Black hair that reached up to her waist, which was completely straight compared to my mother's curly hair. And dark eyes that filled the entire socket, holding the power of darkness within them. All this over the pearl white cute face of a girl who looked no more than 20.
She was wearing the same widow black dress, the same dress that people wear at a funeral, though accordingly she looked like a death reaper herself.
"Is he the one?" She asked as she looked around and the others nodded. Meanwhile, I…
"Oo! A cutie! Are you the leader of this cult?" was in a jolly mood for some reason. I mean, I was getting to meet 'My' people left and right. Obviously, I was happy.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Though it didn't seem like the others took my happy mood so well. I could hear someone shaking behind me while Angela was just keenly observing me.
And then she moved a few steps forward and reached closer to me as her eyes analyzed me over and over again. While it was quite difficult to see through, I could still see the shock hidden behind that poker face of hers.
She then raised her hand ever so slightly and, bringing closer to my forehead, she poured a bit of her energy into me.
[A strange energy is trying to take your consciousness towards her. Would you like to proceed with the transfer?]
Not hesitating, I pressed the [Yes] button as I closed my eyes while the scene in front of me changed from the dark interrogation cult-like room into something more of a beautiful garden.
It was a nice change of scenery and I was kind of mesmerized by the sheer variety of flowers around me.
"What did you do? And who are you?" She asked as she looked at me with a strange expression. I, observing the garden, really carefully spoke out,
"Is this your garden? It's quite beautiful."
Her eyes, showing signs of fear as she observed me with her head down. Was the contract making her do that? I didn't know. But I was sure that as long as she was my slave, I don't need to worry about anything here.
"I made it based on my garden from the time of my first master,"she answered in a low voice and I turned to her, walked up to her while she stood there shrieking but still not taking a step back, and reaching up close to her, I smiled.
My hands gently reached her head as I patted her before speaking,"It's not really a long story, but wanna hear it?"
Her eyes glanced at me and she nodded with some form of passive relief that came to her without her knowledge. I had already told Caroline and Alissa things, while I shouldn't really trust Angela, whom I have just met, I think it was still fine. All the more because of the contract.
It was powerful… the Contract; I mean. It was super powerful enough to bind an entity like Angela into something more of a puppet. But I was glad… glad that strong puppet was mine.
And thus, I began telling her tale of the 'Michael Aroa who survived the Apocalypse using the System', which she intently heard with her eyes kind of sparkling at times. Since I had already given her permission, she asked a bunch of questions, some nonsensical while the others really good ones, which made the entire thing more comfortable to talk with.
I then reached the point where I met Angela in the past and her eyes were really fixated on that part of the story. And as I began to unveil the entire thing, her eyes widened a lot. Though shocked and stupefied, perhaps bamboozled too, she still didn't ask any questions whatsoever. Just kept quiet and listened to the story.
And the part where I mentioned 'Regression' she blinked a little before I finally reached the conclusion of how I reached here.
"Phew! That was a long story. I thought it would take a short time, but I guess it wasn't as short as I thought it was," I spoke to her with a certain smile that you give to ones you really considered close.
She observed me for a brief moment before falling on her back as she sighed in relief, too. Though her expression turned to trouble again as she asked,
"I.. have no choice but to believe you. But I guess what you have told me is proof enough of what happened. You will possibly won't make lies that grand, especially when fate and order are considered. Master, tell me this thing. Are all your powers lost?"
I nodded at her before correcting her,"rather than saying lost, it would be more appropriate to say that they are locked."
She then moved closer to me as she spoke,"Master! Close your eyes."
Hearing her voice, I did that as I wondered what she was up to and approaching me close… She gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead. For a second, a cooling sensation brushed over my entire body as I felt an energy entering my brain.
Even though I had my eyes closed,
[You have received the Blessing of the Helper of Darkness]
[Helper of Darkness(Blessing): Allows the user to see through darkness and have perfect night vision. The User's Stats will be doubles in the absence of direct light and in the presence of absolute darkness, the user gains the ability to channel Darkness Mana]
I opened my eyes to see the smiling face of Angela who was observing me with a totally different gaze than before, compared to both last time before regression and this time when I first saw her.
"What is it?" I asked curiously as I saw her smiling face, to which her eyes turned a bit solemn. She then continued,"Nothing just… It has been a while since I got a master that had so much concern for me. Looking in your eyes, you probably don't understand, but hear me out a little. Actually, I have an ability that allows me to see the people's emotion towards me. Though, if the person in front of me is too strong, or has high intelligence, I won't be able to see that… which happens in most of the cases.
So, when the 'weakened' version of you came to meet me here, I can use that ability on you, which perhaps I failed to do last time. Yet the change in emotion… I picked up that ability to make sure I have reliable people around me and not just some backstabbing bastards."
Hearing her explanation, my eyes turned a bit surprised. I didn't know she had such an awesome, yet dangerous, ability. One can easily manipulate another person if he can figure out the intention of the other person towards you. Though, to be honest, I was glad that she had that ability, making her trust me a bit more than before. This way, at least my slave won't hate me behind my back.
"So what next?" She asked as she observed me with a casual look and I pondered a little. Then suddenly an idea popped up in my brain as I looked at her with a slightly evil smile.
"How about this…"
