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"Ah?"
Honestly, when Lin Ruo heard Medici's words, he was truly dumbfounded for a moment.
What did "You'd better not let Little Crow know about your goddaughter" mean?
Lin Ruo blinked, looked at Medici, his expression becoming subtle, and whispered, "Isn't Little Crow's relationship with me not good?"
Could it be that Little Crow would even get jealous?
"Tsk, I won't comment on your relationship, but Little Crow doesn't like sharing his godfather with others." Medici glanced at Lin Ruo, as if he had thought of something, and said, "To use your words, this seems to be called a brat's possessiveness."
Lin Ruo: …
Understood!
A brat's possessiveness—even if they don't like it, even if they want to destroy it, they won't allow anyone else to touch it, right!
Lin Ruo understood instantly, and his mood immediately worsened.
Especially when he thought of some of Amon's absurd and terrifying actions in the original work, Lin Ruo suddenly felt his teeth ache.
#If this fast-forwards to Amon stealing Huang Beibei's identity, wouldn't I be unable to explain it to Roselle?#
"This is truly fatal…" Lin Ruo rubbed his forehead, feeling that brats were truly too annoying.
However, no matter how annoying, the brat was ultimately just a figment of imagination, with only slight traces appearing in the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Lin Ruo simply shook his head, suppressing all those chaotic and terrifying associations, and took Medici with him to stake out Huang Beibei.
The place they chose to stake out was naturally the exit, after all, the exhibition hall was not small, there were many people, and crucially, there were also Beyonders from the Steam and Machinery Church secretly maintaining order.
Although those Beyonders were not enough for Lin Ruo to defeat with one hand, he ultimately couldn't use extraordinary abilities to search under such circumstances—mainly because divination had failed—so Lin Ruo simply took Medici to stake out the exit.
If they could stake her out, great; if not, they would just come back to stake her out at night.
Lin Ruo was not in a hurry anyway, and he was not short of this half-day's time.
As for whether staking out at the exit would be very conspicuous? It really wasn't, because there were also many people at the exit, some leaving together after finishing their visit, and others waiting like them, most likely having come out early or visited the exhibition separately, so they had to wait for someone.
Lin Ruo and Medici blended in with the crowd, and apart from the attention caused by both of them being handsome, they were not at all conspicuous.
And they didn't wait long at the entrance, because after a while, a lady wearing a girlish yellow cake dress and an old-fashioned black soft hat appeared in their sight.
The latter was clearly a bit distracted, probably because visiting the exhibition today reminded her of some past events.
Lin Ruo tugged at Medici, who was leaning against the wall next to him, seemingly resting his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he actively called out to the latter, "Beibei, over here!"
It wasn't to get closer to her, but mainly because calling Bernadette would attract too much attention. After all, this was the entrance to the Roselle Memorial Exhibition. Calling the Great Emperor's daughter's name here would definitely be as conspicuous as a "keyword," so it was better to use a nickname.
Then Lin Ruo saw Bernadette Gustav's steps falter slightly. She then looked up in Lin Ruo's direction, her gaze freezing when it landed on Lin Ruo's face.
Even across the crowd, Lin Ruo could feel the shock in Bernadette Gustav's heart at this moment. She almost froze in place, like a statue.
This reaction was much greater than Bornova's.
Lin Ruo blinked, and after thinking for a moment, he still walked over proactively.
He stopped about a meter away from Bernadette, and with his usual warm, reassuring smile, he said, "Perhaps I should say, 'Long time no see'?"
Bernadette's lips trembled slightly, and the emotions revealed in her eyes, which were inherited from Roselle, were so complex at this moment that Lin Ruo couldn't even discern them.
Lin Ruo could see that Bernadette's right hand seemed to instinctively grasp something at this moment. That posture was not one of vigilance, nor hostility, but rather, in a state of nervousness and bewilderment, an instinctive grasping of something that could bring her peace.
Oh, it seems a bit different from what I imagined…
Lin Ruo realized something and spoke again, "What, are you unhappy to see me? Do you dislike me that much?"
His words were naturally not in a serious tone, but clearly a joke.
"No."
Bernadette finally spoke, her voice a bit dry, likely due to her emotions fluctuating too much.
She gazed at the person whose face was as familiar as ever, her eyes resting on that familiar smile, and dormant memories seemed to awaken at this moment.
Bernadette suddenly remembered her first meeting with Lin Ruo.
Or rather, her first meeting after she could remember things.
It was when she was five years old, in her father's study. An unfamiliar young man squatted down and patted her head, his voice gentle:
"Little Bernadette, do you still recognize me? I'm your godfather!"
And her father, who was next to them, hearing this, said irritably:
"Recognize… How could she recognize you? The last time you saw Bernadette, she was only two and couldn't remember things yet!"
"You don't remember, huh? Well, that makes me sad."
The young man ignored her father, only pretending to be sad as he said this, then lowered his head and hung something around her neck.
It was a small lock that looked like it was made of silver.
"But no matter how sad I am, as your godfather, I still prepared a gift for you!"
The young man's smile overlapped with the person in front of her.
"A longevity lock I personally crafted. It will protect you."
Bernadette looked at the person in front of her and said,
"Long time no see."
Seeing her reaction, Lin Ruo's smile instantly became brighter, and he said, "This isn't the place to talk. I know a good coffee shop nearby. Want to go?"
"Okay." Bernadette nodded, seemingly having recovered. Her voice was no longer dry, returning to its gentle tone.
Her gaze then fell on Medici next to Lin Ruo. She didn't speak directly, but clearly had a questioning look.
"This is Mr. Red, my friend. You can pretend he doesn't exist." Lin Ruo introduced proactively, once again employing the "Does Not Exist" method.
"Mr. Red…" Bernadette was stunned for a moment. She seemed to have thought of something, her gaze becoming a bit complex, and she looked at Lin Ruo again, as if asking or muttering to herself:
"…Have your regrets been made up for?"
"Hmm?" Lin Ruo raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, "It seems I told you about Mr. Red."
"You did mention it to me…" Bernadette didn't deny it, saying softly, "You said he was your best friend and your greatest regret."
Lin Ruo immediately glanced at Medici. The latter showed no reaction upon hearing this, remaining as he always was, so Lin Ruo withdrew his gaze and said,
"I originally thought my relationship with you wasn't very good. Now it seems, perhaps it's quite the opposite."
Lin Ruo didn't think he would mention Medici's matter to someone with whom he wasn't very close.
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