144. Lemuen's Inner Thoughts
Facing Kiana, who stood frozen in the doorway, looking utterly bewildered, Lemuen's movements were completely calm. She simply and unhurriedly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her face still bearing her signature gentle smile:
"It's Sirin. You're back so quickly."
"Ah? Ah... yes, yes, I'm back." Kiana snapped back to reality, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly, her eyes flickering, unable to focus on Lemuen's face, and even more afraid to look at Xiling on the bed.
Lemuen tilted her head slightly, her clear eyes reflecting Kiana's current state like a mirror—the obvious helplessness, and the almost overflowing disbelief hidden in her eyes.
"This child... surely not?" Lemuen shifted her gaze from Kiana to Xiling, who was now staring at her with a helpless expression.
"I said… can you get down now?" Xiling's voice was weak and tinged with resentment. Lemuen was sitting on his lap, wrapped in blankets, making even turning over an impossible luxury.
This weak voice was like a switch, instantly jolting Kiana, who was still agonizing over their posture. Worry immediately overwhelmed her other emotions; she rushed to the bedside and anxiously leaned over to check on him:
"Xiling! How are you feeling? Is anything particularly uncomfortable?"
"Just a little exhausted, nothing serious. But why did you come back?" Xiling looked at Kiana with suspicion.
"We didn't want you to worry, so we didn't tell you." Lemuen finally got up from Xiling's lap, stood up straight, and looked at Kiana, her tone gentle yet inquisitive, "Sirin, how did you know? And why did you rush back?"
"If I hadn't come back, who knows what might have happened." Kiana's gaze swept over Lemuen's still smiling face, her heart screaming. However, it is clearly not the time to ask about that now.
Facing their probing gazes, Kiana took a deep breath, suppressing her turbulent thoughts: "I... I should have come back yesterday."
"I saw it!" Her tone became urgent, "Just yesterday, I saw you... Xiling, you swung your sword at something! After that strike, your condition became extremely poor, extremely weak!" Recalling that shocking scene, Kiana's voice was filled with lingering fear.
"I wanted to rush back immediately, but... I don't know what happened. I immediately lost consciousness and fainted."
As if suddenly remembering a crucial point, she quickly added, "Not just me! Mei, and... that Welt Yang, the leader of the Anti-Entropy, also inexplicably fainted!"
"Hmm... the Herrschers were all tested?" Xiling asked thoughtfully.
That single sword strike severed all mechanisms connecting the Cocoon of the Finality to the Imaginary Energy's endpoint, along with the invisible, deep connection between it and the Herrschers, originating from Honkai energy… perhaps it was severed as well? Maybe the violent upheaval of some connection caused all Herrschers to share its vision for a moment.
Thinking of this, Xiling asked with some concern, "Your body should be alright, right? Is there anything uncomfortable or different than usual?"
"It seems… nothing particularly wrong?" Kiana frowned, answering uncertainly.
Upon waking, her mind was filled with the image of Xiling's weakened state after wielding the sword; she couldn't care less about anything else, rejecting everyone's advice and rushing back as fast as she could, without even bothering to carefully examine herself.
Hearing Kiana's ambiguous answer, Xiling rolled his eyes.
"Know your own body, don't push yourself." He felt fatigue wash over him again, his gaze sweeping between Lemuen and Kiana.
"Speaking of which, you two... can you leave now?"
Lemuen smiled.
"Of course, you should rest." She picked up the empty bowl, and as she walked to the door, she paused, turning to look at Kiana, who was still standing by Xiling's bedside.
But less than a second later, she turned and left the room.
Only Xiling and Kiana remained in the room.
Xiling looked at Kiana, who was standing by the bed, clearly preoccupied by something, and asked in confusion: "Hmm? Kiana? Is something else?"
Kiana took a deep breath, as if gathering all her courage.
This question was like a thorn in her heart; she wouldn't be able to close her eyes again until she got an answer.
"Um… Xiling," she tried to make her voice sound merely curious, even forcing a slightly stiff smile, "What…were you and Sister Lemuen doing just now?"
Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes.
"You…you two wouldn't be…that kind of…relationship, would you?" The last few words were practically squeezed out through clenched teeth. After asking, she held her breath, her eyes fixed on Xiling's face, her heart pounding in her chest.
Then, she saw Xiling's reaction, just as she had hoped—an utterly speechless look, even carrying a hint of "Are you out of your mind?" look.
"I'm telling you…" Xiling weakly raised his hand, lightly tapping Kiana's forehead with his fingertips, like tapping a clueless papaya.
"Can you stop thinking about this nonsense?" He sighed, his tone tinged with lingering fear.
"If your Sister Lemuen heard you say that, who knows how she'd laugh at me…"
Don't let Lemuens's usual gentle demeanor fool you; she's got a whole repertoire of tricks up her sleeve, and he knew it all too well.
Hearing this denial, the worry in Kiana's eyes melted away like thin ice, instantly replaced by a gleam of light:
"Really?! You're not lying to me, are you?" She asked almost impatiently, her voice brimming with an excitement she herself didn't realize.
However, her overly bright and undisguised joy made Xiling gasp sharply.
(Something's wrong…something's really wrong!)
A startling thought struck Xiling's weary mind like lightning. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Kiana from head to toe with a probing gaze.
"Wait... Kiana?"
Xiling spoke slowly, "Your reaction... could it be... you've... developed feelings for your Sister Lemuen?" He hadn't forgotten that this girl was a true yuri enthusiast at heart. Lemuen's beauty and temperament, gentle yet powerful, and the two having spent so much time together... if Kiana really did develop feelings for Lemuen that went beyond dependence, it wouldn't seem too surprising...?
Xiling's words were like a spell, instantly petrifying Kiana. Her gaze abruptly drifted to the corner of the wall, a suspicious blush rising on her face.
(Developed feelings? She definitely did... but the target... he'd completely got it wrong, you idiot!)
She silently screamed in protest within herself.
"Ahem!" Kiana coughed sharply, quickly turning away to cover her tracks, leaving Xiling with only her hurried back.
"You've misunderstood! Nothing like that happened! Okay, you should get some rest. I'm leaving!" With that, she rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut.
Xiling raised an eyebrow.
"Heh... still being stubborn? 'misunderstood'? Nobody believes that... Oh well, who cares who she likes... Sleep is the most important thing..." His mind, in a jumbled mess of exhaustion, was too lazy to delve into these girlish thoughts. His body instinctively slid back into bed, pulling the blanket over his head, and instantly drifted into a deep sleep.
He was truly exhausted.
Outside the door, Kiana, leaning against the door, let out a long sigh, as if a tremendous burden had been lifted.
A sense of relief, like surviving a disaster, enveloped her, quickly transforming into a secret, immense joy that made her lips curl into a smile.
"Thank goodness…it wasn't that kind of relationship after all! That's…thank goodness!"
One was an older sister who treated her like a younger sister, gentle and reliable; the other was someone who had quietly taken the most important place in her heart…If they really got together, Kiana couldn't imagine how she would feel. It would be…an unimaginable disaster.
With the huge weight lifted from her heart and her whole body completely relaxed, Kiana was completely unaware that in a shadowy corner of the corridor, a tiny mechanical device, no bigger than a grain of rice and emitting an extremely faint red light, was silently rotating its lens, clearly capturing her relieved expression and every move.
Inside Lemuen's room.
At her desk, Lemuen's fingertips lightly tapped on the smooth surface of the desk, making an extremely subtle clicking sound. On the virtual screen in front of her, two images were clearly separated: one was the figure of Xiling fast asleep in the room; the other was Kiana outside the door, patting her chest, with a look of smug relief on her face.
The entire conversation between the two in the room was transmitted through the device, word for word.
"...Sigh." A sigh, tinged with complex emotions, escaped Lemuen's lips.
Her gaze shifted from the screen to the small photo frame on the table.
In the photo, the sunlight was perfect; she sat in a wheelchair, pushed by Xiling behind her, both their faces radiating pure and warm smiles. It was a memory of their very first time meeting together.
Lemuen stretched out her slender fingers and gently stroked Xiling's smiling face in the photo.
Her movements were gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the person in the picture.
"My hero..." her voice was as soft as a breeze, "Couldn't you... tone down that indiscriminate light you radiate a little?" Her fingertips lingered on Xiling's cheek in the photo, applying slight pressure.
"You always do this...it makes me feel so insecure...you know that?" The last few words were uttered almost softly.
"Clearly…" Her gaze fell on the images of the two people in the photo. The gentle smile froze on her face, and something in the depths of those once clear and bright eyes was rapidly fading, ultimately turning into a chilling emptiness.
"She…she was the first person to meet him…"
"It seems…" Lemuen slowly withdrew her hand from the desk, the gentle curve of her lips still lingering.
"The original gentle plan…needs to be changed."
"This guy…is simply a stubborn rock."
Gentle companionship? Caring support? In his oblivious heart, the lines between these and friendship were forever blurred!
Lemuen liked Xiling; she had liked Xiling for a long time, but she chose to stay by his side. However, everything changed; the chat group changed everything.
Their group was expanding, venturing into different worlds, and his brilliance would surely attract the attention of those people, just like…herself, or perhaps like Sirin.
Lemuen was certain Sirin was like herself, but the other party was unlikely to pose a threat to her.
Because once their mission is complete, they will leave this world.
Perhaps they will have a chance to return someday.
But that's a matter for the future.