As the saying goes, a good day starts in the morning...
But Kiana said: "Bull—shit—!"
"Eh? Why would I..." Kiana stared blankly at the ceiling, her hand still outstretched as if trying to grab something.
Everything she saw in her dream just now was forgotten, leaving only a faint, inexplicable sadness in her heart.
Last night's sleep quality was clearly not good. Kiana held her hand out for a while, then lowered it when she got tired, breaking her silence.
She looked at the words on her palm, frowning deeply.
"The person who will come save us if we cry and make a fuss... Uh..."
"Kiana~ Time for breakfast~" Mei's voice came from outside the door, calling Kiana back to reality. "Are you up?"
"Mmm..." Kiana startled, quickly averted her gaze, and grabbed her clothes and pants, dressing rapidly. "Up!"
"Hurry up," Mei replied again. Kiana made a face, muttering as she started putting on her shoes.
"Why do I still have to get up so early..."
Bending down to tie her shoelaces tightly, Kiana casually glanced at the black text on her palm, then thought no more of it, pushed open the carriage door, and ran out.
"Another day full of energy!" Kiana shouted towards the window outside, hands confidently on her hips.
The snowflakes falling outside, perhaps responding to her call, stopped their light flurries shortly after. A ray of sunlight peeked out from behind the white clouds, illuminating this world coated in a layer of white.
Instinctively finding the thin layer of white snow on the ground somewhat jarring, Kiana's good mood dissipated significantly.
Mei called out again from the dining car. Kiana didn't dare delay this time, quickly moving her legs and running towards the dining car.
"Kiana is such a slowpoke... Sister Mei waited so long for you, the porridge is getting cold..." At the dining table, Bronya had a small nasal strip stuck on her nose.
At a glance, the gray-haired Bronya looked remarkably like a delinquent street punk.
She had felt her breathing was somewhat obstructed these past two days. Bronya thought she might have caught a cold, her nose stuffy, so she put on a nasal strip.
"Tch, Mei's porridge never gets cold! It's filled with Mei's love for me!" Kiana sat down dismissively, picking up a large basin of white porridge from her seat.
"See, it's still steaming!" Kiana lifted the basin, holding it up in front of Bronya so she could see clearly. "Hmph hmph... Mei still loves me!"
"Tsk..." Bronya, shown up once again, silently lifted her small bowl, trying to hide her face.
At this moment, she only wished this Hyperion could go faster. She didn't want to be the sole target of these two's public displays of affection for another second...
Seele, Bronya is coming for you...
Mei walked to the table carrying two bowls of porridge, put them down, then smiled and gently tapped Kiana's head.
"Don't play with your food. We still have tutoring today."
"Aww~~" Kiana's previously triumphant expression instantly crumpled. Bronya also lowered the porridge bowl hiding her face, a smile appearing on her lips.
This is called 'one thing conquers another'! Hasn't the smile transferred to her face now?
"Sister Mei, Bronya wants another bowl," Bronya looked at the extra bowl of porridge on the table, decided not to get up and ladle it herself, put her empty bowl aside, and spoke to Mei.
"This bowl..." Mei looked at the extra bowl of porridge she had, a trace of puzzlement flashing in her eyes, then nodded again. "Okay, Bronya is still growing, eat some more."
Bronya accepted the porridge bowl, acknowledging Mei.
"Oh, right," Mei remembered something and took out a small bottle. "Kiana, time for eye drops."
"Okay~" Kiana replied, then cooperatively tilted her head back, waiting for Mei to administer the eye drops.
"Mei..." When Mei started pulling Kiana's eyelid, she began speaking, "Look how tired my eyes are from reading books. Can't we take one day off, let me rest?"
"Kiana's eyes are clearly tired because she stayed up late reading novels under the covers at night," Bronya retorted from the side.
"I...! Didn't..." Kiana wanted to refute urgently, but Mei was still holding her eyelid, so she could only mumble her denial.
Seeing her lack of confidence, both Bronya and Mei could tell Kiana felt guilty.
"Is that so?" Bronya smiled slightly, continuing to tease, "Then who got so encrossed in a novel that they wrote lines from 'Bilibili Homu's Beauty' [parody title] on their palm?
"The line—[The person who will definitely come save us if we cry and make a fuss...]" Bronya recited the small characters on Kiana's palm verbatim.
"No! This isn't..." Kiana suddenly looked at Bronya, loudly denying the statement. "This is..."
Kiana's words trailed off mid-sentence. Her mouth hung open as she stared blankly at Bronya.
Bronya was also startled by Kiana's sudden reaction, holding her bowl, somewhat at a loss.
"Kiana, you..." Mei retracted her hand, looked at Bronya, then at Kiana.
Kiana turned her head somewhat numbly and stiffly, looking at Mei.
The eye drops just administered slid from the corners of her eyes, tracing clear tear tracks down Kiana's cheeks, finally dripping from her chin.
Kiana's expression was filled with unstoppable confusion and bewilderment, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, letting the "tears" slide down her face.
Why would I...
Kiana lowered her head, looking at her palm, but because one eye was filled with tears, she couldn't clearly see the black characters on her palm.
"Sorry... Kiana..." Bronya also snapped back from Kiana's sudden outburst, immediately apologizing guiltily to Kiana.
Kiana regained her composure, looked at Bronya, then frowned.
"That's not right! Bronya, why can you recite it so clearly?"
Bronya paused, then saw Kiana grabbing Mei's clothes, whispering accusations with the look of a "treacherous villain."
"Mei, check Bronya tonight too! She's definitely secretly reading Homu novels under the covers!" Kiana raised her hand, pointing a finger at Bronya as if saying, "It's her!"
Bronya: "…"
And she was worried Kiana felt wronged by what she said! Hmph!
Bronya, face dark, lifted her bowl again, hiding her face.
"Alright..." Mei smiled helplessly, pulling Kiana back and continuing to pull her eyelid. "Stop messing around. How about I give you a day off today?"
"Really!!" Kiana's eyes instantly widened in surprise. Mei seized the opportunity and quickly dripped two drops of eye drops in.
"Ngh!" Kiana, caught completely off guard, instantly covered her eyes in pain.