Lucien stood beside little Otto, looking up and down at this destined extraordinary child form of the Destiny Bishop.
A natural charm was written all over his brow; ten thousand kinds of sorrow in life were piled up at the corners of his eyes.
He was not tall, about 1.2 or 1.3 meters, with soft, delicate golden hair cascading down to his waist.
His twin light eyebrows were like hooks and paintings, and his pair of emerald eyes were as bright as the mid-autumn moon, and as translucent as flawless glazed glass by three parts.
We rarely use “pretty” to describe a male, but right now this word could be claimed by little Otto.
Yet little Otto’s attire contrasted sharply with his appearance: a purple robe and a pair of light brown short boots.
Feeling…
inferior to women’s clothing…
After carefully admiring little Otto’s appearance, Lucien frowned.
Why is a little boy wearing his hair loose?
No, that’s not the point.
The point is why Otto Apocalypse ended up in a wheelchair!?!
Oh boy, Otto turned into charles xavier, huh?
Don’t be too absurd!
[(Talent) Spacetime Turbulence: Your transmigration accidentally caused a spacetime turbulence, and the world has undergone a small change.
What on earth is it?]
Oh, so it was because of myself, then never mind.
Reasonable, very reasonable.
“…Um, sorry…” Little Otto looked at the slight redness on Lucien’s forehead and said timidly.
The airplane hit someone, and the person even tracked him down; if he didn’t apologize now, he might really get beaten up.
Little Otto guessed Lucien’s response and next action, closing his eyes reflexively when he saw him raise his hand.
However, the anticipated pain did not come; instead, it was very warm.
Opening his eyes, what kind of scene was this?
Amidst a brilliant light, the young man smiled faintly, squatting down to look at the child at eye level.
After returning the intact wooden airplane in his hand, he somewhat emotionally rubbed the other’s head of soft golden hair.
“It’s fine, and it really flew so high just now.
Seriously, you’re pretty amazing too.”
“Amazing…?”
“Yeah, in this era where humans struggle just to live on land, you cast your dreams far into the high heavens.
Isn’t that amazing enough?”
“Perhaps…
you will make the whole world full of light in the future.”
“Light…”
The breeze gently swayed, brushing past the strands of hair at the temples of the two, making it hard to distinguish the daylight.
[The young little Bishop cannot yet understand what the “light” you spoke of is, but he firmly remembered the scene before him and all the details within it.]
[Life is a gorgeous illusion; time is a thief that steals everything.]
[The future will eventually age the past.
Under the erosion of time, the old photo called “memories” will inevitably turn yellow and blur.]
[Perhaps, years later, that Immaculate Bishop standing before humanity with the posture of a saint to face the Honkai head-on will still recall this distant early morning when someone pulled him into the light.]
[He couldn’t remember the weather, nor every blade of grass and tree, but everything should have been bright and warm, just like that person’s indelible gentle smile.]
[Thinking about it, it must have been a fine day with pleasant weather and peaceful years.]
[And your praise for Otto Apocalypse contained no impurities.]
[Not stemming from exploitation, you still couldn’t bring yourself to exploit a child who was still young.
Everyone has a heart that cannot bear to inflict suffering; everything you have experienced, including the education you received, does not support you in making such a choice.]
[Perhaps when he grows a little older…
No, by that time, a guy like you who has spent eighteen years studying dead books wouldn’t have the ability to exploit the other party anyway.]
[Even so, you didn’t have the slightest thought of wavering.]
[It’s not that you have long taken death lightly; you are afraid of death, very afraid of death.]
[Thinking that you are only eighteen, having experienced nothing and tasted nothing, and yet about to die just like that, you are truly unwilling, to the point that even your curled-up fingertips tremble uncontrollably.]
[People, after all, always want to live.]
[And living, after all, requires having some bottom lines.]
[Besides, even if Otto Apocalypse developed a medicine to counter Honkai erosion, you couldn’t take it out, could you?]
[You need the medicine against Honkai erosion not for prevention, but because you are going to die soon.]
[The medicine cannot be taken out, and the prescription is useless either.]
[Trying to be saved by relying on influencing random simulation rewards is also a gamble.]
[So, this is fine just as it is.]
[You persuaded yourself thus.]
[You comforted yourself thus.]
[Perhaps because sincerity is exchanged for sincerity, you and Otto Apocalypse became friends.]
[(Talent) Beloved: You are truly very lovable.
Of course, please do not abuse this talent; for the consequences, see Makoto Itou.]
[Hmm…
The description “friends” is unilaterally thought by Otto Apocalypse; you are more inclined to think of yourself as the other’s elder.]
[To this, Otto Apocalypse naturally accepted it quite “filially.”]
[It’s clear that his parents aren’t really very good to him.]
[Come to think of it, in this martial era, having a slender physique, being sickly and physically disabled, and the identity of the Bishop’s son only infinitely magnified these shortcomings.]
[It was the whole world that wasn’t very good to him.]
[His parents’ indifference, the contempt of his siblings, her own chronic illnesses, the total denial of her talent, seeking approval only to be denied, confusion about her own existence—all these piled together were the unbearable weight of this world.]
[ This is probably why she modified the airplane model over and over again, driving him to fly over the high walls.
]
[ Perhaps, what flew over the high walls wasn’t the airplane model, but rather himself, who could neither stand nor fly.
]
[ In the end, Otto still failed; the airplane model flew past the high walls, yet he failed to get the answer he wanted.
]
[ And right at that moment, you appeared, making the heaven and earth seem light by comparison.
]
[…
]
[ After spending days together, Otto also discovered your miraculous nature, and you didn’t hide much from him either, simply explaining things after omitting the information that couldn’t be explained.
]
[ Hiss— You said you were his imaginary friend, with the reason being that everyone else in the Apocalypse Family couldn’t see you.
]
[ He acutely pointed out that it was because you didn’t want those insignificant people to see you.
]
[ Hearing this, you only chuckled and patted his head, ultimately not explaining your specific identity.
]
[ You still had to maintain a sense of mystery, didn’t you?
]
[ A few days later, you dragged Otto into the library of the Void Archives, where all the knowledge left behind by the Previous Era was stored.
]
[ You originally thought Otto would plunge into the ocean of knowledge with immense joy, but the truth was that compared to knowledge, he was more interested in you.
]
[ You convinced yourself that this silly boy had never been treated well and couldn’t tell priorities apart for a moment, and that it would get better after some time.
]
[ However, it didn’t get better even after some time…
]
Evening.
A pleasant breeze blew, intoxicatingly sweet, while dandelions drifted in the air, rising and falling with a melodious tune coming from who knows where.
A few floating clouds hid their shyness, the setting sun lightly dyed the warm evening glow, and the light from the sky slanted down through the window, landing on little Otto’s small face.
He was sitting at the desk, casually reading a large book to pass the time while waiting for a certain mysterious someone to return.
Before long, Lucien walked through the wall and returned.
He was holding a luxurious yet understated platinum garment, looking at Otto with a smile.