A composite of a lover, a wife, a classmate, and a comrade-in-arms.
She possessed qualities and a temperament that made me admire her.
Shi Tie Zhu's words were like stones striking the lake of Shi Tiexin's heart, stirring up splashes and ripples. Beneath those ripples emerged Youyou's figure.
That ever-changing, unfathomable spy, laughing and joking with ease, impossible to tell truth from falsehood, her mouth full of lies.
That pure and kind, fearless and brave, indomitably tenacious Light Arc who had sacrificed herself.
That holy knight, elite Secret Seeker of the Southern Territory's Third Frontline—Youyou.
She had fused her final holy light into Shi Tiexin's soul, and carved her most beautiful self into it as well, becoming the knot in his heart and his regret.
Shi Tie Zhu knew this perfectly well. "I know you mean Youyou. That's right. I can tell from your memories that she truly was someone worthy of my admiration and respect."
"I also know that A'zun was devoted to her heart and soul."
"But I don't intend to simply accept her as the one."
Shi Tie Zhu had ideas of his own.
He had always had plenty of ideas.
"If our places were exchanged, and I experienced what A'zun experienced, I would fall in love with a girl like that too."
"But our places were never exchanged. My experiences and A'zun's cannot be treated as equivalent substitutions."
"I've never met Ling Xingjian of this world, so there is naturally no question of whether I like her or not."
"If I knew her, appreciated her, and admired her, I would also do everything in my power to win her over. But here, in this life, when we are strangers to each other, I won't assume a position in advance."
"You may be single-mindedly devoted, but I