As the smoke dispersed, an exquisite sea-blue cake appeared upon the wooden table that had been empty moments before.
Magician had originally intended to place it on Zeo's belly, but after Zeo's unreliability just now, Zeo had lost even the right to serve as furniture. Therefore, Magician had no choice but to produce a wooden table specifically for the occasion.
Although Magician's actions seemed somewhat inappropriate for the moment, they were not the product of a passing whim.
"Happy birthday, Seele."
The corners of Magician's mouth rose as she pulled a brilliant silk handkerchief from her black top hat.
She excitedly raised both hands. The silk fluttered through the air, spiraling toward the ceiling before exploding with a deafening bang! Multicolored ribbons descended from above as golden and silver motes scattered in every direction, circling around Seele.
This was not one of Magician's momentary whims. The children's birthdays had always been the most important days of the entire year to her.
Every birthday celebration was a grand spectacle that she painstakingly planned, using fantastical ideas and magic to crown the young ladies and celebrate their arrival in this world.
Only on this single day each year would she have young spectators whose hearts were filled with dreams.
And this day would usually bring beautiful memories and unforgettable surprises, meaning Magician's particular brand of surprises. Vill-V did not want them to believe that coming into this world meant nothing more than enduring suffering.
At the very least, even after experiencing so much injustice and hardship, Vill-V was still glad that she had come to this world of Honkai.
At the very least, genuine beauty still existed in this world. It was far better than those utterly hopeless worlds.
Vill-V touched her top hat. "It is a little shabby, and your only birthday present is a broken watch. I hope you do not mind, Seele."
Had this happened on an ordinary day, Vill-V would definitely have demanded the watch back after Seele snatched it away.
But since this was the "birthday present" Seele desired, Vill-V tacitly acknowledged Seele's right to possess the pocket watch.
...
The sight of the birthday celebration reminded Seele of the days when Vill-V had led a group of children around, performing to earn a living while treating the aftereffects of their experiments.
At the time, Seele only knew that Teacher Vill-V was working incredibly hard, so hard that she had developed multiple personalities.
Their bodies were covered in bruises, and some of their companions had even grown horns and tails. Simply appearing in public would have terrified people half to death.
Not only was it inconvenient for them to show themselves, they could not even enter a hospital. Vill-V had to run everywhere on their behalf, using her own immature shoulders to support their entire family alone.
Vill-V might appear successful and impressive now, but when she first arrived in this world, she had endured no shortage of hardship.
This was not the twenty-first century, where opportunities existed everywhere. It was a harsh future completely sealed off by countless forms of capital.
The underlying social structure of the Previous Era ensured that even geniuses would constantly run into walls and become tools consumed by internal competition.
Did anyone truly believe Dr. Mei had risen above everyone else simply because she was a genius?
That was completely wrong. First and foremost, she had a famous scholar for a father, which gave her the opportunity to appear at the opening ceremony of an academic conference on the Mu Continent. Only then did she gain the chance to enter MOTH through her connection with Dr. Mobius.
Only through connections could anyone obtain an opportunity to display their abilities.
And connections were precisely what Vill-V lacked most in this world.
Forget connections. After causing chaos in the Babylon Laboratory, Vill-V and the others were even being hunted in secret. Fortunately, under Conductor's supervision, Magician had failed to leave MOTH any Calling Cards of Crime.
(At least half the dangers Vill-V faced originated from the "surprises" arranged by Magician.)
With connections, a person could rise to wealth and prominence without possessing the slightest talent.
The Previous Era had many geniuses, but only a tiny handful ever had the chance to distinguish themselves.
Without connections, a person would end up like Dr. Tesla and Dr. Einstein. The moment they distanced themselves from the Edison family, they immediately suffered repeated suppression and exclusion until they were reduced to marginal figures.
Fairness and justice? Those were nothing more than psychological manipulation inflicted upon the people at the bottom of the pyramid.
Only by keeping the people at the bottom flat could the pyramid remain stable.
Oh, right. In this world, people did not even have many opportunities to simply lie flat and give up.
In this all-pervasive, highly developed age, the machinery of society possessed more than enough regulations, theories, and methods to bind a person to the train and turn them into a consumable component of the enormous machine.
Combined with laws concerning minors, Vill-V had very few ways to earn money through legitimate channels.
To escape the rules of this game, Vill-V needed enough capital to defy those rules.
But at the time, Vill-V had yet to accumulate anywhere near enough capital.
More importantly, Vill-V had an entire family in tow and needed to find medical equipment to provide the children with continuous treatment. The pressure upon her was utterly absurd.
As a group of experimental subjects, they possessed no identification documents. The moment they underwent facial recognition, MOTH would immediately use big data to locate Seele, Bronya, and the others.
When Seele ran away from home alone, she personally experienced the malice of this world.
Without Vill-V's protection and with no knowledge of how to conceal herself, Seele was immediately found by MOTH's people.
Fortunately, Seele knew how to hold Mr. Butterfly and make a wish. She never believed that the wishing function Vill-V had designed for Mr. Butterfly was as useless as Vill-V claimed.
Seele believed Teacher Vill-V was omnipotent.
This could not really be considered blind faith in Vill-V.
Although Mr. Butterfly's functions were not particularly impressive, Vill-V herself worked perfectly well as a wishing machine.
Vill-V had always imitated the way Otto treated Theresa. The moment Seele made a wish, Vill-V would prepare what she needed and send it to her.
Because of that, Seele never lacked clothing for any season, daily necessities, plane tickets, hotel accommodations, or anything else. Vill-V secretly prepared everything for her.
This time was no exception. Vill-V, who had been secretly watching over Seele, easily disposed of the villains surrounding her.
At the time, Seele believed that Mr. Butterfly was protecting her.
Only after Seele later stained Mr. Butterfly red did she notice its true function.
The Mr. Butterfly that had always helped her was Mother Vill-V. She had never truly run away from home because her home had been following her the entire time.
Seele did feel ashamed and moved, but she still had no intention of returning. She did not regret the decision she had made.
The moment she hesitated, she feared she would never be able to leave Teacher Vill-V. Her former self had been that cowardly, timid, and naive.
Vill-V had protected them extremely well, creating an Eden that no malice could penetrate, where every child had enough food and warm clothing. That was the only reason Seele had been able to remain innocent for three years.
It also allowed Seele to continue believing that the world would become beautiful and that Mother Vill-V would be the savior who made it happen.
Even though hating oneself was part of human nature, Seele had never hated her own innocence.
Seele truly, genuinely wanted to continue believing that forever.
Until the day she saw Mother Vill-V's chest pierced through by a gigantic spear.
At that moment, her fantasy shattered.