"Seriously, what's wrong with you? Got a fever?" Facing Reimu's, Lin Luo asked completely cluelessly, displaying the characteristic cluelessness of a harem anime protagonist.

"You're the one with a fever! Your whole family has a fever!" Reimu’s soft expression instantly gave way to proud annoyance at those words. She shot him a fierce glare, clearly displeased.

Whether my whole family has a fever, I don't know, but theoretically speaking, you absolutely count as a member of my family, so cursing my entire family is cursing yourself... Lin Luo desperately wanted to tell Reimu this, but what came out was, "If you weren't sick, why is your face so red?"

In Lin Luo’s memory, Reimu only ever blushed like this when performing ** acts, and it always required a special state, a specific kind of stimulus... Oh wait, gotta maintain some decorum!

"I caught a cold, is blushing not allowed?" Reimu argued weakly.

"Oh, I see," Lin Luo nodded noncommittally and sat down at the dining table. Just as he reached for a bowl, he suddenly seemed to remember something, looking at Reimu as he said, "I get it now. Because I selflessly saved you three days ago, you were finally moved, so now you've fallen in love with me, right?"

"..." Reimu froze, her hand holding the chopsticks suspended in mid-air, unmoving, as if petrified.

"Go die!" Finally snapping out of it, Reimu, a mixture of shame and fury boiling over, shot up like lightning and kicked him with a bang, sending Lin Luo flying across the room. She then retracted her foot with a fierce look, adopting an expressionless face, and began to eat!

Actually, what Lin Luo said wasn't entirely wrong. Although Reimu hadn't been aware of her own death, after waking up, she learned from others about her journey from life to death, and back to life again—a rather dashing passage through life and death.

When she learned that the reason she died was because she acted as a scapegoat for Lin Luo and the others, she was furious, feeling she had been wronged even more than a certain historical figure. Then, when she learned that Lin Luo had actively risked danger to save her, throwing himself into a situation of near-certain death, she was shocked. After considering it very carefully, she felt it was necessary to re-examine this person named Lin Luo.

In Reimu’s impression, Lin Luo had always been just another passerby, much like Marisa and Alice—maintaining an attitude that was neither intimate nor distant. Although a few ambiguous and complicated incidents had occurred during that time, they hadn't caused any significant ripples in her heart. They vanished like floating clouds with a mere wave of her hand.

It wasn't until that night of drunken recklessness that the relationship between the two underwent a major shift... For a long time, Reimu viewed that incident as the greatest humiliation of her life.

Towards this man who had forcibly stolen her chastity, Reimu gnashed her teeth countless times, imagining dismembering him into pieces in her dreams, grinding his bones to dust—oh, what a satisfying release that would be. Of course, possessing a "correct" view of life, after careful consideration, she reluctantly let go of the ** pain, treating it purely as a wild dream, resolving to treat Lin Luo the same way she treated any stranger going forward.

But as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes; plans are subject to change. After all her agonizing, she never imagined that because of that one night's mistake, she was actually pregnant!

Reimu’s only feeling at that moment was... utter disarray in the wind. Tears streamed down her face.

She had finally managed to forget that incident, only for the new life growing inside her to dredge up the memories again. Initially, she had considered aborting the child, and she even took action, as she was far from mentally prepared to be a mother. Furthermore, the word "mother" carried enormous psychological trauma for her.

To that end, she deliberately picked fights, intentionally jumped from great heights, and deliberately soaked herself in cold water for three days and nights... In short, she tried every possible way to induce an accidental miscarriage. But alas, no matter how much she "self-abused," the child in her belly remained lively, growing bigger and bigger, its vitality terrifyingly more robust than a cockroach’s. If anything, she was the one who nearly became incapable of self-care.

Finally, when she realized that the only way to get rid of the child was to report herself to Shikieiki—that sorrowful recourse—she finally gave up.

Thus, she gave birth to Meimu, and then she met Lin Luo again.

Because of the bond formed by having a daughter, Reimu's attitude toward Lin Luo shifted once more; she could no longer treat him as a mere passerby... Of course, this didn't mean she had mentally accepted Lin Luo. To put it nicely, she had compromised in the face of kinship; to put it bluntly, she had decided to let things slide.

However, even this attitude didn't manage to— //Fastest text update from Book Fan Tower Move her? Certainly, there was some feeling, but Reimu would never admit it. At most, it was gratitude, yes, just gratitude. But whether it was being moved or grateful, she felt her attitude needed a slight adjustment.

From now on, she would treat him on the level of a 'donation box'... This was the status Lin Luo finally achieved after a series of internal struggles finalized by Reimu.

So, when she learned today that Lin Luo had returned to Gensokyo, Reimu didn't go to greet him. Instead, she meticulously prepared a feast, intending to properly entertain this human-shaped donation box.

But now, Reimu regretted it a little.

She had once read in Patchouli's books that women were like mist, like rain, and like the wind—impossible to grasp. But Reimu felt that the man she had just kicked out was even harder to fathom than all that wind and mist: one moment moving, the next frustrating, and the next infuriating him to death—truly detestable.

She had finally resolved to be gentler, yet he showed her absolutely no respect, spouting nonsense. Was that something a decent person would do?

Reimu pondered whether she should downgrade Lin Luo’s status—not too much, just to the level of the stone steps outside the shrine, the kind you can tread upon daily.

While Reimu was contemplating this while shoveling food, Lin Luo walked back in from outside. This time, he didn't continue to provoke her; instead, he stroked his chin, looking deeply thoughtful.

"Strange..."

Hearing Lin Luo's murmuring, Reimu paid him no mind. She also ignored him when he sat down again; she had already decided on a temporary cold shoulder treatment for Lin Luo.

It really is so strange...

Reimu ignored him, and Lin Luo didn't say much more, but in his mind, he suddenly felt a bit confused... Reimu’s textbook tsundere behavior was something he was intimately familiar with. Following his usual pattern of interaction, he should absolutely have climbed the ladder, capitalizing on the moment to increase his favorability rating, never provoking Reimu into anger.

Yet, not only did he anger Reimu, he even incited her to violence—this was completely out of character... As a man destined to become the King of Harem, why would he commit such an idiotic act?

It made no sense!

Also, it was the same not long ago in that cave when he met Mei Li and Renko. The best way to approach them would naturally have been to pretend it was a coincidence and offer assistance, thereby forging a deep friendship. Or perhaps staging a hero-saves-the-maiden spectacle to make the two naive girls offer themselves up willingly... Well, 'offering themselves up' might be an exaggeration, but it would absolutely have made them look at him with new respect, perhaps even develop affection.

But what actually happened? He spent the entire time mocking them and building animosity, nearly causing Renko to combust and Mei Li to turn dark... Alright, he had done things like that before. For instance, during his first encounter with Makino Shiri, he successfully provoked her hostility, and in the Type-Moon world a thousand years ago, he established a quite firm antagonistic relationship with the Knight Princess Mordred. But those incidents occurred when both parties were already enemies.

When dealing with girls who wouldn't become enemies, he generally avoided actively or intentionally courting hatred.

So, what accounted for this sudden shift?

Lin Luo vaguely felt this change started from this current time-space crossing. To be more precise, when he was still stuck in the era of Yukari and Youka, he wasn't nearly this provocative. But once he emerged from the River of Time, he suddenly became very sarcastic.

This abrupt transition was completely un-magical!

Could it be that he was replaced during his return? Like those transmigration novels where another soul merges with the host?

Lin Luo immediately considered this, but quickly dismissed it. With his current power level, setting aside his mastery over his own soul, if he couldn't even detect something as clear as a soul fusion—like finding a rusty needle while eating—he might as well smash his head against a tofu block.

If it wasn't the absurd notion of possession, then was it because he stayed in the River of Time for too long, causing him to see through the mortal coil, thereby losing interest in women, and consequently, no longer caring about favorability points?

The moment he considered this, Lin Luo felt a chill run down his spine. If a man evolves to the point where he has no interest in women, what is the point of living? Becoming gay?!

Almost reflexively, Lin Luo immediately looked at Reimu, his gaze sweeping from top to bottom. First, her fair yet rosy cheeks, then her slender neck, followed by the snow-white skin exposed to the air by her arm-baring Miko attire, then the flat chest liberated from the binding cloth... (though unseen), further down was the slender waist hidden beneath the red Miko dress, and finally, of course, the female forbidden zone that sparked endless imagination because it remained unseen.

In that moment, Lin Luo was like a lecher starved for ten years, staring fixedly at Reimu’s figure. Simultaneously, he fully utilized his rich capacity for imagination, and in an instant, a magnificent scene appeared in his mind: a completely naked Miko, her jade body sprawled across a soft bed.

Then, Lin Luo felt it—that familiar throbbing and intense desire beneath him.

For the first time in his life, he felt such intense excitement over his own normal physiological reaction.

Thank goodness, this old cannon was still ravenous!

With that realization, Lin Luo was finally at ease.

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