"Sotis you're very easy to read."
The two of them leaned against the railing as the wind blew past.
Not far away stood Quiet Mountain's estate.
From ti to ti, sneaky Quiet Mountain players and gods could be seen secretly peeking at them.
Once upon a ti, Rita had thought Deceitful Bloom was impossible to understand.
There were monts when it was genuinely hard to tell what she was thinking.
Her actions often felt unpredictable.
Not in terms of purpose.
Rita could understand Mistblade's choices in Card Swap, so naturally she could also understand many of Deceitful Bloom's decisions.
What Rita had never understood before was why Deceitful Bloom always insisted on taking one extra step.
Like deliberately stepping out onto the temple platform.
Or deliberately controlling her in Quiet Mountain.
She always pushed relationships one layer deeper and more complicated.
Just as Lynx Duke once said:
"She can't stand days where nothing happens. Peaceful lives and peaceful relationships are like flowers without fragrance to her."
That statent was only the conclusion.
The real reason lay hidden inside You Are My Graveyard of Bones.
Ever since Rita saw Deceitful Bloom's past through Beacon You Are Mine, she had finally obtained the last missing puzzle piece.
Of course Deceitful Bloom could not tolerate quiet days.
People carrying imnse pain and trauma always needed sothing to keep themselves busy.
She treated intense conflicts as seasoning for life.
Used fresh, passionate love and hatred like alcohol to intoxicate herself.
More importantly...
Deceitful Bloom was the sa kind of person as her.
Both of them hated manipulation and restraint.
Rita's hatred ca from the deception and manipulation of family in her previous life.
Deceitful Bloom's ca from the cruel joke fate had played on her.
Beacon You Are Mine had not only manipulated and rewritten Deceitful Bloom's destiny.
She had also shackled Deceitful Bloom forever with the burden of "my entire race died because of ."
That invisible shackle forced Deceitful Bloom to forever sit at the highest point.
Forced her to constantly watch over the future of the Vineborne race in every era.
She could never beco numb like the gods of other races.
Because in the dead of night, she would inevitably ask herself again and again:
"Do you deserve your entire race's sacrifice?"
Every Deceitful Bloom born from tilines branching after that era of You Are Mine would inevitably walk the sa path.
She had to shine brilliantly.
Otherwise, that tragedy would lose all aning.
And with Deceitful Bloom's pride, she would never comfort herself with thoughts like:
"Maybe the Vineborne would have been destroyed eventually even without You Are Mine."
As long as Deceitful Bloom remained seated upon the highest throne...
As long as even one Vineborne or living being looked up at her...
She would inevitably rember that price.
Rita was certain of one thing.
The Deceitful Bloom who personally buried Beacon You Are Mine would have matched Wrathful Moon perfectly.
Because she had buried part of herself alongside her.
You Are Mine would never receive the Deceitful Bloom she waited for.
Deceitful Bloom would never go see her.
Because doing so would an reconciling with the past.
It would an truly letting it go.
So why did Rita say Deceitful Bloom was easy to understand now?
Because whether during the manipulation itself or after their falling out, Deceitful Bloom had still been teaching her.
It was compensation.
An apology.
She instinctively loved controlling things, yet simultaneously resisted that instinct.
That contradiction tore her back and forth endlessly.
Deceitful Bloom carried a trace of guilt toward her.
It was deeply hidden.
She would never say it aloud.
But it undeniably existed.
That was why Deceitful Bloom tolerated her beyond all reason.
Why Deceitful Bloom had co over now to ask what troubled her.
And yet, Deceitful Bloom would never admit she had done anything wrong.
Nor would she stop creating passionate love and hatred.
The Unchanged Fate Rita had comprehended during their first eting did not rely summarize many events.
It summarized both of them.
"This is the first ti anyone's ever called easy to understand."
After a long silence, Deceitful Bloom finally spoke.
Rita countered, "Then do you think I'm easy to understand?"
Deceitful Bloom lowered her head slightly.
Her eyes softened.
Then she quietly laughed.
Clearly, she too had recognized soone of the sa kind.
Not far away, BS Cicada frowned while staring at the two chatting by the railing.
She asked Smoke Tune beside her, "How are those two sohow getting along?"
Smoke Tune did not find it strange at all.
"BS Rita usually keeps to herself, but honestly, she can get along with almost anyone."
Cicada objected imdiately.
"Really? I can't talk with her at all."
Smoke Tune did not bother arguing with sothing so childish.
She simply replied gently, "That's okay. As long as you and I get along, that's enough."
One sentence instantly smoothed her over.
Fat Goose happened to pass by nearby.
His entire face twisted up as he backed away several steps before stopping in front of the sisters.
He stared at Smoke Tune and asked, "Wait... you don't usually talk to BS Rita like this too, do you??"
Mistblade and Maple Syrup would never say sothing so ridiculous...
Then Fat Goose froze.
Wait.
BS Rita actually did talk like that all the ti.
Fat Goose looked horrified.
"No wait, don't tell BS Rita talks to you like this too?!"
The double hit instantly wiped the smile off BS Cicada's face.
Even worse, she realized Fat Goose's second guess was probably correct.
Smoke Tune turned toward Cicada.
"I need to handle sothing. Wait here for ."
Then she imdiately chased after Fat Goose, who had already sensed danger and started sprinting away.
That loudmouthed Candlebeast had to die today.
anwhile, the conversation by the railing continued.
Rita did not hide her troubles from Deceitful Bloom.
Maybe Deceitful Bloom could think of a better solution.
She knew their conversation could not be hidden from the gods aboard the ship.
It was not because she trusted the Starsea players.
Nor because she did not care whether others obtained part of the mysterious authority related materials.
It was because she had already saved the tiline.
Leaving aside the fact that no god possessed the ability to drag worlds into Graveyard of Bones...
Even if soone figured out a thod and traveled to other tilines to seize those materials first, Rita could simply follow after them, learn the thod herself, and then rewind the tiline afterward.
To be safe, before discussing her current predicant, Rita first used Read File on the current tiline and rewound everything back several minutes.
Then Deceitful Bloom walked over and repeated the exact sa conversation.
Clearly, she no longer retained much mory of what had happened previously.
After patiently listening to Rita explain the problem she currently faced, countless possible solutions passed through Deceitful Bloom's mind.
One after another, she rejected them.
They all required too much ti.
During the silence, Rita spoke again.
"I keep wondering... what exactly is pruning tilines? And what decides which tilines are worth keeping?"
Seeing Rita sink into thought again, Deceitful Bloom remained silent.
The problems Rita faced had already exceeded anything they could truly help with.
If it were knowledge or combat techniques, they could still offer guidance.
But matters concerning the truth of the world, order itself, and alternate tilines...
They were powerless there.
Deceitful Bloom simply leaned against the railing and quietly enjoyed the wind without disturbing her.
Only after Rita finally erged from her thoughts and said goodbye did Deceitful Bloom extend a hand toward her.
A Flower of Deceit blood at her fingertips.
"If you run into an ergency and need to activate third phase, try this."
Rita had only just snapped back to reality before the flower filled her vision.
After hearing what Deceitful Bloom said, she blankly answered, "Oh."
Then she carefully picked up the flower and tucked it into her pocket.
The instant she touched it, she could tell the traits and power within it far surpassed the fla left behind by Undead Wildfire.
Deceitful Bloom turned and left.
Only after several ters separated them did Rita finally mutter:
"...Thanks."
The figure who had already walked several ters away suddenly stopped.
Then, extrely smoothly, she walked backward all the way back to Rita and stopped in front of her.
Deceitful Bloom tilted her head slightly.
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
Rita: "..."
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