The young girl slowly opened her eyes.
Before her was an unfamiliar ceiling, and the air was filled with the faint smell of medicine.
Ah, I'm awake.
Kiana rubbed her eyes.
Her neck ached slightly. The neck that had almost been completely crushed was already restored to normal; the human body truly was miraculous.
"If there is anything you need to watch out for, I will remind you."
K423 observed the outside world through Kiana's eyes from within the consciousness space. The Queen sat on the air beside her with a look of extreme displeasure, but all she could do was rage incompetently.
Because K423 could easily suppress her.
After a moment of thought, K423 reminded her once more.
"Be careful."
"Mhm."
Kiana responded, her heart warming slightly.
It felt just like having a reliable older sister caring for her.
She didn't hate this feeling at all.
However...
She couldn't help but feel that her stomach was a bit heavy.
Kiana looked down, only to see a head resting directly against her stomach.
She had been a bit nervous at first, but upon seeing that familiar face, Kiana breathed a sigh of relief.
She could always rely on this man.
"What are you doing?"
Her tone was a bit reproachful, like a pouting girlfriend.
She had almost been strangled to death; right now, she really, really wanted to act completely spoiled with Otto.
"Shh."
However, Otto simply pressed his ear against Kiana's flat lower abdomen and raised a finger to his lips.
"Hehe."
Kiana let out a soft chuckle. Her laughter was as pleasant as silver bells, her mood incredibly joyful.
But Firefly, who was watching the outside world from within, frowned deeply.
Question marks practically hung over her head.
Why is Otto here?!
She certainly wouldn't find this face unfamiliar. This man had orchestrated countless tragedies, played with her life in the palm of his hand, and was the absolute hardest Boss to overcome on the path of her life.
But... why is he here?
Could it be that he was drawn here by the anomalies tonight?
That makes sense. If a problem occurred with such an important test subject like "Kiana," he, the mastermind behind the scenes, would naturally pay close attention.
K423 felt a surge of nervousness.
If Otto found out that she had become Kiana's stigmata, who knows what kind of horrific things he might do.
This is bad. If he shoots out a mimicry of Fenghuang Down, while I can certainly help Kiana block it... if Kiana isn't affected by the illusion, this man will definitely become suspicious!
Seeing Otto currently pressing his head against Kiana's abdomen, K423 was certain he must have noticed something wrong.
Because the stigmata was located right there on her abdomen.
K423 felt deeply uncomfortable. In the history she had experienced, she had already settled her scores with Otto long ago. But no matter the time or place, she truly never wanted to encounter him again.
And she didn't find Otto's current behavior to be ambiguous or intimately romantic in the slightest.
Because she knew perfectly well that Otto only had the Holy Maiden Kallen in his heart. All other women were nothing but 'pink skeletons'—meaningless illusions of flesh—to him. And she certainly wouldn't have any sort of intimate relationship with Otto either.
To her, the two of them were strictly just a researcher and a test subject.
"What are you listening to?"
Kiana asked with genuine curiosity.
Her tone was light and relaxed.
"I want to hear the movements inside your stomach," Otto said with a smile.
Kiana rolled her eyes. While K423 was currently sweating bullets, terrified that Otto would notice her presence and knowing there was no benefit in falling out with him when she still needed to guide Kiana's secret development... Kiana understood his meaning in a single second.
She raised her hand and knocked on Otto's head.
Truly never forgetting his original intention. Constantly thinking about putting a baby in my stomach all day long!
This action made K423's eyes widen in absolute shock.
Actually knocking the Schicksal Overseer on the head... is "I" really this brave?!
But the braver she acts now, the more agonizing debts she'll have to pay back in the future!
However, K423 couldn't help but feel a jarring sense of dissonance, as if something was profoundly strange.
It almost felt as though... the Kiana of this era already knew Otto.
"Is the wound on your neck alright?"
Being knocked on the head by Kiana, Otto merely smiled and didn't mind it at all. He sat up straight and pulled the blanket over Kiana, covering her slender, graceful body.
"Where are my clothes?"
Instead of answering Otto, Kiana realized she wasn't wearing any clothes under the blanket.
Where is my invincible White Comet armor?!
Otto simply pointed to the White Comet armor resting on his thighs. The implication was obvious: he was the one who had taken it off.
Kiana's face flushed a faint shade of red, but she didn't complain.
Because back in Nagazora, they had already shared similar experiences.
K423 didn't think much of it either. She completely didn't view Otto as a member of the opposite sex; the very concept of feeling 'shy' around Otto simply did not exist in her dictionary.
"Is there anywhere on your body that feels uncomfortable?" Otto asked with genuine concern.
He didn't ask directly about the stigmata, figuring Kiana probably didn't know about it either. If she did, a girl who fundamentally couldn't keep any secrets from him would have already blurted it out.
"My neck is still a bit uncomfortable, and I'm a bit tired," Kiana answered honestly.
K423 breathed a sigh of relief. This normal doctor-patient interaction is how it should be. That bizarre, romantic feeling from earlier must have just been my imagination.
But Otto's very next question made K423's heart leap straight into her throat.
"Then do you know what's going on with the stigmata on your stomach?"
"Oh, a stigmata is that extra mark that appeared on your belly."
"It's very beautiful."
Normally, a stigmata would hide itself when its power wasn't actively being utilized. But Kiana's stigmata remained constantly visible on her abdomen.
"Stigmata?" Kiana blanked for a moment. She lifted the blanket and looked at the glowing mark on her stomach, feeling that its placement was a bit weird. "I don't know either. It seems like it suddenly appeared when that man was about to strangle me to death."
Could this stigmata be some sort of hidden potential unlocked on the verge of death?
Otto clenched his fists, his gaze turning slightly icy. In his heart, he had already issued a definitive death sentence for Joyce.
Kiana, just like Fu Hua, held a significant amount of weight in his heart. For Joyce to actually dare to hurt Kiana, he would have to pay the ultimate price.
Otto wanted his life.
Noticing Otto's darkening gaze, K423 immediately went on high alert. If Otto intended to harm Kiana, she had to be ready to take over the body and fight.
Even though K423 desperately didn't want Otto to discover her existence, for Kiana's sake, she would just have to expose herself.
"Why are you making such a scary expression?"
But Kiana simply reached out and stroked Otto's face, a bright, radiant smile on her own.
As her fingers brushed across Otto's cheek, she could feel the faint twitching of his muscles.
She understood perfectly.
Otto was angry for her sake.
Genuinely, wholeheartedly angry.
Honestly... just how many times are you going to make me fall in love with you?
Having just experienced a brush with death, Kiana's attitude and affection toward Otto had deepened even further.
"Did I scare you?" The iciness on Otto's face instantly melted away, replaced by a warm, gentle smile.
What a temperamental, unpredictable man.
K423 couldn't help but click her tongue. However, "I" certainly am brave—not even afraid of getting a handful of oil from touching his Soulium avatar.
Yet, that strange, dissonant feeling rose up within her once again.
"Right, after getting the stigmata, have you felt anything strange in your body? Or has anything weird happened?" Otto asked again.
Just keep bluffing your way through it!
K423 wasn't too worried. There's no way Kiana would just directly spill the beans about me...
"Oh right! After I got the stigmata, it feels like I gained an extra consciousness," Kiana answered directly and honestly.
Hearing Kiana's words, K423's eyelid twitched violently.
"But she said she isn't my third personality, but rather a soul living inside the stigmata."
Otto's gaze instantly sharpened. Meanwhile, inside the consciousness space, K423 couldn't help but cover her face with both hands in sheer despair.
She actually spilled all our absolute deepest secrets just like that!
Why is "I" so dumb?! Why would she just tell Otto all of these things directly?!
Even if you told Mei, Teacher Himeko, or Great Aunt, you absolutely cannot tell Otto!
You can't even tell the Class Monitor, because during the Anti-Entropy invasion period, Class Monitor Fu Hua is still Otto's subordinate!
If K423 hadn't already been carefully keeping her mental defenses up, she would have seriously suspected that Kiana had been brainwashed by Fenghuang Down!
Otto looked meaningfully at Kiana's abdomen.
"Oh?"
"Then did this soul inside the stigmata say... who she is?" Otto asked.
K423 frantically tried to stop Kiana from speaking.
"Don't tell him—"
But unfortunately, the very second Otto asked the question, Kiana answered without a shred of hesitation.
"She said her name is K423."
---