mystery lover

The young man sitting on the opposite sofa, after the young man noticed his gaze, a faint smile appeared on his face.

And before the young man spoke, Abraxas took the lead in asking the suspicion that had been hidden in his heart for a long time.

"Nico, tell me, are you Oster Kasdeil?"

This is the fleeting information in the platinum nobleman's mind as early as four years ago. It should be impossible, but after seeing Nico for real...

Some information seems to be cleverly connected.

"I'm."

The young man's frank answer made Abraxas gasp.

And Osted looked at Abu opposite him, with a distressed look on his face, with a trace of apology, and in those pair of unchanging blue eyes, there was only determination without hesitation.

"Abu, since you are asking this question, then you should know why I came to you. Even after Voldemort ruined my family, you should know that I still came here. I just want to know, who is my favorite?" I value-man, any possible news. Abu, I'm sorry, but you are the only one who can tell me about him."

After Oster finished speaking, the room fell into a brief silence.At this time, Oster realized that he could no longer understand the meaning contained in Abu's expression, which hadn't happened even when Abu confirmed that he was the heir of the Kasdeyi family just now.

This made Oster nervous, even... frightened.

"Tell me what's the matter with Tom!"

Oster found that his fingers were trembling.

That boy... that was the person he loved the most, the only boy he loved deeply.

He couldn't bear any accidents with the boy.

As if sensing Oster's panic, Abraxas, who was always eloquent, was a little dumb.

"Nico...don't worry, he...he's fine."

After hearing Abraxas' affirmative return, the youth on the opposite sofa finally calmed down.But it also seemed to sense something more wrong, that was Abraxas's expression that couldn't be concealed.

"Tom... where is he. Tell me, Abu."

Oster forced himself to calm down. He didn't dare to move his eyes a bit. He stared at Abu who was sitting opposite him. He was so nervous, as if he didn't dare to miss every expression and every word he said.

"Nico..."

"Tom...he...he doesn't use that familiar name anymore..."

"he……"

An impetuous and... fearful expression appeared on the face of the platinum nobleman, but he still said what he should have said, and finished.

"His current name is..."

"...Lord Voldemort"

His current name is Lord Voldemort.

☆, late attribution

For a moment Oster thought he had heard wrong.

"……What did you say?"

"It's him, Nico." Abraxas leaned back uncomfortably, as if this position would make him feel more comfortable.

"The person you are looking for is my master—DarkLord."

"It's impossible..." Oster almost blurted out.

"..."

Abraxas looked at the young man's distraught look. During the long silence, he didn't know what Nico was thinking, just when Abraxas thought that Nico would give up that idea.

The young man raised his head.

"Can I see him?"

"Are you sure?"

Abraxas frowned in a rare way. He knew that to Nicol, the Dark Lord was the murderer who killed his friend's grandfather, and also the reason for the destruction of the Castei family.He should stop Nico from doing such a stupid thing, he should persuade Nico rationally, telling him that the Dark Lord is no longer the powerless boy in Nico's memory.

But Abu suddenly thought of the abnormality of the Dark Lord after that attack.

"Nico, what happened four years ago. Did he see you?"

"……I'm not sure."

Oster recalled that only meeting...

It turned out to be such an occasion.

Tom...has he seen himself?

Vague memories came rushing in like a rising tide.

……

"You're bound to take the risk, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"In what capacity?"

"surrender."

Abraxas paused for a moment, and Patriarch Malfoy seemed to want to say something, but he remained silent in the end.

When Lucius saw Oster Castei in his manor, the platinum noble almost pulled out the snake staff in his hand vigilantly.But Lucius felt something was wrong again, because standing next to Castei was his father who sent a message to let him go home.Most importantly, why did this boy, who should have been executed by the Death Eaters, show up at Malfoy's manor?

"Luke, put away your wand."

Abraxas' words made Lucius feel astonished. If this was just the beginning, then when his father asked him to introduce Oster to Lord, Lucius almost lost his composure.Then when he walked into the study with his father, the platinum nobleman was still a little surprised that his father let the boy who blatantly rejected the Lord's offer to stay in his manor.

According to common sense, the Malfoy family and the Castei, who had a high status among the Death Eaters, should already be regarded as enemies.

But even though Lucius was puzzled, when he came out of the study, he motioned for the young man waiting in the hall to follow him.In recent years, most of the young wizards joining the Dark Lord's camp were recruited or recommended by Malfoy.This is inseparable from Lucius' status among young wizards and Slytherins.And Abraxas Malfoy and the whole Malfoy family behind him.

So after Oster said thank you to Abu who was behind Lucius, he left Malfoy Manor together with him, and when they apparated to a remote hillside, Oster quickly noticed There were several wizards who were already waiting aside, all wearing their iconic black cloaks.

When Lucius asked himself to attack a person in a designated house with these wizards, Oster felt momentarily uncomfortable because of the order, but the young man quickly restrained his reaction.This is his own choice, for which he is willing to bear all the consequences.

But before Oster took action, Lucius threw a silver mask to him, and the platinum noble told him lightly that this was just a test.

And after the mission was over, a week later, Oster received a message from Lucius again.

Only this time, the place where Lucius asked him to meet was a restaurant in Diagon Alley.

The current Diagon Alley is no longer as busy as it was a few years ago. After the outbreak of the war, only the properties under the names of the major nobles remained.

When Oster sat opposite Lucius, the young man had the opportunity to carefully observe the former senior opposite him.

And Lucius looked at Oster who still didn't seem to change his mind. Although the doubts in his heart were magnified, he had to suppress his rare curiosity when he thought of his father's orders.Before the Castei family was destroyed by his master, he discovered the value of the person opposite, but since the other party rejected the Dark Lord's solicitation in the tense situation at the beginning, why would he be in the dust now? After settling down, he changed his mind and contacted his father.

Although Lucius didn't understand, it didn't hinder his businesslike attitude at the moment, "Speaking of which, your friend is also one of us now."

When Lucius said this, there was still that incomprehensible smile on the corner of his mouth. He was of course referring to the kid from the Crouch family.But Oster was visibly stunned after hearing his words.Then the young man on the opposite side showed a relieved smile.

"That's great."

Lucius felt a strange moment of emotion at what he had heard.

He told Oster that he would introduce him to the master tonight.But in the end, Lucius said, "My father said that if you want to quit, you are allowed until you see the master."

For this reason, Lucius concealed the names of the wizards who were about to join the Death Eaters this time, seemingly ingeniously and unconsciously, but extremely risky.Of course, this is also thanks to the fact that his master never took it to heart.

After Lucius left, Oster sat where he was but had no intention of leaving immediately.

He fell into rare contemplation.

His friend... Sure enough, he finally joined that person's camp.

Thinking about it now, even Oster finds it a bit ironic.

When Barty Jr. sees him, he will be shocked.

But this time...he won't stop his friend anymore.

Osted turned his head, and he looked at the deserted and desolate Diagon Alley outside the window. The young man's chest continued to suffer from a slow pain, which was a pain that he gradually became accustomed to after he learned about Tom. .

He wondered what, that boy, he alone had been through in the twenty-odd years since he had been away from Tom.

He felt sorry and... guilty for not being part of that person's time.

At another regular gathering of Death Eaters, Barty Crouch Jr. stood silently among the crowd.When he watched Lucius Malfoy enter the hall with several new members, Barty Jr. lowered his head and fiddled with the wand in his hand without interest.For a moment, Little Barty seemed to feel a gaze, but when he raised his indifferent gaze, only a few wizards in cloaks passed in front of him.

"My master."

Lucius' gorgeous voice sounded in the hall, and the platinum noble had half-kneeled at the feet of the tall man.

And following his actions, several wizards behind him also knelt down imitating Malfoy's actions.

There was a sudden silence in the air, and when the Dark Lord waved Lucius to step aside, some of these unmarked wizards even couldn't help trembling because of Voldemort's approach.

A high-pitched grim laugh rose above their heads, followed by the jeers of the Death Eaters matching their master.Abraxas was also in the crowd, but he was standing on the right-hand side closest to the Dark Lord, while Lucius stood beside his father.It's just the heir of the Malfoy family, and the only one who noticed that his father wasn't smiling at the moment, and he was even shocked to find that his father was looking at the young man kneeling in front of the Lord with almost worried eyes .

Voldemort's eyes swept over several people who were waiting to be marked, the man's slender pupils were only condescendingly cold and uninterested.He pointed his wand at the arm of one of the wizards, and it only took a moment for the marking to be complete, ignoring the anguished scream of the marked wizard and the slow step back with arms crossed.

When Oster felt that person walking in front of him, the young man's body already began to tremble due to nervousness or excitement.

"What's your name."

Oster heard a voice above his head. It was a completely different tone from the black-haired boy in his memory, but he still captured the familiarity revealed in the voice.

It was Tom's voice, though it was nothing like it used to be.

At this moment, Oster felt that the surroundings were suddenly very quiet.

Probably because of Voldemort's question, Oster thought so.And the young man's body also began to react further, he knew that he had to face this person, this was his only chance.

Oster buried his head very low, and he maintained a half-kneeling posture. His voice was also very soft, but extremely gentle.

"I am Oster Kasdeil."

……

There seemed to be some voices around, but Oster didn't care, he was waiting for Voldemort.He should no longer remember the boy he ordered to hunt down, but it doesn't matter, Oster thought, and he didn't care about the boy who had disappeared long ago.

So the next moment, Osted raised his head slowly, and when he could finally see the person, a smile appeared on Osted's face, and he felt his eyes were a little sore, but more, it was The... joy of finding this person.

"You can also call me Nico Perenelle...MyLord"

his tom...

His only master.

☆, marked right hand

Nico...

Voldemort looked into the young man's eyes, and he felt that he should say something, just like tagging other Death Eaters.But his body began to fail. After this person appeared, a strange emotion also appeared and began to interfere with his actions.It made him irritable, even angry. Voldemort obviously didn't like this out of control situation, he should be the one with absolute dominance and control.

So he pointed his wand at the young man who claimed to be Nico Perenelle.He wants to know what tricks the other party is playing, and who designed it!

"Inspiriting—"

The Dark Lord's spell hit the unsuspecting youth.

When a powerful force penetrated into his brain, out of instinct, Oster's brain almost immediately erected a defense, which was the Occlumency Technique he had mastered many years ago, which could Effectively prevent others from spying on his brain.

But just for a moment, the young man subconsciously lowered his defenses. Apart from the family secrets, Oster almost completely let Voldemort read his feelings. He pointed his brain at the man who was reading his memory. wide open.

-

it was an afternoon

The boy appeared in front of the boy, and he taught the children in the orphanage with his wand

Then he held out his hand to the strange boy

"Nice to meet you, I'm Nicole Perenelle."

"Tom Riddle."

……

Slytherin's long table

"Not welcome?"

"welcome."

"Why did you come to Hogwarts?"

"Surprise, come to school with Tom."

……

in the bedroom

The brunette boy said to the teenager

"I just want to be with you."

……

they spend the holidays together

The teenager sat beside the boy, his voice was gentle

"I'm glad you like it, Tom."

"Let me sing a song for you, happy birthday to you..."

……

"No, don't leave me—"

"I'm sorry...Tom."

Memory ends here.

When Voldemort stopped instigating the kneeling man, even the Dark Lord himself was unaware that the emotion on his own face was changing with those distant images.

Some of the unknown Death Eaters on the side pulled out their wands vigilantly because of Castei's name, some didn't dare to act rashly because of their master's abnormality, and some like Barty Jr. because their friend was still alive and The one who was shocked right in front of him, and the last one left was Abraxas who was the only one who knew and kept observing the changes between the two of them.

Apparently, in Abraxas's budget, the situation wasn't too bad, at least the Lord had only used Legilimency once so far.It was nothing compared to the punishment the Lord had inflicted on the other Death Eaters.

As for the young man kneeling in front of the hall, his eyes followed the man in front of him all the time. With the memories being dug out, the young man's eyes gradually gathered mist. When he read it, his face was covered with tears.

Oster didn't want the Death Eaters around him to see him crying, so he hurriedly lowered his head, and when those blue eyes looked at Voldemort again, the young man opened his mouth dumbly.

Oster clearly knew that he had never had the position to ask Tom's forgiveness.

Regret, helplessness, and fear... All he has is desperate isolation.

"I'm here to fulfill my promise...to return to you."

The young man almost exhausted all his courage to plead with the boy he had left behind.

Begging him to let him come back to him.

However, Voldemort didn't feel more emotional because of Oster's words.As if the initial gaffe was just an illusion, the Dark Lord had returned to his appearance at the beginning of the party, and his wand was once again pointed at the young man who had shown his loyalty to him.

"You...why do you think I still need you?"

When those bloody eyes looked down again, the young man who was still kneeling finally lowered his head.

That's good enough.Oster told himself.

At least Tom didn't say no...

"I will prove my worth, please allow me to join your camp."

After finishing speaking, Oster looked at the ground, he waited patiently, and the other party seemed to be thinking, but he didn't wait long.Because soon, Oster heard that voice again.

"Stretch out your right hand."

Oster obediently stretched out his arm, and then he felt a cold touch, which made him couldn't help but raise his eyes.

It was a hand that was definitely not pretty, but when that pale palm held his right hand, Oster felt as if an electric current was passing through his chest, and he was even moved by the contact. jump for joy.

But soon, the emotions that had just risen in the young man's heart were covered up by the severe pain.

When the complete Dark Mark appeared on his arm, Oster looked at the back of the man who turned and left, and the young man reluctantly stood up from the ground.

The Dark Lord dismissed the meeting, and no one dared to object.

When Osted dragged his not-so-good body and was about to leave, a hand supported him from his side.

"Oster."

"Nico."

Two voices sounded beside the young man almost at the same time, and they came from two friends of his student days.

Until this moment, Barty Crouch Jr. could not believe that the young man in front of him was really his friend who had been missing for four years. Oster's face was pale, but Barty Jr. would never be mistaken for those eyes .It's just that when he heard the Malfoy patriarch on the other side address his friend, little Barty's brows never loosened.

Obviously in these four years, Buddy has been through a lot.Otherwise... how could Oster suddenly appear at the Death Eaters' party and join the Dark Lord.But little Barty is not at all eager to know what happened to his friend. He just wants to take Oster out of here, and then pour him a dozen recovery potions.

As for the interrogation... the future is long.

"Abu..." Oster glanced at Abraxas beside him, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. But he... let's not contact him for now, I'm afraid I will affect you."

"I know."

Abraxas smiled wryly.It is impossible for the Lord not to know who paved the way for Nenny to be here.

"Take care of yourself, Nico."

After Patriarch Malfoy finished speaking, he left first.Leaving Oster and him beside him, little Batty who was once again lost in thought after hearing the name Nico.

☆, the time of intersection

Oster followed Barty Jr. back to the house where Barty Jr. lives now, which is in a very remote place.When Osted followed his friend into the house, looking at the illuminated living room, Osted was apprehensive for a moment.

"Do you all live here?" Oster looked around the living room. Compared with the environment of Crouch's house, this place is indeed too simple.

Little Barty didn't care. After finding a few bottles of recovery potions, the stern young man walked towards Oster, "What about you?"

While asking, he handed the potion in Oster's hand, and the two sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Little Batty kept staring at Oster opposite him, watching the other party finish drinking the potion, before he continued, "Is it better?"

"En." Oster nodded, and then there was another silence.

The two friends who met again felt relatively speechless at the moment.Perhaps they did not expect to meet again in today's situation, but in the end it was Oster who broke the tranquility first, and he asked for information about the Death Eaters.

"What are you doing among them, Barty?"

"My greatest value is thanks to my father." Little Barty's voice was indifferent, and there seemed to be a trace of ridicule in that voice, "When everyone knows that the law enforcement officer who resisted the Dark Lord After having a son of a Death Eater... I really look forward to my father's expression."

When Barty Jr. said this, he let out a deep laugh.

But in Oster's eyes, the young man opposite seemed to be the lonely boy in Hogwarts, indifferent and repelling his father.

Oster, who probably knew where his friend's hatred for his father came from, chose to remain silent.

"Occasionally act as a thug."

After little Batty finished speaking, when he looked at Oster again, the indifference in his eyes changed to another emotion, which was the care and worry that was extremely rare in this person.

Oster was watched by such eyes, and for a moment, he seemed to see young Tom.

The same indifference and stubbornness, but only shows a soft side when he is around him.

"Who did you see through me?"

Osted was awakened by Little Batty's voice, but the other party's line of sight did not change, but Osted did not expect that in just a few years, the former boy had become so sharp.Batty even noticed that he missed Tom.

And after that, there was a slow stabbing pain in his chest.

They both missed each other for far too long.

He and Tom, and Barty, and Abu.

"Are you still unwilling to tell me, Al." Batty Jr. lowered his head, he didn't want to force Oster, in fact, he was just worried about him.

No one knows where Orster went after the destruction of the Kasdeil family.And he just reappeared just like that, and joined... Lord.

Barty Jr. was a little afraid of his own speculation, he would not believe that Oster really joined Lord.If so, this person is not the Ostecastel I know.He knew Oster's position too well. Oster would not join the Dark Lord, he would not betray his family, so what is his friend doing now?

Spy?

Little Barty didn't dare to think about it.

And Osted seemed to see little Batty's trance, what Batty was thinking, Osted found that he could guess clearly.

"Barty." Oster called his friend on the opposite side, and he tried to make his voice soft and convincing, "Don't worry about me, I am absolutely loyal to him..."

But this surprised Barty Jr.

Little Batty looked at Oster, and after a long period of staring, he found that the other party was not lying, but this was impossible.

"why……?"

Little Barty realized that he had only this sentence left.

"Because through you, I see him."

"what--?!"

"Time travel."

Oster's voice became very soft, as if he was telling a very distant story.So that those who listened to him unconsciously fell into his calm and slow statement.

"A time travel, I met him when I was young, we became friends, and Abraxas, Abu was my best friend at that time. And he... Lord... he was my favorite People. I don’t want that boy to be hurt a little bit, I don’t want him to be alone, I don’t want to see his back going to the classroom alone, I adore him so much, I adore him—I can’t wait to turn him into me alone of."

Oster saw the shock in Barty Jr.'s eyes, and he smiled back at it.

"Then I came back here and found him again."

"You..." Little Barty felt that his expression at the moment must be very funny, but the content of his friend's words was really shocking.For this reason, he had to double-check to make sure he had heard correctly, "You...you said you...love Lord?"

"To be precise, when I fell in love with him, he was not your Lord, but you are right, I love him."

Osted said softly, but the emotions surging in that calmness were a trance of time and space interlaced. Osted did not expect that the first time he confessed his feelings for Tom would be today, 32 years later. in front of his first friend.

"So you don't have to worry about me betraying him, Batty."

"..."

"I think I need some quiet..."

In the end, Batty Jr. almost lost his mind and whispered back.

Although Oster explained time travel, he should be happy for his friend's frankness, but his friend said that he fell in love with Lord... Little Barty's brain suddenly flashed back. At the meeting of the Death Eaters, Abu Laxus Malfoy called his friends and... cared, so... is that the reason.In the heart of Abraxas, Osted is not only Osted, but also a friend of the patriarch of the Malfoy family when he was a student.

……

Little Barty suddenly raised his head, his eyes stared straight at the young man opposite him.

"You've seen him, Al. Do you... still love him? I mean... Lord now."

Although Little Barty didn't know what the Lord looked like in the past, but the Lord now...

When Barty Jr. met his master for the first time, he had only dared to feel obedience, admiration, and... fear of the Dark Lord.

After all, it was hard not to be intimidated by Lord's looks, even if he wasn't the Dark Lord.

And the image of staring at Voldemort also reappeared in Oster's mind.

It wasn't Tom's face...it wasn't even a human face, in fact.

However, in the long silence, there was only a sighing sound left in the room.

"Do you think... the feelings will disappear with the change of the other person's appearance?"

Little Barty stared at Oster in a daze.He has never loved anyone, and he has never disdained those who fell in love///love, but looking at his friends at this moment, he is sincerely grateful and hopes that he will never have similar feelings.

That would be beyond his control over the situation.

Oster also sank into the sofa in a daze.

Tom began to form in his mind, and then it gradually became Voldemort.They started appearing alternately, a boy smiling at him, and Voldemort looking down at him.

The last two figures overlapped, and they merged into one tall, thin man.

The man had blood-red eyes and a face as pale as a melted candle.He cupped his right hand in a bloodshot hand, and touched his wand to his skin.

……

Dark Mark.

Oster suddenly felt that his right arm really started to burn again, and the young man bounced off the sofa.And Barty, who was also in a daze across from him, saw his friend folded his arms and frowned, and instantly realized that Lord was calling his friend.

It's just... It's only been a few hours since the Lord dismissed the meeting, and it's almost midnight.

Little Barty's brow revealed a hint of worry, "The Lord is calling for you."

"Well... I probably... can understand how this mark works."

After Oster finished speaking, he had already Apparated and left his friend's house.He followed the instructions of the Dark Mark and arrived at the place where he should appear.

-

It was a dimly lit room, but it was very spacious, and after Oster arrived in this room, he saw the figure standing by the window almost in the blink of an eye.

The other party turned around after he appeared, a pair of red eyes were exceptionally clear in the darkness.

Oster held his breath almost instantly, he did not expect to see...Voldemort again so soon.His heartbeat began to accelerate abnormally, and in the end it was almost crazy.

The room was so quiet that Oster was suddenly afraid that the other party would hear his heartbeat.He has absolutely no idea how Tom sees himself, more than 30 years later.

But obviously, the previous Death Eater meeting was a good lesson and warning.

So Oster just stood where he appeared, neither advancing nor retreating.Until the figure standing by the window started to approach him.

As the other party approached, Oster was so nervous that his lips became dry.

"I remembered something..."

A low, pleasant voice suddenly sounded in the room, and it almost instantly attracted Oster's full attention.

Oster looked at the person who was getting closer and closer to him. His voice at this time was not as high as it was in the hall before. It was very pleasant, but very cold. People from the original place rolled up.

Then that face that terrified countless people was clearly reflected in Oster's eyes.

"What-?"

Osted answered Voldemort carefully, but the other party didn't continue talking, Osd saw a strange expression on that distorted face, the other party seemed to be smiling, but that didn't make people feel better .

And the next moment, Voldemort almost roughly/// pulled the young man in front of him, and then kissed the young man's lips.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that Oster opened his eyes wide and looked at the unusually abrupt face in front of him.The other party's expression was more distorted than before, it didn't look like a kiss at all, Oster almost suspected that this was his own illusion, but the biting on his lips reminded him very clearly that this was not an illusion, Voldemort was really Kiss him, though not tenderly.

"Well--"

Osted held his breath for too long because of the other party's actions. He almost didn't dare to move until the cold voice sounded again. This time, there was an unknown sneer in the voice, which made Osther De shivered a little.

"I'm reminded of something I seemed to want to do a long time ago... Now that you've given me this chance... why don't I give it a try."

After Voldemort finished speaking, he probed into the young man's mouth again.He felt the softness again and again, and tested his own strange emotions again and again.But Oster lost his mind for a moment because of Voldemort's words.

Finally, after an almost imperceptible sigh, Oster kissed back the man in front of him.For a moment, Oster felt that the other party seemed to pause because of his response, but soon, the two became more entangled with each other.

When Voldemort pushed him down on the bed, Oster almost gasped and closed his eyes.

If this is what Tom wants, he is willing to give it to the other party.

☆、Malfoy's worries