"Alice," Klein weakly called her once, "No matter who gives birth, I don't want something like this to happen. Do you understand?"
Alice withdrew her gaze in disappointment, then thought for a moment and leaned in to ask: "Have you heard of the Mother Tree of Desire?"
"Mother Tree of Desire?" Klein shook his head. This wasn't within the scope of his occult knowledge.
"Even you don't know…" Alice touched her chin. "Cynthia has a necklace. She used that necklace to pray to the Mother Tree of Desire… Hmm, she even ground it into powder and ate it."
Klein frowned and began thinking.
After staring at him for two seconds, Alice put on an expression identical to his and then said:
"That necklace looks like a black rhino horn, but very small… Eh, is there any medical basis for this?
"For example, does grinding rhino horn and eating it have the effect of enhancing male virility…"
"…Are you sick?!" Klein cursed angrily.
"So is it possible?" Alice didn't forget the question she just asked.
Klein was silent for a few seconds, then had to answer Alice's question first:
"I've never heard of such a theory. I'm not sure either.
"So why are you asking this?"
Alice gave an "oh" sound before replying: "Because Cynthia prayed to the Mother Tree of Desire to make herself more alluring…"
Klein was silent for a full dozen seconds before saying: "Then you should ask whether rhino horn can enhance beauty, right?"
Alice touched her chin, nodded seriously, and said: "That seems to make sense… So is it possible?"
"…I don't know," Klein leaned weakly against the back of the chair. "Did you see anything else?"
"Nothing more for now," Alice shook her head. "I put that necklace back. If you want to see it, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until something happens to Cynthia…"
"Wait a minute," Klein suddenly became alert, "What's going to happen?"
Alice stared at him for a few seconds, then slightly lowered her head, revealing the same shy expression as before. But before she could speak, she was interrupted by Klein:
"Enough!
"You don't need to do that again!"
Alice started using the disappointed expression she had just learned to look at him.
After staring at Alice silently for a few seconds, Klein suddenly remembered the scene of her showing curiosity about the "Red Theater."
Thankfully, thankfully she didn't really plan to go in and take a look… Klein sighed and felt a sincere sense of relief.
—He had already realized that Alice was very good at imitating others' expressions and actions.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, glanced at Alice, and suddenly had another idea in his mind:
"Alice, I'll show you something interesting. Help me with something, okay?"
"What?" Alice tilted her head in confusion.
Klein smiled slightly, half-closed his eyes, raised his right hand, pressed down on his eyes, and suddenly pulled them downward, moving them to both sides of the middle of his nose bridge.
Immediately after, Klein separated two slits at the original eye positions and disguised a pair of fake eyes using flesh and blood.
Alice's mouth dropped open in shock. She subconsciously raised her hands to applaud, but Klein, who had anticipated this, stopped her.
"I'm going to sleep for a while. If there's anything unusual, wake me up, okay?" Klein asked, using all four eyes to look at her.
Alice silently averted her gaze from his face, then nodded.
Although the performance was indeed brilliant, this appearance… still lacked a bit of aesthetic appeal…
Alice sighed, watching Klein's real eyes close while the fake ones remained "open" and fixed on the documents as he fell asleep.
After thinking for a few seconds, Alice's eyes blinked slightly, and a pattern of interlocked gears of varying sizes flashed faintly in her pupils, then disappeared. Her gaze turned dazed.
…Why is his chance of falling over so low?!
Alice watched this scene in amazement, feeling that her understanding of the "Fool" had deepened.
Looking at Klein, who was balanced and motionless, "sleeping with eyes open," Alice hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't try to make him fall.
He… he's actually trying pretty hard…
With a sigh in her heart, Alice cautiously suppressed the urge to give Klein a handful of good luck now and top it off later.
"The two ends of the scale don't have to be equal, but they must both have something…" Alice muttered softly and looked away.
This wasn't a requirement written in the Uniqueness, but it had always been Alice's principle.
"Speaking of which… why do I even hold on to this principle?" Alice blinked in confusion and suddenly realized that she actually didn't remember when she started insisting on this principle.
That probably came from her lost memories too. Alice shook her head and decisively gave up searching. She rested her chin on her hand and started watching Mr. Fool sleep.
She soon regretted agreeing to Klein's request — because this was really boring!
…
After sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, Alice finally encountered something interesting.
Her gaze landed on Klein, and a mischievous smile rose on her lips — someone was invading Klein's dream.
Clearly, although the domain of mind and dreams wasn't the primary authority of the "Fate" pathway, "Fate" still had some control in this area.
At the very least, she could go take a look inside Klein's dream without issue. (Note 1)
…
No one knew how long had passed before Klein suddenly woke up in the dream, sensing a power trying to drag him into deep slumber and invade.
Who? I haven't recently… No, could it be Cynthia… No, did the "Mother Tree of Desire" chase me into the dream?!
Klein's heart trembled, but due to professional training, he quickly changed his appearance and maintained the look of General Emelius.
I'm really dedicated… he thought to himself. At the same time, he tried slightly and immediately discovered he had no ability to escape the dream.
Why? This isn't a nightmare… While thinking, a vague white mist spread before his eyes, congealing into a blurry figure.
Klein narrowed his eyes. Before he could react, that figure suddenly began to tremble, seemingly struggling desperately.
…
Able to seize control, but can't hide it from the other party. If he wanted to run, he probably still could…
After briefly glimpsing the future scene, Alice touched her chin, her eyes shifted, and she dove into Klein's dream.
After she took over control, the veiled demigod indeed became extremely shy and didn't dare to face anyone, hurriedly trying to escape.
"You can't run," Alice said calmly.
That was a prophecy.
As the protagonist of the "Prophecy," the demigod on the other side didn't have to completely believe it — just a bit of doubt would make escape nearly impossible.
(End of Chapter)