I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

The girl's golden eyes appeared exceptionally clear in the sunlight, devoid of the manic-depressive and violent nature of her youth, replaced by something deeper and more profound.

It's hard to describe. It's not calmness, not indifference, but rather the feeling of someone who, after losing the most important thing, suppresses all their sadness and anger deep inside and then spends three years learning how to remain calm and collected in front of others.

She looked at him, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

"This shop's matcha cake is the best in Kyoto."

"I used to bring one back with me whenever I came to Japan on a mission."

She paused, the very faint mist in her golden pupils shimmering in the sunlight.

"But I've never finished eating it."

Gu Yan's finger gently circled the rim of the coffee cup.

He looked up at Lin Jinyu sitting opposite him. Her long golden hair was loose over her shoulders, shimmering with a pale golden glow in the sunlight.

She was wearing a minimalist white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing her fair arms.

She looks more mature and quieter than she did three years ago.

She was unusually quiet.

He tried to make his voice sound steady and natural, as if he were talking to a stranger he was meeting for the first time.

"Miss, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

Lin Jinyu interrupted him.

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail driven into wood, impossible to pull out.

Stop pretending.

"I knew it was you. I knew it was you the moment I saw you."

"No matter what your face looks like, no matter what disguise you use, no matter who stands next to you, I can still recognize you."

Her fingers clenched slightly on the table.

The fingertips were painted a very light nude pink, which was very pretty, but the knuckles were already turning white.

When I was little...

"I had a low-grade fever at the time, and I was lying on your back. You told me that you would always be with me."

"Then you died."

"I lay prostrate before your coffin for a long time at your funeral, but you didn't get up."

"Later, every time I killed an S-class Calamity, I would tell them that it was a gift for him."

"In three years, I've accumulated one hundred sentences."

"You didn't hear a word."

Her eyes reddened, but she didn't let the tears fall.

The calm in those golden eyes was finally torn open at this moment, and the sorrow and anger that had been suppressed for three whole years surged out like magma.

"You're clearly alive, so why don't you come looking for me?"

"Even if you just ask someone to pass on a message, or even just write a letter, it would be helpful."

"Just let me know you're still alive."

"Do you know what I'm thinking about every day when I'm killing calamities on the front line? I'm thinking that it would be great if I could die on the battlefield, so that at least I could go find you after I die."

"Three years, and you still won't come back."

"Don't you like me even a little bit?"

Her voice finally trembled uncontrollably as she spoke the last sentence.

She wiped her eyes hard with the back of her hand, stood up, took out a few banknotes from her pocket and put them on the table, then grabbed Gu Yan's wrist and pulled him up from the chair.

Her hands were hot; her fingertips paused briefly on the pulse on the inside of his wrist before gripping tighter, as if confirming the pulse was real.

"Come with me."

She pulled him through the narrow corridor of the store and pushed open the wooden door at the end of the corridor.

Behind the door was a small Japanese-style private room, with only a plain white futon on the tatami mat. The window was half-open, and the afternoon sun cast a soft glow through the paper door into the room.

The door closed behind me.

Lin Jinyu turned around to face him.

She didn't say anything, but simply reached out and began to unbutton her shirt.

The first one revealed her collarbone.

The second one, the white shirt slipped off her shoulders and bunched up around her ankles.

The sunlight fell on her, making her skin almost transparent.

Her figure is better than it was three years ago; it's not the kind of figure that's deliberately sculpted, but rather a result of her facial features and body maturing as an adult.

Her waist was so thin that when she lay on her side, the shadow cast by her waist could form a crescent moon.

Below the collarbone is a smooth and graceful curve that rises and falls gently with each breath in the dim light.

The new scar, which stretched from her shoulder blade to her waist, had not yet fully healed. It was a pale pink color, which stood out starkly against her fair skin.

Her fingers moved to Gu Yan's collar and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Then came the second one, and the third one.

Her movements were slow, as if she were unwrapping a gift she had been waiting for a very long time.

But her fingers were trembling slightly, not from nervousness, but from waiting for so long.

"Don't speak."

Her lips gently touched his collarbone, her voice as soft as a dream.

"I endured it for three years."

I dream about you every night, but when I wake up, it's gone.

"You've always been so gentle in my memory, but I can never even touch you."

"You are right in front of me now, and you are still alive."

"Even if it's fake, even if you disappear again tomorrow, even if I have to go to the battlefield to die after this dream, I'll accept it."

Her tears finally fell.

It wasn't a loud, wailing cry, but a silent, gradual descent.

The drops trickled down her cheek and landed on Gu Yan's chest, burning hot.

She looked up at him, her golden eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and longing, as thick as honey that couldn't be dissolved.

She reached out and cupped his face, her thumb gently tracing his cheekbone.

"Xiao Yan, don't reject me."

Just this once.

She tiptoed and kissed his lips.

Her lips were soft, slightly warmer than normal, and had a very faint citrus scent.

The kiss was awkward, not the kind of skillful teasing, but rather like magma that had been suppressed for too long finally erupting, clumsy yet scalding.

Her eyelashes brushed against his eyelids, tickling him.

Her fingers slid from his cheek to the back of his neck, intertwining, pulling him closer.

She pressed herself against him, and through the thin fabric, he could feel the warmth and curves of her body.

Sunlight streamed in through the cracks in the paper door, casting the shadows of the two people onto the plain white bedding.

The wind chimes swayed gently under the eaves, making a soft and crisp sound.

In the distance, children were chasing and playing in the alley, their laughter echoing through the layers of rooftops.

Her body glowed white in the dim light, and the scar on her shoulder blade looked like a faded flower petal.

She pushed him down onto the plain white bedding, her long golden hair cascading down, like the spiraling flames she trailed when she danced on the back mountain of the Lin family three years ago.

The afternoon in Kyoto outside the window is quiet and long, with sunlight moving from the east window to the west window.

The wind chimes kept ringing.