Cyrene turned her head and gently slipped her slender fingers into Chen Li's palm. Then she curled her fingertips around his, interlocking their fingers. Their shared warmth slowly spread through the touching skin.
Cyrene could not help imagining—if, in that discarded worldline where "Peach" had truly faded away, that version of herself who had already turned to dust saw her current self holding Chen Li's hand across the barriers of dimensions, what would she think?
Relief, or resentment?
Blessing, or unwillingness?
Precisely because she knew fate had changed because of Chen Li, Cyrene felt a melancholy kinship as she looked at the Abysses in the sky, twisted from "unfinished destinies."
"I'm sorry, partner. Perhaps I'm being a little too sentimental. I hope it hasn't affected you." Cyrene lowered her head slightly, letting her pink hair fall and conceal the complex emotion in her eyes as she spoke with a trace of apology.
"No, don't worry about it. After all, this Artifact was forged for you in the first place." Chen Li shook his head, tightening his grip around Cyrene's slightly cool fingers as he reassured her in a calm, gentle voice.
"You're still as considerate as ever, partner." Cyrene raised her head again, a sweet curve forming at the corner of her lips.
But Chen Li could tell that a subtle emotion was mixed into Cyrene's smile.
Perhaps it was as Cyrene had said—as a girl whose very bones were engraved with "universal love" and "self-sacrifice," she truly could not remain completely cold and unmoved while watching that hatred representing "despair and unfinished destinies" struggle and howl amid the blue flames.
Yet Chen Li also knew that Cyrene was too intelligent. She would likewise persuade herself and understand that unnecessary pity held no meaning.
"Cyrene, you really do understand me."