At this moment, Litt was a little surprised.
She had always been investigating The Real Litt’s whereabouts and clues, trying to figure out the other’s identity and background.
But from the moment the script appeared until now, this was the very first time she had truly laid eyes on this great figure who had always hidden behind the scenes.
And judging by her current attire, which almost completely concealed her, she was definitely deliberately avoiding the gaze of others.
This, in turn, proved from another angle that her previous suspicions were not wrong.
The other party was indeed using her as a stand-in, while she herself was using her identity to get close to Red.
Now, on her side, whether it was the identity of Litt or Letia, both had already formed some sort of connection with Red.
So in a sense, she might even owe her a thank you.
But the problem now was, why did she suddenly show up?
And she was even walking beside Otto.
Litt narrowed her eyes and, hiding in the shadows, stared closely at the backs of the two.
Perhaps sensing the gaze from behind, The Real Litt turned her head and glanced back, giving Litt another chance to see that face that looked so much like her own.
Fortunately, Litt reacted quickly.
The moment The Real Litt turned, she hid her presence, so she wasn’t discovered.
“You’re looking at something?”
Otto smiled elegantly.
“We’d better hurry back.”
The girl in the black cloak nodded, then continued walking forward with Otto.
After the two had gone off into the distance, Litt took off the mask from her face.
She was pondering something.
Should she go after them?
Emotionally and logically, she really ought to.
But now there was a problem…
After she had substituted herself into The Real Litt’s story and efforts, The Real Litt herself practically had no feelings for Red.
Chasing after her now seemed to hold little real meaning.
She only needed to know this much for now.
The Real Litt did indeed exist, and her identity was absolutely not simple.
Thinking this, Letia rubbed her temples, then once more put on her disguise mask.
“Forget it, forget it… I’m using her, she’s using me… No need to dig any deeper.”
Both sides tacitly accept this, so there’s no reason for me to poke at it.
As for whether I should worry about The Real Litt fighting with me over Red in the future?
That’s not something I need to worry about at all.
As long as I can safely survive the story of the Twenty-Fifth Floor, even if The Real Litt and Red end up rolling in bed together afterwards, I can just sit on the side, eat melon seeds, and even help push Red’s butt along—no problem at all.
Do you really expect a carefree fish to get jealous?
Are you kidding me, brother?
Litt let out a snort and shook her head.
“Whatever, going back to cook is better than anything.”
Litt had never been the type to overthink things.
As long as the other party didn’t directly threaten her, she couldn’t be bothered to mind them.
Just like with Otto.
No matter what, Otto counted as a dangerous character, right?
But since he never intended to make a move against her or Red, why should she be the one to act righteously?
Still, Letia never saw herself as some kind of goody-two-shoes.
As for sympathy and the like—she had almost none at all.
She only cared about herself.
But before Litt could take a few steps, she saw, not far away, Red running over out of breath, with Mason right on his heels.
Seeing the two so anxious, as if looking for something, Litt couldn’t help but ask in suspicion,
“Red… did something urgent happen?”
At the sound of Litt’s voice, both Red and Mason felt a surge of joy in their hearts.
A Magical Doll’s voice could resemble its original master somewhat.
Hearing Litt’s voice in this place, of course—
The two of them, almost simultaneously, whipped their heads around in disbelief, faces breaking into wild delight.
However… what entered their sight was Litt herself, in the flesh.
She was wearing her everyday casual clothes, standing curiously at the side of the path not far away, looking at them, her whole body spotless, with no sign of the joint seams or metallic gleam unique to an Automaton.
She held a basket in her hand, as if she had just come back from the Chamber of Commerce with groceries.
“Ah—!”
The radiant smiles that had just blossomed on both their faces froze instantly.
It was like someone had pressed the pause button, or dumped a bucket of ice water over their heads—the only thing left was the huge word “awkward” congealing on their faces.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem!”
Red and Mason, perfectly in sync, awkwardly averted their gazes, as if something truly miraculous had suddenly grown from the ground, worthy of deep study.
Especially Red, whose gaze was fixed hard on the gravel at his feet, not daring to raise it even an inch to meet Litt’s clear, pure, and confused eyes.
“N-nothing! Litt, you… why are you here?”
Of course, he had to change the subject.
After all, he couldn’t possibly say he’d made a Magical Doll that looked just like her, wanted to do some unspeakable things, and then before he could even install the Meat Lingzhi, the Automaton ran away, right?
If that really got out, never mind dinner tonight—he’d be lucky to even get in the door.
“Yes, yes,” Mason, ever the loyal buddy, nodded frantically and added, “We’re out for a night run, getting some exercise, you know?”
As he spoke, Mason subtly nudged Red’s arm.
“This isn’t good…” he whispered so only the two of them could hear, “We’ve searched every inch of this area, but not even a single Automaton screw turned up! Where on earth did that thing go?”
“You think I know?”
Red whispered back.
“But we have to find it as soon as possible.”
But before Red could say more, Litt walked up to the two of them, tilting her head in confusion.
“What are you two talking about?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Seeing the pair act so secretively, Litt was a little suspicious, but didn’t press them.
She simply said gently to Red,
“But since we met like this… Red, let’s go home together. You’ve returned in triumph from the Dungeon, so I specially prepared lots of delicious food for you.”
With that, Litt lifted her basket, and Red could see that the ingredients inside were clearly higher grade than usual.
But that wasn’t the point!
The Magical Doll that looked so much like Litt was still missing, and if someone saw it and word got back to Litt…
Red didn’t dare imagine what kind of fate would await him.
He couldn’t say about others, but when it came to facing Litt —the Angelic Nun—he really didn’t want to leave a bad impression in her eyes.
“Well… uh…”
Red hesitated, and Litt seemed to notice his awkwardness.
“Red… you still have… some very important things left unfinished, don’t you?”
Litt’s voice was soft, without reproach—only a trace of imperceptible disappointment.