Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

In fact, she had already made up her mind.

Is it because of that child?

That sudden upheaval summoned an iron mountain and claimed over a hundred lives; it was the work of a terrifyingly young Originium Arts master.

No matter how you look at it, the only reason why Seria would clash with Loken Water Tank and government officials like Senator Chianti is that child.

But Seria has shown no intention of mentioning the child until now. How long does she intend to keep it a secret?

Who exactly is that Waifan girl?

Theresa's wedding dress character design

The design concept is: emerging from the flames of war and embracing new life. Therefore, there are traces of ash on the edges of the wedding dress, and she holds a scepter-shaped sword. Her left hand is placed on her chest, holding a golden rose. Gold is the primary color symbolizing Aslan, a gift from Wayne. As for the meaning of the rose, I don't need to elaborate.

The artist is so slow! He worked on it until 6 AM last night and only just got the drawing. The background will have to wait until he recovers from his exhaustion. There's no background yet, but I can describe it: pigeons, stairs, and a broken archway. You can try to imagine it. Because it's on stairs, the train of the wedding dress is actually trailing on the ground, so it looks long, but it's actually dragging on the ground. It's just a pity the background isn't finished, so it looks long.

The other two illustrations, featuring Theresa, Vina and Reed, and Vina and Wayne, have not yet been submitted because the artists are not the same and the commission dates are different. Please look forward to them.

Chapter 20 Suggested Strategy for Winning Over Kal'tsit: Choose Corny Pickup Lines

Columbia, Silicon Valley, July 3, 6:00 pm

Wayne felt he had never been so punctual in his life, arriving at the Elizabeth Hotel precisely at this exact mealtime. As soon as he opened the door to the presidential suite, Wayne confidently called out into the living room:

"I'm back, Kal'tsit!"

Unfortunately, there was no response.

Wayne was stunned for a moment, thinking that something had happened to Kal'tsit. He quickly ran through the entrance hall and into the living room, only to find Kal'tsit sitting upright on a single sofa with her arms crossed, looking up at him.

"Kal'tsit? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Wayne said with a hint of disappointment.

Kal'tsit glared at him and asked in return:

"What are you expecting me to say? Welcome back, Your Highness Wayne?"

Wayne nodded: "Yes, this is it."

Kal'tsit rolled her eyes and stood up, not even bothering to acknowledge Vayne.

"No way. Dream on. Go ask Theresa for this kind of thing, don't come to me."

Seeing this, Wayne could only purse his lips. Kal'tsit, so stubborn and obstinate!

"What are you still standing there for? Come and eat. The food is getting cold from waiting for you."

Standing by the dining table, Kal'tsit frowned slightly, put down the two bowls of rice she had prepared, and called out in the direction of Wayne.

Wayne paused slightly, chuckled helplessly twice, and nodded under Kal'tsit's tsundere expression. He then headed towards the restaurant.

"They're here, they're here."

This isn't just something Wayne is making up. For some reason, when Wayne is with Kal'tsit, he always feels a sense of tacit understanding, like that of an old married couple. If Theresa is the kind of soulmate with whom you share a deep connection, then Kal'tsit is the kind of subconscious understanding that develops over time.

This feeling certainly lacks the sweetness of Theresa's, but how to put it... this constant bickering, nitpicking, and quick reconciliation in their relationship definitely feels more real. If Theresa is a beautiful fairy tale of a prince and princess, then Kal'tsit is probably an overly realistic masterpiece, so much so that it's permeated with the mundane details of daily life.

Considering Kal'tsit's age, this masterpiece must be at least several million words long.

Why are you staring at me?

Kal'tsit frowned, giving herself a strange look. She hadn't changed her clothes or anything, so why was Wayne suddenly staring at her? She hesitated for a moment, then asked:

Are you feeling unwell? Should I take a look at you?

For some reason, Wayne suddenly had an idea: to deal with a realist like Kal'tsit, should we use some "realistic language"?

"Dr. Kal'tsit, I think I need an IV drip."

Wayne said without batting an eye.

Kal'tsit frowned, stood up, and reached out to touch Wayne's forehead:

"You don't have a fever. Where do you feel unwell? What kind of IV fluids do you need?"

"Thinking of you."

"........"

Kal'tsit stopped moving, frozen in place. After a long while, she took several steps back in shock, looking at Wayne and saying:

"You're so unsophisticated!"

"Indeed, I think so too."

Wayne clutched his chest. To be honest, he was glad Kal'tsit hadn't recorded him. The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. This was so corny, incredibly corny! If Kal'tsit had recorded it and sent it to Theresa, Wayne would probably have suffered a social death alongside Kal'tsit from the hydraulic wrench incident at noon, amidst Theresa's "Wow~" exclamations.

Hopefully, this won't make Theresa laugh herself to death.

Otherwise, she would be a sinner against Kazdel, Sarkaz, and Babel.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Wayne watched Kal'tsit disappear into the room and asked worriedly,

"Sorry, sorry, it's my fault for being so unfashionable, but you still have to eat."

"I'm not eating anymore, I'm full from eating dirt." Kal'tsit said, closing the bedroom door without looking back, not daring to stay for another second.

The door closed, and Kal'tsit finally breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning against the doorframe, she slowly slid down to sit on the floor.

"Huff...huff..."

She took two or three deep breaths before she finally calmed herself down.

Damn Wayne, what's wrong with this guy? What weird stuff is he saying all of a sudden?! This is so strange! How could anyone think of such a direct and unexpected move?

Kal'tsit was getting old, and she was almost tired of those mysterious, subtle riddles like "The moonlight is beautiful." She had developed a complete immunity to them. But the older she got, the less she could stand directness, and even less she could stand corny remarks.

Upon hearing this, my heart started pounding like a drum set, and I felt an urge to pull out my mon3tr and slap myself twice to calm down.

This isn't an isolated case; all older people are like this. Wayne's corny "realism" philosophy also stemmed from before his time travel. His grandmother loved all sorts of corny songs and couldn't stand corny love quotes at all. So much so that sometimes, whenever Wayne's grandfather told her a corny love song, she would burst into tears, looking deeply moved.

Wayne thought that Kal'tsit was old enough to be his grandmother, let alone his ancestor, so he tried to say something. Fortunately, Kal'tsit's two thousand years of composure hadn't been wasted, and she managed to get back to her room. Otherwise, the Great Lynx, the Terran riddle whose earth resistance seemed to be decreasing with age, might have had to make a lot of noise to cover up her embarrassment.

Even the most intricate Luban lock can't withstand a single sledgehammer. It's understandable that riddle tellers, tired of straightforward questions, are tired of cheesy pick-up lines. I suggest that when Arknights develops a visual novel, all the options for increasing Kal'tsit's affection should be cheesy pickup lines. Let's see if Kal'tsit gets won over first or the player gets killed by the cheesiness. (laughs)

Unaware that Kal'tsit inside was now performing the act of an old lady crawling into bed, using sleep to cure her arrhythmia, she was left with no one to eat with. Filled with regret, she finished the last bite of her food, thought for a moment, wrote an apology note to Kal'tsit, stuck it on her doorknob, and went into her room.

Next time, let's not talk about corny things with the old lynx. Let's just let things take their natural course like an old married couple.

Opening the door and entering his bedroom, Wayne began planning the day's layout.

It was time to reveal his true purpose in coming to Columbia. Of course, it wasn't as simple as helping Himer investigate the Loken tank; he was a prince, after all, and he needed both his reputation, both covertly and overtly, for his own gain. His main reason for coming to Columbia was to attempt a complete takeover of Rhine Labs.

Some tragedies, once they begin, are too late to avert. For example, human experiments like the Balrog Project cannot be erased simply because Wayne stopped Rhine Lab midway through, thus negating the harm suffered by Ifrit. Therefore, the best approach is always to prevent tragedies before they occur.

Now, with only 15% of the shares, Wayne, though one of the largest shareholders in Rhine Life, still isn't confident he can keep Rhine Life on the right track under the control of a group of capitalists who are willing to disregard morality for profit. After all, companies may have dreams, and employees may have hopes, but those shareholders—at least the vast majority of them—are only in it for the money.

Not wanting to use Victoria's official power, or rather, not yet at the right time to use Victoria's official power, Wayne decided to temporarily abide by Colombia's rules.

Let's compare money.

You are rich with billions, I am rich with Vina, and Vina is rich with the entire British Empire, Victoria. Let's compare and see who has more.

He dialed Vina's number and explained his purpose: "Vina, according to the plan, prepare to raise funds."

Chapter Twenty-One: Theresa: The skill gap is just too big.

Victoria, Lentinium, July 3, 6:30 pm

Vina chatted briefly with her brother, whom she hadn't seen for two days, and then hung up the phone.

Although it feels like we haven't seen each other for a long time, it's actually only been two days, 48 ​​hours, 2880 minutes, and 172800 seconds.

Oh, it's been so long since I've seen Wayne.

Holding her phone to her chest, Vina sighed with a touch of sadness and slumped onto her desk. Unlike Wayne, who could go back to his room to rest after dinner, Vina, after eating dinner with Theresa, still had to return to the office to continue working the night shift.

Victoria's affairs were increasing. With the ascension of the new king and the gradual consolidation of his position, central authority was gradually strengthened. A large part of the affairs that originally belonged to local nobles were returned to the direct control of the central government. For example, the development of local land and the establishment of enterprises were directly under the jurisdiction of the newly established Bureau of Industry and Commerce and Bureau of Land Administration, and were supervised by a group of special managers. Any construction or establishment of enterprises without approval would be marked as illegal enterprises and illegal buildings, and would be warned, sanctioned, and forcibly demolished by the central government of Londinium.

This ensured a significant increase in tax revenue and strengthened the authority of the central government. However, correspondingly, as the number of documents submitted by local bureaus increased, Vina's workload multiplied. After all, these matters were previously handled by parliament and the cabinet, and Vina no longer had that convenient means.

Even with Theresa included, they're still quite busy.

It's time to prepare and rebuild a loyal cabinet. Otherwise, no matter how hard we try, administrative efficiency will eventually decline under the weight of complex tasks.

The selection of this cabinet member needs to be carefully considered.

Vina pondered, roughly outlining a few spots in her mind. But she wouldn't make this decision alone; she'd wait for Wayne to return and discuss it with Theresa and the others.

Just as Vina was idly hunched over her desk, the door suddenly opened, and Theresa walked into the room carrying a freshly made cake, asking:

"Vina, would you like some cake?"

As she spoke, she blinked, glanced at Vina who was sitting upright, pen in hand, paused for a moment, and then took a half-step back apologetically:

"You're working? Okay, I'll put the cake in the fridge. If you get hungry after you're done making it..."

"I don't have a job."

Vina casually tossed the pen onto the table, propped her chin up with her hands, pouted, and stared at Theresa with dead fish eyes, explaining:

"This is a stress response."

Theresa smiled knowingly:

"Were you scared by Ernest and Arthur?"

“And your brother,” Vina added. “They’re all workaholics, like they wish I could squeeze out 25 hours a day to work using the Key of Time. I really want to smash their heads with a hammer.”

And Therese too...

Theresa gave an awkward laugh. This was something she hadn't expected. Why would Theresa come looking for Vina? Didn't he keep saying, "I'm going to make Kazdel the strongest nation on the continent, and women are just a hindrance!"?

Seemingly noticing what Theresa was wondering, Vina said: