Talulah, I'm still a child.

Yes, that's right. She was just acting out of basic human morality, unable to stand by and do nothing about a child who might need help!

Thinking of this, Talulah seemed to have forgotten why she had originally come here. She looked around to make sure there were no Lungmen Police Department patrol officers nearby—no, no one looked like the child's family—before she prepared to walk over.

However, she stopped after taking just one step, took out a small mirror from her bag, looked at her face, and checked it again and again. Yes, perfect. Because Talulah was naturally beautiful and didn't need much makeup, this outfit matched her perfectly. She had a perfect temperament and a perfect appearance, plus a slight smile.

"Okay, there shouldn't be any problems now."

Finally, Talulah gave herself a pep talk, took a deep breath, and then resolutely walked to the side of the young boy, Walper.

It was a cake shop called "Flower of Cecilia." Talulah and her friends frequented this shop. The owner was a very gentle and young Lateran woman, but she already had a daughter. The cake shop was even named after her daughter. Young Cecilia would help out at the shop after school. Everyone adored the little angel. Compared to another well-known Lateran girl from Lungmen, Cecilia was much more pleasant to be around. At least she wouldn't cause explosions or speeding accidents.

However, Cecilia and her mother had already mentioned her father, but of course, these were not things that Talulah needed to think about right now. She simply walked over to the little fox.

"Um... is there anything I can help you with?"

"?"

The moment she uttered those words, Talulah felt incredibly tongue-tied. She couldn't help but scold herself. How could anyone say something like that right off the bat? Talulah, Talulah, aren't you usually so eloquent? Why are you acting like this now?

Talulah could even see that the cute little fox's tail was bent into a question mark shape, and a question mark seemed to be popping up on its head as well.

"Oh, I mean, I saw you standing here for quite a while just now, were you waiting for your parents?"

"No."

"Are those my older brother and sister?"

"Not at all."

The little fox shook its head, its tail swaying slowly behind it. A look of disappointment and sadness flashed in its lovely blue eyes, making Talulah feel a pang of heartache.

"I have no family; my only older sister has passed away."

It seemed like a lie, because the little fox's clothes were new and he didn't look like he had no family at all, but Talulah's intuition told her that the little fox was telling the truth; he was lonely, heartbreakingly lonely.

(Damn it, I shouldn't have asked that question.)

Talulah frowned slightly, but quickly composed herself and glanced at the cakes in the shop window.

"Want some?"

"……In no mood."

Gently shaking his head, the little fox looked at the busy little angel in the shop window, or rather, inside the shop. However, in Talulah's opinion, he simply wanted to eat but was too embarrassed to ask.

"Um, my name is Talulah. Can you tell me your name?"

"Mei Xue! My name is Mei Xue!"

When his name was mentioned again, the little fox named Meixue seemed particularly excited, as if the name was something he was proud of, and his mood seemed to have improved a lot.

"Mei Xue... what a beautiful name."

Although the surname wasn't mentioned, Talulah wasn't surprised. She just felt the name sounded nice and familiar. No, to be honest, she had an inexplicable familiarity and fondness for this little fox. She prided herself on not being a casual person when it came to relationships, so it couldn't possibly be love at first sight. Could it be lust at first sight? No, that's even less likely than love at first sight.

"You can also call me Yuno, my older sister!"

"Yunuo... I feel like Meixue sounds better."

The name was fine, but Talulah felt something was off. After hesitating for a moment, she still felt that Meixue sounded better.

"Meixue, come on, let me treat you to cake."

"Okay, sister."

Facing Talulah for the first time, Mei Xue showed a very gentle and happy smile, which made Talulah's heart beat even faster. On the one hand, she kept telling herself that she was really useless, and on the other hand, she couldn't help but sigh that this little fox's smile was really sweet enough to kill.

This feeling of being moved, there's no doubt, it must be love!

Talulah couldn't help but nod in agreement, then pointed inside the cake shop and led Mei Xue inside, where she sat in her favorite spot.

"Oh, Sister Talulah, would you like some cake today?"

Her long, flaxen hair cascaded down her back, styled with a flowing side braid. Her slightly long bangs covered half of her eyes, and her angelic smile was exceptionally sweet, enough to make anyone's heart flutter.

However, Talulah glanced at Mei Xue and realized that she still preferred the little fox's smile. Just looking at him smile gave her a feeling that her life's purpose had been fulfilled.

"Could you please help me... Ah, Mei Xue, what would you like to eat?"

"Anything is fine as long as it's not meat."

The little fox is never picky about food; it will eat anything except meat. Talulah ordered quite a lot of food, and for some reason, it seemed like this little fox could eat a lot.

And she didn't know if it was just Talulah's imagination, but she felt that Cecilia's gaze towards Mei Xue seemed a little off, a little too... well, how to describe it, joyful?

In fact, if Talulah looked in the mirror, she would have noticed that Cecilia's gaze towards Meixue was exactly the same as her own, only the little angel's was more subtle.

"Mom~ three slices of mousse cake, two cups of coffee with milk, and two servings of tiramisu..."

The little angel ran to hug his mother and then pointed to the big cake on the windowsill.

"Mom, can we give that cake to them?"

"Well... I'm afraid they won't be able to finish it, but sending a Black Forest cake would be fine. Cecilia, do you really like that older brother?"

As she spoke, Felia pointed at Meixue. As a mother, she naturally understood her daughter. Cecilia's gaze towards Meixue was not innocent; she felt quite good about her.

"Um, Mom, um... I..."

"I know, oh my, she's just like my daughter, so precocious."

When her mother teased her like that, young Cecilia couldn't help but blush. Although she was only eight years old, she was not at an age where she didn't understand anything. In particular, the students at Rhodes Island Elementary School were all very precocious. Although the boys were still keen on watching tokusatsu dramas and playing heroes, many of the girls were discussing romance. For example, Suzuran, a sixth-grader, often talked about these things with the little angel.

"But no, puppy love isn't allowed."

Felia flicked her daughter's forehead, and Cecilia felt something was off about Felia's smile.

"After all, you're still young, so leave this kind of thing to Mom."

"!!!"

"Alright, go ahead."

Although Cecilia was young, she could still carry cakes without any problem. The little angel, looking somewhat worried, served all the things Talulah had ordered one by one, and then went to her mother's side.

"Mom, you can't take it from me..."

Cecilia herself felt a little wronged when she said this, but Felia still smiled and rubbed her head.

"There's no other way. Think about it, you can't date right now. What if that big brother gets kidnapped? Talulah is very pretty, so Mommy has to help you get that big brother first. That way, when you grow up, you can be with him, right?"

At first glance, this statement seemed to make sense, and upon closer inspection, it also seemed to make sense. However, Cecilia always felt that something was not right. But out of trust for her mother, Cecilia thought about it and it seemed to be true.

"Okay, go do your homework. Leave the rest to Mom."

Her husband had been gone for a long time, and Felia thought that the family needed a man.

(P.S.: Since there hasn't been any description of Cecilia's father in the Arknights storyline yet, this is the only way to arrange it. In the end, it's a path of no return QAQ)

New World II. Been Targeted by a Mother and Daughter

The cake was delicious, and Mei Xue was even cuter, so much so that Talulah forgot she was there to eat and was too busy looking at Mei Xue.

The little fox didn't treat herself as an outsider at all and ate happily. In fact, although others didn't remember anything, Mei Xue herself still remembered very clearly. In reality, this new world had only been born for less than a year and was currently in an adjustment period. There were still some unreasonable aspects that Mei Xue had to manually adjust.

In simpler terms, this is like the early testing phase of a game, where player feedback is used to modify the game's mechanics and some details. However, the real game begins when the server is officially launched.

However, Mei Xue cannot acknowledge anyone now. No one remembers him, but they all retain their affection for Mei Xue. Therefore, when they see Mei Xue, they feel a sense of déjà vu. But there are not many people like Talulah who would choose to directly approach him.

Do you like it?

"Ok!"

"Then let's order some more."

Talulah was about to order when Meixue came over with some fresh cookies and cakes, as well as two hot drinks. One was black coffee, which Talulah often used to stay awake, and the other was a nutritional drink.

"This is today's free gift."

"So many free gifts?"

The cake shop has been giving away free gifts to regular customers for quite some time now. In fact, this cake shop generally does not support dine-in. According to Felia, she just wanted to fulfill a past wish. Whether she makes money or not is not important. She only allows friends or other people to come in and sit down under special circumstances.

But there are so many snacks, more than the two of them just ate. Something doesn't feel right.

"Seeing such a cute child eating so happily makes me feel a great sense of accomplishment. And for some reason, he always feels familiar to me, and his face shape is similar to someone I know."

"Is that right?"

Mei Xue is adorable, a point on which Talulah and Felia agree. However, the more Talulah looked at the little fox, the more she felt that the way this Lateran looked at her... was a bit off.

"Ms. Felia, do you know anyone who looks a lot like Mei Xue?"

"Yeah, there is."

As she placed the snacks on the table, she casually pushed the cup of nutritional drink in front of Mei Xue, her smile exceptionally gentle and happy.

“He is like my husband.”

"puff!"

Talulah couldn't hold back any longer and spat out the black coffee in her mouth, which soaked Mei Xue's entire body. The little fox shook her ear flaps in a cute way and shook her tail to dry the coffee. Luckily, the chair didn't have a backrest, otherwise Mei Xue's tail wouldn't have been able to stretch out properly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Meixue, I didn't mean it. Please wipe it off quickly."

"It's okay, sister, it's not dirty."

The little fox twitched its ears, grabbed a tissue, and wiped its face clean. The black coffee hadn't even left a trace on its face. However, the clothes were made of ordinary material, so if they got dirty, it would just have to be washed.

"But clothes... oh, how about you change them? My bathroom is very big, you can borrow it."

Felia's expression was exceptionally gentle, leaving no room for criticism. However, Talulah now felt that this girl was more dangerous than ever before.

"Wait a minute, Felia, is your husband that young? Cecilia is eight years old, isn't she?"

"But it really does look very similar."

When faced with Talulah's question, Felia spoke frankly, but Meixue, who was eating snacks, knew that it was actually a misunderstanding.

Felia and Cecilia, this mother and daughter, were missing a husband and father figure. However, when Mei Xue was creating the new world, he discovered that Cecilia's father had been erased. Such an erasure, which originated from fate, could only be done by Number Ten at the time, besides Mei Xue. It was probably to prevent the little fox from taking the opportunity to find out more clues.

However, this would make it impossible for the little fox to find a suitable person to take on this role. Without this fate line, the mother-daughter relationship between Felia and Cecilia would not exist, and the little angel's fate would be greatly changed.

So the little fox had no choice but to alter his fate, binding this wandering destiny to his tail, making himself the link between Felia and Cecilia. However, this would mean there would be no blood relation between him and Cecilia, and Felia and Mei Xue would have little connection either (the side story is a parallel world line! Yes!).

It's like the two are still mother and daughter, but without a husband (father). The memories of that part are subconsciously buried deep inside. They can recall them, but they instinctively won't think about them.