Chapter 146: The First Step in Shifting Blame

Klein's mind went blank.

He stared in disbelief at the familiar face before him, identical to that of Lynn Sotos. Even with the abilities of a Clown, Klein couldn't control his expression at this moment.

After a brief mental pause, the first thought that popped into Klein's mind was—so Lynn has been messing with me all along, but why?

The second thought was—no, impossible!

These two thoughts waged a war in Klein's mind, leaving him momentarily at a loss.

"Thud—"

As Klein's mind was a chaotic mess due to the shock, he suddenly heard something falling to the ground.

Klein instinctively looked towards the source of the sound. It turned out to be the novel Lynn had been holding, which had fallen to the ground. Lynn had stood up from his chair, eyes wide with shock.

Huh?

Klein blinked, his stalled thoughts finally starting to work again. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and heard Lynn exclaim in surprise,

"You, you! Why do you look exactly like me? Could it be, could you be my twin brother?"

Why a brother? He looks more like the older one... Hearing this, Klein couldn't help but internally quip, but his mood calmed significantly. He first glanced at his goofy companion, then looked at the nearby Angel of Secrets. After a brief consideration, Klein asked,

"So, Your Highness the Angel of Secrets, what's going on? Why do you look exactly like Lynn? Could you really be his twin brother, as he says?"

"I thought you would suspect that Lynn and I were the same person, playing a long-term prank on you," said the Angel of Secrets, his gaze then falling on the main body of Lynn, who had approached him like a curious dog, examining him closely as if wanting to pinch his face to confirm it was real.

Seeing this, the Angel of Secrets's smile seemed tinged with a bit of helplessness, but he said, "If you want to pinch, you can go ahead."

"You said it yourself." Lynn immediately perked up and actually pinched the Angel of Secrets's cheek, pulling hard.

"Lyn..." Klein instinctively wanted to stop him, his thoughts interrupted, but Lynn's actions were too fast. Before he could finish his words, Lynn had already pinched. Klein had no choice but to swallow his words, watching his goofy companion manhandle the Angel of Secrets. The latter, however, stood there allowing it, his smile carrying a hint of helplessness but not stopping him at all.

"It's really real..." After a while, Lynn muttered, stepping back.

Then he seemed to remember something, suspiciously looking between the Angel of Secrets and Klein, narrowing his eyes and asking, "Wait, what did you mean by 'I thought you would suspect that Lynn and I were the same person, playing a long-term prank on you'? Do you guys know each other already?"

The first step in shifting blame: preemptively accuse.

"Ahem, we've met a few times..." Klein felt inexplicably guilty, but he also felt relieved.

Indeed, Lynn and the Angel of Secrets are not the same person.

Thinking this, Klein ignored Lynn's pondering gaze and addressed the Angel of Secrets, "I admit, when I first saw your real appearance, I almost thought you were Lynn, playing a prank on me all along."

"Then why don't you think so now?" asked the Angel of Secrets with a smile.

"Because I can't think of a reason why you would do that. If you and Lynn were the same person, what would you gain? Even if it was just to mess with me, there's no reason to reveal this so-called truth now. You could have waited much longer, and even if I had suspicions, I couldn't have confirmed it."

Klein shook his head and explained, "You have no reason to reveal your real face in this situation, and no reason to continue deceiving me in this way."

When Klein saw the face identical to Lynn's, he did think along the lines suggested by the Angel of Secrets. But after calming down, he realized it was almost impossible.

The other party had no reason to do so. Even if it was for amusement, it wouldn't make sense—such as revealing it now, for instance.

Although Klein had suspicions, they weren't enough to consider it a fact. In this situation, if Lynn and the Angel of Secrets were the same person and didn't want the truth revealed, he could have distracted Klein with other methods instead of revealing his true face.

Therefore, after a brief shock, Klein ruled out the possibility of Lynn and the Angel of Secrets being the same person and started considering the possibility of them being twin brothers.

—Of course, it might not just be rational thinking; Klein might also instinctively reject the idea that Lynn and the Angel of Secrets are the same person.

People, when faced with certain situations, tend to believe what they want to believe.

'Well, from a logical standpoint, I really have no reason to do that, but messing with a cat is just too much fun...' thought the Angel of Secrets internally, his expression unchanged. He suddenly seemed to notice something, catching the main body trying to sneakily approach him. Helplessly, he said, "Don't mess around, we're discussing serious matters!"

"Before discussing your serious matters, shouldn't you explain to me what your relationship is? Why do you look like that? Did you know each other all along, and I was just the naive one?" Lynn looked up, annoyed. "If you don't have a good explanation, you're both dead."

The second step in shifting blame: maintain the stance that the main body knows nothing.

"I and Sherlock have only met a few times, strictly speaking," explained the Angel of Secrets seriously. "As for my face, this is my real appearance."

"So, you really are my brother?" Lynn said, then seemed to recall something, his expression dazed, "Wait, I think I did have a twin brother. Ugh, my head hurts..."

(End of chapter)