Chapter 689: Confession

“Good morning, Loren.”

Early the next morning, Cecelia woke Loren using the same method Mirrorheart had used before.

“Good morning...”

Loren had already come to terms with it. Compared to what Cecelia had done before, this was positively restrained.

“Today’s my concert. Remember, you’re coming with me.”

Only after emphasizing that did Cecelia get off Loren. Loren followed her out of the room.

It was already noon, and Mirrorheart had made lunch.

Even while he slept, Loren had been controlling several Puppets to make new ones.

This time, after creating Seraphine, Loren hadn’t immediately sent her out to take action. Instead, he began making another Puppet with her. He planned to finish making all of them before sending them out.

In the afternoon, Loren finished the final touches on the new Puppet. This time, he had created Ahri, and he had designed her abilities to be more combat-oriented.

She looked like this.

All nine of Ahri’s tails could serve as staffs, allowing her to cast many spells at once. She was practically a magical Gatling gun.

Like Orianna, Loren had installed plenty of energy-storage devices inside her. She could store quite a lot of Mana herself, so she didn’t have to use Loren’s Mana whenever she cast a spell.

By the time Loren had finished creating Ahri, it was time to go to the concert.

Cecelia had a car, but there was no way it could fit this many people. In the end, Starnight carried everyone else there.

This time, Gwen and Orianna wanted to come along, too. Gwen had once been a singer with Cecelia’s help, but she’d never actually attended a concert.

Yes, when Gwen sang before, they had played a recording. She’d been lip-syncing.

Loren couldn’t bring himself to force them to stay home, so he let them come along. Ahri and Seraphine stayed behind to continue studying the Puppets.

...

“Is this your private entrance?”

Cecelia led Loren to a side entrance at the concert venue. It was deserted. Under Cecelia’s control, no one would even think of coming near it. Some people had even gathered around the area of their own accord, keeping everyone else away.

“That’s right. Let’s go.”

Before Loren could react, Cecelia took his hand and led him forward.

They made their way to a small room that looked like a broadcasting booth. It had one-way glass, so they could see outside, but no one outside could see in.

There was a tape recorder not far from the microphone. That was how Cecelia had lip-synced before. It was even more half-hearted than Loren had imagined.

There was still some time before the concert began, but the venue was already packed. Loren also spotted Anna and the others in the crowd.

“Today is my most important concert, because the most important person in my life is here, too.”

After briefly testing the microphone, Cecelia said those words.

It gave Loren the feeling that she was about to confess her love right there onstage. If any other celebrity had said that, their fans would probably have torn them apart over it.

But it was Cecelia saying it, and those people weren’t fans. They were Puppets.

After saying that, Cecelia didn’t elaborate. She simply began the concert.

“This song is for the person I love most.”

She took a deep breath, gathered her emotions, and began to sing:

“Outside each other’s line of sight,

“We calculate the moments that overlap,

“Someone from where truth and illusion meet spins the roulette wheel...”

(Adapted from “Two-Way Confession,” performed by Luo Tianyi.)

As Cecelia sang, she kept her eyes fixed on Loren. This time, she poured an unusual amount of feeling into the song.

“Outside each other’s paths,

“We let time wear away our hopes,

“Faint starlight flows through your eyes and mine,

“Just two tiny specks of dust...”

The accompaniment was quiet and simple, consisting almost entirely of Cecelia’s voice. It struck straight at the heart.

“But how can I hold back my longing,

“For the time we spent together,

“And how can I kill the world’s prejudice,

“Before it all comes to an end...”

There was no denying that Cecelia’s singing was truly moving. She was in a league of her own compared to the celebrities from Loren’s previous life.

As the times changed, celebrities had grown worse and worse. In an era when people could swap out their prosthetics at will, becoming a celebrity didn’t even require good looks. All you needed was a company willing to package and promote you.

If Cecelia had appeared in Loren’s era, she would only have been censored and suppressed. No matter how overwhelmingly talented she was, the times simply wouldn’t have made room for her.

Of course, if she had an Arcane Ability, that would be another matter.

Loren suddenly felt a little sad. A talented singer had to resort to this just to become famous.

“Maybe that world really does deserve to be destroyed...”

Loren sighed inwardly. Back then, he had truly hoped that a god would suddenly appear and change everything.

If Loren could go back, he would gladly become that god.

Loren shook his head, banishing those scattered thoughts, and focused on appreciating Cecelia’s singing.

The song was now nearing its end, and Cecelia’s emotions grew more and more intense:

“I want to tell you how much I miss you,

“My longing will never come to an end,

“Here, in this moment, we’ll transcend our fate,

“We’ll write everything ourselves,

“Happiness is right before our eyes.”

Cecelia poured her feelings into her singing. The fans who heard the song cried without even trying to hide it.

As soon as she finished, before the fans could recover, Cecelia continued speaking:

“Taking this opportunity, I want to formally confess my love to the person I love most.”

Cecelia looked at Loren once again. Loren hadn’t expected her to pull a stunt like this, and he was more than a little moved.

But what Cecelia said next left Loren stunned:

“Loren, I’ve loved you ever since I first sang one of your songs. I will always belong to you.”

Cecelia said Loren’s name outright. Caught completely off guard, Loren jumped. He was already prepared to fight his way out with the others, but the fans below the stage didn’t react at all. Some of them were even members of the Church.

“So I’ll always stand by your side. Whatever you do, I’ll support you unconditionally.”

Cecelia’s confession continued, and the fans even began cheering for her:

“My control over these people is even deeper than I imagined. I can say all this without any restraint.

“Go ahead and do whatever you want. I’ll always have your back, even if the gods join forces to hunt you down.”

Even after Cecelia said something so extreme, those fans remained just as fanatical. They didn’t even care about the gods.

Cecelia had forcibly made them empathize with her. Now that she would give everything for Loren without hesitation, they would do the same.