At night, Otto sat before his desk, supporting his cheek with one hand while haphazardly scribbling on paper with a pen in the other.
“I want to be friends with you because you are Otto.”
Recalling little Kallen’s warm words—which, though different in form, unexpectedly coincided with what someone had said—a casual smile crept up the corner of his mouth.
Although he already regarded her as a friend, he didn’t rush to accept little Kallen’s request to be friends, only agreeing to meet again at the same place tomorrow.
“Um, I want to make friends with Kallen.” Saying that, little Otto glanced sideways at the person beside him.
Hearing this, the young man resting his face in his hand and watching the child blinked, not answering, and only flashed a wicked smile.
(≖⩊≖)
He was practically smiling like a comical meme; besides wicked, there probably wasn’t any other word to describe it.
This meaningful smile completely broke little Otto’s composure, a blush flushing across his face:
“…What is that expression of yours?
I always feel like you’re thinking of bad things…”
“I’m thinking of my…
little inventor?” Lucien’s expression didn’t change as he teased thus.
(TL: Ayoooooooooooo)
There was no response to these words, or perhaps the blush was already the best response.
[You do not know what expression you wear right now, nor can you see through your current state of mind.]
[Are you stirred?
Are you excited?]
[Is it wild fantasy, or simply…
gratification?]
[Various emotions intertwined together, resembling a spilled bottle of exquisite spices in the heart, converging into beauty.]
[You smiled, not at anything else, but simply at the foolishness of Honkai and the lack of wit in this world!]
[To think it still allowed Otto to meet and fall in love with Kallen.]
[That’s right, you believe Otto has already fallen for Kallen.]
[After all, Kallen’s posture of vaulting over the wall and shining alongside the warm sun, coupled with what she said later, carried far too much gold content.]
[Even you, standing as an outsider, was stunned for a full three seconds.]
[How could a still-young Otto possibly withstand that?]
[Besides, how could Otto possibly not like Kallen?]
[If he doesn’t like Kallen, who else would he like?]
[Suffice it to say, those who know, know.
No one understands Otto better than you do.]
[Just like that, with your approval and support, Otto and Kallen officially became friends the next day.]
[Although you didn’t know why he did this, he probably had some deep meaning behind it.]
[Thus you didn’t resist either, shifting from bringing only Otto along to bringing both Otto and Kallen.]
[However, there was ultimately a difference between one’s own child and someone else’s child; you were never very attentive to Kallen.]
[Kallen didn’t care about this behavior at all.]
[No, rather, one could only say that aside from giggling and laughing all day, she dreamed of saving the world and filling her stomach before doing so.]
[To make her spare any brainpower to care about anything else would cause her little head to break down first.]
[As for Otto, he made a completely new interpretation of your indifferent behavior toward Kallen.]
[After probing multiple times both openly and covertly, he concluded that you had zero interest in little girls, and felt incomparably grateful for his choice to disguise himself as a boy.]
[…]
[Time quietly rocked by, and several months passed in the blink of an eye.]
Kaslana Family residence, the millennium ancient tree.
The night was clear as water, and Lucien leaned back against the thick branch of the giant tree, gazing into the night sky that gently enveloped the world.
Beneath the tree, little Otto and little Kallen sat side by side, wondering what they were researching.
Being alone for once, he took the opportunity to enjoy the night scenery.
Being in such a magnificent view, “beauty” blossomed in his eyes at every moment and tried to assimilate him.
Unfortunately, the deep alienation lingering around him isolated everything outside.
Lucien had never displayed vulnerability or helplessness in front of little Otto.
Because he was the elder, he had to make little Otto feel reliable.
Yet at a time like this, there was no need to force himself to hold on, right?
Lucien looked at the night sky, looking at something even more distant than the night sky, light and shadow interweaving in his eyes.
“Heave-ho.”
Right at that moment, a petite figure climbed up the tree and immediately sat down next to his arm.
With the iconic white hair and blue eyes, who else could it be but Kallen?
“Little Kallen, why did you run over to my side?” Lucien continued looking at the night sky, without reigning in his emotions at the moment.
He didn’t think little Kallen had the ability to see through his emotions.
“Um, I just feel like you’re not in a very good mood.”
Hearing this, Lucien finally turned his head to look directly at little Kallen.
Good grief, this kid isn’t completely foolish, is she?
Wait, with the distance between up in the tree and down below, how did she sense that I was in a bad mood?
“I feel like you’re thinking about something very rude,” little Kallen said, yet smiled indifferently, swinging her legs wrapped in white silk, “Can you tell me about what’s bothering you?”
Lucien stared blankly at little Kallen, for a moment unable to distinguish between the moonlight and her bright gaze.
Under the moonlight, the young man let out a soft sigh, his expression desolate:
“I’m just… Visit g.com for the full chapter.
a little homesick.”
[Having spent months together, you had also told Otto and Kallen about your birthplace, Shenzhou.]
[Yet your low spirits at this moment did not stem from homesickness.]
[Your biological father got into a car accident the year you turned seven and couldn’t be saved.
Not long after, your mother ran off with someone else.
You were raised single-handedly by your grandparents, only to receive the news on the very day your college entrance exams ended that they had passed away hand in hand.]
[You didn’t get to see them for the last time, but according to the relatives who packed up the old couple’s estate, they departed peacefully.]
[Then…
what about you?]
[This question still lingers at the tip of your heart to this day, without an answer.]
[A place where tangible blood relatives live is called a home; while a place where blood relatives’ bones rest in eternal sleep can only be called a hometown.]
[This was also the reason why you easily accepted everything after your transmigration; your past life left you with nothing more than a few cold tombs that could only be worshipped but remained out of reach.]
[They could neither warm you nor keep you.]
[You didn’t even have a home, how could there be any talk of being homesick?]
[You were just…
a little afraid.]
[Whenever you thought about how the simulated version of yourself had done so much, yet reality remained a complete mess.]
[Whenever you thought about how your decrepit self might die after the simulation ended.]
[In places where Otto couldn’t see, you always trembled uncontrollably.]
[You feared death, yet were powerless to change the status quo.]
[You had thought about struggling pathetically and giving it your all, but whenever you saw Otto by your side, these wild thoughts always vanished into thin air.]
[Perhaps, from the very moment you were hit by the wooden airplane, you had already been anchored.]
[It was as if having armor meant having a weakness at the same time.]
[You helplessly accepted everything; although you were still afraid and resistant, you also had a new goal: take good care of Otto.]
[Would Otto, growing up in a happy environment, and Otto, accompanied by you, ultimately turn out differently?]
[You always liked to gaze at Otto.]
[At those times, you usually thought that the Otto before your eyes would definitely be completely different from that “The Fool” in the real world.]
[Even if he wouldn’t become a very good person in the future, he would definitely not run counter to your perception or be hated by you.]
[Because he was taught by you.]
[And who knows, maybe he truly could bring light to the whole world.]
[Whenever you think of this, you stop trembling, and your fear is always swallowed by another emotion.]
[An emotion you have never experienced in your brief life—perhaps it is…
pride.]