Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

"Hey, you're Zero, right?"

Wearing a dress and little red shoes, the still young white-haired girl pouted and spoke in a cute yet indignant tone in front of Lingyi, who was constantly doing something.

"...Unfamiliar child, who are you? Do you need something from me?"

Stopping what she was doing, the indifferent platinum-blonde girl calmly questioned the little girl who had suddenly barged into her room and was now interrogating her.

"Ha, don't you even know what you've done? Let me tell you why you haven't come to your parents' class, making them worry!"

Seeing Lingyi's nonchalant attitude, the young girl, already puffed up with anger, swelled up even more like a pufferfish, looking quite furious.

Although, given his appearance, this anger seems more like cuteness.

"Yes, class, Mom and Dad... Ah, are you the daughter of the Yukine couple who came to take up their posts? I remember, your name is Yukine Chris?"

After tapping her head, Lingyi pondered for a moment and quickly remembered what had happened.

Although she hadn't participated in the course activities, she had already learned the basic information, so it didn't take long for her to understand the identity of the girl in front of her.

"Ah, is that so? Nice to meet you, I'm Yukine Chris. Wait, don't change the subject. I'm asking you why you don't come to your parents' class, answer me!"

Having confirmed Lingyi's statement, Little Chris was confused for a moment before remembering her purpose and continued to press her with questions.

"The reason for not going to class? Well, it's just that I feel it's unnecessary."

"In any case, it's really hard to achieve anything in music without some talent. Instead of wasting time on this, it's better to do something more efficient."

Having understood the situation, Zero, feeling somewhat troubled by Chris's behavior, casually explained why she wasn't going to participate.

This is Lingyi's opinion at this moment: artistic work such as music and art requires a lot of talent, money, and a bit of luck. Without a certain amount of leeway, it is difficult to achieve results in this field.

Given the current lack of time and resources, Lingyi naturally believes that instead of focusing her energy on this, she should do something that is more likely to yield results and has a more certain outcome.

"So, do you understand now? I admit that your parents are very skilled, after all, they wouldn't have that kind of reputation if they weren't, but the type of courses they teach really isn't suitable for me."

Lingyi believed that her brief and plain statement was sufficient to express her point of view.

"...Although I don't quite understand, I know you absolutely look down on your parents' music!"

However, for the little girl in front of her, she never wanted to have a heated debate about art versus science and engineering.

At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind: to stand up for her respected parents whose profession had been insulted.

"No, I'm just stating the facts... Wait, what are you doing, Chris?"

"I will make you understand that your parents are very powerful, and you are not allowed to look down on them."

"I didn't mean to be sarcastic at all; I was just explaining why I'm not going..."

"Not going to class means you think what your parents teach you is useless, and that means you look down on them."

"That's what they say, but that's not how it should be understood..."

"You have no idea how powerful they are, you know absolutely nothing. In that case, I'll show you!"

Before Lingyi could finish her persuasion, impatient Chris grabbed her arm and tried to lead her somewhere.

"Okay, I understand, I'll cooperate with you... Never mind, I'll just explain it to Xueyin and his wife properly later."

Unable to persuade Little Chris, who was completely absorbed in her own logic, Zero had no choice but to prepare to go with her, her face full of helplessness, in order to prevent her from bothering her any further.

However, even though she left, in her opinion, as long as she explained things properly, her 'correct' reasons should be understood no matter what.

After walking through the corridor and opening the door, they arrived at the office prepared for the staff of the orphanage. Here, little Chris quickly found her parents.

"Oh, little Chris, where did you go to play just now? Next time you go out to play, remember to tell us before you go out, okay?"

"Alright, Sonnet, there's no danger here anyway, let Chris do what she wants."

Then, in the room, the gentle female singer with long white hair and the mild-mannered male violinist with short, neat black hair noticed Chris's arrival.

"Dad, Mom, look, I've caught her."

Upon seeing her parents, little Chris beamed with joy, hugged Lingyi beside her, and proudly showed off to her parents.

Guided by Chris, Chris's mother, Madam Yukine, noticed a girl who had been pulled over by her child. The girl's expression was unreadable, like a doll, so she asked in confusion, "Hmm, is this child... Chris, your new friend?"

"No, that's not it. Mom and Dad were worried about one student being missing from the class, and she was the missing one. Besides, she dared to look down on Mom and Dad, so it took me a lot of effort to bring her back!"

"Let me explain..."

Little Chris spoke earnestly about her thoughts, while Zero stepped forward to explain.

"Is that so, little Chris? You can't cause trouble for others like this anymore, understand?"

After a moment, the Yukine couple finally managed to understand their daughter's thought process. So, subconsciously, Mrs. Yukine began to lecture little Chris about her way of causing trouble for others without considering their feelings.

"But she clearly said those things..."

"Chris, music is not something to compete with. As long as it can convey your thoughts and feelings to the audience and help people understand each other, that is enough."

"Well……"

Mr. Yukine gently educated his daughter, and under the guidance of the two gentlemen, little Chris lowered her head and slumped down dejectedly.

"Then I guess that's all for me. I'll be going now."

On the other hand, after confirming that the situation had been resolved, Lingyi prepared to leave, as she was not interested in their family education.

P.S. Keep trying...

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Initial Entanglement

"Ah, Little Lingyi, please wait a moment."

Just as Lingyi was about to turn and leave, Madam Yukine, who was disciplining little Chris behind her, asked her to stay.

"what happened?"

Lin Er'er Yi San Ling Ba (2), Ling Yi asked.

"Well... although I've heard a little about it from them, I only realized how much more serious your situation is than I thought when I actually saw you."

After pondering for a moment, Madam Xueyin squatted down and looked directly at Lingyi.

"What do you mean?"

Without saying much, Lingyi silently waited for the two people in front of her to provide further explanation.

"To put it simply, someone asked us to keep an eye on you, and it was because of them that we realized you weren't here. Little Chris probably went to find you after hearing our discussion."

Mr. Yukine briefly explained the situation they had obtained.

“Those children we educate, you can tell they like you a lot and are worried about you, so they entrust us with helping you.”

Lady Yukine then further explained to Zero.

"...I appreciate your kindness, but compared to my strength, their fragility is what we need to worry about more."

After a moment of silence, Lingyi prepared to refuse, as she did not believe she needed anyone else's help.

"Whether you need help or not can't be determined by words, Xiaolingyi. If you don't need help, then I'll just ask you a little bit."

"Why has your face never shown any expression since you came in? Or, to put it another way, when was the last time you laughed from the bottom of your heart?"

With a serious look in her eyes, Lady Xueyin accurately expressed one of the points she had made during their brief meeting.

.........

Lingyi fell silent for a moment, after all, the other party had indeed hit the nail on the head regarding her current state, although this was also related to the fact that she had no intention of hiding this fact.

“Indeed, what you said is true. I do feel nothing for many things anymore... But, isn’t that a bad thing? At least this way I can devote all my energy to improving myself without being distracted.”

"There's nothing wrong with continuing to live with this mindset."

Although some of the facts had been seen through, Lingyi showed no concern and calmly explained her reasons.

"This...this is truly the first time I've encountered such a difficult child."

With that, Lady Yukine stood up and returned to the center of the room.

"Although I could still talk to you and say things like how you'll be in a lot of pain and discomfort if things continue like this, I doubt you'd listen to that now."

In the center of the room, Mrs. Yukine pulled away little Chris, who was burying her head in the sand like an ostrich and still being lectured by Mr. Yukine. She then began to ramble on and on, gesturing to Mr. Yukine about her thoughts.

"Well then, consider this a request: could you please listen to our performance here for a moment? It won't take up too much of your time, just a few minutes."

With a gentle smile, Lady Yukine made this suggestion to Rei.

This is her preferred method, and it's also what her husband has always insisted on: if words are limited by barriers of ideas and understanding and cannot reach the heart, then let music convey hope.

“Playing… well, okay, I have no reason to refuse.”

Having said all that, and with only a few minutes left, Lingyi wasn't so short-sighted as to not even have a little spare time to spare for the people who came to help them.

During the preparation and discussion period, Mr. Yukine led Chris and Rei to the sofa in the room and brought out several glasses of iced juice, placing them on the table.

"?

While the two were preparing, Chris was already humming a song and sitting on the sofa waiting expectantly.

Although she was a little unhappy about being lectured by her parents, it was clear that she was still looking forward to listening to their performance.

"Well, it's 3 PM now. We'll finish this matter at 3:10 PM and then study the remaining chapters at 6 PM... After dinner, we'll start warm-up training at 6:30 PM, and the training will continue until 10 PM when we're ready to sleep."

"Tomorrow, let's think about tomorrow's matters again. Let's use this time to make a list of things to do tomorrow, hmm... like this, then get on with it... and then..."

On the other side, while waiting, Lingyi continued to mutter all sorts of arrangements that could be described as insane and meticulous.

"...Wait, wait, are you kidding me? Don't you need to rest?"

Listening to Lingyi's rambling beside her, Chris, who was not paying much attention at first, became somewhat confused and asked after listening for a while.

If Lingyi's ramblings are true, then it can be said that apart from maintaining essential vital signs, she has been studying or exercising all the time and has no time to rest.

"Why would I joke around? As for rest, I've set a precise seven hours of sleep for myself every day, so my body will be fine."

Influenced by the words of the person next to her, Lingyi turned her head and casually spoke to Chris beside her.

"No, no, no, even when Mom is teaching me music theory, she gives me time to rest. Lingyi, are you really not planning to play any games or anything like that?"

She got off the sofa and moved to Zero's side. Looking at the expressionless girl, a little worry instinctively welled up in the young Chris's heart.

“Games…that’s meaningless. To me, repetitive actions that don’t create any value should not be needed. Actions should only be carried out if they can generate value.”

Her response was a perfectly logical and mechanical one.

"This kind of thing... well, I think I understand why Mom and Dad are so worried about you. If you really are like this, then it's really too... too painful."

After a brief exchange, little Chris's opinion had already changed.

At first, she thought the other person was deliberately putting on a face as if she had offended her out of malice, but now, after understanding a bit more, little Chris realized that the other person might not have done it on purpose.

She truly only has this one face, devoid of joy, sadness, or emotion, like a machine that's wound up and starts working methodically and never stops.

"Um……"

With that in mind, little Chris began to think.

Since Chris didn't ask any further questions, Zero didn't intend to say anything more either. Instead, she continued to think about whether she could add something to her already packed schedule.

But soon, as if she had figured something out, the young white-haired girl leaned against Lingyi, a happy smile on her face, and uttered her conclusion:

"I've made up my mind, I want to be friends with Rei!"

P.S. When will I be able to write about erotica?

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Slowing Heart

"What's the reason?"

A puzzled expression appeared on Lingyi's face. She was slightly confused as to how Chris could have changed her words to this point, so she blurted out a question.

"Because I feel that you, Lingyi, don't have any friends, and since you don't have any friends, you need friends, then I'll become your friend."

Little Chris naturally expressed her opinion.

"...*Month-*-yi~First++Release##...Why did you come to this conclusion? It's true, I don't have anyone around me who I could call a friend, but that doesn't mean I'm someone who needs friends, right?"

"You see, there are also people who don't like making friends and just prefer to be alone and do what they like. Maybe I'm one of those people."

Lingyi remained silent for a long time, then turned her head away and silently stated her rebuttal.

"Hmm, is that so... No, that's not right. While there might be people like that, Rei, you're definitely not like that."

"If you really are as you say, then you should be happier on your own, but right now I don't see any of what you said in you."

"Besides, no matter what, Lingyi, you can't lie to me, because I've seen it with my parents. The eyes of those people who need help are exactly the same as yours, Lingyi."