Lin En said nothing. He merely studied Jiu's face, judging whether she had truly discovered his identity.
Jiu's gaze was icy.
But she did not move past Ophiel. Instead, the moment she drew close, she abruptly reached out and pulled her into her arms. She closed her eyes, her voice almost catching with a trace of anguish.
"You're back."
There were no unnecessary words or pleasantries.
But those few words were already enough to convey how she felt at that moment.
Ophiel stood dazed, saying nothing.
But she quickly came to her senses, reached out to embrace her older sister, and whispered:
"I'm... I'm sorry I worried you."
The Divine Attendants were not all particularly close to one another, especially Jiu. As one of the few Divine Attendants who had survived since the Eternal Night, she had always kept to herself and rarely ventured out. Even toward her eldest sister, she had always been scornful, her every word barbed.
She had no friends in this era.
But Ophiel alone was different to her. When Ophiel had first been chosen as a Divine Attendant, she had still been a child, and she had been assigned to Jiu's side to be taught. Although Jiu's coldness had caused plenty of friction between them, their long, often rocky years together had already forged a deep bond.
They were not merely sisters, but also teacher and student, with something of a mother-daughter bond woven in.
That was also why, the instant she sensed that something had happened to Ophiel, she had reacted so violently and rushed straight to Clockwork City.
Lin En watched this display of sisterly affection with dead-fish eyes.
"Hey, Jiu, I kept my word, didn't I? I said I'd bring Ophiel back safe and sound, and I did. Surely you can believe