"This is the longest we've ever been out of contact." Feifei's voice was slightly distorted, but Yu Lian could still hear a hint of excitement in it. "If it had gone on any longer, everyone might have taken the Silent and charged back into the Celestial Domain to rescue you. I wouldn't have been able to help you then."
"Then I would've been disappointed. We're soldiers of the Commonwealth, and the Silent belongs to the Commonwealth too. How could we put private interests before public duty?"
"Oh, come on. You know nobody would buy that—not even the soldiers aboard the Silent these days." Feifei smiled. "But I told them that Commander Yu is unstoppable. If he could escape the imperial capital, he could certainly return safely to his loyal soldiers."
"That's right. The stars are simply an open road for me."
Yu Lian gazed proudly out the porthole. The Abyss Nebula's eternal, chaotic glow slowly swirled through the void.
"Then hurry back. Your loyal comrades all miss you, of course, but I, who love you dearly, miss you even more." Her voice came through with a peculiar rhythm, distorted by the communications delay across the star sea and light-years, yet all the more enchanting for it.
Yu Lian was deeply moved. He wished he could blink and appear right there beside her. He thought of the long vacation he'd spent in the imperial capital. In theory, in logic, and in his heart, he could hardly claim he'd been particularly fair to Feifei.
Perhaps that was exactly why he felt he'd let her down even more.
A faint burst of static from the other end interrupted him. Feifei had clearly noticed it too. Without drawing attention to it, she adjusted her posture, and her expression quickly grew brisk and professional.
"Right,