Listening to Lin Mo's earnest explanation, Alice felt considerably more at ease.
Even though... what was done was done.
At least she was Lin Mo's first woman.
Through the documents, she also knew that the first person Lin Mo had sought out upon his appearance was their child, Klee.
She felt that, at least on this matter, Lin Mo hadn't lied.
Sensing Alice's emotions calming slightly,
Lin Mo gently stroked her off-white hair and said softly, "So, please don't be angry with me anymore, alright?" "Just stay with me and watch the stars tonight."
"At dawn, we'll set off for Liyue to find our child, Klee."
"Let's go see the Xiao Lanterns, stroll through the night market, and celebrate the Lantern Rite together with our friends from Mondstadt and Liyue."
Alice turned her face away, pouting with a proud, tsundere expression. "That depends... on whether the resentment in my heart subsides after tonight."
"Alright."
Lin Mo gave a faint smile.
He drew Alice into his arms, gazing out at the star-filled river of the sky.
In Alice's heart, such leisurely, peaceful time had only just begun this night.
But for Lin Mo,
this rendezvous was separated by thousands of years!
Because Alice was the cherished confidante Lin Mo had met at the very first stop of his hundred-life cycle of reincarnation.
Now, this was the final cycle.
For Lin Mo, their reunion was separated by an unimaginably vast stretch of time.
So Lin Mo treasured this time together all the more.
At that moment, Alice, resting her head against Lin Mo's chest, called out softly, "Hey, Lin Mo."
"Hmm, what is it, darling?" Lin Mo smiled tenderly.
That familiar term of endearment instantly caused a familiar flutter to stir again within Alice's heart.
Though she reveled in it, she still asked quietly, "I want to hear... I want you to tell me the stories between you and them."
Lin Mo acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to hold her, gazing at the starry sky.
"I said~"
"I want to hear your stories with them!" Alice repeated once more.
Her voice seemed to carry a trace of lingering resentment.
"Why?"
Lin Mo asked with a smile.
After all, Lin Mo didn't want to mention other women in front of Alice.
Because he knew, no matter how he told it, it would likely make her angry.
"I just want to hear, is that not allowed?"
As she spoke, Alice couldn't help but pinch Lin Mo's thigh, declaring earnestly, "As long as you tell me the stories from these cycles of reincarnation, I'll forgive you!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
Alice answered without hesitation.
Lin Mo couldn't help but fall into thought.
Should he tell her... He pondered for a moment.
He remembered that Alice was someone who kept her promises fairly well.
After all, back when she accidentally injured herself with an explosion in Dadupa Gorge, she had kept the promise she made to herself that day.
Including matters related to the "Teyvat Travel Guide" series of books.
She had also followed through, using the "Travel Guide" to share the scenery and tales of the continent of Teyvat with the people of Mondstadt.
Thinking it over,
although Alice was from Mondstadt,
aside from promises about not causing trouble, she did possess the Liyue-style virtue of honoring her other commitments with integrity.
?
Considering this,
Lin Mo turned his gaze to Alice and smiled. "The stories about me and them are very, very long. Are you sure you want to hear them?"
"Then... can you finish telling them in one night?"
Alice asked, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
"One night? That's definitely not enough to finish."
"Then you'll just have to spend a lifetime telling me slowly~! Starting now!"
"Alright, alright, alright~"
Beneath the glow of the starry sky,
Lin Mo gently began to tell Alice the stories of the cycles of reincarnation he had entered after parting from her.
He had once become the bard Venti within the high walls.
He had also found the spirit Barbatos within the wind walls.
He had met many companions unwilling to live confined by the wind walls.
In the end, he had given his life for Mondstadt's freedom.
He also told the story of becoming the second-generation Millelith of Liyue thousands of years ago.
The first adeptus to ascend from mortal status.
He had walked through over a thousand years of time in ancient Liyue.
He spoke of his brotherly bond with the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis.
He spoke of the tangled love and resentment with the adeptus Ping, the Dust Drifter Amidst the Songs of Mortals.
He spoke of helping Guizhong pursue the Archon, and finally witnessing Guizhong achieve her cultivation and her bittersweet marital experience.
He spoke of the past where he had traveled to and from the Sal Terrae many times, helping Havria protect her final territory.
Memories, like a revolving lantern, reappeared one after another in his mind.
As Lin Mo narrated,
the starry sky gradually faded, and a warm morning sun slowly rose from the sea.
Alice leaned against Lin Mo's chest, her eyes hazy as if in a half-asleep, half-awake state.
Lin Mo didn't know how much of the stories he told she had actually taken in.
When Lin Mo stopped speaking,
Alice slowly raised her head, a look of confusion on her face. "Why... did you stop so suddenly? That was only two cycles..."
"Daybreak has come, darling."
Lin Mo gently stroked her hair, saying tenderly, "Didn't we agree? I'll spend a lifetime telling you the rest~"
Alice just gazed at Lin Mo with that dazed look, not saying anything more.
After a long while, Alice buried her head in Lin Mo's embrace once more.
"Lin Mo... I'm so sleepy~"
Her voice was full of drowsiness and languor.
Lin Mo knew Alice wanted to sleep again.
So he gently moved his hand to her cheek and smiled. "Mhm, sleep for a while in my arms."
"You... aren't going to sleep?"
Alice murmured with her eyes closed.
"It's fine, I'm not tired. I'll wait for you to wake up." Lin Mo's voice grew softer and softer.
Listening, Alice's consciousness gradually grew fuzzy.
"Mmm... then I'll just sleep for a little while. I'll get up at noon. You have to... take me to find Klee..."
"Goodnight, darling," Lin Mo said gently.
"But it's clearly... already morning..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Alice had already fallen into a deep sleep in Lin Mo's arms.
Admiring that long-missed sleeping face, a gentle smile couldn't help but appear at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.
Then, Lin Mo raised his head, gazing at the sea where the morning sun was slowly rising.
He greatly enjoyed such relaxed, unhurried moments.
Recalling the time they had spent together back then,
this was probably the first time he had watched the sunrise with Alice, right?
He believed there would be many, many more times in the future.
Of course, the prerequisite was to properly manage this mother-daughter pair of demolition experts, Klee and Alice, and absolutely prevent Starsnatch Cliff from being renamed Starsnatch Coast.
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T/N:
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