I'm in Mota, and they all want me to confess my feelings!

Oh no, Floro's symptoms have worsened again.

She truly saw me as that person completely.

"I... okay, okay, whatever you say goes."

He picked up the menu with a sigh, trying to change the subject.

Duanmu Yan knew in his heart that Floro was too deeply immersed in the past, so deeply that every time they met, he would gaze at another person through him.

He had considered pulling her out of those painful memories.

He still doesn't know what to do.

Perhaps the only thing we can do right now is to continue to stay by her side and gradually deepen our connection.

"Alright, I've almost finished eating. Well then, see you next time."

After saying this, Floro stood up and left the restaurant without lingering.

Phoebe watched her figure disappear through the door before softly asking Duanmu Yan, "Mr. Duanmu, did something happen between you and Miss Floro? I feel there's something a little off between you two."

“It’s a long story,” Duanmu Yan sighed, pushing the menu in front of her. “She just… hasn’t been able to get over certain things from the past. Let’s not worry about that for now, Phoebe. See if there’s anything you’d like to eat?”

"Couldn't get over the past...?" Phoebe took the menu, repeating the question softly, then suddenly widened her eyes as if she'd just realized something. "Could it be... she's your ex-girlfriend?"

"What nonsense are you thinking?" Duanmu Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Of course not. It's just that I look like someone she knows, so she sometimes... projects her emotions onto me."

"Huh? Really?" Phoebe blinked incredulously.

"Of course. Do I look like the kind of person who starts something and then abandons it?" Duanmu Yan shrugged, looking relaxed. "Hurry up and eat something, we still need to find a place to stay."

"OK, all right!"

……

……

After dinner, Duanmu Yan took Phoebe to look for a place to stay on the island.

Whether it was because Port Rijoli had been overcrowded with tourists lately, or because the islanders harbored prejudices against people of religious origin, several hotels they inquired with politely turned them away, citing that they were "fully booked."

Just when I was about to give up, a hotel finally said they had rooms available, but...

"I'm so sorry, you two."

The shop owner smiled apologetically.

"There's only one room left in the shop. Can you... accept that?"

P.S.: I'm going to torture myself again.

Book 1: Chapter 59 Phoebe's Boots

Oh, there's only one room left?

That is to say...

For the next period of time, I will have to live with Mr. Duanmu...?

Phoebe stood there, stunned, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. The blush crept up to her earlobes and then spread to her neck, as if a warm, silent throbbing was emanating from beneath her skin.

Even though she was a priestess of a religious order, Phoebe was still just an ordinary girl at heart.

Therefore, it is perfectly natural for a young girl to blush and feel flustered when she realizes that she is about to be in a room with a member of the opposite sex.

Is there only one room left?

Duanmu Yan frowned slightly, clearly somewhat dissatisfied with the result.

Or--

What he cared more about was whether Phoebe would feel embarrassed because of this.

He certainly didn't object to living under the same roof as Phoebe. After all, who in this world would refuse to share a room with a lovely young woman?

But what about Phoebe?

Would she agree?

"How about this, Phoebe?" Duanmu Yan pondered for a moment, then turned to her and said, "You stay here, and I'll go look around elsewhere. What do you think?"

The girl, taken aback by the sudden question, looked up at him with a flustered expression, unsure how to respond.

She turned to look out the window; the night was already deep.

Before coming to this hotel, they had already asked at several other places, and almost all of them were fully booked. At this hour, was it really possible to find other accommodations?

not to mention……

Mr. Duanmu has already done so much for me, and now he wants to give me his only room? How can he do this?

Thinking of this, the girl quietly clenched her fingers, as if she had made up her mind.

But when the words reached her lips, her voice unconsciously softened. She lowered her head and murmured indistinctly.

"It's already so late... If we go out to find a place now, it'll be too late, won't it?"

"If it's Mr. Duanmu... I... I wouldn't be unable to accept it."

Phoebe's voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

But Duanmu Yan still heard it.

He looked at the naive girl in front of him with amusement: "Aren't you afraid I'll 'eat you up'?"

“Eat him?” Phoebe didn’t understand, tilting her head with a confused expression. “What does that mean? I don’t quite get it… I just think Mr. Duanmu is a good person, and it’s okay for us to live together.”

One "good guy" card.

Why do I have this feeling that it's already over before it even started?

"Fine, just pretend I didn't say anything." Duanmu Yan covered his face, too embarrassed to tease this overly naive girl any longer. He turned to the shop owner and said, "One room it is. By the way, boss, I have something to ask you."

The boss looked at him: "What is it?"

"Regarding the whale that travels upstream, have any of the people on the island seen it recently?"

"A whale that travels upstream?" The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then stroked his chin and thought for a while. "Now that you mention it, it seems that no one has seen one recently."

"Could something... have happened?" Phoebe asked worriedly.

The shopkeeper shook his head and shrugged helplessly: "Who can say for sure? Maybe it just swam away somewhere else. Are you here to look for it?"

Phoebe nodded gently: "Mm."

“I see,” the shopkeeper said. “If you’re really looking, you can try your luck at Quiet Bay. That’s where it often rests, and if you’re lucky, you might find it.”

"Thank you."

Phoebe smiled and said goodbye, then quietly followed Duanmu Yan into the room.

Their room was located on the third floor of the hotel.

The corridor was unusually quiet, almost without any other sound, so quiet that Phoebe couldn't help but wonder: Is this place really full?

The wooden floorboards beneath her feet creaked softly with each step, as if echoing her increasingly rapid heartbeat.

She pursed her lips, cautiously watching Duanmu Yan walking ahead.

Despite having prepared myself mentally, the tension still overwhelmed me when the moment actually arrived.

"Phoebe."

Suddenly, Duanmu, who was walking ahead, called her name.

"Well, I'm here."

"You'll sleep in the bed later," he said without turning his head, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather. "I'll just sleep on the floor."

"Huh?" Phoebe paused slightly, looking somewhat surprised. "This...is this really okay? Mr. Duanmu, aren't you going to sleep in the bed?"

Duanmu Yan found it somewhat amusing: "What, do you want to sleep in the same bed as me?"

"No, no." Phoebe's cheeks flushed instantly, like someone drunk. She stammered, "I...I mean...I..."

She stammered for a long time, but couldn't even form a complete sentence. In the end, she could only lower her head, letting shyness and panic spread across her face.

"What am I even saying...?"

"The more you try to explain, the worse it gets..."

"However... if it's Mr. Duanmu... it doesn't seem like it's entirely impossible..."

They walked to the door, and Duanmu Yan inserted the key and turned the doorknob.

Inside the door was an ordinary single room.

Duanmu Yan is not picky about accommodation; cleanliness and tidiness are enough for him.

As for Phoebe, as a devout priest, she never cared about these external conditions.

Moreover, at times like this, having a place to stay is already something to be grateful for.

Phoebe gently took off her boots, and her white pantyhose, worn all day, were completely exposed to Duanmu Yan's view.

—Duanmu Yan unconsciously took a deep breath.

...surprisingly, it didn't have much of a taste.

Sigh, what a disappointment.

“Mr. Duanmu, what were you doing just now…?” His slightly deliberate breathing caught the girl’s attention.

"It's nothing, just relaxing a bit." He forced himself to look away from her legs, turned and walked to the window. "Alright, it's getting late, time to rest."

"Okay."

The naive girl naturally believed Duanmu Yan's casual explanation.

In her heart, Mr. Duanmu was a purely good person—and a purely good person would never do anything impolite.

Duanmu Yan first went to the bathroom to wash up quickly, then gave the blanket to Phoebe. He then took the spare blanket and neatly made a makeshift bed on the floor next to the bed.

"Phew, I'm really tired after traveling all day."

He took off his coat and lay down on the floor.

The faint sound of running water came from the bathroom, and his gaze inadvertently fell on the doorway again—the pair of boots that Phoebe had taken off were still lying there quietly.

My mind, which had been calming down, suddenly and uncontrollably conjured up an evil thought.

"Tsk, what am I thinking about?" He quickly suppressed the thought as soon as it popped into his head.

The larger head ultimately prevailed over the smaller head.

"It's better to go to bed early."

He turned over, his back to the boots, and stopped looking at them.

—Although he was still curious about the smell of the boots.

Book 1: Chapter Sixty: Imagining Phoebe

Silent all night.

When Duanmu Yan opened his eyes again, the sky was already tinged with a faint, fish-belly white, but the streets were still shrouded in a hazy gray-blue.

It seems there's still some time before sunrise.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, not remembering when he had fallen asleep.

I only vaguely remember that I fell asleep without realizing it while I was thinking about Phoebe—no, I mean, about Feifei.

It's probably because I was too tired from traveling all day yesterday.

He sat up from his cot and stretched his stiff shoulders.

The room was very quiet, so quiet that only Phoebe's soft, rhythmic breathing could be heard.

She seemed to still be lost in a dream, occasionally murmuring softly, wrinkling her small nose, her voice as soft and sweet as if she were being coquettish.

"Ugh... Benny, stop it..."

"How can you put pineapple on a pizza... Mr. Duanmu, really..."