"Lord Otto, as per your instructions, one hundred million US dollars has been successfully transferred to Lierre's account."
At Schicksal Headquarters, Amber, the secretary to the Overseer of Schicksal, maintained a respectful attitude. Her eyes remained calm as she looked at Otto, who sat at his desk with a mysterious smile on his face.
"Very good."
Otto gave a slight nod, his gaze shifting to the holographic projection before him.
On the surface, the background information Lierre had casually fabricated was displayed in the air with meticulous detail. It included, but was not limited to, information regarding the elementary, middle, high schools, and universities Lierre had attended.
The specifically enlarged marriage application in the center was particularly eye-catching, featuring the signatures of both Lierre and Theresa.
Beside it were several photographs of Nagazora. Above ME Corp, the knight's lance condensed from blood shone as brilliantly as a blood moon.
"Unknowingly, my dear little Theresa has reached the age to marry. Time truly flies."
Otto was filled with emotion. "Although this 'grandson-in-law' I have yet to meet isn't very polite to me, since this is Theresa's choice, I, as her grandfather, must naturally support her unconditionally."
Amber lowered her head slightly, not daring to interject easily.
She could not guess what Otto was actually thinking.
According to her understanding, this person named Lierre had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Her recorded life trajectory was so ordinary that it made one wonder how she and Theresa had even met.
One was the beloved granddaughter of the Overseer of Schicksal, Otto; the other was merely an ordinary girl who couldn't grow up.
Under normal circumstances, their lives should never have intersected.
Who could have guessed that within less than a day of Theresa arriving in Nagazora aboard the Hyperion, she would suddenly and inexplicably gain a 'husband' named Lierre.
Lierre was clearly an ordinary person, yet she could easily contact Otto and even speak insolently to him.
This behavior was like a precious daughter you had spent years raising suddenly bringing home a yellow-haired delinquent on a modified scooter one day, shouting at you: "Hey old man, is it safe to park my ride under your building?"
It was enough to make anyone's blood pressure soar.
Likewise, from the moment Lierre was able to contact Otto, Amber had mentally removed the label of 'ordinary' from Lierre's head.
The fact that she remained permanently young was, in itself, anything but ordinary.
Amber did not believe Lierre was unaware of who Otto was.
To know and yet still dare to provoke him—even setting her sights on Theresa—seemed like nothing short of a death wish to Amber.
Yet Lierre had done it anyway.
At present, Amber could only think of two possibilities.
The first was that the other party was completely fearless. Lierre wasn't worried that Otto would kill her, or perhaps she had enough confidence to protect herself even if hunted by Schicksal.
But this was clearly impossible.
Even Anti-Entropy didn't dare to clash head-on with the Schicksal organization. Someone as personally powerful as Siegfried back then was eventually forced to flee and hide under an assumed name to escape Schicksal's pursuit.
The only reason Siegfried was still alive was because Otto had intentionally let him go.
The second possibility was that Theresa was blinded by love. She had fallen completely and utterly for Lierre and was willing to protect her at all costs, even if it meant thoroughly offending her grandfather, Otto.
Otto's doting on Theresa was obvious to everyone. As long as his bottom line wasn't touched, Otto would generally give in to her.
That was why Lierre was so arrogant.
Amber felt the second option was more plausible; at least it was logically sound.
As for this matter and the suspected traces of Cecilia appearing in Nagazora, she saw no strong causal link between the two.
"Amber, go notify Rita. I need her to accompany me to the Far East Branch in two weeks."
Otto laughed gently. "I want to meet Lierre and Theresa. While I'm at it, I'll discuss an auspicious date with them to get the engagement settled first."
"Yes."
Amber complied and withdrew.
Since it was Otto's command, she would obey without question.
After Amber left, the office suddenly became quiet.
The smile faded from Otto's face, his gaze becoming terrifyingly calm.
Suddenly, a sneer echoed in his ear:
"Hehehe, you can't be serious, right? You've clearly guessed that this fellow Lierre doesn't truly love Theresa. Instead of exposing her lie, you're actually helping to set them up.
I think you're getting more muddled as time goes on. Do you really believe Lierre can resurrect the dead? How naive, Otto! It's been five hundred years; when will you be willing to let go of this impossible obsession to resurrect Kallen?"
Facing the mockery of the Void Archives, Otto's expression remained as calm as ever:
"Nothing is impossible to achieve. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't. Don't make excuses for your own incompetence, Void Archives."
Upon hearing this, the Void Archives immediately retorted: "Whether it is my incompetence or your own naive fantasies, Otto, remains to be seen. But Otto, even if Cecilia has miraculously returned, is it necessarily related to Lierre?"
After all, based on the intelligence gathered by Schicksal, Lierre was a native inhabitant of Nagazora, not someone who had appeared out of thin air.
The story between her and Theresa might just be a coincidence.
There was no obvious causal relationship with the suspected appearance of Cecilia in Nagazora.
"It might be intuition. But no matter the outcome, as long as there is even a sliver of a possibility to resurrect Kallen, I will not let it slip through my fingers."
Otto closed his fingers into a tight fist, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp and imposing.
No matter what Lierre's objective was, as long as she could let him see Kallen again, he didn't mind personally arranging the wedding for the two of them.
Even if it meant sacrificing Theresa.
"You are as beyond saving as ever."
The Void Archives responded as if they had long expected this, like making small talk.
It showed no great surprise at Otto's answer.
It was used to it.
The Void Archives fell silent.
Left in peace, Otto quickly returned to his initial calm.
He quietly looked at Theresa's name on the marriage application.
If Theresa hadn't signed it voluntarily, he might not have gone this far.
"However, the favors I give are not free. So, don't let me down, Lierre."
Otto's eyes flickered. He pulled up a virtual keyboard and began drafting emails to be sent to Theresa and Lierre respectively.
The Hyperion was flying at high altitude, heading toward St. Freya Academy.
Inside the warship, Kiana was curiously pulling Raiden Mei around for a tour, letting out exclamations of amazement like someone who had never seen the world.
Murata Himeko followed the two with Bronya, looking like she had a massive headache.
She hadn't come here to be a babysitter.
Suddenly, Theresa's sharp, explosive scream echoed from behind: "Lierre, what did you do behind my back! I—I'm going to kill you!!!"