Writing Something You Like to Read

"Gift?"

Xingsu glanced sideways, a hint of doubt in her eyes, and spoke softly.

"Um."

Arlecchino responded softly, lowered her hand, and took out an exquisitely crafted, understated black brocade box from under her desk.

She raised her hand and steadily handed the box to Xingsu.

Xingsu reached out and took it, his fingertips touching the slightly cool surface of the box, which carried a trace of warmth from being carefully preserved. He raised his hand and gently lifted the lid.

The box was lined with soft, dark velvet, and in the very center lay the semi-finished Wisdom Network and research manuscripts that he had painstakingly brought back from Sumeru.

Xingsu raised her eyes, her gaze filled with astonishment and emotion, and looked at Arlecchino in front of her.

Seeing his stunned expression, Arlecchino calmly added, "Found it in the black market of the Fleuve Cendre. Nobody there realized its purpose; they just considered it an insignificant piece of junk, so it didn't cost much to acquire."

The Fleuve Cendre is a melting pot of all sorts of people, with countless lost items and stolen goods of dubious origin circulating within it. In this environment, the Fatui are like Chlothar entering the Dwarf Kingdom—they thrive and infiltrate with ease.

"Thank you..."

Arlecchino suddenly stepped closer, a slender index finger gently pressing against his lips, stopping the words that were about to come out. "Shh... No need to thank me. Even if you hadn't come to find me, I would have given you this gift in Poisson."

"And more than words of thanks," she said, before she finished speaking, she deftly raised her hand to brace herself against the wall, neatly trapping Xingsu between herself and the wall, "I prefer people to answer with actions."

The distance between them suddenly closed, their breaths mingling. She tilted her head slightly, her lips brushing against Xingsu's ear, her warm breath washing over his earlobe, her tone tinged with ambiguity and languor. "Someone secretly wrote me a letter, and I still keep it."

"..."

Is this a test for Xingsu?

Could Xingsu really withstand such a test?

It really can't withstand that.

With her back pressed against the cool, smooth wall, Arlecchino's breath was close to her ear, her warm whispers mingling with her heartbeat, and she froze, her mind blank, the words "I still have the letter you wrote to me" echoing repeatedly in her ears.

The emotions he had hidden when writing letters in the past, the tumultuous memories of death and reunion, all surged up at once. For a moment, he forgot to dodge, forgot to respond, and could only stare blankly at the person who had encircled him, letting the warm light from the Hearth in the room envelop their close figures.

Xingsu's apple bobbed slightly, his heart filled with emotions that were stuck in his chest, a thousand words stuck on his lips, and he couldn't squeeze out a single reply for a long time.

Before the sudden tremor had subsided, the warmth that had enveloped her slowly withdrew, Arlecchino slowly withdrew her hands from the wall.

Xingsu remained frozen in place, the box containing the communication device in his hand having fallen to the ground sometime earlier. He stared blankly at the other person, his eyes still filled with lingering confusion and emotion.

The flickering firelight from the Hearth danced between them. Arlecchino's expression softened, the earlier intimacy fading, replaced by her usual calm and composed demeanor, though her tone remained unusually gentle:

"No matter when or how, the doors of the House of the Hearth are always open for you. Come with me, let's go see the children."

Most of the children in the House of the Hearth simply regarded their father's announcement of the arrival of the new special instructor, Xingsu, as a routine personnel change, and continued to participate in training and manage their daily lives as usual, without giving it much thought.

But some children who had some inside information, such as Lyney and Lynette, reacted completely differently.

"Lynette, what do you think of this new instructor?"

Lyney turned her head and leaned closer to Lynette beside her, lowering her voice to ask curiously, "Lynette, what do you think of this new instructor?"

Lynne's long eyelashes drooped, her cat ears drooped slightly, and she turned her face away haughtily, deliberately avoiding her brother's probing gaze, her tone carrying a hint of reproach.

"My brother promised in the last chapter that he would never say anything out of line again."

Upon hearing this, Lyney scratched the back of his head, sheepishly abandoning his intention to ask further, and could only smile apologetically, "Hehe, I was just curious, I won't ask anymore."

"Yeah, I was just curious too. What do you think of this new instructor?" Suddenly, a pair of hands landed simultaneously, gently resting on their shoulders.

Lyney shuddered violently at the familiar sensation.

Lynette's soft cat ears stood up instantly, and her whole body tensed up instinctively.

My goodness, how come you walk so silently, just like your father?

Lyney's heart tightened, and she almost instantly regained her composure, standing up straight and bowing. Her voice was loud and clear. "Reporting, Instructor! Your strength has deeply impressed Lynette and me! I will unconditionally obey your instructions and absolutely work hard to complete your training."

He quickly used this statement to cover up the embarrassment of their earlier private discussion, his reaction perfectly timed. Beside him, Lynette's cat ears twitched slightly, then she nodded gently, quietly echoing her brother's words, but a hint of awkwardness at being caught still lingered in her cool eyes.

Xingsu Su didn't remove her hands from their shoulders. Her gaze swept over them indifferently, a barely perceptible smile playing on her lips, "Your reaction this time was pretty good. You passed."

Lyney's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down a little. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense shoulders and back relaxed, thinking that the little incident that had just been temporarily smoothed over was now over.

Before he could fully recover, Xingsu looked up at him and said calmly, "Let's go, come with me to the training ground."

The moment the words left her lips, the ease that had just spread across Lyney's face froze, and she instinctively straightened her back.

"Um, that..." Lyney began to speak softly, trying to explain something.

"What? Didn't you just say something like 'I will unconditionally obey your instructions and absolutely work hard to complete your training'?"

"..."

Wasn't that boomerang flying back a little too fast?

Lynette, standing to the side, had her eyes downcast, her cat ears drooping, and her face blank and expressionless. Her eyes were dull and emotionless as she stared indifferently at her brother, who was about to be taken to extra training, and the new instructor beside him. She pretended to be nothing more than Lynette figurine placed in the middle of the street.

"Hmm, Lyney, it seems your sister doesn't really care whether you live or die." Xingsu glanced at Lynette, who was looking dazed beside him, and teased her with a hint of amusement.

Lynette, who had been observing indifferently, heard the conversation and asked softly:

"Do I have to go for extra training too?"

Yes, you're going too.

"..."

Lynette turned her head to look at Lyney beside her, her cat ears slightly lowered, and gave her only a cold, resentful look.