Otto Accompanied Kallen All Her Life as a Sinner, Yet She Never Knew He Was the Boy Who Made That Pinky Promise

But her smile was very serious.

"Then I want to sit on it from now on."

Aren't you afraid of falling?

"You're here for me."

The girl spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Otto paused, taken aback.

Kallen lay back down under the tree, resting her head on her arm and looking up at the sky.

"Once it flies up into the clouds, we can go to very far places."

Where to go?

"Go somewhere where there are no bad people."

"What if there are bad guys too?"

"Then you can drive them away."

"I?"

"Didn't you say you'd become the greatest inventor? The greatest inventor, of course, can do anything."

Otto fell silent.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on his face. Although he was still a child, a seriousness beyond his years already shone in his eyes.

"Good."

He nodded.

I will do it.

The scene paused for a moment here.

It was as if even the illusion itself was avoiding the answer that followed.

[Wish 1: May Kallen live forever.]

[Second Wish: To free Kallen from suffering.]

[Wish 3: To keep Otto by Kallen's side.]

The first two items have been completed.

The third item...

The text on the Light Screen suddenly dimmed.

[Unable to achieve.]

Ning Rongrong's fingertips trembled slightly.

"Why?"

Ning Tian looked at her.

"Rongrong?"

Ning Rongrong didn't answer, she just stared at those four words.

Unable to achieve.

It's so simple it's almost cruel.

She had seen too many people pay the price for what they had to protect, and she understood that miracles don't come for free. But she never imagined that Otto, who had spent his entire life deceiving the Honkai and scheming against civilization, would ultimately not be able to get even the simplest companionship in return.

Bei Bei slowly exhaled.

"He can rewrite history and let Kallen live in a new world."

"But we can't squeeze ourselves into that World Lines," Tang Ya continued, her eyes filled with undisguised regret, "Because the premise for that World Lines to exist is that he doesn't exist."

"Without him?" Xiao Xiao's face turned pale. "But without Otto, could Kallen really have had that kind of life?"

"That's the biggest contradiction," Ye Yinzhu said softly. "He is the one who initiates happiness, yet he cannot be the one who experiences happiness."

Rong Nianbing looked at the Light Screen and suddenly said:

"This is crueler than simple death."

Zhou Weiqing frowned.

"Death, at least, ends the suffering."

"But he's not dead." Rong Nianbing shook her head. "He was removed from that happiness. Every day of the future proves his wish has come true, but not a single day belongs to him."

The image continues to move.

The setting sun slowly sank into the west in the Courtyard.

Young Kallen fell asleep again, her head resting on Otto's shoulder once more. Otto didn't move, afraid that the slightest movement would disturb the peace.

He lowered his head and gazed at the girl's sleeping face.

At that moment, the Otto in the illusion possessed neither the authority of a bishop nor the coldness of an experimenter.

He was just a child who stayed by his friend's side.

A child who is afraid that when he wakes up from a dream, there will be no one by his side anymore.

Otto carefully placed the wooden airplane beside the two of them, then used his palm to shield his eyes from the falling sunlight.

The shadows of the trees swayed.

Kallen mumbled in her sleep:

"Otto, you must stay with me for a long time from now on."

"Um."

"You can't lie."

"... good."

"Pinky promise."

The girl extends her little finger.

The boy hesitated for a moment, then reached out and hooked his arm with hers.

Two little fingers overlapping.

The sunset was so gentle it almost seemed unreal.

[The agreement is valid.]

[Agreed Duration: Cannot be calculated.]

[Agreement fulfillment status: Partially completed.]

Otto accompanied Kallen throughout her life.

[But not in a way that Kallen knew.]

Dai Hao's expression became extremely complicated.

He truly was there for her throughout her life.

"As a bystander, a manipulator, even a sinner," Xue Ye said in a deep voice, "Kallen will never know that the person who paved the way for her was the boy who made a pinky promise with her back then."

Niu Tian crossed his arms.

"This kind of protection is far too selfish."

Tai Tan looked at him.

"Selfish?"

"He decided Kallen's life for her, and he also decided for her whether or not she should know the truth," Niu Tian said coldly. "No matter how deep the motives, they cannot erase this fact."

Tai Tan paused for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"But he truly gave away everything he could."

"That's what makes it even more distressing," the Dragon Prince murmured. "If he were merely a villain, things would be simpler. But he toils between Sin and deep affection, leaving everyone unsure how to judge him."

The Dragon God's gaze fell on the two overlapping little fingers.

The hardest thing to sever in this world is never power, but cause and effect.

"He took Kallen as the cause, embarking on a path that would last for fifty thousand years; and he himself became the consequence, severing his connection with Kallen."

"Just because something can be severed doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

Zi looked at him.

"What's the meaning?"

"He erased his own traces, but he didn't erase everything he caused," the Dragon God said. "Kallen is able to live on because he once existed. This fact will not disappear because of any rewriting of World Lines."

Longbow Wei sighed softly.

So, did he succeed or fail?

Lei Xiang looked at the Light Screen.

"If his goal was simply to keep Kallen alive, he has already succeeded."

Hai Long said in a deep voice:

"If his goal was to live with Kallen, he never succeeded."

Tian Hen continued:

"If his goal is to earn Kallen's gratitude, he doesn't even deserve to fail. Because that person has no idea what he's done."

A'Dai lowered his eyes.

But he still chose this path.

Ji Dong, holding Lie Yan's hand, asked:

What would you choose?

Lie Yan did not answer immediately.

She looked at Kallen sleeping in her illusion, and then at Otto, who was awake alone.

"I have no idea."

This answer surprised Ji Dong slightly.

Lie Yan said softly:

"If I had to sacrifice myself to save my loved ones, I might choose to do so. But if it meant paving the way with the suffering of countless innocent people, I can't say I would still do it without hesitation."

Therefore, love cannot be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Ji Dong gripped her hand tightly.

"But we can't say that the love never existed just because he committed a crime."

As their voices faded, the Courtyard within the Light Screen suddenly began to crumble.

The petals transformed into points of light.

The stone wall faded inch by inch.

Leaves fall from the branches and shatter into transparent dust as they fall into the air.

Young Kallen remained asleep under the tree, completely unaware.

Otto seemed to have finally seen something.

He raised his head and looked out into the Courtyard.

There stands my adult self.

With white hair and golden eyes, he wore a bishop's robe and his expression was calm and undisturbed.

Young Otto met his eyes.

"Who are you?" little Otto asked.

The adult Otto did not answer.