Herrscher of Dominance in Honkai, starting with the abduction of Kiana

The kitchen in the old-style house was very narrow, only able to accommodate one or two people. Once Ren and Kiana squeezed in, they filled up the entire space completely.

"Actually, you can leave this to me alone, you can go spend more time with your teacher." Looking at the girl standing beside him in a frilly white apron, Ren was a bit speechless.

He had heard countless times about the Kaslana family's cooking skills, and he always felt that letting Kiana into the kitchen would be a dangerous thing.

"No way, Aunt Himeko clearly promised me she'd control her drinking, but she drank so much today and even let you see her make a fool of herself. Let her stay by herself." Clearly, Kiana hadn't understood Ren's subtle implication.

Not only did she not intend to leave the kitchen, but she also took the washed vegetables from Ren's hand.

"Leave things like chopping vegetables to me. Although everyone says my cooking skills are a bit lacking, I can still manage if it's just helping out." She took a kitchen knife from the knife rack, seemingly ready to show Ren her skills.

"Alright then." Unable to dissuade the girl who was determined to help, Ren had no choice but to hand over the easier-to-handle vegetables to her. After all, she was a Herrscher, so cutting her hand shouldn't be a problem.

Kiana's vegetable-chopping technique was very amateurish, and the vegetables she chopped were in uneven sizes. However, she was very serious with each cut.

The afterglow of the sunset shone through the small kitchen window, landing on the girl's profile, dyeing her white hair with a faint golden hue. Watching Kiana's focused expression, Ren standing beside her was momentarily lost in thought, unknowingly immersed in this warm-toned moment.

"How is it?" The girl's voice startled Ren awake. He looked at the cutting board, where a pile of oddly shaped carrot chunks were neatly laid out.

To be able to cut simple carrots like this, could she truly be called a culinary genius?

"Not bad, perfect for making carrot and pork rib soup." Ren didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm and smiled as he decided on today's menu. He placed the rest of the ingredients that needed to be prepped in front of her, indicating that she could try them all.

"Really? I thought I cut them terribly." Receiving praise, Kiana's spirits were high. Looking at the pile of vegetables, she was eager to try. She said with some emotion, "When I was at school before, no one would let me into the kitchen. This is the first time I've cooked so seriously."

"If you want to learn, I can teach you."

"Okay! How about you teach me how to cut vegetables neatly first?" Kiana's eyes lit up, and she looked at Ren with bright, eager eyes.

"…Okay." For some reason, Ren felt like he was being subtly tricked.

However, he didn't think too much about it. Chopping vegetables wasn't some profound skill. Even for Kiana, she should be able to master it easily with a few lessons.

He first demonstrated the proper vegetable-chopping technique to Kiana, and then personally demonstrated it a few more times. However, no matter how he taught her, she always managed to cut the vegetables into all sorts of bizarre shapes.

Helpless, he finally believed that culinary ineptitude truly existed in the world, and he had to teach her step-by-step, hand-in-hand.

"When chopping vegetables, remember to slightly curve the fingers of your left hand, hold the knife in your right hand, aim at the vegetable, and slide diagonally, then move your holding fingers back little by little, and you can cut the vegetables into even shapes."

Ren's teaching was very patient. He was slightly taller than Kiana, just enough to rest his head on her shoulder.

Ensuring his view wasn't obstructed, he held Kiana's hands, gently curving her fair left-hand fingers and, with his right hand following the standard vegetable-chopping technique, slowly cut the potato into slices.

The girl's hands were cool and soft. Despite being able to kill Honkai beasts with her bare hands as a Herrscher, they felt particularly soft when held by Ren. When Ren was teaching, he didn't feel any resistance at all, as if she had handed over all control to him.

Such a student was easy to teach. Ren quickly demonstrated all the basic techniques, but he didn't notice that the girl's earlobes were getting hotter and hotter due to his breath, and a faint blush had appeared on her cheeks.

"How is it? Did you learn it?"

"Huh?" Kiana was clearly a bit [absent-minded], and hadn't even noticed that the ingredient prep was finished.

It was more like the evening glow, dyed red by the sunset, had unknowingly flown onto the girl's cheeks, looking particularly rosy.

"Chopping vegetables, did you learn it?"

"…Mm."

Kiana's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum. She focused her gaze on the vegetables on the cutting board, not daring to look up at Ren.

After confirming that Kiana had learned it, Ren finally stepped back from teaching mode. He released the girl's hands, his nose still filled with the faint fragrance of her hair.

As the warmth in his arms disappeared, Ren felt inexplicably lost. He hadn't noticed it when he was teaching seriously just now, but now he realized that his heartbeat was actually beating so fast.

For a moment, both of them fell silent. The narrow kitchen suddenly became extraordinarily quiet, so quiet that even their heartbeats could be clearly heard.

Just before the atmosphere became increasingly strange, Ren took the initiative to break the awkwardness. He tried his best to suppress the feeling of his heart racing and shifted the topic back to cooking.

"Well, it's getting late, and the ingredients are prepped." He pretended not to notice Kiana's strange expression and said casually, "You must be starving, I'll start cooking right away, just wait a bit."

"Y-yeah, right, Ms. Himeko and Ms. Eden only drank alcohol at noon, they're probably starving now." With Ren providing a topic to latch onto, Kiana breathed a sigh of relief, her movements noticeably more natural.

However, the ripples in her lake-like blue eyes still lingered, unable to calm down for a long time.

That feeling just now… so strange… and my heart was beating so fast.

Kiana didn't understand the origin of this feeling. Her choice to have Ren teach her was just a momentary thought, and she hadn't considered that such a situation would arise.

In past battles, they had also had a lot of physical contact, but it was more about the warmth they brought each other. But this time, it was clearly just a peaceful everyday moment, yet it made her heart race.

"Is it because of the Herrscher of Flames' power?" The girl could only guess this way.

Ren didn't hear her muttering to herself. He lit the stove, ready to start cooking. "Leave the rest to me, you can go rest for a bit."

"No."

"I can handle it alone."

"I want to stay here."

The kitchen space wasn't big, making the distance between them very close. She didn't want to leave just like that.

…

Dinner was finally completed smoothly. Although the presentation was a bit lacking due to her knife skills, as long as Ren wasn't allowed to complain, Himeko and Eden could only praise how well it was cut.

To accommodate Kiana's appetite, Ren had prepared enough food for seven or eight people, and as expected, it all ended up in the girl's stomach.

"Need more?" Ren glanced at the girl's stomach, which only had a slight bulge. This kind of appetite was probably beyond what ordinary people could afford to feed.

"N-no, I'm good." Looking at the stack of plates piled up in front of her, Kiana unconsciously shifted her gaze. Ren's cooking was really delicious, and she had accidentally eaten a bit too much. Hopefully, I didn't scare him… probably not.

"Kiana, I remember you eating more than this at St. Freya, didn't you?" Himeko, holding a bottle of wine, asked in confusion.

"Hi-me-ko… Au-ntie."

Feeling the chill coming from the girl, Himeko decisively surrendered, chuckled, and changed the subject. "Ren, are you going to drink? As a boy, not being able to drink is no good."

She shook the wine bottle in her hand, just a bottle of light sake.

Before Ren could answer, Kiana ruthlessly retorted, "It's clearly Ms. Himeko yourself who wants to drink. Ren is still a minor, he can't drink."

Actually, I can.

Ren wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and not get involved.

"Eh? Really? Ren isn't even 18 yet?" Himeko's surprise wasn't feigned. She really hadn't expected this meticulous teenager to still be a minor.

"He's even younger than you, Kiana, but it's okay, boys will be boys, drinking is normal." Himeko wanted to say something more, but Kiana's expression became increasingly unfriendly, and she had no choice but to give up.

"Okay, okay, that's it for today. You two must be tired from coming back so far, leave the cleaning and dishwashing to Eden and me. You two can chat and relax." Casually placing the wine bottle on the coffee table, Himeko got up and carried the stack of plates in front of Kiana into the kitchen.

Eden smiled at the two of them and tidied up the food scraps, taking them out to the trash bin outside the alley.

Soon, only Ren and Kiana were left in the room.

The dinner ended close to midnight. The moon outside the window had long since quietly climbed halfway into the sky, casting its bright moonlight onto the ground.

The June weather was already a bit hot and dry, only the midnight breeze brought a bit of coolness.

"Want to go get some fresh air?" Looking at the full moon in the sky, Kiana suggested.

"Sure."