Lin Ye opens the door and finds one furious Ifrit.

Before he can say anything, Ifrit cuts him off, "Where the heck were you?! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Huh?", Lin Ye says, "I had something to do. Well, why didn't you call me?"

"Do you think I'm stupid!?", Ifrit says, "If I actually called you, wouldn't Silence immediately know?"

Lin Ye is more confused now.

"You! Did you do that on purpose!?" Ifrit grits her teeth, "You promised me! You promised Lord Ifrit, asshole!"

It takes Lin Ye a moment before he finally realizes what she meant.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm ready."

"Ready? What did you prepare?"

Ifrit takes out a few Lungmen dollars from her pocket, waving it in his face, "I have the money ready. You just have to bring me to Saria or tell me where she is. I will find her myself."

"Where could you go with so little money?"

"Don't worry about it. Just tell me where to find her."

"Don't worry about it?", Lin Ye sighs, "Silence asked me to take care of you on this trip. Did you think I would just look the other way when you try to go somewhere alone? As for Silence, would she even allow you to find Saria?"

Ifrit's expression froze for a moment, before her scowl renewed, her teeth grit in frustration.

Lin Ye turns back to Ace, "Ace, is Silence not here?"

ACE shakes his head.

"When will she be back?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Alright.", Lin Ye turns to Ifrit again, "You heard that too, right? Your mother will be back tomorrow."

"Then I'm leaving tonight.", Ifrit stubbornly declared, "You better tell me where Saria is."

"Even if I tell you, you still can't go. I don't want Silence to come knocking on my door tomorrow. Listen, Little Devil, I just joined this company. There's no way I would risk getting fired for your little scheme."

Ifrit grinds her teeth and says, "What does that have to do with me? You promised! You said that if I listened to you for a few days, you'd bring me to see Saria!"

Lin Ye rolls his eyes inwardly, deciding to postpone this discussion for later, "I said I'd bring you to her, but did I say when? When the time is right, I will bring you to her, just not now. Saria is very busy."

But Ifrit was young, not stupid, "No, now is the best time."

"Why?"

Even though she doesn't say anything, Lin Ye knew the reason. Now that Silence was away, and Ifrit was outside Rhode Island, no one else was around to keep her in check, except Lin Ye. Actually, he couldn't even reign this brat in himself. The best he could do was call Silence.

"Alright, we can go, but I need to tell Silence first."

"No, you can't tell Silence!"

"Why?", Lin Ye asks, pretending to be confused, "Do you hate Silence? Is that why you want to leave her for Saria?"

Ifrit lowers her head, "I don't hate Silence... How can I hate her? She's very important to me... but so is Saria."

Ifrit suddenly lifts her head and stares into Lin Ye's eyes, "Did you lie to me?"

"You don't know where Saria is!", she points at his face, "You never wanted to bring me to her!"

Ifrit wasn't stupid after all. He can't fool her like Nightingale. No matter what he said right now, she wouldn't believe it. She could see the guilt and helplessness in his eyes.

This is pointless.

His silence only serves to further confirm her suspicion. All her faith in him has been betrayed. He lied to her.

Ifrit lowers her head and clenches her fists, "Asshole, liar... Adults' words are all fake, all fake. You just wanted me to be obedient. You never wanted me to see Saria."

Lin Ye sees her begin trembling, which worries him. He tries to calm her down, "Ifrit, I-"

"SHUT UP!" Ifrit yells at him, "I don't want to hear you again! I don't want to see you again! You want me to look like a fool and beg you! Are you satisfied now?! I will never believe you again!"

Then, she runs away.

Lin Ye stares at her back wordlessly. His hand still hanging midair, unable to reach her.

Was she... crying?


{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}


Lin Ye retreats back into his room with a heavy heart.

Ace puffs out some smoke and looks at Lin Ye, "Did you two argue?"

"Something like that. Kids, these days...", Lin Ye sits down across from ACE and sighs, "I didn't promise her anything. It was Ptilopsis."

"Can you tell me about it?"

Lin Ye nods. He's tired, both physically and emotionally. He needed to vent, and since ACE was willing to listen, why not?

So he tells Ace the gist of the matter.

After listening to Lin Ye's rant, Ace is silent for a moment. He grunts, "I've heard about the conflict between Silence and Saria. Tsk. That's not something easy to handle."

"Yeah, tell me about it.", Lin Ye facepalms, "Ptilopsis said it wouldn't matter. She said Ifrit would forget it."

"So, what do you think?"

"What do I think? I'm not Ptilopsis." Lin Ye sighs heavily, "That kid is really helpless. She didn't go to Ptilopsis, but came to me instead."

ACE smiles, "Isn't that obvious?"

"Huh?", Lin Ye turns to him in confusion, "What is?"

"Because Ifrit doesn't trust her.", Ace says, "If she did, she wouldn't have come to you. You saw it yourself. She skipped Ptilopsis and came straight to you. She thought you would take her to find Saria"

Lin Ye frowns."I don't know Ifrit as well as you do, but I can see she has the same problem as that little girl called Nightingale, but she's slightly better. At least, she's willing to believe Silence and Saria. Look, she even trusted you. Hmm. Now that I think about it. You really are incredible."


{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}


A few minutes later, Lin Ye stood up and strides towards the door.

ACE asks, "Have you decided?"

"Yeah.", Lin Ye nods, "Even if she's going to burn me alive, I'm going to help her."

He pauses for a moment, turning back to his roommate.

"One more thing, ACE."

"Hmm?"

"Thanks, man. You really helped me out there."

"Anytime. That's what friends are for, right"

Lin Ye smiles in gratitude and heads out the door.

"..." ACE looks at Lin Ye's back and picks up his half-empty beer.

"Sometimes I want to be a father."


{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}


Lin Ye knocks on Ifrit's door, "Open the door. Open the door. Hurry up! If you don't open the door, I will tell your mom!"

Ifrit opens the door with an angry look, "You-!"

Lin Ye abruptly grabs her hand, cutting her off, "Come with me."

Ifrit is surprised at first. Then, she remembers her anger, "You-!"

"If you want to see Saria, just follow me."

Ifrit is stunned at that, as she stares at Lin Ye incredulously.

"That's why you're a brat.", Lin Ye mumbles, "Why am I doing this to myself? I'm not Doraemon. Ughhh... Whatever, there's no turning back now. I'm definitely going to help you because I'm an awesome adult."

Ifrit doesn't know what to say. To her, the Lin Ye right now was very different from the Lin Ye she shouted at half an hour ago.

His hand feels warm.

Like Silence's.

Lin Ye takes Ifrit into the stairwell and sits her down on the stairs.

"Is Saria coming here?"

"Just wait here. "Lin Ye sighs.

Ifrit is still a little angry, but she's too excited to ruin this opportunity.

Lin Ye takes his phone out and dials the number.

After a few seconds, his call is answered.

"Doctor Lin? Why did you call me? Do you need my assistance?"

Lin Ye doesn't say anything. He turns the speaker on and gives his phone to Ifrit.

Then, he walks out the door and closes it behind him.

A few seconds later, he hears sobbing behind him.

Don't want others to disturb her.

"S-Saria... I miss you so much. I really, really miss you."


{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}


Draft by Mihjaqtio

Proofread by Demosama PanzerComrade56

Edit by Mihjaqtio