"Seele...? Sorry, are you alright?"
In the hallway of the Salt Lake Base, Seele stared, somewhat dazed, at the handsome, dark-haired young man extending a hand towards her. His apologetic voice, rich and magnetic, echoed in her ears.
Having spent some time at the Salt Lake Base, Seele, given her personality, didn't know everyone, but she had at least seen most faces. Yet, the man before her was unfamiliar.
Is he a visitor to the base? Seele subconsciously thought. But the fact that he immediately called out her name, coupled with his familiar tone, made her discard that idea. Her gaze fixed on the outstretched hand.
"Bronya... neechan?" Recalling what Bronya had told her, and sensing a deep familiarity and warmth from the young man before her, Seele subconsciously asked the question aloud.
"My, seems like a rather perceptive child~" A sweet and youthful voice chirped. Fairy Ely, holding her wand, spoke up first. Although her presence confused Seele slightly, the statement undoubtedly confirmed Seele's guess.
"Yes, Seele's intuition is very sharp. But using that name now is clearly inappropriate," Jiang Qiao confirmed gently.
"Ah..." Seele covered her mouth. Because of that strong first impression—even after Bronya's tireless efforts had finally allowed her to distinguish the real, less-Bronya-like Bronya—when meeting Jiang Qiao for the first time again, she still subconsciously equated the two. Especially after he admitted it, Seele's feelings instantly became complicated.
Honestly, regarding this 'stand-in Bronya-neechan,' after discovering he was the real imposter, she felt quite awkward. For instance, she felt somewhat apologetic towards the real Bronya-neechan—though, perhaps more crucially... because before she could tell them apart, she seemed to have done many strange things!
...Sleeping together and stuff... Although she was happy at the time, thinking now that there was actually a boy hidden inside, the sensitive and shy Miss Seele instantly felt her cheeks flush hot.
However, likely feeling it would be impolite to remain silent, she murmured softly, "Jiang... Qiao, can Seele call you Jiang Qiao-Nii chan?"
After reclaiming her little sister, Bronya had thoroughly indoctrinated Seele regarding the Jiang Qiao who had wronged her—Jiang Qiao is a bad guy. As for why he's bad—Don't ask! Anyway, he's just a bad guy! A big bad guy!
Although Seele had nodded at the time with partial understanding, truly viewing him that way now was clearly asking too much.
After all, no matter what... that 'Bronya'-neechan had stepped forward when she was in greatest danger and brought her out of the Sea of Quanta. Even if the person inside wasn't entirely Bronya, every detail of that time remained incredibly clear in Seele's mind even today.
The snow globe gift made from a Bubble Universe... the wonderful stroll by the sea... it was truly romantic... Thinking of this, Seele felt a pang of resentment. While reuniting with the real Bronya was a joyous occasion, what frustrated her greatly was that—after all this time, Bronya-neechan had started down the path of becoming a shut-in gamer.
Although Bronya still treated her very well, making her feel like she was back in the orphanage, when it came to topics like going out to play, Bronya rarely agreed. In Bronya's words—To save the world, Bronya must train hard.
Yet, most of the time, Bronya-neechan was nowhere to be found in the training grounds. Even when Seele wanted to train together, nowadays she mostly trained with Kiana, not Bronya-neechan...
"That's fine. Call me that if you like," Jiang Qiao certainly didn't mind. Although it was perhaps the first time he'd been called that, having used the identity of 'Bronya-neechan,' and even having called Kiana 'sister' while playing the role of a younger sibling, such a form of address no longer felt particularly unusual.
He gently pulled Seele to her feet.
"...Hmm? Are you running a fever?" Jiang Qiao asked, puzzled, looking at the blue-haired Seele who kept her head down, counting floor tiles after taking his hand. He reached out to touch her forehead—unlike before, the touch of a boy instantly made the shy Seele flinch like a startled fawn.
"I-I'm fine..." Like a marshmallow, Seele's soft voice carried a hint of shyness as she shook her head.
"Okay, that's good."
"By the way, where's Bronya? Isn't she with you?" Although his magnetic voice was very different from Bronya-neechan's milky tones, the concern within it still captivated Seele—as if it were still the same Bronya-neechan.
However, hearing the name from Jiang Qiao's lips dampened Seele's mood slightly. She whispered, "...Bronya-neechan, she should be resting in her room right now."
"Do you need her for something?"
"Oh, not really."
"I just finished my business and got back, happened to run into you... Hmm, do you know where Kiana is?"
"Kiana... Usually, she should be in the training grounds around this time..."
"Training grounds? Surprisingly diligent, huh... Thanks, Seele."
"Um..." Seeing Jiang Qiao about to leave, Seele seemed to want to say something, making him pause, puzzled, "Is something wrong?"
"..."
Looking at the hesitant Seele, Jiang Qiao seemed to understand something. He smiled and asked, "Want to come along?"
"Ah... Okay! Actually, I was planning to head to the training grounds anyway," Seele blinked, then brightened up, murmuring softly—of course, her original plan was actually to find Bronya-neechan.
After all, with the substitute gone, she could only make do with the real Bronya-neechan. But after seeing Jiang Qiao return, although initially awkward due to past events, she surprisingly felt like sticking close to 'Bronya'-neechan.
Whether it was out of a desire to understand more, or something else...
As for Bronya-neechan... well, what could she do? Bronya-neechan was always so busy. Since that was the case, as her dear little sister, Seele certainly couldn't delay Bronya-neechan from doing important things.
Of course, she had also hesitated about whether she should go to Bronya-neechan's place as usual—after all, not going might seem a bit like standing Bronya up. But regarding this, the other Seele offered her perspective.
"Are you planning to watch Nee-chan play games?"
That settled it. Seele instantly made her choice.
—It really wasn't that she disliked Bronya-neechan, but mostly, being with Bronya-neechan usually meant being dragged into playing games together.
When there were no other options, playing games together was somewhat acceptable. But honestly, Seele wasn't that keen on games.
She also found it hard to understand some of Bronya-neechan's intense enthusiasm—when they weren't on the same wavelength, Miss Seele, who could only nod and agree with a subtle smile, felt somewhat mentally drained. This became even more prominent after having tasted the superior substitute that was 'Bronya-neechan.'
Compared to the somewhat slacking Bronya-neechan, 'Bronya-neechan' was not only cooler, understood her better, but was also incredibly thoughtful, truly achieving 'surpassing Bronya at being Bronya'—at least in terms of 'fulfilling needs,' Seele had to admit she preferred Jiang Qiao, the stand-in Bronya-neechan, a little more.
The only lingering hesitation was perhaps that 'Bronya' was actually a boy underneath, which for the shy Seele, was somewhat... stimulating?
Of course—Jiang Qiao's intentions were likely much simpler. Besides needing to deliver a gift to Mr. Ice Stick [Kevin] later, his current priority was to understand the state of the Current Era during his absence.
"Have you been happy here, Seele?" he asked as they walked.
"Yes, everyone at the base is very nice, Dr. Einstein and the others take good care of me too..." Apart from Bronya-neechan's gaming addiction, which Seele wasn't too happy about, the blue-haired Seele responded energetically to Jiang Qiao's conversational opening.
Under his subtle prompting, she chatted about her life at the base, like emptying a trash can.
"...Seele really, really couldn't tell the difference between you and Bronya-neechan," the happily chatting Seele also expressed some lament—As Bronya-neechan's number one fan, how could I mistake someone else for her? And Jiang Qiao-gege didn't remind me at all... Honestly...
"Doesn't that just mean I was successful? But you don't need to worry too much about it," Jiang Qiao reassured her. "For the me of that time, the 'Bronya' of that time, everything I felt towards Seele was genuine—whether it was emotions or every smile, they came from your Bronya-neechan—and, of course, from me too."
This was precisely why Jiang Qiao didn't overly mind others mistaking him for the original owner. Because although, due to the 'body swap,' the inner consciousness was named Jiang Qiao, on a material level—perfectly attuned and using the physical body, aside from minor decisions, everything was indeed expressed through the [Vessel]. Correspondingly, those complex emotions, those decisions made, all belonged to both.
Gazing at Jiang Qiao's sincere smile, Seele stared blankly, her heart pounding. Inexplicably, she had a sudden thought—*'Bronya'-neechan is pretty great too.*
...No! No! That would be betraying Bronya-neechan!
But according to Jiang Qiao-Nii-chan, Bronya-neechan deliberately asked Jiang Qiao-Nii-chan not to reveal the truth. Could that mean... Bronya-neechan also wanted me to treat Jiang Qiao-Nii-chan with the same attitude, the same feelings? Thinking about what she learned from Jiang Qiao, the blue-haired Seele found the idea increasingly plausible. Yes! That's right! Bronya-neechan definitely thought so too!
In that case, this definitely isn't 'betrayal'!
Having reasoned it out, Seele's lingering small tangle about the 'substitute Bronya'—Jiang Qiao—instantly vanished. The emotion in her eyes as she looked at him became colored with feelings equivalent to, perhaps even slightly more than, those she held for Bronya.
Correspondingly, Seele's attitude towards Jiang Qiao became much closer; she even directly linked arms with him—nearby, Fairy Ely watched this development, raised an eyebrow, then... endured it!
Although the Salt Lake Base wasn't small, Jiang Qiao, having previously explored it thoroughly using the [Bronya] model, navigated it with ease. They reached the dedicated training ground—an area specially modified for Herrschers like Bronya and Kiana, even featuring simulated battlefield functions mimicking Schicksal's.
Following the feeling in his heart, tracking the familiar power, he instantly spotted the white-haired girl in the training ground, standing atop a dissipating Honkai Beast Emperor, holding the Lance of the Void.
"Hmph, easy peasy~" Kiana declared, lifting her proud face and casually shouldering the Lance of the Void, looking relaxed and pleased—until she sensed something and turned her head towards Seele.
Seeing Seele made her quite happy; the white-haired Tuna with her harem queen nature was quite fond of Bronya's gentle and seemingly frail little sister. Two words—very smooth.
But when she saw Jiang Qiao beside her, a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, followed by... an unconscious shiver running through her body.
"Ha, what are you doing here?" Kiana asked.
"Haven't seen you in so long, this lady thought something happened to you... hmph." Folding her arms, Kiana snorted, instinctively wanting to run her mouth, but stopped upon seeing his faint smile. "Well? I've improved immensely during this time," she boasted instead.
"Indeed, you've made progress... Can you beat Bronya?" Jiang Qiao asked.
"Hmph! Of course..." The competitive white-haired Tuna couldn't possibly admit defeat, subconsciously wanting to claim she was stronger than that shorty. But just as the words were about to come out, she hesitated, feeling unsure.
...She really couldn't beat Bronya.
True, after special training from someone in the Elysian Realm, Kiana, already exceptionally talented in combat, now completely overwhelmed Bronya in pure close-quarters fighting. Her Honkai Energy usage was also excellent; she could even crudely utilize the Herrscher of the Void powers she previously couldn't use at all.
But compared to Bronya... one could only say that someone seemed rather 'biased' towards Bronya—Bronya's body, already a complete vessel, required no extra effort; she had already reached the end of the 'Herrscher' path.
Although the latter couldn't currently unleash [Bronya]'s true power... even so, Bronya, having reached the combat capability of the 'Herrscher of Reason' stage, had already surpassed Kiana, who was still within human limits.
Kiana, aware of some of this, glared slightly, glancing resentfully at Jiang Qiao. Don't you have any damn clue why I can't beat that Bronya?!
We're both Herrschers! Bronya gets to skip the effort and just pick up the ready-made stuff, food practically pre-chewed and fed to her!
And what about her? This guy didn't develop this lady's body at all, did he?!