Lin Ye can only mentally roll his eyes.
He can't help but feel as if his luck has run out today. In the afternoon, he went outside to do some light shopping, which got him in a lot of trouble. In the evening, he helped a helpless child out of kindness. Now he was going to be scolded by that helpless child's mother.
"Dr. Lin," Silence slowly says, "May I know why you did that? Also, why do you know that woman?"
Did she mean Saria?
Lin Ye coughs, "I met her once before. She was quite nice, and Ifrit also thinks-"
Silence cuts him off, obviously not wanting to waste her time listening to his excuse, "Was it Ptilopsis?"
"..."
"What evidence do you have to support your claim?!", Silence continues, her voice gaining a subtle shrillness to it, "Just from your first impression of her?! You think you know who she really is?! Do you even know Saria?!"
"..."
Lin Ye didn't know how to answer her. Should he say that he knew Saria? Well, that's just wasn't true. Silence probably knew Saria better than he did.
"But Ifrit wanted-"
"Ifrit is just a child, Dr. Lin!", she shouts, "I asked you to take care of her, not encourage her to do something dangerous!"
"It wasn't that dangerous. She only made a phone call."
"That's the most dangerous thing she could do, Dr. Lin!"
"...".
Lin Ye knit his eyebrows in frustration. Silence had been slowly becoming more and more agitated as she spoke, causing him to realize that this was the most emotion he'd seen from the usually calm and collected scientist.
Silence picks up on Lin Ye's silence, noticing his expression and realizing her state. The next few moments are of Silence taking several deep breaths to recompose herself. After a while, she says, "I'm sorry, Dr. Lin. I was a little upset."
A bitter smile appears on her lips, "Originally, I hadn't planned to be back by tonight, but I hurried back because I was really worried about leaving Ifrit behind."
"When did you arrive?"
"Twenty minutes ago," Silence replies, "just when Ifrit happened to be talking with that woman."
Lin Ye wearily sighed. It really was just bad luck...
Why had Silence returned so early? Why did it have to be while Ifrit was on the phone?
Of course, Lin Ye wasn't actually going to voice his complaints. Silence was just barely able to keep her emotions under control, and he knew well enough not to agitate her any further right now.
He asks, "If you heard Ifrit and Saria talking on the phone, why didn't you come out?"
A tense silence filled the hall after those words, making him fear that he had asked the wrong question. Lin Ye reluctantly glanced at her to gauge her reaction, and was surprised to see a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Because I haven't seen Ifrit like that in a long time.", Silence softly says, her voice laden with emotions.
Silence pauses for a moment, sighing softly, "She was so happy. Although she was crying, I could feel that she cherished every second of the conversation. Dr. Lin, Ifrit rarely shows this level of emotion, let alone in the open. That's why I couldn't bring myself to stop her. Speaking of which, you really amazed me there."
Lin Ye scratches his head in embarrassment, "Really? I didn't do much though."
"No, even though you're afraid of trouble, you're too soft-hearted.", Silence rebuts, "As long as someone asks you for help, you will always go out of your way to help them, even when you hate it. Simply put, you're a good person."
"Am I?", Lin Ye says, "It's nothing really. I just did what any decent person would do really."
"Ifrit didn't come to me. She came to you.", Silence sighs softly, "I saw the footage when you first arrived. I really didn't expect you to treat Liz in that situation. If I were you, I would have just given up. Everyone else would have as well, but you, you persisted and actually succeeded in bringing Liz back."
"I was just doing my job."
As if expecting that response, Silence chuckles, "That is also the reason I admire you. You do your best to help everyone. But Ifrit is not Liz. You can't treat her like a princess. She's rejected by others because of her bad personality. To others, she's just a little demon king."
She sighs wearily.
"I worked hard to change her personality," she says, "but I failed. I couldn't get people to accept Ifrit completely, nor could I get her to accept anyone but me and that woman.
She looks into Lin Ye's eyes, "But everything changed, when I met you, Dr. Lin. Do you know how happy I was when you and Ifrit argued? I thought to myself that this child finally made a friend, someone other than me and that woman, but I didn't ask for your help right away, because I didn't know you well enough."
She rubs her forehead, "Now that I've asked for your help anyway, did I go too far?"
She looked exhausted, like a mother far too worried about her child.
Lin Ye pats her shoulder in reassurance, "Don't worry. Ifrit will get better. I will make sure of that."
"I hope so too.", she smiles faintly, but her smile quickly disappears. "But, Dr. Lin, you can't let Ifrit contact that woman again. That will only hurt her."
"Why? I don't understand."
"Don't ask why, Dr. Lin. I don't want to recall those things anymore." Silence says softly, "You only need to know that she left Ifrit when Ifrit's life was near its end."
"W-what?"
"Yes, she abandoned her, leaving when Ifrit was at her most helpless and needed her the most." Silence's eyes flicker again, as she says, "I was the one who saved Ifrit, and I was the one who brought her to Rhodes Island. Ifrit is mine. I will never give her to someone who has hurt her."
"..."
"Dr, Lin, if you really want to help Ifrit, then don't let Ifrit get close to that woman ever again."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Jaqqy10
Proofread by Demosama & PanzerComrade56
Edit by Jaqqy10