"What is it?" Alan noticed her reaction, her finger gently scratching Shenhe's palm.
"Although Master is an adeptus, she is not one who does not eat the food of the mortal world." Shenhe said softly. "She treats me very well; she sews winter clothes for me, cooks meals, and would stay by my side all night when I was sick."
Alan gazed at her, her eyes soft: "It sounds like you miss her very much."
Shenhe was silent for a moment before giving a soft "Mhm." "Although I know I can return to Mt. Aocang to visit at any time, I still miss her."
"Growth is always accompanied by partings." Alan said softly. "But there are also unexpected encounters."
Their gazes met in the air and did not pull away for a long time.
Finally, night fell completely, and thousands of sky lanterns slowly rose into the sky like a reverse river of stars, dotting Liyue's night sky with dazzling brilliance.
The two stood at the best vantage point on Yujing Terrace, looking up at this magnificent sight.
"It's beautiful." Alan sighed softly, but her gaze never left Shenhe's profile.
Shenhe: "Mhm."
Under the glow of the sky lanterns, Shenhe's face appeared exceptionally soft. Her usually cold eyes reflected points of light, like a lake surface where the ice has just begun to melt, scattered with starlight.
Alan stared at her like this, her eyes filled with a rare tenderness.
"Shenhe." Alan called out softly, "There's something I've always wanted to tell you."
Shenhe turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue.
Alan took a small sky lantern from her robes and held it out to Shenhe: "I made this myself, to be released only for you."
Shenhe took the sky lantern and found that the surface was meticulously painted with orchids and cranes, leaning against each other in a lifelike manner. Beside the pattern, there was a line of small characters: 'My heart delights in you, and I wish to be with you forever.'
Looking at this line of text, Shenhe's heart suddenly raced. She abruptly looked up at Alan, her eyes full of disbelief.
"To me, you are like the brightest sky lantern in the Liyue night sky." Alan said softly, taking a step closer to Shenhe, close enough to feel each other's breath. "Originally, I was just walking in the dark. I looked up by chance and was attracted by your light, and I could never look away again."
Shenhe stared at her blankly for a long time before she said softly, "I do not understand human love, and I do not know how to respond to your feelings."
"I only know that when I am with you, I am very happy. I am happy because of your closeness, and I feel pain because of your injuries."
Her voice was very soft: "Is this... the feeling of delighting in someone?"
Alan smiled. She reached out and gently caressed Shenhe's cheek: "That's it exactly."
Then, she slowly leaned in and, witnessed by thousands of sky lanterns, gently kissed Shenhe's forehead.
The kiss was very light, but it seemed to ignite a long-suppressed emotion. Shenhe closed her eyes, allowing this tenderness to envelop her.
It turned out that letting go of her cold exterior and accepting someone's closeness was actually so comforting.
More and more sky lanterns filled the night sky, illuminating the entire Liyue Harbor. And amidst the thousands of lights, they only had eyes for each other.
"Next time, I'll take you to see a sea of flowers." Alan said softly, her hand still holding Shenhe's, her fingertips gently drawing circles in her palm.
Shenhe nodded, a shallow but genuine smile appearing on her lips: "Okay."
She knew that from now on, among the thousands of lights in this mortal world, there would finally be one lit for her.
And Alan, who once only set traps for missions, had set a trap called 'yearning' for her, and she was willing to drown in it.
(The End)
[Regarding the issue with the 'Author's Note' in the previous chapter.]
Because the readers of this book have different tastes, some readers are here for the Melusines and want me to write more about the cute Melusines; some readers love reading unofficial history and think the Melusines' daily lives are boring, wanting to see more unofficial history; and some readers like seeing the Teyvat characters' reactions after reading the unofficial history, asking me to put the unofficial history text in the extra chapters (the problem is, if there's no unofficial history text, where do the reactions come from? How do I start?).
The type of unofficial history is also an issue. Some readers find a certain book too 'wild' and scary, some love reading unofficial history CP (pairing) stories, and some like to see a bit of 'knife' (angst).
I really can't satisfy everyone at once, so I can only make slight adjustments appropriately and try to balance the length of various plots. Of course, the overall pace will still follow the original rhythm; that can't be changed.
For chapters containing unofficial history with CP, I will also mark them at the beginning. If you don't like it, just skip it; it won't affect the reading experience of the main plot.
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