"So…" the two of them followed behind Yanqing, and Firefly leaned in close to Clara's ear to ask:
"Clara, how old are you right now?"
Clara: …
Hearing Firefly's question, Clara immediately stopped in her tracks, freezing completely on the spot.
"How old…"
"Darling~ what do you think my size is?"
Clara looked at Firefly with a somewhat pitiful, aggrieved expression.
Firefly: ?
Seeing Clara's look, Firefly blinked in confusion. Wasn't she just asking about her age? Why did Clara react like this?
But in the next second, as Firefly watched Clara lower her gaze to a certain direction, she instantly understood—Clara had completely misinterpreted her question.
"Pfft, hahahaha." At that, Firefly burst out laughing.
"Wh-what are you laughing at! They'll grow, okay?!!!"
Listening to the constant stream of laughter from Firefly, Clara's face flushed bright red, and she hastily shouted.
"Alright, alright~" Seeing Clara's adorable, flustered-and-annoyed expression, Firefly reached out a hand fondly and ruffled her hair.
"Little Clara's will grow~"
"But still~ what your wife was asking wasn't what you were thinking, you know~"
With one hand stroking Clara's head and the other pinching her soft cheek, savoring the smoothness under her fingers, Firefly giggled.
"Huh?"
If Firefly wasn't asking about that, then what was she asking?
Letting Firefly play with her hair and pinch her cheek, her face still red, Clara shot her a puzzled look.
"I was asking about Clara's age~" Firefly released her hands, then took one of Clara's small hands in hers and resumed walking, keeping pace behind Yanqing.
"Back when I first joined the Stellaron Hunters, Clara kept telling me stories about your travels across the stars. You must have been active in the universe for a long, long time, right?"
"Ag… age…" Hearing that was the question, Clara immediately turned her face away, as if unwilling to answer.
"Clara, I'm really curious!" Watching Clara avert her head, Firefly used her other hand to gently turn it back.
"Mmm… ei… eighteen…" Seeing Firefly's expression, Clara knew she wouldn't let this go, so she answered truthfully.
"Th… that long?!" Upon hearing Clara's reply, Firefly was utterly stunned, then couldn't help but exclaim:
"I never imagined you were that old, Clara…"
Eighteen Amber Eras… that meant Clara was, at the very least… over thirteen hundred years old.
At most, over four thousand…
Clara's age truly shocked Firefly.
She had guessed Clara might be a few hundred years old, but she never expected it to be several thousand…
(A/N: One Amber Era lasts 76–240 years, as the Amber Lord's strikes vary in timing, so the length of each era differs.)
"Huh?" Hearing Firefly's gasp, Clara blinked in confusion.
Eighteen years old… is… is that considered old?
Isn't that just past the age of interstellar adulthood?
"Um… Clara." Firefly took a deep breath, then said to her:
"Although I might be a tender shoot grazing on an old ox, rest assured, this tender shoot will make sure to feed you, my old ox, until you're completely full!"
"Huh?"
Clara felt her entire brain grind to a halt.
She understood every single word Firefly said, but why did they make no sense when put together?
But then again, were she and Firefly even talking about the same topic?
"Um… Firefly, just how old did you think I was…?"
Clara realized there must have been some misunderstanding, so she quickly asked.
If Firefly kept this up, her brain was really going to short-circuit…
"Around twenty-five hundred years old?" Firefly thought for a moment and gave a middle-ground number.
"???"
Several huge question marks instantly popped up above Clara's head.
H… how much?
"Eighteen Amber Eras? Do you think I'm some kind of immortal?" Clara's lips twitched slightly as she gave Firefly an exasperated look.
"How could I possibly have lived for eighteen Amber Eras…?"
Sure, she wasn't actually eighteen, but damn, coming up with eighteen Amber Eras was just way too outrageous, wasn't it?
Well~ though as an Emanator, Clara could indeed live for eighteen Amber Eras~
"Hm? Not eighteen Amber Eras?" Hearing that, Firefly was also confused.
If not eighteen Amber Eras… then it couldn't be…
Could it be that she's lived through eighteen entire epochs…?
A possibility occurred to Firefly.
Eighteen epochs—just how terrifyingly long that was, Firefly didn't even dare to imagine…
But remembering Clara's utterly ridiculous strength, the likelihood of that idea gradually increased in Firefly's mind…
"Um, Clara, you're actually… ow!"
Firefly swallowed hard, about to speak, but before she could finish, Clara punched her lightly on the head, cutting her off.
Clara looked at Firefly, who was now rubbing her head in slight pain, and rolled her eyes.
"Don't imagine crazy things."
"I'll tell you the truth. The 'eighteen' I mentioned earlier was a joke."
"I've forgotten exactly how old I am, but it's around five hundred or so."
Clara put her hands on her hips and said helplessly.
Back when she first crossed over and gained near-invincible power, Clara went off to travel the universe. Exactly how much time had passed, even she didn't know.
But she was definitely a few hundred years old~
"Five hundred?" Hearing this, Firefly also breathed a sigh of relief.
So Clara wasn't really an ancient monster who had lived for eighteen epochs.
"Alright, alright~ let's just drop this, okay?" Clara shook her head and took Firefly's hand in hers.
"No matter how much time passes, I'll always love you."
"So, things like age really don't matter at all~"
Hearing that, Firefly smiled warmly.
"Of course~"
…
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