celebration... she could probably manage to get a statutory holiday too, right?"
"Makes sense!"
Carole exclaimed, recognizing a pro move.
Thinking about it carefully.
Given Elysia's personality, she'd definitely say, 'I'm the Origin, you know! The Finality gets a festival, shouldn't the Origin have one too? What about my pride? The Miss Pink Elf will cry, you know!'
Then, it'd most likely proceed logically.
They'd create another holiday.
Just think. The other wives in Kiana's harem could be set aside for now.
But her destined fiancée, her child bride, Miss Origin, and Miss Jyahnar absolutely could not be ignored.
If they couldn't play favorites! Chances were, Elysia would stir up a fuss and get herself a festival. Miss Jyahnar could probably ride the wave and get a festival too.
Thinking about it!
Even if they couldn't get a fifteen-day long holiday like the young lady,
Surely they could get at least seven, or even ten days, right?
If they really managed to score two new holidays, added together, it might mean almost a whole month without school. Yeah!
Students already had summer and winter vacations, totaling three months. Adding another month... Considering first-year high school didn't have such strong demands for make-up classes, and weekends could be freely arranged...
Wouldn't that mean over half the year would be vacation time?
Yeah!
Just thinking about it was exciting!
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