"Why didn't I recognize him immediately?"
Bronya questioned herself silently.
Even if his appearance had changed a bit.
Even if—for some unknown reason—he looked much younger now.
But Elias' presence... was still the same familiar feeling she remembered.
His gaze, his movements, his voice—everything matched what she had etched into her memory.
The moment she realized the boy she met today was the long-lost Papa Elias she had been searching for, Bronya had rushed over, filled with nervousness, anticipation, and unease, and knocked on Raiden Mei's door.
At first, she had worried—what if she was wrong? What if it wasn't him?
But then—
"Little Duck, what are you doing here?"
Just one sentence shattered her doubts.
She hadn't made a mistake!
Tears of joy filled Bronya's eyes.
That nickname—"Duck"—was something only Elias would call her. There was no mistaking it. This boy was her long-sought Papa Elias!
"Bronya finally found you, Papa Elias."
Like a little bird returning to the nest, she leapt into his arms, her year of longing pouring out through her embrace and her tears. That normally emotionless little face was now overwhelmed with feeling.
"...Looks like a lot really did happen while I was gone. I'm happy to see you too, Bronya."
"This time, Bronya won't let you leave again."
"Mm. From now on, there's no more separation."
"Uwaaaah... Finally... Bronya finally gets to see you again... uwaaaah..."
"Cry, cry as much as you want, my dear little duck."
Elias gently patted her back and stroked her hair, just like he did back in their days at the House of the Hearth. Though a full year had passed for her, her appearance hadn't changed.
For a moment, Elias almost thought they'd returned to those peaceful days. He held the girl in his arms even tighter.
"So... what's going on exactly?"
Behind him, Kiana and Mei were completely stunned.
The midnight visitor wasn't a ghost—it was Elias' daughter?! Somehow, that was scarier in its own way.
Kiana was just dumbfounded, her eyes nearly popping out.
But Mei was clearly shaken. The boy she liked... suddenly had a daughter?!
For a pure-hearted girl in her first crush, this was too much of a shock. For a moment, she felt like she nearly activated her Herrscher powers.
"Elias, you... when did you have a daughter?"
"Mei, are you okay? Why's your voice shaking?"
"Kiana, sweetie, not now. Be quiet."
"Uh... o-okay..."
Seeing the electric sparks flicker around Mei, Kiana—though too confused to grasp the situation—felt her survival instincts kick in, courtesy of her Kaslana bloodline.
She quietly stepped back and opted to spectate.
"It's a long story. Let's go inside first. Standing around out here in the middle of the night isn't ideal," Elias said.
"Alright, but you better explain everything. I'm very curious about this Miss Bronya."
"Yeah, seriously, Elias, suddenly dropping a daughter on us is kinda terrifying..." (Kiana, whispering)
The four returned to the living room and sat down.
Though it was the middle of the night, none of the girls—except Elias—felt the slightest bit sleepy.
Bronya, especially, was so overjoyed by their reunion that she had been clinging to Elias since they arrived and showed no signs of letting go.
"Ahem, let me introduce her—this is Bronya Zaychik, my daughter. I adopted her about two years ago," Elias said, clearing his throat.
"A-Adopted?"
At those words, Mei visibly relaxed.
Even though 18-year-old Elias adopting a girl who looked no younger than 14 two years ago was already... questionable on many levels.
On the other hand, Bronya found the situation equally strange.
Just a year ago, her father was nearly 30 years old. Now, he looked like a teenager—maybe 17 or 18, practically her peer.
Then Bronya turned her gaze toward the other two girls.
Back when she was searching for Elias, who had vanished due to the X-10 Experiment, she had temporarily cooperated with Cocolia. Because of that, she had access to information on Raiden Mei and Kiana.
In fact, Mei—with her innate Stigmata—was considered a key person in retrieving Elias, who had been "lost in the Sea of Quanta."
What she didn't expect was that her now-young Papa Elias had somehow ended up as Mei's classmate. How all this happened was beyond her comprehension. And so...
"Though this is our first meeting, Bronya proposes we exchange intel. You seem very curious about me and Papa Elias, and I'm equally curious about your side."
"Indeed. Would you mind going first, little Miss Bronya?" Mei asked with a polite smile.
"...Okay."
After a few seconds of hesitation, Bronya nodded.
Elias didn't interrupt their cross-timeline discussion. On the contrary, he sat nearby eating snacks, clearly entertained.
By the time the exchange finished, both Kiana and Mei were staring at him, eyes full of shock and disbelief.
They were completely stunned to learn that Elias had run an orphanage and adopted dozens of kids. It was such a stark contrast to the classmate they knew, they began wondering if Bronya had mistaken someone else for her father...
But seeing how close the two were, that seemed impossible.
Likewise, Bronya found it hard to believe this high school version of Elias.
He was so different from the Elias she remembered. But the moment she heard how he had saved Raiden Mei, she realized—
He was still the same person deep down.
The three girls finished their exchange and looked at Elias again.
More and more, they found him mysterious... and cool.
"Alright, stop staring at me like that. I know you've all got tons of questions, but a man's allure lies in his secrets. Now then, Bronya—what are your plans from here?"
Elias shrugged and changed the topic. The time wasn't right to explain everything. For now, he'd play the mysterious card...
He really had become the kind of guy he used to make fun of.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm staying by Papa Elias' side. Now that I've found you, there's no reason to keep working with Cocolia."
Bronya answered without hesitation.
"Mm, that's for the best... Ah, but maybe stop calling me 'Papa' in public? We're the same age now, and it's... weird."
Elias said with a slightly awkward expression.
He imagined them going out together and Bronya suddenly calling him "Papa." The looks they'd get from people on the street...
No thank you—instant social death.
"That's not fair. No matter what form you take, you'll always be Papa Elias to me... but fine. Bronya understands. I'll do as you say, Pa—Elias."
"Mm, good girl. My Bronya is the best," Elias said with a satisfied nod.
Even though she seemed to have hesitated before changing her mind, he chose to ignore that part.
Bronya lifted her small hand to cover the smile she couldn't quite hold back. While her first instinct was to reject the idea, a second thought struck her—
This was a golden opportunity!
Her beloved Papa Elias was now a high school student!
There was no blood relation between them.
The biggest issue—the more than ten-year age gap—was now completely gone.
In short: the situation was perfect!
(All the barriers are gone now. Just wait, everyone—once Bronya brings Papa—no, Elias—back to the House of the Hearth, it'll be time for all of you to start calling me Mama! Let's go!)
Bronya clenched her tiny fists, psyching herself up.
Their father-daughter relationship had reached its natural conclusion. Now, it was time to step onto a new path!
And at the far end of that road—
Would be a white chapel and the sound of wedding bells.
With a new goal in mind, Bronya looked at Elias with eyes completely transformed. Elias, noticing the sudden intensity, felt like he might be imagining it... but did he just see little pink hearts in her gaze?
Was she seriously about to fall for him?
(Even if we're not related by blood... even if the age gap is gone... even if we're already emotionally close enough to be considered family... Wait, isn't there actually no reason this couldn't happen?)
Uhhh...
Elias was momentarily speechless, stunned by the sudden realization of possibilities between him and Bronya.
Meanwhile, Mei—now fully relaxed—looked at Bronya with softened eyes.
(If she's Elias' adopted daughter, then there's no issue at all. What a sweet and kind girl... I wonder if little Bronya would be okay with one more young stepmom.)
What bad intentions could Mei possibly have?
She just wanted to give Bronya a full and loving family.
"Right, Pa—cough—I mean, Elias, here's all the intel I have on Cocolia. I hope it's useful."
"Excellent. You've really helped out, Bronya."
Project Bunny suddenly appeared, projecting a wealth of data and intel—Cocolia's plans, Titan mech deployments, and more.
Though their arrangement was labeled a partnership, Bronya had always known that she and Cocolia were merely using each other.
And back when Elias showed open disdain for Cocolia a year ago, Bronya had remembered it clearly.
"It's more or less what I expected, but with this level of detail, I can draw up a much more precise plan. Heh, looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight."
"Bronya will stay up with you."
"The old rule at the House of the Hearth was lights out before ten, but... right, I almost forgot. You're not the little duck I had to worry about anymore. Or maybe... now I have new reasons to worry. Let's have a long talk tonight."
Elias' gaze shifted to Project Bunny. Even though he had successfully changed Bronya's fate, why was this familiar construct still by her side?
He could check the altered timeline via his system—but this time, he wanted to hear it directly from Bronya herself.
Later that night, in one of the guest rooms of Mei's house—
Bronya, freshly showered, sat seiza-style on the bed.
After more than a year, her reunion with Elias had somehow escalated to... sharing the same bed.
Her heart was racing like crazy.
"Alright, let's talk. What happened after I left a year ago? Why... Bronya, why are you like this? And what about Seele? Is she alright?"
Elias gestured toward Bronya's legs and head, which he had just healed earlier using the power of the Herrscher of Death, then asked about the girl he was most worried about at the House of the Hearth.
Bronya's expression instantly stiffened. Feeling guilty, she pulled the blanket over her head.
"I'm sorry, Papa... I mean, Elias. After you disappeared, we allowed Cocolia to perform the X-10 Experiment on us. My legs and head... were injured in an accident during that."
"..."
"As for Seele... she vanished into the Quantum Realm due to another experimental mishap. Project Bunny is what Seele left behind for me. I'm sorry..."
Bronya shut her eyes, prepared to be scolded.
After Elias left, she was supposed to protect everyone as the big sister of the House of the Hearth. Instead, she and her precious sister ended up hurt.
She believed she deserved whatever punishment was coming—just so long as that punishment didn't involve being separated from Elias again.
Elias' face turned dark with frustration.
"How did it come to this?"
He wasn't speaking to Bronya—but to the system.
He had deliberately changed their fates, yet somehow both Bronya and Seele still ended up walking the same paths as the original timeline.
Sensing Elias' rising fury, the system quickly responded:
[Please calm down, Host. This system is 100% certain that you successfully altered their destinies. Since then, fate's correction has not affected Bronya Zaychik or Seele Vollerei in any way.]
"Then explain to me why their outcomes are exactly the same as before!"
[It's quite simple, Host... this wasn't fate forcing them. They chose this path themselves. Even if the result seems similar, the one who made the decision—was them.]
Despite their rewritten fates, Bronya and Seele had not sought a quiet, safe future.
Instead, yearning to reunite with Elias, they voluntarily walked the same paths as before.
"Seele smiled when the experiment went wrong. She said... she could finally go to the same place as Elias—in the Quantum Realm. She was excited to search for you."
Bronya spoke softly.
Seele had, in a sense, willingly fallen into the Sea of Quanta. After all, when Elias disappeared, it had appeared as if he'd been swallowed by it.
"...That silly girl."
Elias didn't even know what to say.
He hadn't expected the loop to close like this. But with Dark Seele still present, he wasn't too worried about Seele's safety.
And with Kevin also in the Sea of Quanta, Elias believed that—as in the original story—Kevin would find the lost Seele and offer her some level of protection.
"Sigh... What about everyone else back home?"
"Everyone's doing fine. You might not believe it, but in the end, it was Sin Mal who chose to stay and protect the others."
Though she was the most extreme and twisted among them, even Sin Mal had come to see the girls of the House of the Hearth as her true family.
Plus, none of them were helpless children. With the money Elias had left behind, their quality of life was more than secure.
Hearing this, Elias finally relaxed.
"As long as they're okay... But honestly, I don't even know what to say to you two. Bronya, you and Seele are both getting a proper scolding later."
"Eh? Papa—Elias, what do you mean?"
"Don't worry. I'm going to bring Seele back from the Sea of Quanta. And now is the perfect chance to do it."
Elias spoke with quiet determination, his gaze fixed on the system's interface—on his quantum-based authority.
It was time to bring that butterfly lost in the sea... back home.
But first, he needed to make some preparations—
Like a full box of instant noodles.
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