Rover's frostbite hadn't fully healed yet, so Zane naturally couldn't let Stelle mess around. He helped her wrap the bath towel around herself again and left that troublesome spot.
The warm spring water soaked through the towel, wrapping the two of them tightly together.
"…Bad person… always bullying me…"
Rover curled up in Zane's arms, her little face flushed red, her jade-white skin faintly tinged with pink. She no longer looked like the great hero who saved Jinzhou.
Right now, she was just a young girl in love, shy and happy as she nestled in her lover's embrace.
Her jet-black hair reflected the shimmering ripples of the water. Warm mist lingered all around. The bath towel drifted along with the waves, carrying their thoughts away with it.
Seeing that Zane didn't respond, Rover raised her delicate fist and gave his chest, so close to her, a hard punch.
He only grinned foolishly at the girl in his arms, looking completely indulgent and accommodating.
"But it looks like you're enjoying it quite a lot."
The next second, a row of white teeth bit down hard on his shoulder, a slightly dissatisfied sound slipping out from between them.
"And whose fault is that…"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Rover loosened her bite and gently rested against his chest, listening to his strong, steady heartbeat. Her soft red lips curved into a beautiful smile.
The wounds left by successive battles quietly healed. Even her frostbitten right hand was slowly recovering under the nourishment of the hot spring.
As time passed, her breathing became soft and steady, like a breeze brushing over a lake, stirring delicate ripples.
Gradually, her eyelashes trembled slightly like butterfly wings, then finally stilled. Her breathing grew longer, and just like that, she clung to Zane and fell into a deep sleep.
Zane quietly felt the girl in his arms, his heartbeat gradually syncing with Rover's breathing.
He didn't dare move, afraid of disturbing her sweet dream.
At this moment, he felt as if time had stopped, as if the whole world had been reduced to just the two of them…
"Bestie, I'm full. Your turn."
Stelle, wrapped in a bath towel and looking refreshed, jumped into the pool.
Alright, looks like there was still one more Stelle in this world.
"What do you mean you're full, hey!"
Zane made an international friendly gesture toward Rover, but had no intention of moving.
Seeing that Zane didn't budge, Stelle pouted, then a playful smile spread across her face.
"What does it feel like bathing together with beautiful girls?"
"No feelings. Right now I just want to take all that junk I drew and smash it on your head."
"Tch, boring."
Stelle shrugged and turned to look to the side. There, two graceful figures were still standing, "Jinhsi, aren't you joining them?"
"Master, Jinhsi still has official duties to handle, I can't fool around with Zane and the others."
Hearing this, Changli raised her delicate brows slightly. "Then why did you choose to come to Mt. Firmament to handle your duties instead of staying in Jinzhou City?"
Standing beside Changli was none other than Jinhsi.
A white bath towel wrapped around her slender waist. Her snow-like long hair flowed down her back, gently swaying with the evening breeze, catching and reflecting the faint light of the sky. Paired with her cool yet slightly gentle expression, she looked like an angel descended to the mortal world.
Her legs were long and slim, and at her ankles, there was a faint touch of pink, enough to make the Doctor, who had quietly crept behind her, feel a stir in her heart.
"Master, that's because…"
"I know. Jinzhou is still too small. Zane should go out and explore a broader world… you think so too, don't you?"
Having her thoughts exposed by Changli, Jinhsi lowered her head, her eyes rippling like water as she murmured, "Yes… Jinhsi… feels a bit reluctant to let him go… ever since childhood, Jinhsi has always treated Zane as her own younger brother…"
Jinhsi raised her head and, through layers of mist, gazed at the stars hanging in the sky.
"But this feeling… changed a little without me realizing… Jinhsi knows that as the magistrate of Jinzhou, she should take the common people of the world as her responsibility and not have such girlish thoughts, but…"
Her gaze shifted, finally settling on that familiar figure.
"Jinhsi wants to watch over him, just like how Zane once protected Jinhsi."
Changli looked at the young dragon girl before her, whose eyes had grown more and more resolute, and nodded in satisfaction.
A qualified leader who calculates everything before acting is not necessarily good. The wisdom to see through everything, an unshakable will, and the courage to pioneer forward, none of the three can be missing.
"In that case, as your master, I'll give you a gift."
"A gift?"
Before Jinhsi could ask further, the Doctor, who had been lurking behind her, launched an attack.
'Leg grab!'
'Smoke seal!'
'Bath towel!'
'Jinhsi, come here!'
Jue, who had been hiding behind Changli for a long time, also took the chance to jump into the hot spring.
Who said a Sentinel doesn't need to soak in a hot spring?
Zane looked at the Doctor, who had joined in the chaos with them, completely astonished. Logically, she should have been the calmest one at a time like this.
"Doctor, why are you…"
Before Zane could finish, the Doctor looked at him with a wise expression. "Aba aba aba."
Alright, got it.
"Sentinel… you…"
"What 'you'? You're my Resonator, so you should call me big sister!"
"…Big… big sister…"
———
Changli watched the group playing around together, covering her mouth with a soft laugh. In her hand, she still held another Heartfire Feather.
Not far from the hot spring, a deep blue butterfly gently landed on the shoulder of the white-haired girl.
"Welcome home… 'Gardener,' and my dear destined seed."
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