“Has it been eight years, Mystery?” Joseph returned her smile gently. “You haven’t changed a bit. Just as beautiful as I remembered.”

“Hey, now. Shouldn’t you say I became more beautiful instead?” Mystery pouted, then laughed.

Joseph shook his head with a chuckle, then sighed. “Things would not have turned out this way if you had obediently stayed by my side back then… now look at what you made me do,” Joseph fretted.

He stepped closer to the girl, reaching his hand out to caress her cheek. “I missed you…” The man leaned closer, taking a whiff of the goddess’ scent. It smelled pleasantly sweet.

Mystery tilted her head with a muted smile, avoiding him naturally. If not because she needed his assistance again, she would not have allowed him to touch her that way. She could feel the ancient demon residing inside her beginning to bare his fangs, but she reined him in. She had no intentions of getting kicked out of the world too early, after all.

“Mystery, I’m sorry, but because of the stunt you pulled, I’m going to have to punish you,” Joseph palmed her face apologetically. From within the depths of his eyes, Mystery could see both greed and lust.

She lightly brushed his hands away, simultaneously activating her powers. Her golden eyes glowed slightly, but Joseph who had his eyes on her the whole time easily noticed it.

Mystery went through the past nine years of his memories briefly. She could not watch for long, since her suppressed powers would not be enough to maintain her ‘sight’.

She saw his sadness when he found out that she was gone. He searched for her high and low for many months, but to no avail. He further fell into a depressed state. Then, one day, he had the urge to see Fergus’ research. At that time, Fergus’ research on Mystery’s DNA had reached a minor breakthrough. As he went through it, his interest sparked. He studied hard under his father and finally joined the team upon his graduation. He gradually began to forget the mysterious white-haired girl that once entered his life.

However, it did not end there. The research reached a standstill. All the researchers were stuck on quite a few questions that were left unanswered. They encountered a problem: the sample was not enough. It was too limited. His father soon began a secret search for the sample. Joseph soon rekindled his feelings for Mystery once again. He pleaded his father to allow him to be in charge of the secret operation, and knowing that he was the one who found the original sample, Jude Pandora gave him the green light. But… as he searched for every clue related to her, practically grasping at invisible trails one after another, his pure love for the girl turned into an obsession.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

And finally… he was here.

He found her.

Though it was only because she wanted to be found.

This step was necessary, she thought. In order to make Enigma stronger, she must allow him to grow independently. That was why, she had to begin preparing for the next stage of the plan.

The Domain Lords of this world were too stingy. They wouldn’t even spare a tiny bit of their Blessings for the mortals of their realms, so it was up to her to make the world the way Enigma wanted it to turn into.

Mystery could feel the backlash of the technique on her soul. She slightly trembled, a trickle of blood flowing out from her mouth.

She choked, but kept smiling. As if nothing was wrong, she wiped away the blood.

“Mystery?” Joseph watched her in alarm. He came closer, supporting her figure. “Mystery, let me help you.” He saw the red blood coming out of her, feeling a slight bit of disappointment. He had wondered what her blood looked like, and since she was special and had superpowers, he had thought they were anything but red.

Mystery opened her mouth to speak, but more blood flowed out instead. She coughed, then spat out the remaining blood from her throat.

“What’s wrong, Mystery? Are you sick? Are you hurt anywhere?” He whipped his head to glare at the leader of the mercenaries he had hired to capture Mystery, “You! I told you not to do her any harm!”

“We have not harmed her yet, sir.” The mercenary grinded his teeth, but respectfully replied. The bratty young master in front of them was the one who was rolling their pay checks, so he could not afford to offend him.

“Mystery, come with me. I’ll fix you up.” His eyes narrowed, part worried and part joyous. He took out a small cylindrical vial from inside his jacket and uncapped it. A clear glass holding some sort of bluish liquid could be seen inside it.

“Don’t worry; I won't hurt you… much.” Joseph smiled lovingly at Mystery, then plunged the sharp needle attached to the vial to her neck in one swift move. “Goodnight, Mystery.”

The liquid proved to be quite effective. Mystery collapsed into his arms as her vision darkened. “What have you d…on…e…”

Joseph threw away the empty vial, eyebrows raised and nodding in approval. “The new product is very good. I’ll have to relay this information back to the lab,” he says in a monologue. "Now, she should remain unconscious for a few days, at least."

In one move, Joseph swept Mystery into his arms in a princess-styled carry.

“Let’s go, men.” He ordered the mercenaries to evacuate, a light smile on his face.