Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Hmph, a Bratty Girl? Go Talk to My Control Bracelet

The insistent knocking on the dormitory door continued, punctuated by Kiana’s distinctively energetic voice.

“Lucian! I know you’re in there! Open the door!”

Lucian froze on the bed, his mind scrambling for a solution.

‘Hide? It’s too late for that. Pretend to be asleep? Kiana would just barge in without a second thought. Run through the window? This is the first floor, so the jump is nothing, but I’m not exactly dressed right now…’

Watching his panicked state, the smile in Mei’s eyes deepened into genuine amusement. She made no move to open the door. Instead, she leisurely lay back down beside him, resting her chin on his shoulder. Her warm breath, tinged with a sweet fragrance, brushed against his ear.

“Have you thought of an explanation yet?” she whispered, her voice a low, teasing murmur.

“…Not yet.” Lucian shook his head, a portrait of helplessness. His gaze then shifted, landing on Mei with a new, contemplative light. “But before we deal with that, there’s something I want to know, Mei.”

“Hmm? What is it?” Mei blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing her features at his suddenly serious tone.

“Are you the original Mei right now,” he asked, his voice low and steady, “or the Herrscher consciousness?”

The moment the question left his lips, Mei’s amethyst eyes flickered. She didn’t dodge his gaze, however, simply watching him quietly, the faint, enigmatic smile never leaving her lips.

“What do you think?” she asked in return, her light tone betraying nothing.

Lucian held her gaze, staring into those purple depths so close to his own. He saw a complex storm swirling within them—tenderness, a hint of craftiness, a possessiveness that was both thrilling and terrifying, and a depth he couldn’t begin to decipher.

“I think… you’ve changed a lot overnight,” he said slowly. “It’s as if you’ve suddenly stopped acting.”

“You think I was acting before?”

Lucian considered her question, then shook his head with honest conviction. “No. It’s just… you weren’t this active before. Not this assertive.”

“Pfft…” Mei let out a soft chuckle and gave his chest a playful tap. With a fluid grace, she rose from the bed and began to get dressed. “I’ve always been Mei. There’s no such thing as a replacement.”

She glanced back at him over her shoulder as she tied the sash of her bathrobe, a gentle, reassuring light softening her eyes.

“I’ve just… learned to be active.”

——————

Sitting in the security room, Lucian stared blankly at the warm sunlight filtering through the window, his fingers unconsciously tapping a nervous rhythm on the desk.

This morning, the moment Mei had finally let Kiana into the dorm, she had promptly kicked him out, declaring that she and Kiana needed to talk. Alone.

The sunlight was pleasant, casting a warm glow on his arm as it streamed through the glass. His mind, however, was anything but warm. It was a complete and utter mess.

“I actually got pinned down… how pathetic…” Lucian cursed under his breath. Just then, a soft knock echoed from the security room door.

He looked up. Before he could even speak, the door was pushed open and Bronya entered.

She walked in, closed the door quietly behind her, and let her cool, grey eyes linger on Lucian’s face for a fraction of a second too long.

“It seems something interesting happened last night.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact.

A muscle in Lucian’s jaw twitched. He knew it. This little duck definitely knew.

“Bronya, you know?”

“How could Lucian ever think Bronya wouldn’t know?” she replied, her tone perfectly flat. “Every move you make, Bronya can see it all.”

Lucian let out a helpless sigh. He knew that in front of this girl, he had no secrets to speak of.

“So, you saw everything last night?”

“Selective viewing,” Bronya stated. She floated over to the chair opposite him and sat down, her hands folded neatly over her knees, the barest trace of a smile touching her lips. “Bronya only watched the parts she was interested in.”

Lucian’s mouth twitched again. “…What do you mean by ‘parts you’re interested in’?”

He regretted the words the instant they left his mouth.

Bronya’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t the usual light of happiness, but a sort of predatory gleam that screamed, ‘You finally asked.’

“Are you sure you want to know?”

Lucian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He had a powerful premonition that he really, really shouldn’t have asked that question.

“…No.”

His refusal was almost instantaneous, but it was far too late.

With a casual wave of Bronya’s hand, a virtual light panel materialized in the air in front of him. It was playing footage from last night. The video was crystal clear, though thankfully without sound.

It was so clear he could see the expression on his own face at the time—a chaotic blend of panic, embarrassment, and a little bit of… enjoyment?

Lucian’s head buzzed.

“Bronya!”

He shot to his feet, his hand lashing out to turn off the screen, only to pass right through the holographic projection.

Bronya shook her head slightly, her voice calm. “It’s no use. This is a projection.”

Lucian’s hand froze in mid-air. He looked from the footage still playing on the panel to Bronya, who was also watching the screen with rapt attention, and was suddenly at a complete loss for words.

‘How did this Bronya become so different from the one in the story…?’he despaired internally.’Her appearance hasn’t changed, but where did this bratty personality—this love for recording things and then throwing it in my face—come from? Could it be some twisted sense of humor awakened after she saw the memories of another world? If so, the version of me from that world must have been quite the character…’

“Bronya, turn it off.”

“Beg me.”

“…What?”

“Bronya said, if Lucian wants Bronya to turn it off, then beg Bronya.”

Lucian’s mouth twitched violently. He looked at Bronya, at that perfectly expressionless face, at the undisguised craftiness dancing in her eyes, and confirmed the thought taking root in his heart.

It had to be those future memories. What in the world happened in that other timeline?

“Bronya,” he said, taking a deep breath and trying to keep his voice calm. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” Bronya nodded without hesitation. “Bronya is sure.”

She paused, her gaze falling on the looping footage, then moving back to Lucian’s face. “The expression on Lucian’s face right now is very similar to last night’s.” A ghost of a smile played on her lips. “Bronya likes it very much.”

“…”

Looking at Bronya’s deadpan expression and the undisguised appreciation in her eyes, Lucian suddenly felt faint. He forced himself to look away from the light panel that was now looping ‘last night’s highlights’ on repeat.

Then, he spoke her name through gritted teeth. “Bronya Zaychik…”

It was rare for him to use her full name. His voice was low, carrying a clear and unmistakable warning.

Bronya acted as if she hadn’t heard him. She propped her chin on her hand, staring unblinkingly at the light panel.

“This angle was captured well,” she commented, as if critiquing a film. “The light hitting diagonally from the bedside lamp… the composition is great, the subject stands out, and the tension is maxed out.”

Lucian: “…”

Seeing her like this, he shook his head in helpless resignation and activated the Control Bracelet on his wrist.

A subtle shimmer of light, and Bronya’s body went rigid.

Her pupils contracted for a split second before she slowly, mechanically, turned her head to look at Lucian.

“Lucian, you…”

“Little Bronya,” he said, a pleasant smile gracing his lips, “delete all videos concerning last night.”

Bronya’s stiff body tried to resist, a silent war waging within her, but it was completely useless. She could only watch in horror as her own body began to move against her will, her fingers rising uncontrollably to swipe across the virtual light panel.

One folder after another was opened, selected, and dragged to the trash.

Those ‘special edition’ recordings she had so carefully edited, subtitled, and even applied artistic filters to, turned into cascading streams of data right before her eyes, vanishing completely into the digital void.

“Wait—!”