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You experienced a drastic change in junior high school that dragged down your academic performance, disqualifying you from joining the League — let alone advancing further.

You didn't have a deep understanding of the ideological foundations behind it, and besides, medieval Europe—lacking in certain cognitive frameworks—was hardly suited for such concepts anyway.

Still, this didn't stop you from helping Kallen refine her own emerging thoughts.

After all, progressive ideas are always beneficial, regardless of the era.

The saying "falling behind invites punishment" is never wrong.

Just as you were contemplating the idea of the "Red Saint," Otto suddenly asked you something unexpected.

"My... dreams?" Lu Mian pointed to himself.

Otto glanced at him and nodded slightly.

Lu Mian fell silent, slipping into a deep thought. It was hard to tell what exactly was running through his mind.

Dreams?

Sunlight poured in through the window, coating the two of them in a warm glow.

Probably to create a better world. Eternal peace... something like that.

As those final murmurs trailed off, Lu Mian's dreamy gaze sharpened once again, his eyes regaining clarity and calm.

He looked at Otto and smiled faintly, his gaze gentle and steady like starlight.

"But more than that, I just want you and Kallen to live happily. And then... we find a nice place and build two big houses."

Otto was stunned by the remark.

He paused for a long while—several seconds, maybe minutes—before coming to.

His expression softened involuntarily. "Why build *two* houses? Aren't you and Kallen going to get married eventually?"

"To be honest, life's short. And someday... I'll only get in the way."

"No. That won't happen."

Otto looked at the person beside him, who had never been very sensitive, and gave a faint smile full of conviction.

At that moment, Kallen walked into the store with two large bags of fruit in her arms, grinning brightly.

Then, without effort, she tossed one of the waist-high fruit bags to each of them.

After distributing everything, she didn't return to her seat. Instead, she waved her arms sleepily and puffed her cheeks in protest.

"So? How'd I do?"

"Pretty good," Lu Mian said, feeling the soft press of the fruit bag through his clothes, his face a picture of helplessness. "But didn't I tell you not to pull moves like that on men who aren't family or super close to you?"

"Yeah, which is why I only ever do it to my dad and you!"

Clearly, Kallen wasn't that clueless—or maybe Lu Mian's exasperation simply faded away with that line.

Just knowing that he'd raised such a cheerful, beautiful girl with his own hands filled him with a strange sense of pride.

There was no more room for helplessness.

Otto: ? ?

Otto watched the wholesome scene unfold before him, a warmth blooming in his chest that hadn't appeared for a long, long time.

Right now, he really wanted to go back in time and strangle his younger self who decided to pretend to be a man...

The wheel of history kept turning, indifferent to the dust it swept along — dust so small, and yet burdened with a weight beyond imagination.

In that same year, 1470, a Collapse outbreak quietly began to spread throughout Europe, exploiting the chaos of the Black Death and claiming countless lives.

Natural disasters ravaged the land, leaving people barely able to survive.

Kallen couldn't stand watching it happen, but she was powerless to stop it.

The smile once so common on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by lingering sorrow between her brows.

You weren't especially melancholic, but each time you saw her like this, your heart ached.

Maybe that's just human nature.

Before, you had always hoped Kallen would mature and develop deeper thoughts of her own.

But now, you missed her smile… desperately.

Night fell deep and dark, like the abyss swallowing all light, all despair — leaving behind only silence.

The autumn wind howled, carrying a weight of sorrow through the still air.

By the window, a blond-haired youth lay slumped over his desk, gloom written across his face as he fiddled with a model airplane over and over.

Beside him sat a black-haired young man who looked no older, but carried himself with a calmness washed in time. He looked out the window at the starry sky, quiet sorrow written in his expression.

"I... I don't want to see Kallen so sad anymore." Otto spoke softly, glancing toward Lu Mian beside him.

Whether he couldn't bear Kallen's sadness—or couldn't stand watching Lu Mian share in that sadness—he wasn't sure.

Lu Mian stopped gazing at the stars. After concealing his own bad mood, he turned his head and silently encouraged Otto to continue.

At this moment, Otto—no longer a helpless child—seemed to revert back to that version of himself: timid and uncertain.

"If I could solve the Black Death somehow... I secretly took in a group of patients infected by the plague. If they're just going to die anyway, then maybe I could—"

"Go on."

"If I could develop a cure using them... then all the problems could be solved."

After finishing, Otto avoided eye contact. He dared not look at Lu Mian's face, stealing glances now and then to gauge his reaction.

But Lu Mian only narrowed his eyes and gave him his usual gentle smile.

The lights flickered faintly, merging with the moonlight until it was hard to distinguish which was which.

——He slowly raised his hand.

Otto held his breath unconsciously.

This was the hand that had guided him as he grew up—hugged him, held his hand, gently tousled his hair.

Now it didn't seem quite as big as he remembered.

Or maybe... he had grown.

Was he going to get hit?

Otto braced for it, clearly prepared for that outcome.

But he was wrong.

That hand gently rested on his head and softly ruffled his hair.

The warmth he had missed for so long spread from the top of his head.

Otto's eyes sparkled—literally sparkled like stars in the sky—leaving him momentarily speechless.

He pursed his lips, trying to say something, but only managed to breathe out a few quiet, honest gasps.

Years later, that child had grown into a young man—shouldering a warmth, a responsibility, that no longer allowed him to retreat.

And yet, it felt like nothing had changed.

After hearing Otto's thoughts, you smiled.

He had his own ideas, but he still cared about your opinion before acting on them.

What could be more comforting than that?

When you stroked Otto's head, you were still smiling.

But the smile now carried a helpless sorrow.

The Black Death and the human experimentation that followed became a major turning point in the life of the "fool"—a sin he could never wash away.

The drugs developed from human experimentation would go on to greatly suppress the Collapse outbreak sweeping Europe.

Sacrificing the few to save the many — it may have been the most effective choice, but it was never a just one.

You had gone through so much just to separate Otto from the "fool" he would otherwise become — so you couldn't accept such an outcome.

So then...

What other choices were left?

How can you break this deadlock... when fate itself is entwined so tightly?

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