Cherreads

Chapter 150 - Kiana—Mei, I'm sorry!

"The grand prize has been drawn! Let's congratulate the lucky Kiana Kaslana for winning our store's mysterious grand prize!"

In front of a newly opened hotpot restaurant on the shopping street, colorful streamers flew and congratulatory firecrackers went off as the host excitedly clapped for the white-haired girl.

The onlookers were also in awe and envy, watching as Kiana drew the mysterious grand prize with a 0.01% chance, thinking that this girl was probably some kind of lucky charm.

"With Kiana's luck, I'm not surprised at all."

Elias leaned against the side, expressionless, playing on his phone.

When they discovered that there was a lottery event happening at the shop, Kiana eagerly volunteered to participate, and Elias guessed that she must have seen something in the prize pool that caught her eye.

The moment Kiana decided to take part in the lottery, Elias was certain she would win the first prize, and the grand prize didn't even seem that special. The first European King of St. Freya, you think she's joking?

Elias and Bronya's game gacha pulls were all thanks to Kiana's help.

Getting ten golds in a ten-pull was just standard, getting a ten-pull with full upgrades was considered lucky—this was far more useful than any luck-enhancing BGM.

If it wasn't for the fact that they couldn't have someone else help pull in the system's interface, Elias would have definitely had Kiana assist him.

However, even though Kiana had won the grand prize, she looked strangely disappointed.

"Hmm? That expression, didn't get the prize you wanted? Oh, looks like you weren't aiming for the grand prize after all."

Having too much luck wasn't always a good thing.

Since this European King always pulled gold, the probability of pulling purples was surprisingly low. Because she was so lucky, she kept pulling the best rewards, leaving her unable to get some of the lesser prizes.

"Damn! I'm still so jealous!"

Elias said, a dark expression on his face as he glanced at his 180 pulls, which only gave him a long spear and a red-haired knight character. The difference between people was truly vast.

"I'm back. Ah~ didn't win anything."

Kiana returned to Elias' side, disappointed.

"...You don't know how many people are probably breaking down after seeing you never lose a lottery."

"But it's just not the prize I wanted! So, what's the grand prize anyway?"

Kiana complained as she shook the envelope in her hand, casually opening it. Inside was a black VIP card, along with a set of instructions.

[This cardholder is entitled to free meals at this restaurant. Note: Only the cardholder is allowed to use this card. It cannot be transferred or shared with others.]

"The owner of this restaurant can start preparing for bankruptcy."

Elias shook his head sympathetically.

He thought, Of all people to draw this, why did Kiana get this VIP card? And with the condition that it can't be transferred or shared with others? Was the restaurant owner really trying to bind a food monster to their establishment?

Elias would bet that this hotpot restaurant wouldn't last a month. If Kiana had her way and ate three meals a day there, the owner would be packing up and leaving in a week.

Hotpot restaurant owner: "Hehehe! I'm a genius. Only fools would give away luxury travel packages or expensive things as grand prizes. This move is not only cost-effective, but it guarantees a steady customer. Hotpot isn't something you eat alone, and though she gets the free meal, her family and friends can't. Sure, I'm making money, but I'm never losing!"

Elias: (Heh, I just... Heh.)

What surprised him, though, was that Kiana looked at the VIP card, gulped, and seemed torn. After some hesitation, she clenched her teeth and placed the card back into the envelope.

Instead of leaving, she decided to continue waiting.

Finally, when a child drew the fourth prize, Kiana immediately stood up, holding the envelope, and approached the child.

"Hey, little one."

"Hmm? Aren't you the lady who won the mysterious grand prize? You're so lucky. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to trade prizes with you, please? This prize I got is really nice, please, little one."

Kiana said as she handed the envelope containing the black VIP card to the little girl, her eyes staring hungrily at the fourth prize box in the child's hand.

The little girl was surprised by her request.

"Of course, the grand prize is better than the fourth prize, but why do you want to trade for a worse prize, big sister?"

"Um, it's because..."

Kiana tightened her grip on the envelope, her gaze shifting to the white-haired boy waiting for her in the distance. Her red face was a clearer reason than any words could express.

The little girl followed her gaze toward Elias, and the next second, her eyes lit up, as though stars were twinkling inside.

"Oh~ I get it now! You want to give it to that big brother over there, right? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yes, no! I mean, Elias isn't my boyfriend."

Kiana quickly shook her head and waved her hands.

"Not? Then you'd better hurry up! He's so handsome. If you don't act fast, other girls are going to snatch him up! You can have this prize. I'm not interested in it anyway."

Kiana couldn't help but feel that this little girl, who was shorter than her legs, was more emotionally intelligent than she was. She blankly accepted the fourth prize box and exchanged it for the envelope.

"Thank you, little one."

"Hehe, no problem! I hope one day I can grow up to be as beautiful as you, and then find a handsome boyfriend like that big brother!"

"I told you, Elias is not..."

"Since he's not, you better take the initiative! Big sister, you can do it!"

"Eh? Don't push me!"

The little girl, with a gleam in her eyes, pushed Kiana toward Elias.

Kiana, completely dumbfounded, thought, Are kids really this mature and smart nowadays? I was still running around with my old man, fighting the Honkai Beasts at that age...

Then she looked down at the fourth prize box in her hands. Although the VIP card was very tempting, she didn't regret exchanging it for what was inside, because...

(Elias is definitely going to like this!)

...

A few seconds later.

"Looks like you managed to trade it, but what could possibly make you give up the free meal card, Kiana? What did you get instead?"

Elias curiously stared at the gift box Kiana was holding. He really couldn't guess what kind of prize could make Kiana give up the temptation of a free meal.

But the next second, Kiana handed the gift box to him.

"This is for you, Elias."

"...What?"

"I said, this is a gift for you."

"..."

Elias stood there, stunned, looking at the gift box in front of him.

He didn't expect Kiana to give up the VIP card for his sake, nor did he expect her to suddenly give him a gift.

His heartbeat quickened as he took the gift box carefully.

He unwrapped it.

"This is... headphones?"

Inside the box was a pair of new wireless over-ear headphones, worth around four digits, supporting Bluetooth, with 100GB of storage, excellent battery life, sound quality, and noise-cancelling abilities.

However, the VIP card, which offered free meals, was clearly far more valuable than these headphones.

"Elias, your old headphones were already given to Mei, and you love listening to music so much. I thought you'd definitely like these new headphones!"

"Thanks, Kiana, I do like them, but why did you suddenly decide to give me a gift?"

"Of course, it's because I like... cough cough, I just wanted to give it to you. My pocket money wasn't enough, but I didn't expect the prize pool at this hotpot shop would have it. Hehe, my luck is still as good as ever."

Saying this, Kiana put the headphones around his neck, then took a few steps back to look him up and down, nodding in satisfaction. The white headphones matched perfectly with Elias.

Not only could he listen to music, but it also made Elias' style level up by +10. She was very satisfied with the gift she chose.

Elias reached up and touched the headphones around his neck.

To be honest, this wasn't very useful to him.

If he wanted to listen to music, he could construct the best music player anytime.

Even Project Bunny had been modified to act as a sound system; it could even DJ itself.

But...

"Thank you, Kiana, I will treasure them well."

"Mm, but it's still too early to thank me. These headphones are just a snack. The real gift I prepared for you is this! Ta-da!"

Kiana mysteriously pulled something out of her pocket, then held up a silver cross with force.

At this moment, the sunset had arrived, and the golden-red afterglow reflected warm, sacred light on the cross in the girl's hands.

"A cross? You want to give me this?"

"Yes, after all, my pocket money wasn't enough, and I thought the headphones were out of reach, so I bought something else instead. This is the gift I've been hesitating over for days, Elias, if you don't want it..."

Kiana nervously looked away.

This was entirely because she thought the cross was pretty and decided to buy it impulsively. She spent all her pocket money on it, so it was impossible to buy something else. Kiana had been unsure whether to give it, fearing Elias might not like it.

If he didn't like it, she'd probably feel hurt for days, maybe a week, without appetite.

Fortunately, she had the headphones she knew Elias would like, and since she'd been carrying the cross all this time, Kiana decided to give both.

"I'll take it, of course!"

Elias didn't hesitate at all to accept it.

Looking at the silver gleaming cross pendant in his hands, his mood was indescribably joyful, and he couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his face as he wore it around his neck, his fingers continuously playing with it.

Kiana, seeing how much he liked it, breathed a sigh of relief.

"It looks so cool! As expected of my choice. Also, Elias, I have to tell you a secret. I've put something super powerful inside this cross."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Hehe~ It's my luck!"

Kiana placed her hands on her hips and proudly declared.

"After all, if I have something that you don't, it's definitely my world-class luck. Now, I'm sharing half of my luck with you through this cross!"

"From now on, whenever you do a ten-pull in a game and get gold, or even get a free drink when buying soda, that means my luck is working! What do you think?"

Kiana looked at Elias with hopeful eyes, this was an idea she had put a lot of thought into.

For this boy who had always helped her and spoiled her, she wanted to do something to show her gratitude.

But Kiana knew she didn't have anything precious, and Elias' powers were so great, with the ability to create anything with his rights. He didn't really need anything.

After thinking for a while, Kiana thought of her incredible luck, something she really wanted to share with Elias.

"I see, this cross must be your lucky charm," Elias chuckled softly. "Heh, it's really very Kiana, isn't it? I've truly received an incredible gift today, thank you so much."

Saying this, Elias applied all his defense abilities on the cross pendant—Imaginary Barrier, Ideal Fluid Shield, Electromagnetic Shield, everything he could use, he applied. At this moment, the pendant would definitely be considered a mythical-grade item in any game, an indestructible supreme artifact.

Elias gently stroked this gift.

At this moment, he even felt that this pendant was more precious than all the Herrscher Cores he possessed, because it was a pendant given to him by Kiana, the girl he deeply cared for.

"I'm so happy you like it."

Seeing the way Elias cherished the pendant, Kiana felt even happier. Compared to all the things Elias had done for her up till now, this was just a small return gift.

But it contained her most sincere blessing and well wishes, and just watching Elias wear the cross she gave him filled her heart with a deep sense of fulfillment.

"Elias, can you promise me one thing?"

Without thinking, Kiana blurted out the words.

"Can you promise to always wear this cross? No matter if you're sleeping, showering, or fighting, never take it off."

"Uh, why?"

Elias tilted his head in confusion.

He had just thought about putting the cross into a super invincible safe when they got home, hiding it in a place that no Herrscher could ever touch, even if the Herrscher of Finality destroyed everything.

"Because I want to see you wear it all the time."

Kiana gave a simple reason.

"I can't... I'm afraid it might get broken."

"It won't! I specially bought one of very high quality, so please wear it all the time, okay?"

"But I..."

"If you're willing to wear it all the time, I'll keep my hair like this and never tie it into braids again. How about that? This way, it's only fair."

"You keep the look I like, and I'll keep the look you like. There's no fairer deal than this in the world."

Elias looked at the girl before him. Her white hair, shining like moonlight, flowed freely, making her seem like a moon goddess.

Her beauty had surpassed the braided look by far. If Kiana could always wear her hair like this...

"Deal!"

Elias gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Yay!"

Kiana immediately cheered, then lovingly touched her hair that had accomplished a great feat. She thought to herself that she would have to take good care of her hair from now on since Elias seemed to really like it.

Watching the excited Kiana, Elias thought to himself that this little Kiana wouldn't be so arrogant in front of her caretaker.

"But I never expected you to give me a cross, Kiana. Do you know what it means?"

"Huh? What's wrong with giving a cross?"

Kiana was confused. She just thought the cross was pretty and decided to buy it. She didn't think too much about the meaning.

Elias thought to himself, As expected, she doesn't know.

"Humans always like to assign extra meanings to various things, like the language of flowers, the meaning behind names, or even a simple action can be interpreted in many ways. But... when a girl gives a boy a cross, as far as I know, it only means one thing."

"What does it mean...?"

Kiana suddenly became nervous, realizing that she might have overlooked something in her haste.

Elias flashed a mischievous smile and leaned in close to Kiana's ear.

"It represents everlasting love."

"Eh?!"

"Haha~ I never expected to get a confession from Kiana today. How should I respond next?"

"Wait, wait, Elias! I didn't mean it like that! How about... how about you give me a chance to re-gift it?"

Kiana blushed furiously, hurriedly reaching for the cross hanging from Elias' neck. But Elias easily dodged and held onto the pendant tightly.

"Give it back? Don't even think about it."

"Waaah, Mei, I'm sorry!"

Kiana looked in the direction of St. Freya Academy, almost crying, but there was more excitement in her heart than regret.

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