Chapter 272: World-Breaking Rift

Cecilia’s quiet smile lasted only a moment before she realized something was wrong.

Nadia had stopped patting Fauna’s head and she was now staring straight at her. That cold, unreadable face had turned toward her like a machine locking onto a target.

The shift in atmosphere was immediate. The air seemed to drop a few degrees colder.

Then Nadia began to walk forward—slowly, silently. Each step made the snow crunch in the stillness of the valley.

Cecilia blinked, confused at first—then worried.

When Nadia stopped right in front of her, the towering woman looked down with that icy, emotionless gaze and spoke in a flat, interrogative tone.

"Do you find it amusing?"

"E-Excuse me?" Cecilia froze.

"Do you find it amusing..." Nadia repeated, her voice calm but piercing. "...that Fauna behaves this way? Do you find her act...funny? Do you laugh at her devotion?"

"I—I—no! No, not at all!" Cecilia stammered, taking a step back.

But Nadia stepped closer, lowering her face to meet hers.

"Then why..." She said slowly. "...are you smiling like that?"

"I-It’s not like that! I wasn’t laughing at her!"

"Are you sure?"

Nadia pressed on, her tone perfectly neutral but somehow sharper than glass.

"Because your expression implied amusement. Amusement implies mockery. And mockery implies disrespect."

"N-No! I swear! I didn’t mean it that way, Lady Nadia!" Cecilia’s hands flew up defensively.

Her face was pale, her voice trembling. But Nadia only tilted her head slightly, as if still analyzing her answer.

Cecilia could feel her knees shaking. ’Oh god, she’s going to kill me, she thought. She’s actually going to vaporize me for smiling!’

Then—

"All right, all right!" Mika’s voice cut in, filled with exasperated amusement. "That’s enough, Nadia. Stop joking around already."

Cecilia blinked. "J-Joking?"

Mika sighed, walking up beside Nadia and giving her a gentle tap on the shoulder.

"Yeah, don’t mind her. Nadia loves to joke around with people. Pranks, fake intimidation—she does this all the time. It’s how she breaks the ice. You wouldn’t believe how many rookies she’s scared like this just for fun"

Cecilia blinked several times, completely baffled before saying,

"Breaks the ice? She nearly broke my soul!"

"Yeah, she has a...unique sense of humor." Mika chuckled.

Cecilia looked at Nadia again, trying to see which part of her was joking.

There was no change in Nadia’s expression. Her face remained completely stoic.

But then—barely noticeable—her lips twitched slightly.

Once. Twice. Just a subtle twitch, almost imperceptible.

To anyone else, it might have looked like she was trying to sneeze.

But Mika smiled knowingly.

"See? That’s her laugh."

Cecilia looked between them, completely baffled.

"THAT was laughter?"

To her, Nadia still looked utterly blank, her expression carved from ice. But here Mika was telling that she was laughing and she didn’t know what to believe.

And yet, after a few seconds of silence, Nadia spoke again, this time in a quieter, unexpectedly somber tone.

"I see..." She said softly. "It seems you didn’t recognize it either."

"R-Recognize...what?"

"My humor." Nadia replied, her gaze lowering slightly. "No one ever does. I try to interact...to lighten the mood...but no one laughs. No one understands."

Her tone hadn’t changed, but there was something fragile beneath the monotone, an almost childlike disappointment.

"I’ve studied humor. I’ve practiced different delivery tones. I even tried smiling once." She continued, almost to herself. "It made a baby cry."

Cecilia stood there, stunned beyond words.

Meanwhile, Mika sighed dramatically and gave Nadia a comforting pat on the back.

"There, there." He said. "Your jokes are great. You’re just...ten years ahead of your time."

She looked up at him, and though her expression remained the same, her nose twitched faintly again—a tiny signal of gratitude.

"I see." Nadia whispered. "A pioneer of comedy. Unrecognized...yet again."

Cecilia, watching the exchange, could only stare in silent astonishment.

’How...How does he understand her so easily?’ She thought.

To her, Nadia was cold, confusing, unpredictable.

But Mika seemed to read her like an open book.

Every twitch, every flicker of emotion, every faint flare of her nostrils, he knew what they meant before anyone else could even guess.

And in that moment she understood: this was not just a ordinary relationship between two extraordinary beings. It was understanding on a level that words could never reach.

But then, something struck Cecilia.

A small realization, like a spark in the middle of her confusion.

"Wait." She said suddenly, blinking up at Nadia. "You...You called me Cecilia."

Nadia paused, her eyes turning toward her.

"You just called me Cecilia a moment ago. But...how do you know my name? I don’t remember introducing myself to you, Lady Nadia."

Her tone was polite but genuinely puzzled.

"I mean, it makes sense that I’d know you, of course." She said with an awkward chuckle. "But the other way around? That doesn’t make sense at all."

To that, Nadia simply replied in her even, matter-of-fact voice.

"It’s only natural that I would know about you."

Cecilia blinked. "H-Huh?"

Nadia continued. "With your achievements, after all."

Cecilia stood speechless as Nadia began listing them, one by one:

"You graduated from the Central Medical Academy four years early. You were part of the research division that developed the nanocell regeneration compound. You’ve been published in the Journal of Advanced Healing Systems. And last quarter, you pioneered a recovery protocol for nerve damage that’s now standard for three major hospitals."

The doctor’s cheeks flushed a deep red.

"Y-You...know about that?" She stammered.

"Of course." Nadia replied. "You are considered one of the most promising young medics of your generation. A talent who will be vital to humanity’s future. It’s only natural that I would have my eye on you."

Cecilia flushed bright pink, caught somewhere between pride and disbelief. She straightened up on instinct, her shoulders squared until she stood as tall as her frame allowed.

"Besides..." Nadia’s gaze drifted sideways to where Fauna was sitting on the snow, completely lost to the world, devouring chocolate-covered cookies like a starving raccoon. "Even if I hadn’t known you through your achievements, Fauna over there has mentioned you to me several times."

"She...she did?" Cecilia’s eyes widened.

Nadia nodded again.

"Yes. She often says she has a very talented disciple she’s proud of. That you’re going to reach very high places."

"During briefings, she always speaks of you with genuine enthusiasm to the extent that it even tires me...and let me just say it’s really hard to bore someone like me who has meetings every hour of my life."

Fauna, hearing her name mid-bite, looked up from her cookies, crumbs on her cheeks, and gave an innocent wave.

"It’s true! I told her you’re the best!"

Cecilia’s face flushed even redder. "I-I see..."

"She holds a great deal of hope for you." Nadia continued. "And now that I’ve met you in person, I can understand why."

Cecilia straightened even further, her chest puffed with pride. Recognition from one battle angel was already beyond her wildest dreams.

But two?...She felt like she could float right there and then.

"T-Thank you." She stammered, trying her best to sound composed. "I’ll make sure to...live up to your expectations. I won’t disappoint you."

"Good." Nadia gave a single nod. "Humanity needs more people like you."

Then she turned toward Mika, her expression shifting back to her usual calm seriousness.

"Now then...Mika. Why are you here?"

"Hm?" Mika looked up, caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

"It makes sense for Fauna to respond to a disaster. But you...why are you in this region?"

"Oh, that." Mika scratched his head. "I was supposed to get some tests done today. Routine checkup. But then this happened, and Fauna pulled me along."

Immediately, Nadia’s expression darkened with concern. She stepped closer until she was just inches away from him, her gaze scanning his face for any sign of injury.

"Are you all right? Did something happen? Why did you need tests? Was something wrong?"

Mika chuckled softly.

"I’m fine. Really. It’s just standard stuff, nothing serious. No need to worry."

Nadia stared at him for a few moments longer, then slowly nodded. "If you say so."

She didn’t necessarily believe the words. But she trusted his judgement. And if Mika said it was fine—then she would let it be.

"Thanks for worrying though." He smiled faintly.

Then, with a playful smirk, he asked, "But what about you? What’s your reason for being here? Don’t tell me you were planning a secret vacation."

Nadia actually paused before saying"...I actually was."

"Wait, really?" Mika tilted his head, not expecting such a piece of news.

She nodded before saying, "Since you had finally come back to the family I was planning a trip with all of us. I wanted to gather everyone and have some family bonding time like we did in the past. And this..." She said while looking around at the place where the resort once was. "...this place was one of the locations I considered."

Mika gave her a look somewhere between impressed and amused before saying,

"That’s a good plan and all...but tell me, Nadia, before planning a family trip, are you ready to invite everyone? Or do you think that even if you invited everyone, they would come?

"Or rather, what I’m trying to ask is..." He said with some hesitation. "...do you think your own daughter would come if you were to call her?"

At that, her expression softened—just barely—but her gaze fell away. And for the first time, there was a visible flicker of genuine melancholy on her face.

"If I invited her..." Nadia said quietly. "...she wouldn’t come. She wouldn’t come no matter what I say."

Hearing her timid voice, Mika felt a pity for her knowing that her relationship with her daughter was...quite rough.

But then she looked back at him, a faint, wistful light in her eyes.

"But if you said the word...she’d be by your side in seconds."

Mika fell silent.

"She listens to you." Nadia continued. "Always has. Not to mention, that if I say that you’re coming along, not a single one of them would refuse."

"Even the elusive ones—the ones who prefer to stay hidden would show up for your sake."

Mika gave a quiet nod, fully understanding who she meant.

But Nadia’s tone then shifted again as she turned to look at the mountain, specifically at the flickering portal still hovering there like a gaping wound in the sky.

"But that’s not why I came." Her voice hardened as her gaze focused and went on to say, "If it was a simple portal I wouldn’t have bothered to come her directly and let the incoming forces deal with it. But the detection center reported that this is no ordinary portal. Rather..."

"...it’s a World-Breaking Rift, where I have no choice but to intervene."