Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

“I’m used to it. I usually eat breakfast alone.” Maria seemed genuinely unintentional, immediately straightening her posture and pulling her legs back. Subconsciously, she didn’t want to appear too casual in front of the child, so she pulled up her jacket to cover the simple strapless top underneath. After all, she was dressed quite revealingly, and her slender waist and navel were clearly visible.

This was her first time becoming a mother. Although her child was young, he was already quite sensible, and she still felt somewhat lost in this situation.

Now there are two people in the garden, silently eating large chunks of meat and potatoes laid out around a stone table, while the carnations in the garden are covered with dewdrops condensed from the morning steam.

The atmosphere fell silent again, a little awkward.

She and Shen Liang always took turns in silence and awkwardness.

"You eat so little. Eat more meat, maybe you can grow taller."

"These add up to nearly five kilograms, and I can't consume that much energy."

"It's only five kilograms. Valkyrie consumes a lot of energy. This is a normal amount of food. Didn't you take care of Kiana's meals when she was at your house?"

"My senior sister's appetite is indeed astonishing, so she eats five meals a day, but only three of them are with us. I usually don't eat late-night snacks or afternoon tea, but she and my sister order takeout together, which amounts to about 300,000 yen a month."

"No wonder you're so young. Your sister said you're already sixteen, but you look like a little boy who hasn't fully grown up yet."

"Thanks for caring."

"Kiana has received a lot of care from you. You can ask the Shaniat family to reimburse you for the money you spent on her. If you feel bad, I can just give you a check."

"No need. My senior sister doesn't spend much money except for food. She's much easier to take care of than my sister."

"No need to clean up after you finish eating, a maid will take care of it."

"Mom, if we don't have anything to talk about, we can just eat quietly like this. There's no need to force it," Shen Liang said expressionlessly, sipping her milk.

After a few more seconds of silence, Maria put down the bone she had finished eating, wiped her mouth with a wet wipe, and looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry, this is the first time I've thought about how to be a mother."

In truth, she and Shen Liang were quite distant; neither of them really liked the other, yet they were "legally" mother and son. Both knew they had to manage this relationship well and not remain strangers, but neither of them was particularly good at communicating.

Maria actually has a very fiery temper. Although she is a nun, she is a thoroughgoing pragmatist within her family. She is one of the heads of the Shaniat conglomerate, holding a high position in both Saintess Finance and Saintess Real Estate Groups, and is also an S-rank figure among the supernatural. Suddenly becoming a mother and raising a child—this is definitely not her forte.

"I saw online that your and my news has been published," Shen Liang said, initiating a conversation.

“This is the protection your family gives you; you are coveted by many,” Maria said. “My sister entrusted you to me, and since I promised, I will do my best to protect you. I don’t care what you think of me.”

Yesterday, she had already made up her mind: if she really couldn't establish a genuine familial bond with Shen Liang, she would simply lock him up at the Shaniat family home. After all, she had promised to protect him, so restricting his personal freedom wouldn't be a betrayal of her sister's trust.

“They said I was born from your IVF experiment,” Shen Liang laughed.

"Are there any problems with IVF?" Maria asked, head down, fiddling with the buttons on her jacket. "In the current societal perception, there's no difference between IVF babies and naturally conceived children. They ultimately develop and grow in the uterus, which is much better than artificial humans. At worst, some genetic adjustments are made during the embryonic stage, which is why a boy was born."

“But since I’m a test-tube baby and not an artificial human created through cloning or other means, then according to this logic, I should have parents.” Shen Liang scratched his head. “Won’t this have a negative impact on your reputation, Mom?”

In vitro fertilization ultimately requires the sperm and egg of the parents, and Maria has always been portrayed as a conservative and chaste nun, so he shouldn't have a "father." Shen Liang actually initially thought the Shaniat family would design him as an artificial human.

Maria was lost in thought for a moment, as if she was thinking of someone, then smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Actually, everyone knows I like... well, it doesn't affect me anyway. When the Shaniat family wants to have children, they always randomly choose a sperm bank from around the world as the father's gene. At least most of the children in the family are born this way."

Are you really willing to live a lonely life rather than go out and find a partner?

"What about in ancient times when this technology didn't exist?" Shen Liang suddenly asked curiously.

"How many years do you think freedom of marriage has been prevalent?" Maria stared into Shen Liang's eyes. "In ancient times, without sperm bank technology, marriage was a necessary measure for the continuation of the saintly lineage. Free love and free marriage have not been fully implemented on this land even now, especially for ancient families like ours."

Seeing that Shen Liang's expression was a little off, she asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Do you have any friends who need IVF? The Shaniat family is very knowledgeable in this area."

“No, it’s just that a friend of mine might be stuck on the issue of freedom of marriage,” Shen Liang said. “I’m wondering if I should go see her again.”

"What a pointless question. If you don't take control of your own happiness, why should others interfere?" Maria leaned back in her chair, nonchalantly. "In matters of the heart, there are hardly any obstacles. At most, all you need is a little courage. If you don't even have the courage to resist, don't expect others to save you."

"What if she has a gentle, even timid, personality?"

“Gentleness and weakness are two different personality traits. My sister is also very gentle. Can you and I resist her? Or rather, can we even muster the thought of resisting her? A gentle person can also be very strong, a gentle strength.”

Shen Liang thought for a moment and nodded, "You're right."

“Mom is always right.” Maria received Shen Liang’s agreement during the conversation, and stretched out with a hint of pride. Her long legs were crossed and stretched out under the stone table, and she was unaware that the soles of her boots were stepping on Shen Liang’s calves.

"Your relationship with Kiana wasn't interfered with by your families. Starting with our generation, the Shaniat family has always had free love," she suddenly added.

"That friend of mine is not me."

“I don’t care whether it is or not. My cousin Cecilia and I are not related by blood in recent times. There is no problem with my son marrying her daughter. It’s good to make our already close relationship even closer.” Maria reached out and gestured for the maid to clear the table. “Alright, you’d rather talk to Kiana and the others than chat with an old woman like me, right? You still have to treat your sister this afternoon, so I won’t keep you any longer.”

"Then I'll go first, Mom." Shen Liang got up and left as politely as possible. Then he turned around and saw Maria lazily squinting her eyes to enjoy the 10 o'clock sunbathing. After Shen Liang left her seat, Maria put her legs back on the table without any restraint. Her long legs, which were exposed outside her hot pants, were wrapped in checkered fishnet stockings, and her black boots were dangling on the table.

"She doesn't act like a mother at all." Shen Liang shook her head and left helplessly.

Just as he disappeared behind the garden fence, Maria, who had been squinting, opened her beautiful eyes a crack, a half-smile on her face: "I'm only in my thirties, very young, how could I possibly look like a mother?"

“But I became a mother in my early twenties.” A gentle laugh came from behind her. “Maria, even by ordinary standards, most people in their thirties have children. Even if you still look like you did in college, you can’t be considered young anymore.”

“Sister.” Maria didn’t need to turn around to know it was her, and said lazily, “You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Pandora?”

Cecilia smiled and said, "I'm afraid you two might start fighting over something. After all, I'm the one who brought you together, so I have to take responsibility."

“No, I’m very young.” Maria pulled out her phone from her chest, turned on the camera to admire herself, and said, “Sister, your heart has grown old. Look, your hair is all white. The former beauty of the Shaniat family can’t escape the fate of age now… But I’m still very young.”

“My hair has always been white,” Cecilia laughed, then hugged her sister from behind and took a photo together. “You’re so young, I’m not old at all. I’m universally acknowledged to be prettier than you.”

Maria chuckled softly, gently leaned against her sister's chest, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the moment for a while.

"But sister, you're really getting old."

“Yes, I’m getting old,” Cecilia said softly, stroking her sister’s face.

"Valkyries are beings that rarely age. Honkai can preserve our youth, allowing us to stay in the healthiest and most beautiful time of our lives for a very long time," Maria said quietly. "According to medical theory, aging is controlled by hormones. Young people secrete more hormones, so they are full of desire and passion. We Valkyries also maintain this state forever. We are young, full of desire, and have endless vitality to pursue certain things."

Cecilia listened silently.

“Sometimes I wonder, is it because our bodies are forever young that we are full of desire, or is it because we maintain our desires that we stay young?” Maria looked up at her sister’s reflection in the chair. “I pursue the expansion of the family, the pursuit of becoming a stronger Valkyrie, and even want to compete with Sirincia for the position of the next Saintess. I’ve even thought about marrying Kira in a country that supports us… I have so many things I want to do. When I think about this, I feel like I’m still that twenty-year-old girl who has just entered society. My desires are so strong that I’m not like a nun at all.”

“Desire keeps you young,” Cecilia said softly.

“But you have no desires anymore, sister.” Maria looked at her, not crying, but with a glistening light in her eyes. “Sister, you’re getting old. You think your life is perfect, don’t you? You think you’ve given everyone you care about a place to belong, don’t you? You don’t even care if you can live anymore, you haven’t even thought about whether Pandora can heal you, have you? You’re such a good sister to me, you have no desires, you could even die without worry, right?”

"Little Maria, why do you think so much?" Cecilia's smile was tinged with sadness. "Don't think about it, okay?"

“Cecilia, let me tell you, if you really die so easily, I will seize your daughter’s family lineage and take it over!” Maria said through gritted teeth. “I will even take the position of saintess. I won’t leave your daughter and son-in-law a single penny. I’ll be a ruthless swindler, do you understand? If you die, no one will be able to restrain me in the family. I will be a witch who does whatever she wants, do you understand?”

"Calling yourself a witch at this age? You're such a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) sufferer," Cecilia said with a smile.

“Cecilia! I’m serious! Including Pandora, whom you’ve set your sights on, protecting him? Would I still listen to you if you died? I’ll kill him with my own hands to prove my purity!”

Cecilia still smiled and said, "Really? I don't believe it."

“Cecilia!”

Maria jumped up in anger, slammed Cecilia hard onto the table, and clenched her fists to hit her!

Then she could no longer hold back, threw herself into Cecilia's arms, buried her head in her chest, and finally burst into tears.

"Don't die, sister, don't die, don't leave me with only Ange... I can't take it, I can't take it," Maria choked out. "Please, sister, don't die, you're all I have left... You're the only one who can still scold me, the only one who can still comb my hair, sister. Live on, please... I beg you..."

The white-haired saint stroked her younger sister's hair in her arms, looked up at the sky, and couldn't say anything to comfort her.

For once, she held a tiny bit of hope for that boy.

Chapter 212 Granting Me and Seele Freedom

When Shen Liang finished his morning exercise and returned to his bedroom, he passed by the living room on the second floor. He glanced around and saw his four younger sisters playing cards.

"Hahahaha!" Bronya suddenly burst into laughter three times, then resumed her expressionless state. "I have Heroic Spirit, draw an extra card."

It turns out they were playing the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill". The interpretation of some skills in this game is different from that of ordinary players. For example, the effect of the skill "Heroic Bearing" is: During the draw phase, you must laugh three times. You are not allowed to draw cards if you don't laugh.

Rosalia also tried to make Xu Zhu's "naked" look follow the same rule, but Shen Liang strictly forbade it. He wasn't afraid that Rosalia and the others would take off their clothes every time they used a skill... He was mainly afraid that Bronya would send Xu Zhu to him every time.

"No! No, no!" Rosalia shouted, her face flushed with anger. "Rosalia is Lu Xun, she can't be 'forgetting her homeland'! Rosalia could have played a card in that round just now! None of you reminded Rosalia, that doesn't count! Let's start over!"

"It's Rosalia's own fault for being stupid. Rosalia's turn was over, and it's none of our business if she didn't notice." Lilia refused to admit that she had pretended not to notice to amuse her.

"unfair!"

"Skills are like this. If you forget that you are Lu Xun, you can be easily robbed and forget about home."

"Damn it! I'm going to kill you!" Rosalia activated Lu Bu's "Divine Wrath," completely disrupting the deck, then pounced on her sister, and the two wrestled, pulling each other's hair. Bronya, blowing bubblegum, expressionlessly shuffled the cards, then secretly gave Seele a powerful general, preparing to crush the Arlene sisters in the next round.

Yes, they are playing 2v2, and the Arlene sisters are actually on the same side.

Many girls who had just gotten up walked past him one after another in the castle. Strictly speaking, there were hundreds of Schariacs in Neuschwanstein Castle, including dozens of girls who were close to his age.

These young ladies, dressed in a conservative and austere style, with white as the main color and their slender legs encased in white stockings peeking out from under their knee-length skirts, all looked at him with curiosity. Every few steps he took, a bolder girl would come up to him to greet him, asking strange questions, her eyes lingering on him with ill intent.

The timid girls would carefully cover their faces with a book, pretending to read but actually sneaking glances at him. If he looked at them, they would immediately hide behind the book, their ears turning red.

Shen Liang was speechless.

"How inexplicable," Shen Liang muttered to himself.

Torachiyo, sitting on his shoulders like a little girl, laughed and said, "It seems that most of the girls here are very curious about your presence. They're like they've never seen a boy before. Hmm, this place is practically a paradise for boys, isn't it?"

"What a load of rubbish. It's not like they've never seen a man before, or that they're completely sheltered in the castle and ignorant of the world. At least they go to school. Tsk, well... judging from their attitude, they're probably attending aristocratic girls' schools."

"I can tell you seem to really enjoy this state of mind."

"No way," Shen Liang denied immediately.

"You can't fool me. I can sense your feelings too. I'm rooted in your superficial thinking." Torachiyo chuckled. "You were clearly secretly staring at other people's legs. I'm telling you, little wolf, you seem to have a particular fondness for smooth leg fabrics, especially white ones?"

Shen Liang's face flushed red instantly.

He did occasionally notice the slender, beautiful legs of the young nuns beneath their skirts, but only occasionally. All the girls in the Shaniat family loved wearing beautiful, pristine nun's gowns, the hems barely reaching their thighs, and no man could resist being drawn to their white stockings and the barely concealed glimpses of their cleavage.