Lin Mo met Yae Miko's resentful gaze…
His head started to ache. Really ache.
Only someone as clever as her—and Lisa from Mondstadt—would think to ask something like this.
Lisa had asked a similar question back then.
But for Lin Mo, Lisa was much easier to explain things to.
After all, he and Lisa had only met in dreams. In the real world, they barely crossed paths.
His answer to her had been that he tried to look for her in other dreams.
Whether he truly did or not—Lisa had no way of confirming it. So she didn't dwell on it.
Even if he and Lisa had met in reality, it wouldn't have been a big problem.
Lisa was still so young, after all.
Among all of Lin Mo's reincarnations that truly existed in Mondstadt, Lisa had only been born in one of them—
the lifetime when he had been Klee's father.
But Yae Miko was different…
This was a fox spirit who had lived for thousands of years, practically from the same era as Barbatos.
If he told her he had looked for her in dreams…
Heh.
Not even looking for her in the real world, yet claiming to have searched for her in dream-world parallels?
There was no way such a sharp fox would fall for that.
"My dear Lord Saiguu~"
Seeing that Lin Mo remained silent for a long time, Yae Miko immediately put on a mockingly aggrieved expression.
"What's this? Have you finally realized there was no room for this little fox in your heart, and now you're speechless?"
"Cough, cough… no, no, of course not."
Lin Mo denied it at once.
"I just… got distracted for a moment."
Then, meeting Yae Miko's eyes, he said shyly,
"It's just that… the way you look as a human is really beautiful, so—"
"Sweet talk."
Yae Miko chuckled softly.
"Do you think I'm as easy to fool as Keqing or Ganyu?"
"And that bashful, boyish smile of yours—
that's probably what your dear Sister Lisa falls for the most, isn't it?"
"But it doesn't work on me."
Lin Mo: !!!
This is bad!
This woman watched me for two whole days! She's completely figured me out!
Though panic churned inside him, his face remained sincere as he said,
"Ahem… even if I really did get distracted, your beauty is genuine."
"Mm~ That's more like it."
Yae Miko looked satisfied, but she still didn't let him off.
Staring straight into his eyes, she asked again,
"So tell me—why did none of your reincarnations in Inazuma ever come looking for me?"
"It's not that I never tried."
Lin Mo could only answer honestly.
"It's just that every time I went to the shrine, you happened to be away."
"Away?"
Yae Miko froze for a moment.
Indeed…
Most of the time, she really wasn't at the shrine.
But in the next instant, her slender fingers lightly tapped the tabletop.
Her fingertips traced slow circles as a trace of grievance filled her eyes.
"So that means Lord Saiguu didn't really want to see his little fox that badly, hmm~"
"Huh? Why would you say that?"
Lin Mo asked in surprise.
"If I didn't want to see you, why would I go to the shrine at all?"
"Who knows~ Maybe you were going to see some pretty witch instead."
Yae Miko lifted her gaze toward the ceiling, feigning thoughtfulness.
"If you truly wanted to see someone…"
"One day without seeing them—
you'd go again the next day."
"The third day. The fourth day. Every single day~"
"Until you finally met them…"
"Hey! Did you forget your shrine is on a mountaintop?!"
Lin Mo couldn't help complaining.
"Every visit took half the day just to climb up, and you were never there!"
"Even so, I still went at least three times!"
"Mmm~ After climbing the mountain three times, you still didn't leave a message for the shrine maiden?"
Yae Miko's beautiful eyes glinted with playful suspicion.
Clearly, she wasn't entirely convinced that Lin Mo had truly gone to the shrine looking for her.
In her memories, Saiguu had always been clever, gentle, and meticulous.
If he truly wanted to see her, he would have found a way.
"I just… I didn't think of that."
Lin Mo smiled bitterly.
"When I wanted to see you, I only wanted to look at you from afar."
"I didn't want you to know that I had already reincarnated back in Inazuma."
"Hm? Why was that?"
Yae Miko couldn't help asking.
"Sigh…"
Lin Mo let out a soft sigh.
To make her understand, he could only speak honestly.
"You know it too—most of the time, when I meet everyone… it always ends in regret."
"Like that lifetime when I became friends with Rhinedottir."
"It wasn't that I wanted to leave…"
"It was that in that lifetime, I was forced to fall asleep and move on to the next reincarnation."
Yae Miko immediately understood and gently asked,
"So… Lord Saiguu was afraid of parting with me once again?"
"Yes. That's right."
Lin Mo nodded, smiling bitterly.
"Not just you. Ei hid herself in the Plane of Euthymia all the time—I couldn't even see her."
"Lord Saiguu."
Yae Miko's expression turned serious.
"Have you ever thought that even if parting is inevitable… I would still want to see you again?"
"But… what would seeing each other change?"
Lin Mo's smile carried a trace of sorrow.
"In the end, wouldn't it just mean more pain when the farewell finally comes?"
Hearing this, a hint of tenderness passed through Yae Miko's eyes.
She rose from her seat and walked behind Lin Mo.
From behind, she wrapped her arms around him, whispering by his ear,
"If I had seen you at the shrine, yet could only watch you from afar without being able to acknowledge you…
wouldn't that be another kind of sorrow too?"
"You're still just as gentle as ever."
"But in this matter, Lord Saiguu, you were a little too selfish."
"Bearing that pain all by yourself, refusing to share it with me…
that really is too selfish."
Lin Mo didn't respond.
To him, whether he saw them or not, the ending was already written.
In the end… it was always separation.
Rather than letting the other person suffer that pain too,
he preferred to watch from afar—
seeing that they were living well was enough to satisfy him.
Unfortunately…
In the storyline of the Hundred Lifetimes' Promise,
Lin Mo never saw Ei or Yae Miko again.
"Let it go. It's all in the past now."
He didn't want to continue the topic.
Just as he said—it was over.
Yae Miko rested her forehead against the back of his head and softly replied,
"Mm. It's all in the past."
The private room fell silent.
The two of them remained quiet, savoring the peaceful stillness of reunion.
After a long while—
"Let's eat something. The dishes are getting cold," Lin Mo reminded her.
But Yae Miko still didn't loosen her arms around his chest.
She simply nuzzled closer, enjoying the moment.
"During the days when I couldn't hold Lord Saiguu,
I had to hug my own tail just to fall asleep."
"Now that I've finally got you back in my arms,
let me enjoy it a little longer~"
"Your tail…"
Lin Mo suddenly thought of something and asked curiously,
"By the way, Yae—after transforming into human form, where did your tail go?"
"Oh? Does my lord want to touch my tail too?"
For some reason, the moment he heard that, a strange premonition rose in Lin Mo's heart.
The next second—
A pair of soft, delicate hands gently covered his eyes.
"Hey!? Yae, what are you doing?!"
"Don't! Don't use your tail—ahaha! Don't tickle my legs with it!"
"Hey! Stop, stop! Don't move it higher—!"
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T/N:
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