Kidnapping My High Priestess

He admired the woman's figure as he spoke.

"Lord Otto, I'm here."

Amber stepped out of the darkness behind Otto. She was startled at first, but then remembered that Otto had called her and quickly regained her composure.

It was perfectly normal for Lord Bishop to know she was behind him.

—Because there was no one else here. If you weren't here, you wouldn't hear me even if I called you.

Otto smiled faintly, wearing an expression that suggested everything was under his control.

"It is time to awaken our Saintess."

Amber nodded and stepped forward, pressing the activation button.

The nutrient fluid inside the chamber was drained away, and the glass cover rose. Cecilia's delicate body lay limp against the base of the chamber.

She had not regained consciousness yet, but her lips were slightly parted as nutrient fluid spilled from them.

I really want to poke her.

His heart felt strangely unsettled, but his expression remained unchanged. As he waited, he made idle conversation with Amber.

"By the way, Amber, has that mission been issued?"

"The message has already been sent to Lady Rita and Lady Fu Hua," Amber replied as she helped Cecilia sit upright. "The demand to retrieve the Oath of Judah has also been sent to Lady Theresa. She lodged a fierce protest and requested to speak with you."

"Let the little one finish throwing her tantrum first. Do not let her contact me."

Otto's eyes curved at the corners, their depths carrying an inscrutable darkness.

"My dear granddaughter, it is time for you to launch a magnificent betrayal against your old ancestor."

"I truly hope... your fury will burn me completely clean."

A magnificent betrayal... burned completely clean...

Amber's gaze dimmed considerably.

Lord Otto... Although I do not know the full extent of your plans, when you made this decision, you had already prepared yourself to be abandoned by everyone, hadn't you?

She pressed her lips together, hesitating to speak. In the end, she looked firmly at the blond man. "Lord Otto, I will always stand by your side—as long as you do not drive me away."

*???*

No, I was just making a joke. What exactly did she imagine?

Otto did not understand, but that did not stop him from smiling enigmatically and replying in a teasing tone.

"Very well. For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, I command you to remain faithful to me and never leave, until the end of your life."

Alright.

Amber nodded once, answering earnestly in her heart.

"I will not abandon your soul to the underworld, nor allow your holy body to see decay."

What was that voice?

Who... was I?

Memories flashed before Cecilia's eyes like a revolving lantern, tangled and innumerable.

But whenever she tried to examine them closely, a throbbing pain erupted in the center of her consciousness.

"Ah...!"

She clutched her head, but it was useless. Pain wrapped around her from every direction. It was not only her brain—her limbs and chest began to transmit the same sensation as well.

Along with the pain came fear. She did not know why, but she was afraid.

As her bodily functions and senses gradually returned to normal, the pain throughout her body began to fade. Yet that instinctive fear only continued to deepen.

Her vision was pitch-black because she had not opened her eyes.

It seemed... she did not dare to.

"What is it?"

A voice came from beside her ear.

"Lord Bishop... Lady Cecilia seems to have... lost her memory?"

The one supporting her said that.

She... had lost her memory?

Cecilia still could not fully understand what that term meant, but it did not stop her from feeling an inexplicable chill at the words.

Her arms wrapped around her long, slender legs as she curled up and trembled faintly.

Cecilia had lost her memory?

Otto frowned and asked inwardly.

"Is this memory loss a normal occurrence, or an operational error?"

Partial memory extraction phenomenon.

"Oh, since it has a technical term... does that mean it is normal? Could you be more specific?"

It may not occur—but it is a normal phenomenon. The reason is to deceive the world.

"I see..."

Otto understood at once.

Since he wanted to distort history and bring Cecilia back, he had to find a way to deceive the world.

And humans themselves were part of that world.

The Book of Void denied the past, created a vague point in history, and pulled a life out of the death predetermined by the world.

This memory extraction, then, was meant to "deceive" the one who had been saved, stripping away her self-awareness that she had "already died."

Her memories were being partially reconstructed. That was why Cecilia, in her current state, could not draw upon too many of them.

Following that line of thought, Otto could not help but wonder—did this alteration of history mean fishing someone out of the river of time, or was it merely an extremely minor distortion of the past, like changing a few words in a long historical chronicle?

So, would the alteration produce a butterfly effect?

Or would every direction chosen by fate ultimately lead to a predetermined ending?

For instance, if the Otto of the future wanted to revive Kallen, then would the one lying in that coffin just now be a sleeper, or a corpse?

Who knew?

Within the space between his brows, the Book of Void offered a message that was like a riddle, yet not quite one.

Who knew...

On the surface, those four words sounded deliberately cryptic. But in truth... they had already revealed far too much.

For example, there was a certain chance that the butterfly effect had already occurred.

For example, this cheat would answer his questions.

—That immediately reminded Otto of what he had been considering before using it.

After learning of several limitations of the Book of Void, Otto had immediately thought of grasping its rules, then using those rules to ensure that the ability to "distort time" would not be bound by them.

Since it had not answered that question, nor had it independently provided a method of making the "future" something "to be expected," that meant his idea of "taking control of the rules" was very likely correct. That was why it had not corrected him.

Otto pondered those words, then asked inwardly again.

"Is the revived person's amnesia permanent, or temporary?"

Raising someone for years was interesting, but his original plan... would probably need a slight adjustment.

It will recover within seven days.

Seven days.

That was neither too long nor too short. With some maneuvering, it was just enough time to arrange an interesting setup.

Otto's thoughts raced as he said to Amber, "Amber, I will have to trouble you for the next month."

"Is Lord Bishop going to...?"

Amber suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

She was extremely familiar with that posture of the Bishop's, because...

"I intend to accompany Cecilia while she recovers her memories," Otto said. "So I may have to leave some tasks to you."

You are slacking off!

Amber thought that he had been playing Kallen Fantasy even when Lady Cecilia was not around!

"I can handle the daily work, but Lord Bishop, some matters..."

Amber tried to fight for a little of her own rights.

"I will make time to handle them." Otto waved a hand. "You need not worry."

So be it.

Amber sighed.

After all, it was Lady Cecilia... the Saintess who had once made the Bishop suspend development on Kallen Fantasy...

The only one who could make the Bishop prepare a Soul Steel body in Siberia for her safety was Lady Cecilia.

So it was only natural for him to abandon his work and stay with Lady Cecilia now... only natural...

It is only right for me to work a little harder... only right...

She used all her strength to convince herself, then nodded. "Then I wish Lord Bishop an early success in awakening Lady Cecilia."

"That depends on fate. Besides..." Otto stepped forward, took Cecilia's waist from Amber's hands, and drew her into his embrace. "After listening for so long, my girl, should you not open your eyes now?"

He waved his hand. Understanding his meaning, Amber retreated into the darkness to prepare clothes for Cecilia.

A young beast would regard the first animal it saw as its parent. Cecilia had merely lost her memories, but Otto would not miss any opportunity to leave a deep impression on her.

It was calculating, but beneficial to both sides.

The current Otto would not mistreat his own people.

Cecilia opened her eyes, and Otto Apocalypse's reflection filled her clear pupils.

Who... was he?

There was no memory of his appearance in her mind now. She could not remember anything between them, nor did she know what their relationship had truly been.

Yet amid those fleeting fragments of memory, she could always vaguely sense the existence of this man. His voice was familiar to her, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps.

"Mm..."

Suddenly, a small image was clearly reflected in Cecilia's mind. A girl was laughing on a bustling pedestrian street, while a blond man followed behind her, carrying armfuls of bags.

What... was this?

Cecilia froze for several seconds before reacting. Based on that fragment, she tried to recall what had happened before and after it.

But it was futile. She still could not remember anything related to the fragment. The harder she tried, the more her head hurt.

She nearly scratched at her head, wanting to reach out and clutch something tightly. Yet the gentleness ingrained in her nature forcibly restrained her frustration.