Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 87

Chapter 87: The Truth-Telling Session

“Mr. Lucian’s mission is to go on a vacation with Lady Durandal.”

A corner of Lucian’s mouth twitched. “A vacation… with Durandal?”

“Mm-hmm~” Rita nodded gently, her perfectly matter-of-fact demeanor leaving Lucian momentarily speechless.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze settling on Durandal.

Her expression was a mask of placid neutrality; she didn’t speak, simply sitting there in composed silence. Lucian stared at her for a few seconds, searching her features for any hint of an explanation, any crack in that serene facade.

But Durandal simply lifted her teacup, bringing it to her lips for a delicate sip.

“…Who arranged this mission?” Lucian finally asked.

As the words left his mouth, a subtle, charged silence descended upon the dining table.

Durandal’s hand, holding the porcelain cup, paused for a fraction of a second. She regarded him through the swirling steam, her eyes unreadable, and didn’t offer an immediate answer.

A soft chuckle escaped Rita’s lips. “What do you think, Mr. Lucian?”

A distinct note of amusement laced her voice as her gaze danced between Lucian and Durandal, savoring the moment.

Lucian studied her expression, and a sudden, unwelcome premonition began to prickle at the back of his mind.

“…Otto?” he asked tentatively.

“That’s not it.”

“Guess again?”

Lucian’s lips twitched again. He looked back at Durandal. She was still holding her teacup, her expression as calm as ever, but he could have sworn a subtle glint flashed in the depths of her blue eyes.

“…You arranged it?”

Durandal didn’t answer. She just lifted her teacup and took another sip.

But in the quiet of the room, her silence was an answer in itself.

Lucian was stunned. He stared at Durandal, suddenly at a complete loss for words.

“It’s a mission that Lady Durandal applied for personally.” Rita’s voice chimed in at the perfect moment, sounding exceptionally clear in the hushed dining room.

Lucian’s hand, which had been reaching for his own teacup, froze in mid-air. He turned his head, his gaze falling on Durandal’s still-calm face. She looked exactly the same as before, yet he now noticed that the very tips of her ears were a shade redder than they had been moments ago.

“…You applied for it?” A thread of disbelief wove through his voice.

Durandal set down her teacup with a soft click, finally looking up to meet his gaze directly. In the clear blue of her eyes, there was only a quiet, deep earnestness.

“Yes.”

She looked straight into his eyes, holding his gaze for a second before she spoke again.

“Because…” She paused, as if carefully weighing her next words. “I met the version of myself from another world.”

The moment the words were spoken, the atmosphere at the table fell utterly still.

The smile vanished from Rita’s face, her full attention now fixed on Durandal.

Lucian’s hand remained suspended in the air. He looked at Durandal, at the complex storm of emotions swirling in those blue eyes, and suddenly found he had nothing to say.

“She told me many things,” Durandal’s voice was very soft, almost a whisper, as if she were afraid of disturbing something sacred.

“About you.”

“About me.”

She paused, her gaze lowering slightly to the back of her hand, which rested primly on her lap.

“…About us.”

Lucian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He carefully set down his teacup. “What did she say?”

“Sorry, it’s… a bit hard for me to say,” she admitted, pausing again as if trying to organize the chaotic information. “Because the current me still doesn’t know how to face these things.”

“The me from the other world told me that you are very important to me.”

“But the current me has only known you for a day.”

She paused, her gaze dropping once more. “I don’t know how to turn that ‘importance’ into my own feelings.”

Lucian looked at her and didn’t speak, just sat there quietly, listening. Internally, however, his mind was racing. He watched Durandal’s earnest, troubled face, and a whirlwind of thoughts spun through his head.

‘Right, right, this is the normal way to interact,’he thought.’This is how a relationship is supposed to develop. So what in the world was that lightning-fast, quantum leap of a relationship I had with Bronya?”And Mei… she was so gentle and kind before, but after her Herrscher awakening, her possessiveness makes her seem like a completely different person.”And don’t even get me started on Theresa. She’s clearly lived for over forty years, so what kind of tantrum is she even throwing…?’As his thoughts spiraled, he suddenly felt something was off.’Wait a minute… it’s not that they’re the abnormal ones, is it?”Is the problem… that I’m just too much of a scumbag?’

Lucian pursed his lips, forcibly shaking off the messy tangle of thoughts and refocusing his attention on Durandal.

She was still in the same posture, her gaze lowered, resting on the back of her hand.

“So… I want to get to know you better,” she said, looking up to meet his gaze again. “Not through the memories of another world, but through myself.”

“I want to know why you were worth her saying those things.”

Lucian studied Durandal’s face. She spoke simply, using the most plain and direct words, yet they carried an immense weight. After a few seconds of silence, a soft laugh escaped him.

“Then what do you think so far?” he asked. “After walking around all morning, what’s your impression of me?”

Durandal was visibly taken aback, not having expected him to turn the question back on her. She blinked, her expression turning thoughtful. After a few seconds of deep consideration, she finally spoke.

“You are very quiet.”

Lucian raised an eyebrow. “Quiet?”

“Yes.” Durandal nodded. “Unlike others, who are always trying to find topics to talk about. You just walk with me. This feeling… is very similar to Rita.”

A corner of Lucian’s mouth twitched. ‘Similar to Rita?’

He glanced at the maid in question, who was sitting beside him holding her teacup, that signature, unreadable smile having reappeared on her lips.

“Miss Rita is indeed very quiet,” Lucian said thoughtfully. “But to say I’m like her…” He trailed off, momentarily unsure how to respond.

Durandal tilted her head, a hint of genuine confusion in her blue eyes. “Is it not so?”

“It’s not,” Lucian shook his head. “Miss Rita’s quietness is a mark of professional etiquette. My quietness is… because I don’t know what to say.”

Durandal blinked, stunned for a moment. “You don’t know what to say?”

“Yes.” Lucian nodded and took a sip from his teacup. “After all, we’ve only known each other for a day. I can’t just start off by saying things that would ruin a first impression.”

“For example?” Durandal pressed, her curiosity piqued.

Lucian set down his teacup and looked her straight in the eye.

“For example… that I’m currently a scumbag dating three girls at the same time?”

The moment the words were spoken, the air at the dining table seemed to crystallize.

Durandal’s hand, which was lifting her own teacup, froze in mid-air. She stared at him, stunned, before finally asking: “…Three?”

Lucian nodded grimly. “Three.”

He had no intention of lying to Durandal. After all, anyone with eyes could see that she was developing some level of interest in him. If he kept hiding the truth at this stage, he really would be letting his lower half do the thinking for him.

Sure enough, Durandal’s expression became somewhat strange. She looked deep into his eyes, as if trying to determine if he was telling some elaborate, self-deprecating joke.

Lucian waited quietly for her to process the information, but he was completely unprepared for her next sentence, which shattered his composure.

“But the version of me from that other world said you should have four by now…”