Lin Ye covered his mouth as he yawned at the port. He looked around to see that there were only a few people, the people who were related to the mission, and those who knew who he was. This should be expected because the first prince was the one who planned this trip. The prince really did not pull his punches when he planned all of this. Lin Ye and his group were now at one of the royal family ports.
To be honest, he really wanted to sleep the day away since he had used up all of his energy yesterday, but seeing how the prince had planned all of this, he did not have a choice but to wake up and come here. He was now facing a large cruise ship for them to use. It seemed Lin Ye had another important figure backing him now. This might be something annoying he had to deal with in the future.
As he was dreading his future, a thought came up in his mind. He looked to the side to see FEater looking at the ship in awe. Beside her was her large amount of luggage. They were the only two now near the ship. Skadi was with Lily and Nian. Warfarin, Messiah and Leizi were talking amongst themselves. That left the two of them alone.
He tapped on her shoulder, making her look at him, "So? I hope there was no fly going into your mouth with how you are letting it hang like that."
FEater instantly closed her mouth and blushed. The smirk that Lin Ye gave her was not helping her either.
She lightly punched him on the shoulder, getting a laugh from him, "Shut up, Hero! You can't blame me!" She waved her hands towards the ship in front of them, "How should I react when someone just gave you a ship?!"
Lin Ye laughed even harder now, "Sorry. Sorry." He glanced at the things beside her and looked back at her, "You coming along with us?"
She folded her arms and huffed at him, "Got a problem?" She sighed, "I just thought I needed a change of work for the best of me."
Lin Ye looked amused at her claim, "Is that the best lie you could come up with?" This made her body tense, "I know you're Infected, Superstar."
FEater's eyes widened. Then a smile slowly blossomed on her face as she sighed, "So you knew?" Her eyes then narrowed at him, "Since when?"
Lin Ye smiled at her, "Would you believe me if I told you since we met?"
She was taken aback, "But how? I thought I did a good job at hiding it."
He hummed, "Well, if you've been working alongside Infected for a long enough time, you would notice how an Infected acts," FEater looked confused, making him explain even further, "For one, you subconsciously kept a distance between yourself and the others. You wear clothing that hides most parts that would show that an Infection happened," Lin Ye chuckled when her eyes widened with each thing he said about her, "And I just know you were an Infected."
FEater was silent after hearing this. After a while she looked at him confused, "If you knew all of this, why were you..."
Lin Ye placed his hand on her shoulder, "Not afraid of you?" The nod that he got from her only made his face soften, "Well, to me at least, you are no lesser of the person than me. No matter whether you are an Infected or not, you are, well, you."
FEater did not know what to say to all of this. Memories came into her mind of the time when her production team left her when they got the news that she was an Infected. She remembered how the company that she would work with let her go. The reason why they did all of that was the same:
You are dangerous.
Those three simple words hurt her so much. However, she did not cry. She would not let them win and let this get to her.
So she worked.
She took part in grade B level movie series.
She worked with people that cut her salary short.
As long as she got her name up, it will all payback for her in the end.
However, no matter how long she waited, nothing changed. She was still in the same place as she had been when she first started. The reason?
She was dangerous.
That was why she took a vacation at the temple. She wanted to get these thoughts away when she was there.
But that idea was completely thrown outside the window when she met a group that was led by a certain man.
The same man was now smiling at her like she was just a normal person.
Her eyes started to become blurry now. Lin Ye noticed this and dug into his pocket. He pulled out a napkin and handed it to her. Without saying a word, FEater took the napkin and started wiping her tears away.
When she was done with that, FEater raised her head and saw him smiling at her. The Hero did not comment on her sudden breakdown and patted her shoulder.
"Welcome to the company."
After saying this, Lin Ye walked past her. She turned around to see Lin Ye walking towards Messiah. As he was walking, he waved his hand while not looking back at her.
The grip that she had around the napkin tightened as she watched him walk away, "That man," She muttered to herself.
"He's dangerous."
Lin Ye walked to Messiah's side and said nothing. They just stared at the ocean in front of them, enjoying their company.
Lin Ye hummed as he felt the wind hit him, "A penny for your thoughts?"
Messiah blinked at his question, "Do you always start a conversation like that?"
Lin Ye shrugged his shoulders as he smirked, "Depends on who I am talking to."
"Am I different?" She spun around and smiled at him.
Lin Ye glanced at her with a smile of his own, "You already know the answer."
Messiah giggled at this.
Lin Ye then spun and faced the goddess with a smile, "So, what is on your mind? And don't say it was nothing. No one stares into the ocean without a thought in their mind," Lin Ye pointed at himself, "Speaking from experience here."
Messiah put her hands behind her back and bent closer to him, "I was thinking about you."
Lin Ye smiled at this as he raised his brow, "Me? What about me?"
Messiah smiled back at him, "How is it? To have little sisters?"
Lin Ye glanced beside him to see his two sisters talking with Skadi. His smile grew, "It's an amazing feeling, to be honest."
Messiah chuckled, "If you keep this up, I will be jealous of them," Lin Ye glanced back at her and laughed, making her smile larger, "Why don't you talk to the princess more?"
He arched his brow at her but then shook his head, "No need. I already said as much as I wanted to her these past days."
Messiah looked at him like he was an idiot. Then an idea popped into her mind, "How about this? How does it feel to be leaving one of them?"
This question made Lin Ye's smile drop. He scratched his chin as he thought hard about his answer, "... A bit lonely."
After listening to Lin Ye's answer, Messiah couldn't help shaking her head, "What an honest man you are."
Lin Ye nervously laughed at this.
He really needed to change the subject, "Are you really going back to Kjerag after this?"
Messiah knew what he was trying to do, but she just played along with him, "Yes," She hummed at this, "I had my fun. I still have my responsibility as a goddess."
Although he knew this, Lin Ye felt sad about this. He still was smiling at her though, "Will I see you again?"
This took her by surprise. Her face softened and placed her hand on Maple on his waist, "As long as you have this on you, I will always be by your side."
Lin Ye chuckled at her answer, "That was not what I meant," He smirked at her, "And I know you know it."
This made Messiah laugh, "Sorry. Sorry," She leaned closer to him. Messiah pointed at his chest, "I will. I finally found you so I won't be leaving you anytime soon."
Lin Ye smiled back at her.
The goddess then lightly slipped on his shoulder, "Well, what are you waiting for?" She glanced behind him, "Go talk to the princess."
Lin Ye sighed but still nodded at her, "Thanks. I will,"
With that, he walked toward Lily.
As Messiah watched Lin Ye go to her, the smile on her face did not fade.
"That man really is dangerous."
Lily was having a blast talking with Skadi. Nian was by her side. Although she did not talk much. The only reason why she was here was that Gege told her to follow Lily. Skadi was not much of a talker. That made Lily do most of the talking. That did not bother her though. Talking to Miss Skadi was like she was talking to Gege. She was as good of a listener as him.
Just as Lily was about to talk more, from the corner of her eye she could see Gege walking toward them. Lily spun around to look at him. She saw him smiling and waving at her. Before she could say anything the ship's horn blew.
Lin Ye glanced at the cruiser and sighed. He glanced back at the three of them, "Let's get ready to leave."
Nian, who was beside her, looked at her. Then without saying anything she went and hugged Lily. Although she was confused, slowly Lily hugged her back. After a while, they both let go and looked at each other with small smiles on their faces.
Nian was the first to talk, " Am I going to see you again?"
Lily smiled brighter at this, "Of course."
With that Nian gave Lily another quick hug and ran to Lin Ye. Nian hugged him and looked up at him, "Do we really need to leave?"
Lin Ye placed his hand on her head to calm her down, "Sorry, but I have a job to do."
"Quit your job!" Nian glanced up at him.
Lin Ye laughed at this, "Can't do. My job is really important," He then bent down to look at her closer, "Don't worry. We will see her again."
Nian looked hopeful at him, "You promise?"
Lin Ye chuckled and pulled out a pinkie finger at her, "I pinkie promise."
Nian stared at his finger and a memory flashed into her mind.
A man smiled at her, "I will protect you." Then she held up his pinkie finger at her, "I pinkie promise."
Nian then snapped back and the image of the man was replaced with Gege smiling at her with his pinkie still in front of her.
Nian slowly wrapped her pinkie around his, "Pinkie promise?"
Lin Ye smiled and patted her head, "Pinkie promise."
With that Nian nodded back and smiled at him. She spun around and waved at Lily, "See you soon!"
Lily slowly waved back with her own small smile.
After that Nian ran past Lin Ye and grabbed her things. Skadi, who was standing beside Lily, placed her hand on Lily's head. The princess looked up and saw her smiling at her, "I will take my leave."
Lily smiled back and nodded. Then she remembered something, "Miss Skadi."
The huntress hummed, "What is it?"
Lily took a deep breath and let it all out. Then she stared at Skadi like what she was about to say is the most important thing of her life.
"Please, take care of Gege."
Skadi's eyes widened at this, but they quickly softened, "Of course."
With a final nod from both of them, Skadi walked toward Lin Ye. When she was near enough to him, stopped and stared, "Stay here."
Lin Ye looked confused.
Skadi then explained, "I will take your stuff up," She glanced at a certain princess behind her, "Talk to her more."
Lin Ye noticed this and smiled, "Thank you," He then saw that the rest of his group was getting on the ship while Leizi was just a few feet away from Lily. He glanced back at Skadi and nodded, "I won't take long."
She nodded back and went to her stuff.
Seeing that Lin Ye was now alone with Lily, he walked towards her. Now in front of her, Lily smiled, "Sorry for cutting your talk with Skadi short. You seemed to be enjoying it."
Lily shook her head at him, "It's not your fault."
Then she started to fiddle with her fingers. Seeing this, Lin Ye hummed and opened up his arms. Noticing this, Lily blushed, "Do you want me to hug you?"
The only answer that she got was a cheeky smile. Lily then slowly walked toward him and wrapped her arms around his chest. Lin Ye chuckled at how timid she was and pulled her closer to his body. She did not say anything but melted in his embrace.
When Lily thought that they were hugging long enough and were about to let him go, Gege started to hold her tighter. This confused her, "Gege?"
"Stop smoking." Lin Ye whispered in her ear.
Lily was stunned for a while by this, not expecting that Lin Ye would suddenly say this.
She whispered back to him, "...You didn't say that before."
"In my defence, I did not know you were my sister back then," Lin Ye chuckled, "Seeing that I know now, stop smoking."
Lily smiled at this, "You are talking like you can control me."
"In a way I can now," Lin Ye said, "If you still smoke when I see you again, I will have a word with you."
"You'll scold me!?" Lily laughed, "How are you so sure that-."
"I'll see you again," Lin Ye said seriously," I will definitely see you."
Lily was silent. Her eyes started to get watery. She nodded and rubbed her head on Lin Ye's shoulder. Although her voice was nothing more than a whisper, with how close she was, Lin Ye could easily hear her.
"I'll wait for you."
Lin Ye smiled and ran his hand through her hair, "Thank you."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
A display screen showed the ship slowly leaving with two figures waving at it.
Ying Ren rested his hand on his hand that was on the armrest as he watched all of this. Confirming that everything was done and finished, pressed a button on his remote and the screen turned black. Ren leaned back into his sofa and started to drum his fingers on the armrest. He hummed as he thought about what had happened.
Taihe, who was standing beside the prince, thought it was appropriate to talk now, "Your Highness, may I speak?"
Without looking at him, Ren nodded, "You may."
Seeing this, Taihe let his thoughts be known, "This will be the last chance you will have to stop him."
Ren glanced at the bull and raised his brow, "Why do you say that?"
Taihe lightly bowed his head to him, "Ying Zhen is on that boat. I thought that you might-."
The prince cut him short, "My brother is strong enough to take care of himself. Seeing what he had done these past days, showed what he is capable of."
Although he was conflicted about letting one of the princes of Yan be out in the world without any protection, Taihe nodded, "I understand, Your Highness."
As he was humming to himself, a thought popped into the prince's head. Ren looked up his side and glanced at Taihe, "Taihe, Yan is considering working with Soma Pharmacist to sell and produce more medicines, no?"
Taihe was caught off guard by this question. Ying Ren was not someone that was interested in these particular things in Yan. Although he was confused, Taihe nodded at the prince, "Yes, that was the plan that the late prince had."
Ren hummed and tapped on his chin as he was thinking about something. He stopped tapping and glanced back to Taihe, "Add another company that we should work with."
Taihe raised his brow at this, "Another company? Who?"
"Rhodes Island."
Although this took Taihe by surprise, the prince was not done.
"And our promise with Lan Fui on founding her fashion shop, Tempest, add them in the 0011 programmes," The prince said, "She has made some interesting clothing."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Skadi walked through the halls of the cruise ship. With how they were the only group on the ship, The sound of her steps echoed in the hall. The reason why Skadi was walking in the hall was due to her wanting to go to the stern - or the backside - of the ship.
Skadi was trying to find someone there. That person was Lin Ye.
Before all of this happened, Skadi wanted to talk with him when the sun went down and the moon replaced its place in the sky. However, when she went to his room, Lin Ye was nowhere in sight. Even when she asked the others where he went, no one knew where he was.
After thinking about where he was, her gut felt that Lin Ye was outside. When she told this to the rest, some of them wanted to follow her, but something happened. Messiah stopped them by saying that Skadi was enough for this.
Skadi did not expect Messiah to be saying this. From the start of this trip, Messiah seemed to have a mission to never let Skadi be with Lin Ye alone. However, something changed and she let Skadi be.
Although confused, she accepted this and went to find Lin Ye at the back of the ship. However, the way Messiah clicked her tongue when she walked past her made Skadi think she did not like doing this.
No matter.
In front of her was the door to the outside. With no hesitation, she turned the knob and opened the door. When she stepped through the door, the first thing that she saw was a figure's back.
The wind was blowing, making Lin Ye's hoodie dance along with it. From where he was facing, Skadi guessed that he was staring at Yan's land as it was slowly disappearing from view. Skadi walked closer to him. Hearing her footsteps, Lin Ye turned his back away from Yan and stared at her. His eyes widened when he saw Skadi staring, but his face softened just as quickly.
Ba-dumb
There it was. Her heart quickened whenever she saw this expression on his face. This all started way back when she and Lin Ye shared a moment at Chernobog.
No...
She realised that it started further back. Back when they first met. Skadi was just starting to notice this back at Chernobog, and it worsened when they were at the beach.
"Skadi?"
A voice snapped her back to reality. His voice. Skadi ignored the sound of her heart and focused her attention on the man smiling at her. Not scared of her.
That she enjoyed being with.
Lin Ye's soft gaze never left her. Although she was confused about the state of her body whenever she was with him, Skadi was not scared.
She was... just confused.
Seeing that she was not answering his question, Lin Ye hummed and took a step to the side, creating space just big enough for another person.
Skadi understood what he was doing and slowly made her way to his side, ignoring her loud heart.
When she was by his side, without saying anything, Lin Ye glanced back to the slowly fading land with his arms on the rail. Following his lead, she moved her eyes to where he was looking.
The light from the land seemed like the stars of the sky, shining bright in the night. The wind blew at them. The night was dead silent. Normally, people would not like this and Skadi was one of those people. The quiet was unsettling for her.
Before it became unbearable for her, Skadi heard something.
Humming.
Skadi looked to her side and saw it came from Lin Ye. The man closed his eyes and just hummed to himself. It was a simple melody. Nothing grand. But it made the silence that she hated to go away.
Just like that, noises started to appear all around her.
The waves crashed. The wind whistled. Skadi was even sure that she could hear the stars twinkling.
On their own, they were just noises. However, at this very moment, they were more than that.
They perfectly complemented Lin Ye humming to himself.
For Skadi, the night was eager to sing along with Lin Ye.
She was... mesmerised by this.
Skadi heard so many songs that were sung by so many different people. Her race was well known for its music. However, she had never heard something like this before.
Lin Ye continued to hum as the night was singing along with him. Skadi stayed quiet as she let herself hear him.
Skadi felt like the world was morphing around her. She found herself in a small field of grass next to a river. The sound of Lin Ye's was turned into the waved light flowing in the small body of water. The wind blew through her hair and she could feel a lingering sweet scent in her nose.
In the centre of all of this was Lin Ye, with his eyes closed, humming and not caring what was going on around him.
Ba-dumb!
The sound of her heart drummed into her ears
Oh no.
Ba-dumb
It's happening again.
Her face slowly felt hotter as she was staring at Lin Ye who was ignorant of her state.
What is wrong with me?
This dream-like feeling slowly faded away as Lin Ye was slowly quieting down. Skadi was back at the back of the ship with Lin Ye when he finally stopped humming. The grass, the river, and even the wind were now all gone when he stopped.
Lin Ye slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Skadi, "River flows in you."
This made Skadi so confused that she almost forgot how warm her face was now.
Lin Ye chuckled at the look she was giving him. He glanced back at the sky above them. The moon's light glowed on them, "The name of that song."
Skadi realised what he meant and, not knowing how to react, nodded at him.
Lin Ye hummed and pulled his gaze back at her, "Two people I knew loved this song." A smile blossomed on his face, "I loved them so much."
Love?
Skadi did not know why, but a feeling slowly crept into her when he said this. However, that was not the same feeling when she heard him humming. This feeling was... uglier. Just as she was about to notice this alien feeling in her, something that he just said caught her attention more.
"Knew? Loved?" Skadi asked him.
He was using past tense to describe his feelings toward those people.
A light chuckle came out of his mouth, "You caught that?" Lin Ye's eyes softened, "They aren't in this world."
Skadi stared at him. People wouldn't notice any changes, but for Skadi, it was as clear as day. Something was bothering him. His eyes had the same look on them as where she found him in the sea.
Empty.
Void from any emotion in them.
Seeing this, her body moved on its own and placed her left hand on his right.
Both his and Skadi's eyes widened at what she just did. She was just as confused as him at what she had just done.
It just felt... Right for her to do that.
They both raised their heads from their hands and stared at each other.
Lin Ye's night-coloured eyes pierced into Skadi's blood reds.
Suddenly, Lin Ye moved his hand away from her. At first, she was confused but it was gone when she noticed what he was doing after this.
Lin Ye's right hand slowly moved toward her face, making her freeze.
He must notice this, stopping just a few inches away from her right cheek.
"Can I..." He sounded so hesitant. However, he pushed through and asked, "Can I touch you?"
If Skadi's heart was beating before, it was now louder than any wave crash that she ever heard. It was to the point that Skadi was afraid that Lin Ye would hear it from where he stood.
Then after a painful silent past, Skadi slowly nodded with a slightly red face.
With that, Lin Ye gently placed his hand on her cheek. Skadi's body tensed as she felt his warm hand. Her eyes stared at Lin Ye who had all of his attention on her.
Her body then slowly eased up. She closed her eyes and melted in his hand. As she was enchanted by his warmth, Skadi could hear Lin Ye hum ever so slightly.
Then she realised how closed his hum was.
Skadi slowly opened her eyes and saw Lin Ye leaning closer to her. She was confused about why, so she raised her head up and closed her eyes again. However, she just let her body move on its own.
As she waited for what felt like forever, she felt something on her forehead.
It was soft.
It was warm.
It was... him.
She opened her eyes again and saw Lin Ye backing away from her. The smile on his face was much brighter now.
Brighter than what she had ever seen before from him.
"I think you should go back inside," Lin Ye said, "I need some time alone."
Skadi did not want to leave. She wanted to stay here longer. The words in her mouth were about to be known by him, she just needed to say them. However, when he saw how peaceful Lin Ye was staring at the night sky, she held her back.
She nodded and without saying a word left.
She did not know how long it took for her to find her own room and then lay in her bed. She stared at the ceiling as she lay on her back.
Memories flashed back into her mind.
She remembered the feeling of how enchanting Lin Ye's humming was, how warm his touch and...
Slowly, she could feel the warmth that still lingered on her forehead increase.
Ba-dumb!
Skadi clutched her chest where her racing heart was. She placed the back of her other hand on her forehead. Her face started to warm up as well.
Then she muttered something to herself. Something that she wanted to ask Lin Ye, but couldn't.
"Why are you making me feel like this?"
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
When Lin Ye saw that Skadi finally left, he sighed.
Then he punched his face hard.
"Guggh!"
The pain of the punch made him bend down and clutched his head.
Knowing that he was now alone, Lin Ye did the most reasonable thing he should do after all of that.
He screamed into his hands as loud as he could.
"What was that?!!!" His muffled scream echoed into the night, "Why did I do that?!!!!"
His face burned as he remembered what had happened, "Ahhh!"
He cringed at those memories.
Lin Ye wanted to throw his body overboard and drown in the ocean.
Suffocating was better than what he was feeling now.
After much screaming, Lin Ye finally stopped, albeit he was now out of breath now. His face was still red when he opened his hands.
Deep breaths, Ye... Deep breaths.
Finally calming down, Lin Ye slowly made his way to the rails.
He leaned back into the rails and gripped onto his head.
"What was going on?" He asked himself, trying to understand why his body was doing all of that. He took a deep breath and let it all out, "Okay Ye. Let's recount what happened."
Lin Ye raised his head to the sky, "I was alone here, wanting to clear my mind."
He nodded and continued, "Next, Skadi arrived."
His finger started to tap on the rail, "She looked like she was about to ask me something but did not know what to say. So I moved to let her see Yan disappear."
The stars twinkled above his head and he took this as a sign to move on, "I... started to hum... that song." His face warmed up, "I did it because she seemed uncomfortable," Then he knocked his head, "What was I thinking?! Fuck!"
After calming back down, he continued, "After that horrid decision of mine, I looked at her... Then... Then."
Lin Ye pressed his hand to his forehead, "Her face... Her eyes... Her hair..."
He could feel his heart drumming in his chest, "Then I... Fuck!"
He crouched down and clutched his head because of pure embarrassment.
When he was down with his sudden episode, he went silent and stayed there with his hands covering his head.
"Mom. Dad," He muttered in his arms, "What is up with me?"
"You're an idiot."
Lin Ye's head sprung up faster than anything he could ever do with Wave Leaping Strike's help. There he saw a figure standing on the ship's rails, not caring for his own safety. The white clothes that he was wearing fluttered. Under his hood, Lin Ye could see glowing dark blue orbs looking down at him like he was an idiot. Then Lin Ye realised something strange about his environment.
Everything was black and white.
"Don't want people to interrupt us." The man shrugged as he stood on the rail.
His eyes narrowed at the figure.
"Oh joy, you're here," He stood up and glared at him, "And what did you just say?"
The hooded man sighed and jumped down from the rail and leaned on the rail. He glanced at Lin Ye lazily, "I am not surprised you do not know. With how your life was before, you did not have this type of experience before."
Lin Ye raised his brow and shook his head, "Still not answering my question here."
The sigh that the man let out was heavier than before, making Lin Ye annoyed, "Let me list down your symptoms."
Am I sick? And what are you? A doctor now?
Lin Ye wanted to say this to the man, but he held back and let him ramble. This man might be helpful for him.
"You feel like the world gets brighter when your eyes are on Skadi?"
Lin Ye slowly nodded at this.
"Your body moved on its own?"
Another nod.
"You feel like you want to touch her?"
Although he was hesitant, Lin Ye slowly nodded.
The man sighed tiredly at how confused Lin Ye was, "You still have no idea?"
Annoyed by this question, Lin Ye clicked his tongue, "If I knew I wouldn't be dealing with you know."
"You're in love."
Lin Ye felt like he got the strongest punch he ever experienced when the man said this.
In a daze, Lin Ye asked, "I'm what?"
"You're in love, you moron," He deadpanned, "When you see her, you are overjoyed and giddy. Every time you get in contact with her, it's like the feeling when your meal arrives at your table after you haven't eaten all day. The joy that you would feel seeing her would be too much for you to handle."
The man then stood in front of Lin Ye, staring straight into his eyes, "It makes you do things that you never thought you would do."
Lin Ye processed all of this and compared them to what he experienced with Skadi.
When they were at Chernobog.
Oh.
When they were with each other at the beach.
Oh.
Stumbling with his realization, Lin Ye desperately grasped the rail for support. His other hand covered his face, which was slowly becoming red.
"Fuck."
The man then burst out laughing, "You look like an idiot."
"Shut up!" Lin Ye glared at him. However because of how red his face was, only made the man laugh even harder.
Seeing that whatever he did would not make the man stop laughing, Lin Ye focused more on his sudden realization that he was in love.
Love.
The very idea was a foreign thing to him. He was after all a man who was just waiting to die. The idea of falling in love was the last thing that was on his mind.
As Lin Ye was having a life crisis, pondering on the revelation that he was in love, the bastard was leaning on the rail and was smirking at him.
The man then hummed, "How about I help?"
Lin Ye stared back at him and raised his brow, "How?"
Then waved his hand at Lin Ye, "You knew two people that were in love."
"People that were in love?" This confused Lin Ye even more, "Who?"
"You're a moron," The man shook his head. Before Lin Ye could yell at him, the man gave him an answer, "Your parents. They were truly in love with each other."
Lin Ye slammed his hand on his head. Of course. His parents.
Just as Lin Ye was about to remember them, the man's voice stopped him.
"You do remember them, no?"
Lin Ye stared at him confused about what he meant. Then Lin Ye dived into his mind on who his parents were.
What were their names?
How do they look?
What did they mean to him?
Anything about them at all.
However, no matter how hard he tried he could only draw a blank.
His face paled at this.
"Why can't I - ?"
He realised something and snapped his head towards the hooded man. His eyes were dangerously narrowed at him, "Explain."
He ordered.
The man mockingly bowed, "Of course, Your Highness," He stood straight up and pointed at Lin Ye's waist, "That."
Lin Ye followed his finger and his eyes landed on the sword on his waist; Maple and Zhan Lu.
"My swords?"
"One of them," Then the man folded his arms, "Zhan Lu."
Lin Ye pulled the swords out from its scabbard, "How does this have to do with me not remembering?"
The man shook his head, "Remember your first time holding the sword?"
Lin Ye glanced at it and then back to him, "It offered some help."
He nodded, "Good," Then he walked closer to him. When the man was close enough, Lin Ye saw a smirk on his face, "Was it free?"
Lin Ye's eyes widened.
"Looks like you aren't are stupid as I thought." The smirk grew, "You did not even question it when you knew how to use Lei Fa all of a sudden," Then he pointed at Zhan Lu, "That sword took the memories that were equal to all of the knowledge of Lei Fa. It replaced them with new ones."
Lin Ye's grip around Zhan Lu tightened. His eyes glared at the man in front of him, "Take it back."
The man hummed, "You sure?" He sounded amused, "If you do that, you can never use Lei Fa ever again."
Hearing this, Lin Ye hesitated. Lin Ye knew how strong Lei Fa was. It could be useful for him in the future. Just as he was about to give up, Lin Ye got an idea.
"How about taking something else?"
"Like what?" The man sounded interested.
At first, he was confident but when the man asked him this, he was silent, "I don't know."
The man tapped on the rail. Then an idea popped up, "I might have a suggestion."
Lin Ye grasped onto this, "What is it?!"
"Emotions is just as strong as memories. In rare cases, even stronger," The man explained, "Why don't you exchange that instead? However, I know you would not give your feelings about them away that easily."
Lin Ye hated that he was an open book to him.
"That is why I would suggest throwing away your feelings for someone else. Someone important. Someone you love, perhaps?" Lin Ye did not like how he sounded. Then he smirked at him, "You know what I mean, no?"
Lin Ye stared at the sword and saw his face reflecting back at him. Then he glanced back at the bastard and held out Zhan Lu toward him, "Do it."
"Hoh?" The man grabbed the sword and raised Zhan Lu up to look at it closer, "You sure? You know that comparing the memories of your parents and your feelings for Skadi, the most you will get is the basics of Lei Fa."
Lin Ye stood tall in front of him, not scared at what would happen, "Just fucking do it."
"Eh," The man shrugged and pointed at Lin Ye's chest, not caring about anything like always, "Your choice."
Without waiting for any comment from Lin Ye, the man jammed Zhan Lu into his chest.
With a sword in his chest, Lin Ye saw him smiling under the light of the moon, "What a short-lived love story."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Discord
Edit: jaq