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Seeing how amusing Freminet looked, Shao Yun deliberately put on a stern face, adopting a serious expression as he continued to scare him. "If you weren't acting under Arlecchino's orders, then does that mean you came here to sneak a peek at girls in swimsuits?"
The moment Shao Yun accused him of spying on girls, Freminet reflexively glanced toward the distance.
There, three delicate faces were gathered around a table, their graceful figures and alluring curves fully in view.
The sudden visual impact instantly sent the usually pure and inexperienced boy's face flushing bright red.
His once pale cheeks looked as though they'd been scorched by fire, rapidly turning crimson.
Freminet felt his heart race and his throat grow dry, and he couldn't help letting out a tiny whimper, faint yet more than enough to expose his inner panic and embarrassment.
Watching Freminet turn into a full-on "braised penguin," Shao Yun's lips slowly curled into a mischievous grin.
He teased with clear amusement, "Haha, looks like I really hit the mark! Swimsuit beauties really do have a way of catching the attention of… boys like you."
Faced with Shao Yun's teasing, Freminet grew even more flustered.
He hastily raised both hands to cover his eyes and hurriedly explained, "N-no, you've really misunderstood, Mr. Shao Yun! I was just diving nearby, and I happened to hear laughter coming from the shore…"
"So, I came over to see what was going on, and then I got fished up by you!"
However, this explanation was clearly at odds with basic physics.
Shao Yun wasn't so easily fooled. Raising an eyebrow, he questioned with a doubtful tone, "Oh? You could hear laughter from the shore while underwater? Freminet, Freminet—I admit I'm no sailor, but do you really think I'd believe that?"
Seeing his hastily made excuse fall apart, Freminet could only mutter incoherently, "I… I…"
He looked just like a rabbit scared out of its wits, having completely lost his usual composure.
Shao Yun, wearing a wicked smile, looked at the helpless Freminet and slowly threatened, "Hmph, you'd better come clean. Otherwise, don't blame me for being unkind."
At that, Shao Yun deliberately paused, leaving the sentence hanging.
That brief silence left endless room for Freminet's imagination, making his heart pound with growing unease.
His throat dry with nerves, Freminet swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice, "W-what exactly do you want to do?"
Yet, Shao Yun himself felt a bit troubled by the question.
He obviously wasn't about to do anything like a priest "getting close" to a young boy, and for a moment he genuinely didn't know how else to scare Freminet.
Just as Shao Yun was racking his brain, inspiration suddenly struck.
The smile on his face faded, replaced by a dark, chilling expression as he spoke in a low, threatening voice.
"Hehe. If you still won't tell the truth, I'll go straight to Arlecchino and tell her all about how you like sneaking around to watch girls change."
"Not only that—I'll make sure Lynette hears about it too, and have her properly look down on you. After that, everyone can call you 'Closet Pervert' Freminet."
The moment he heard the words "closet pervert," Freminet was struck like lightning, his whole body trembling as his face drained of color.
"Ugh!!!"
Immediately afterward, Freminet began begging frantically.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I really was just diving around here, I absolutely had no intention of peeking at anything! Please, you have to believe me!"
Seeing Freminet on the verge of tears, Shao Yun decided he'd scared him enough. He cleared his throat, reined in his smile slightly, and asked with feigned seriousness, "Oh? Is that really so?"
Hearing this, Freminet nodded desperately as if clutching a lifeline.
"Mm-hmm, absolutely! I just accidentally swam near here. I only meant to surface and check where I was, but the moment I popped up, you hooked me!"
"I swear on everything, I truly didn't peek at any girls changing or anything like that!"
Shao Yun laughed inwardly, but outwardly he put on a disappointed expression, letting out a long sigh.
"Looks like I couldn't trick you into slipping up after all. Oh well. In that case, come on over—we'll eat some barbecue together."
Freminet could hardly believe his ears. He stared wide-eyed at Shao Yun in disbelief.
Just moments ago, he'd been scared half to death, and now he was being invited to eat?
The emotional whiplash was so intense that he couldn't process it right away.
"I… I get to eat too?" Freminet stammered.
Shao Yun gently placed a hand on Freminet's back, guiding him toward the table while jokingly asking, "What, you don't want to accept my kindness?"
Freminet immediately shook his head like a rattle drum and hurriedly explained, "N-no, that's not what I mean at all! I just—"
Shao Yun quickened his pace. "If that's the case, then hurry up and come with me!"
Everything felt unreal to Freminet, and he muttered inwardly, "Why is he suddenly being so nice? This is weird…"
Just like that, Freminet was half-pushed, half-dragged over to the table.
Shao Yun cheerfully explained to those seated there, "Ladies, you don't mind one more cute young boy joining us for dinner, do you?"
Hearing this, Freminet nervously waved his hands and shyly introduced himself.
"Hello everyone, my name is Freminet. I was diving in the sea earlier and got pulled out by Mr. Shao Yun."
Paimon noticed Freminet and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, what a coincidence! Freminet, were you fishing up some mechanism fish again?"
Freminet gently shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, this time I was just swimming as part of my daily routine…"
Navia swallowed the barbecue in her mouth and called out warmly, "Hey, Freminet, come sit down! Don't be shy—we've got plenty of barbecue here, you'll definitely be full!"
Freminet obediently nodded. Just as he tried to find a seat farther away from everyone, Shao Yun placed him right between Navia and Clorinde.
Freminet froze. What was this situation?
Shao Yun offered no explanation and simply returned to grilling, since the first batch of barbecue was nearly gone.
Throughout the meal, Freminet remained extremely stiff, after all, he was sandwiched between two of Fontaine's great beauties.
By contrast, Clorinde appeared completely unfazed.
She paid no attention to Freminet beside her and focused solely on enjoying the barbecue.
Navia, on the other hand, was exceedingly enthusiastic, repeatedly offering barbecue to Freminet and even trying to feed him.
In everyone's eyes, Freminet was just a shy, bashful kid—almost giving off "gender-flipped Klee" vibes.
Unfortunately, Freminet didn't take advantage of this beginner's grace period to enjoy Navia's feeding.
Instead, he kept shaking his head and waving his hands in refusal.
No matter how Navia coaxed him, Freminet stubbornly refused to be fed.
In the end, he couldn't take it anymore. After hastily eating a few bites, he quickly excused himself. "Thank you all for the food! I'm really full now! I'll be going!"
Before anyone could respond, Freminet stood up and hurried toward the sea, diving straight into the water and vanishing from sight in an instant.
Watching Freminet flee in panic, Shao Yun couldn't help finding it amusing and joked, "Haha, Freminet's shy side is pretty cute—almost on par with Paimon…"
...
With Freminet gone, night gradually fell, and the barbecue party drew to a close.
The beach fun for the day had ended, but Shao Yun was still wearing his shorts.
Since Shao Yun had been busy grilling the entire time and barely got any rest, Navia and Clorinde took on the task of cleaning up the beach.
In truth, they hadn't made much of a mess, and only needed to tidy up the grill—after all, they'd be back again tomorrow.
Lumine had already changed back into her white dress. Seeing Shao Yun still in his swim shorts, sitting on the sand, she walked up behind him and asked, "Shao Yun, why haven't you changed out of your swim shorts yet? The beach gets cold at night."
Hearing her voice, Shao Yun turned his head. After their gazes met briefly, he looked back out at the sea and explained, "I'll change in a bit. I just want to sit here a little longer."
Without caring whether the fine sand might dirty her dress, Lumine sat down beside him and snuggled affectionately into his arms. "Alright. If that's the case, I'll sit with you for a while."
Looking down at Lumine curled up in his arms like a small cat, Shao Yun asked, "Really? I thought you'd urge me to go help Navia clean up."
Lumine waved her hand dismissively and smiled. "It's fine. We still have a long walk back to White Sand Town anyway."
With that, she gently closed her eyes, savoring the rare moment of peace.
Moonlight poured down from the night sky, illuminating the beach and the shimmering sea as Shao Yun and Lumine quietly leaned against each other.
In this calm, tranquil atmosphere, Lumine suddenly broke the silence with an unusual tone. "Actually… there's something I've been hiding from you."
Shao Yun's heart gave a slight jolt. He reached up to touch her cheek and asked, "What is it?"
Lumine slowly lifted her head. "When we first met, do you remember your weapon?"
Surprised that she brought up something from so long ago, Shao Yun asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
Lumine then confessed what had happened back then.
"At the time, I had Paimon secretly hide your weapon. It wasn't just left behind that rock. After all, I didn't know what kind of person you were yet."
"If you'd turned out to be some bad guy driven by lust, then Paimon and I would've been in danger, wouldn't we?"
Shao Yun couldn't quite remember the details anymore. Scratching the back of his head, he replied casually, "Oh, so that's how it was… Honestly, I don't remember much about that situation."
"As for being driven by lust… hehe, maybe there really was a tiny bit of that."
Seeing that Shao Yun seemed to have forgotten, Lumine thought of what he'd confessed to her back in Aaru Village and asked, "Was it because of that mysterious guy?"
Hearing this, Shao Yun let out a long sigh.
"Maybe. Maybe I traded my old memories to him in exchange for the power to kill anyone fairly."
"Or maybe I deliberately forgot the past. My mind's pretty chaotic now, and emptying it helps keep me from breaking down."
"But what matters is, that guy hasn't shown up for a while now. I feel like my mood's been pretty good."
Lumine looked at the carefree smile on Shao Yun's face.
Still, it didn't fully dispel the worry deep in her heart.
"Is that really a good thing?"
Shao Yun shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. Thinking isn't my strong suit."
Just then, Navia's voice called out.
"We're done cleaning up! Shall we head back?"
Shao Yun turned to look at Navia, then shifted his gaze back to Lumine and said gently, "You go on ahead with Navia. Don't wait for me. I'll catch up after I change."
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