On the mist-shrouded surface of the lake, a lotus platform floated serenely. At the center of the lotus, a small girl slept peacefully, cradling a fairy tale book in her arms. Everything was so tranquil and harmonious, if only the sunlight weren't that ambiguous shade of pink.
"I've almost forgotten the settings for this character of yours. They say fairy tales can influence a person's entire life, and it seems they weren't wrong." Jiang You had originally planned to kill off this persona of Sesshouin as the Demonic Bodhisattva, but after thinking it over, it seemed that because he had rewritten the plot of FE, this guy hadn't done anything too outrageous yet. But Jiang You could never bring himself to like this personality, for in the end, he was still a normal man, and his possessiveness over his partner was still quite strong.
Recalling Kiara-san's settings for a moment, Jiang You felt that she should have purple hair, because Mushroom's malice toward purple-haired female characters was known to the whole world.
"Aren't you going to make a move?" The summoned Sesshouin appeared beside Jiang You, her gossamer veil, so light it was almost transparent, brushing against his arm. "Desire is human nature; suppressing it only adds to one's troubles."
"I don't like you as you are now, so I'm going to rewrite you a little." Jiang You pushed away the clinging Sesshouin. With his current abilities, rewriting a segment of the plot and then extracting it from the original timeline was no difficult task. Irisviel and Olga Marie were created using this very principle. Now, he intended to indulge himself and construct a Sesshouin more suited to his own preferences.
"Not just my body, but you want to control my personality and soul as well?" Sesshouin felt no dissatisfaction. Instead, the desire in Jiang You's eyes only made her more infatuated. With Jiang You's existence, if she could fall into depravity with him, that would be true paradise.
"For you, this should be like a dream, shouldn't it? Then, let this version of you vanish within that dream."
-
She had lost count of how many hypocritical believers had already passed before her eyes. Kiara Sesshouin looked at the countless offerings piled in front of her, yet she couldn't feel any joy at all. Most of them were useless things that she, already suffering from an incurable disease, could never use. However, this was still a gesture of goodwill from the believers, representing their piety toward the Cult and being quite important to her Father, so Kiara Sesshouin did not feel there was anything to complain about. If possible, she actually wanted to see the outside world while she was still alive, but her Father did not allow her to contact the outside world.
"I say, aren't you bored?" Suddenly, a voice interrupted her drifting thoughts.
Kiara Sesshouin snapped back to her senses and found that the newcomer was a young believer, about twenty years old. This was quite rare in their Eiten-ryu, because the believers gathered here because they had something to ask of her Father for various reasons. At this age, most people preferred to rely on themselves most of the time, and would only seek help from others when they found that relying on themselves could not solve the problems they encountered. Of course, Kiara Sesshouin did not fully understand this point yet.
"Why would you say that?" Kiara Sesshouin had never met anyone like this before. The people she usually interacted with were either reverent due to her status and terminal illness or looked at her with pity. A conversation like this would never happen.
"You can't even see the sun in this room, let alone anyone your own age. There's not even a game console or a computer. How could you not be bored? Even the books you have are just worn-out scriptures." As he spoke, the young man casually pulled out some fruit from the offerings and started eating, acting with a surprising lack of formality. "And what's the point of reading scriptures at your age? You'd be better off reading a fairy tale book."
"Game console? Computer? Fairy tale book?" The eight-year-old Kiara Sesshouin blinked her large, watery eyes. Her knowledge of the outside world was completely non-existent. If it weren't for studying the scriptures, she might not even know how to read.
"..." The young man was visibly speechless. He never expected he would have to explain these terms one day. He rolled his eyes. "It would be a bit hard to bring you a game console or a computer. How about this: next time I'll bring you some fairy tale books to help pass the time."
"Thank you." Kiara Sesshouin responded politely. She was actually quite looking forward to experiencing new things. After all, she was still just an eight-year-old little girl.
Just as she thought the conversation was about to end, the young man extended his hand to her. "Before that, why not go out and take a look? It's the Summer Festival right now, and it's very lively outside. It's not good for you to just stay here and rot, right?"
"That's not allowed..." Kiara Sesshouin was naturally full of longing for the outside world. But as mentioned before, her Sect Leader Father's desire for control had reached an incomprehensible level, and he simply didn't allow her to have any contact with the outside world. Just as Kiara Sesshouin was about to use the scriptures to refute him, the young man interrupted her.
"In that case, it's a kidnapping. So, it's not that you're taking the initiative to run out, but that you're forced into it." The young man showed a confident smile, as if he knew nothing would happen. "Besides, as long as we're not discovered, it means it never happened, right?"
"..." Kiara Sesshouin remained silent for a long time. At this moment, she still respected her father very much and didn't want to go against his wishes, but a child's curiosity drove her to want to find out. In the end, her nature still overcame the dogmas. Before that, she still asked curiously, "You don't look like a believer of Eiten-ryu... Why are you here?"
"Because I'm bored?" Of course, the current Jiang You Sesshouin couldn't say that he was lusting after her future body, but that was part of the reason. "A person should do things that make them happy while they're alive, right?"
For some reason, Kiara Sesshouin felt that she completely agreed with this statement. She finally showed a smile and took the young man's hand.
The escape went very smoothly. For the first time, Kiara Sesshouin saw the starry sky and the magnificent fireworks. The takoyaki and candied haws were also quite delicious. This was the most colorful day of her life. She agreed with the young man's words once again: a person should do things that make them happy while they're alive, after all, humans can feel things on their own.
The happy time passed very quickly. The young man saw the right moment to stop and escorted her back to her room before she was discovered by anyone else.
And the young man fulfilled his promise, leaving her a fairy tale book. Kiara Sesshouin held it as if it were a precious treasure and opened it. The illustrations inside were completely different from the scriptures with black text on a white background, filled with color and joy.
Grimms' Fairy Tales was full of stories about princesses and princes (knights).