Otto walked slightly behind and to Rita's right, keeping his eyes forward and maintaining a proper distance.
He still did not know the gray-haired maid's name, nor did he dare ask, for fear that she might notice something off about him.
But after following her for some distance, Otto began to regret it.
If anyone had already noticed that something was wrong when he had been struggling against Void Archives earlier, then this maid might very well be leading him to a place where they could ambush him with ease.
Too dangerous.
He had no idea where she was taking him.
Should he run?
And if he ran, where would he even go?
The unfamiliar surroundings only deepened Otto's unease, but in the end, he did not choose to flee.
Because if this maid truly meant him harm, then that room just now would have been the perfect place to do it.
Otto followed Rita expressionlessly. His eyes fell on her slender back. The maid outfit left a wide opening across the back, and the pale skin there was almost dazzling.
Am I really the Overseer?
The thought flashed through Otto's mind.
That beautiful maid had just treated him with the utmost respect, just as his brother used to treat his father.
Then did that mean this maid would satisfy any request he made?
Could he do anything he wanted to her?
As the thought passed through his mind, Otto quietly removed a button from his sleeve. To his surprise, he discovered that he was rather strong.
So he really had grown up.
Even if gaining more than five hundred years in the span of a single blink was absurd.
He came to a stop and did not continue following Rita.
As Schicksal's finest maid, Rita also stopped the moment Otto did. She turned around and asked with a hint of confusion,
"Lord Overseer, is something wrong?"
Rita's voice was soft and alluring. She stood only a few steps away from Otto, close enough that he could catch the faint fragrance clinging to her.
The scent of her body left Otto momentarily distracted. No matter how tall and handsome he looked now, deep down he was still just an inexperienced, unworldly boy.
If he had been allowed to see that girl named Kallen climb over the wall, perhaps he would not have reacted like this.
But unfortunately, he had never seen Kallen climb that wall. He had only blinked once and arrived five hundred years in the future.
He was not the sort of madman whose heart belonged only to Kallen.
Rita felt that Lord Overseer Otto's attitude was a little strange. At her age, poised just at the edge of blooming womanhood, she was somewhat sensitive to other people's gazes. Just now, the Overseer seemed to have glanced at her several times. Was there something odd about her appearance?
As a maid who pursued perfection, Rita paid extremely close attention to how she presented herself.
She lowered her head and saw only her own chest. Her clothes were perfectly proper; there was nothing indecent about them.
To be safe, Rita leaned forward slightly and used her eyes to inspect the hem of her skirt and her shoes as well.
Perhaps only people like Fu Hua and Theresa could look straight down while standing upright and still see their own feet.
There was no problem with her skirt or shoes either.
Rita straightened up again, but she did not notice that when she had leaned forward, Otto — though he had not wanted to look — had still found a large expanse of pale skin entering his field of vision.
Rita's figure was deep and impossible to ignore.
Would it really be that soft and springy?
Otto's breathing quickened ever so slightly. He felt that something was wrong with him, yet his face remained expressionless.
Fortunately, he had rarely smiled since childhood. At times like this, that habit was unexpectedly useful.
Then Otto raised his left hand.
Rita had checked her appearance quickly, and at once her gaze lifted to his raised wrist. A button was missing from the cuff of Otto's shirt.
It was one he had secretly torn off just now.
"This isn't suitable for meeting her."
Her.
From Rita's earlier words, Otto had already guessed that the person she was taking him to meet was a young lady, so it should be a woman.
As a gentleman, when going to meet a lady, one ought to be properly dressed. That was the basic respect due to the other party.
But Rita tilted her head slightly, looking puzzled by Otto's words. For a moment, Otto wondered whether the etiquette of five hundred years ago no longer applied in the present day.
"If that is your wish, Lord Overseer, then I shall do as you say."
Rita had no intention of opposing him. Instead, she turned in a different direction.
Still, she added one more comment.
"Though personally, I do not think it is necessary."
Rita still felt that Lord Overseer Otto seemed rather strange today. Yet the impression he gave her was undeniably that of Otto Apocalypse. She did not pry any further.
Although she was an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, Otto had long since built up overwhelming authority within the organization.
And she herself was one of the sharpest blades in his hand.
After all, no one could possibly imagine that the soul inside Otto's body at this moment came from more than five hundred years in the past.
But even the Otto of five hundred years ago… was still Otto.
With his face kept carefully expressionless, neither Fu Hua nor Rita had noticed that Otto was no longer the same person.
Perhaps that, too, was a kind of sadness. Even the two people who could be considered relatively close to him had failed to notice the truth.
Not necessary?
Otto felt a little puzzled. He did not know what the maid meant by that. Did she mean that the young lady he was about to meet was not someone who cared much about appearances, or was there some other reason?
The unknown road ahead made Otto want to stop where he was, but he had no choice except to keep moving.
He wanted to remain in this era. He did not want to return to the lonely life of the past. So he could not allow anyone to notice that something was wrong with him.
His jade-like eyes flickered with a faint light as Otto let out a slow breath. He noticed that the maid had originally been heading in a different direction, but after he said he wanted to change his clothes, she had altered course.
I need to remember this route.
This might be the way to my room.
Otto followed behind Rita with an expressionless face, mentally memorizing the features of the path. Fortunately, he never forgot what he saw.
Very soon, Rita stopped in front of a room.
Without drawing attention, Otto let his hands rest against his trouser pockets, wondering whether he was supposed to take out a key and unlock the door himself.
But his pockets were empty.
And the moment Otto stopped in front of the door, it opened automatically.
The lights in the room immediately switched on. Otto gave the strange glowing devices several extra glances. He had always enjoyed tinkering with inventions, and these were all things he had never seen before.
After stepping inside, Otto noticed that although the maid entered as well, she stopped by the doorway.
It was a lavish bedroom.
The first thing that caught his eye was the large bed. It looked as though seven or eight versions of himself could sleep on it.
The room was decorated with all kinds of luxurious furnishings, but rather than feeling excessive, everything seemed to have been arranged with careful taste.
This room was even more extravagant than the room of his father, Overseer Nicholas. There were also several unfamiliar devices placed around it, but Otto did not go over to inspect them.
He suppressed his curiosity and walked toward the wardrobe instead.
Otto came to a stop before it and opened it.
The clothes inside were dazzling in their variety.
But what truly caught his eye was—
Overseer's robes.
White robes. Red robes. Purple robes. No matter the color, they were all still robes belonging to the Overseer.
They were the symbol of that office.
Even his ambitious elder brother would never have dared place such garments in his own wardrobe.
Only then did Otto truly begin to feel that he really was the Overseer.
I, Otto Apocalypse… am the Overseer!
I'm the Overseer!
His breathing turned a little uneven. Almost involuntarily, Otto reached out and took down a white-and-gold set of robes, then looked toward the mirror beside the wardrobe.
Looking at the blond man reflected in the glass, Otto was no longer expressionless.
The corners of his lips slowly lifted.
It was as if the gloom in his heart had finally begun to fade.
He slowly removed the shirt and trousers he was wearing, intending to put on the Overseer's robes.
But he failed to notice Rita's widened eyes as she stood by the door. She had assumed that Lord Overseer Otto had only come back to change his shirt.
For a moment, she failed to react.
Then her pupils contracted slightly, as though she had seen something terrifying. The sheer visual impact made even this ever-smiling maid go pale with shock.
Her right hand instinctively grabbed her left forearm. Her mind had almost gone completely blank.
Forearm… terrifying indeed!