Tears welled up in Caitlyn's eyes.
She abruptly stood up from her chair, crossed the room, and hurried to Li Lin. She threw herself into his embrace, burying her face deep in his chest. The tears streaming down her cheeks dampened his shirt.
"You rascal! Why didn't you let me know you were coming home?!" she exclaimed.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"You're so naughty! You only write to me once every couple of months. Do you know how much I miss you?"
"There are too few settlements in the desert where I can send letters... I'm sorry, Cait."
Li Lin's eyes also welled up, one arm encircling Caitlyn's waist, the other embracing her shoulder, his face buried in her hair.
The two savored this moment of intimacy.
Meanwhile, standing to the side, completely ignored by the two, Kai'Sa was stunned by the scene.
Though her mother had taught her about relationships and certain physiological aspects, witnessing it firsthand was a whole different experience.
Girls should protect themselves; a hug or a kiss could lead to pregnancy. Her mother had even used such words to scare her.
Kai'Sa felt her cheeks grow hotter and her heart beat faster. She found herself somewhat looking forward to what the two of them would do next.
Could this lead to having a baby?
After some time, Caitlyn finally lifted her gaze, wiped the damp traces of tears from her face, and then pinched Li Lin hard.
Feeling the pain, Li Lin couldn't help but inhale sharply. "Ouch! What are you doing?"
Caitlyn broke into a smile through her tears and rubbed the spot she had just pinched. "If you can feel pain, it looks like this isn't a dream."
Li Lin pouted and playfully poked her rosy, tender cheek. "Of course, it's not a dream."
But soon, his actions turned into gentle caresses.
Caitlyn enjoyed Li Lin's affectionate gestures.
Feeling the warmth on her face, she wrapped her hands around Li Lin's neck, tiptoed, and leaned towards his face.
Standing beside them, completely transparent to the two, Kai'Sa's eyes widened even more. Subconsciously, she covered her eyes with her hands...
If only the gaps between her fingers didn't provide such a clear view.
Li Lin felt Caitlyn's subtle violet fragrance and warm breath as he prepared to respond to her eager welcome.
However, suddenly, he remembered something. He tilted his head back, avoiding Caitlyn's slightly moist lips. "Wait... hold on!"
"Hmm?" Caitlyn furrowed her brows, emitting a dissatisfied hum.
Then, she followed Li Lin's gaze as he turned aside, noticing a girl standing beside him, wearing purple-scaled armor with a faint purple glow on her shoulders.
Caitlyn saw the purple eyes blinking between the gaps of her fingers and couldn't help but pause, realizing that indeed, there had been two sets of footsteps earlier.
Realizing that her actions had been witnessed by this young girl who didn't seem much older, Caitlyn's delicate cheeks flushed red, and she couldn't help but shoot Li Lin a reproachful glance.
Li Lin, on the other hand, gave Kai'Sa a helpless look. "I almost forgot about you..."
To think she was silently watching us, this little Kai'Sa is learning bad habits!
Caitlyn scrutinized Kai'Sa carefully, sensing a resemblance to someone, but couldn't quite recall who.
"Who is she?"
"I forgot to introduce her to you. Her name is Kai'Sa, Kassadin's daughter."
Upon hearing Li Lin's explanation, Caitlyn suddenly realized.
So, she's Kassadin's...
Wait, something doesn't seem right?
"Didn't Kassadin say that his family was all... consumed by the Void? How could he have such a grown-up daughter?"
Li Lin sighed. "That's a long story."
He pulled Caitlyn to sit on the sofa, then waved to Kai'Sa, inviting her to sit beside him and poured her a cup of tea.
"This is the finest tea from Ionia. It may taste slightly bitter at first, but soon you'll notice a faint fragrance lingering in your mouth... Be careful, it's hot." Li Lin handed Kai'Sa the cup, explaining in Shuriman.
"Thank you."
Still reeling from the recent scene, Kai'Sa blushed and lowered her head, gently blowing on the tea, not daring to look at Li Lin and Caitlyn beside her.
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow; she had learned a bit of Shuriman in her childhood.
It was a bit rusty from not being used for a long time, but understanding Li Lin's words was still relatively easy.
"What's going on? How is Kassadin's daughter still alive? What's with the deep purple scale-like armor she's wearing? It doesn't seem like Hextech... And where's Kassadin? Why is his daughter following you?" Caitlyn fired off several questions in rapid succession, her interrogative tone making Li Lin's head spin.
"Take it easy, one question at a time."
For the next ten minutes or so, Li Lin explained in detail the events of their journey to Shurima to Caitlyn.
Every time the situation became perilous, she would grasp Li Lin's hand tightly, her heart racing in tandem.
When she heard how they had narrowly escaped danger, her tense mood would ease, and she would breathe a sigh of relief.
As Li Lin recounted Kai'Sa's struggle to survive underground for three years, relying on absorbing the cores of Voidlings to survive, unable to even supplement her diet with food or fresh water, Caitlyn looked at Kai'Sa with an added touch of pity and compassion in her eyes.
By the time Li Lin finished, Caitlyn's palms were already sweaty, and she couldn't help but pat him down, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Seeing Caitlyn's anxious and flustered expression, Li Lin couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart. He grabbed her small hand, "Don't worry, with the protection of powered armor, I'm perfectly fine."
"Really?" Caitlyn still looked skeptical.
"Don't believe me? When we get home, you can carefully inspect me in your room or mine?"
Li Lin deliberately emphasized the word "inspect."
Blushing, Caitlyn pushed him away, and scoffed, "Hmph! You're incorrigible... Seeing you act like this, I'm sure you're fine."
Realizing that aside from a few bruises, Li Lin was indeed unharmed, she finally relaxed.
She had intended to ask about the details of their journey, such as Azir's resurrection, the Sun Disc rising from beneath the Golden Sands, and the presence of the Aspect of War, Nasus, among others.
However, Kai'Sa sat quietly beside them, waiting for their conversation to finish, and Caitlyn felt bad leaving this poor girl out.
Caitlyn pressed her hand against Li Lin's chest, making him recline on the sofa, then looked at Kai'Sa beside him.
"I offer you water and shade, your name is Kai'Sa, right?" she asked in a slightly awkward Shuriman pronunciation.
Kai'Sa paused, her eyes filled with surprise as she looked at Caitlyn, then nodded, "I offer... um, wait, it should be 'May the gears turn smoothly'?"
She hesitated for a moment, "You can speak Shuriman?!"
"Mm-hmm~~ Not only Shuriman, but also Demacian, Noxian, Ionian, and even Freljordian... I'm fluent in all the languages of the different nations."
"Wow, that's amazing!" Kai'Sa exclaimed.
"I'm Caitlyn Kiramman, but you can just call me Caitlyn. I'm currently a detective, which you can think of as helping law enforcement officers catch criminals." Caitlyn quickly introduced herself.
Li Lin had to admit, her ability to communicate with people was excellent.
It was the same with Orianna before, and now with Kai'Sa.
Before they knew it, the two of them had become close confidants, completely ignoring him.
Kai'Sa was also very sensible. Although Caitlyn told her to call her by her name directly, she sweetly called her "Sister Caitlyn."
Plus, with her adorable appearance, she quickly melted Caitlyn's heart, who loved cute things.
As the sun set in the sky, Piltover was about to usher in the night.
Caitlyn took Kai'Sa's hand and walked out of the office, completely forgetting about Li Lin, who followed them with a helpless expression.
"Let's go, I'll take you home to meet my mom and dad!"
...
...
(End of this chapter)
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