Church knew that the reason Palmer’s emotions were gradually becoming unfamiliar might be the gap of time and space, causing the originally close emotional connection to gradually become distant. Although Palmer and they shared beautiful times, the crossing of time and space led to the loss of shared experiences and life between them, which played a crucial role in maintaining emotional connections.

What about himself?

The silhouette of the girl flashed before Church’s eyes. Indeed, in the comparison with his diary, he found his missing memories related to a girl named Afeiya.

It was under her influence that Church began gardening, a hobby completely at odds with his character.

In the diary, there is a lot written about Afeiya, describing her close relationship with himself, yet it never explicitly described his feelings for her.

Even a fool could see through this.

He "once" liked Afeiya, he even cared for a pot of alum root for her very well.

And then the saddening thing happened, he forgot Afeiya. Everything in the diary proved the existence of that emotion, but now no matter how many words the diary spent, to Church, Afeiya was just a complete stranger.

The dislocation of emotions made Church feel a sense of misplaced confusion.

What alarmed Church even more was Palmer’s next words.

"Where are we going?" Church suddenly realized that after being taken into the car, they hadn’t mentioned where they were going.

"Taking you to see Afeiya," Palmer said, "I was there a few days ago. Afeiya said you babbled a lot and left, scaring the poor girl quite a bit. This time I’m taking you to see her so she knows you’re not missing an arm or a leg."

"But she doesn’t know this version of me." Church wasn’t wearing a mask now.

"Then put the mask on."

"I don’t want to wear a mask anymore."

Palmer paused for a moment before saying, "You’re right, you can’t live behind a mask forever, then let’s start afresh! Have you thought of how to greet her?"

Church thought he could dispel Palmer’s intention, but Palmer seemed determined to take him to meet Afeiya, fulfilling the wish of the "past self."

Church disliked this very much, intensely disliked it, and the sense of dislocation inside grew stronger.

He remembered the knowledge described in books, the issue involving the relationship between human memory and emotional connection, which is especially important for someone like him experiencing amnesia.

In such a situation, he realized he once liked Afeiya, but since he had forgotten her, he couldn’t directly feel his current feelings for her.

Church formed a kind of abstract emotional memory similar to "my past self liked her," but this emotion might not be as specific or real as before.

This means Church’s feelings for Afeiya may differ from the past, similar to real-life where people don’t necessarily maintain deep feelings for everyone they once liked, like in Palmer’s story, those feelings fade over time.

"Humans are truly complex."

Church suddenly muttered to himself, his words drowned by the singing, as Palmer’s head bobbed side to side like a straw.

"Valentine! Valentine!"

Palmer recently loved this song, and from seeing Bologue unconsciously hum along, under Palmer’s influence, this song must have been listened to nearly a hundred times by now... Even someone like Bologue, under such intensive immersion, has started becoming peculiar.

Okay, let’s further sort out my thoughts, it’s like a person who has never eaten strawberry ice cream but hears others say it’s delicious. This person may imagine some feelings from others’ descriptions but can’t directly experience it. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Church got caught in such a dilemma, and Afeiya was like the strawberry ice cream in the example.

The blurred memories became clearer. Church recognized the streets around, knowing he was getting closer to Afeiya’s flower shop.

A strong anxiety rose in Church’s heart, prompting him to throw out one question after another, like what if the "current" self doesn’t like strawberry ice cream?

Just thinking about meeting Afeiya and not feeling any real emotions for her, Church felt a certain sense of loss and anxiety, he started doubting his feelings, thinking his past emotions were just illusions or mistakes.

But he also felt that such loss and doubt didn’t mean his feelings were without value or significance; he indeed described many things related to Afeiya in the diary, even tended to a pot of alum root and had a book about plant care.

Just as Church was caught in a storm of thoughts, the car stopped, without realizing it, they had arrived at the flower shop, feeling uneasy, Church opened the car door.

After a month of rebuilding, much of the damage from the Spread of Decay had been repaired, including Afeiya’s flower shop. It looked much changed but also bore familiar traces from memory.

"The business is unexpectedly good." Palmer remarked.

The usually sparse customer flower shop now had many customers, large swathes of flowers bloomed, the rich scent rolled over, making Palmer feel he might develop a pollen allergy.

"In my memory, the business was never this good." Church said.

"That’s right. When the Spread of Decay swept the city, Afeiya opened the doors saving many people, but this also let the mist flood inside, nearly killing all the flowers, they all withered."

Palmer recounted things Church didn’t know.

"After it ended, although Afeiya protected many people, she couldn’t keep her flower shop open; those she helped pooled resources to rebuild the shop, everyone contributed what they could, importing many types of flowers."

Palmer added, "By the way, her story even made it to the newspapers, after some promotion, her business boomed, plus the fog hanging over the city finally disappeared, the sunlight shined brightly, and finally people got the chance to decorate life with flowers."

Before he finished speaking, Palmer raised his hand and shouted loudly.

"Hey! Afeiya!"

Palmer had a talent for socializing.

Afeiya, who was busy, was halted by the voice, took notice of Palmer, handed her work to others, and walked over with a smile.

"Hello there."

Palmer didn’t mention that he also contributed significantly to the flower shop’s rebuilding. After all, this was related to Church. Palmer might not have much money, but the Clarks were financially strong.

"You indeed have grown quite a bit."

At the end of the storm, Fuen approvingly acknowledged Palmer, marking the end of the Clarks’ years-long economic sanctions against him.

After greeting Palmer and Bologue, Afeiya then noticed the slightly reserved stranger standing behind them.

Even though a stranger, Afeiya saw many familiar traces on him but couldn’t say exactly where the familiarity lay.

Afeiya stepped forward, extending her hand amicably.

"Hello there."

Church stood there dazed, first looking at Afeiya’s outstretched hand, her fingertips glowing pink under sunlight, then he looked at Afeiya’s face. Noticing Church’s gaze, Afeiya showed a friendly smile.

An incredibly heartwarming smile.

For a moment, Church’s mind went blank, the whole journey of self-examination and philosophical contemplation was swept into the trash, laughing at the constantly self-doubting version of himself on the road.

Church remembered a question he thought of while going through the diary, how could someone so cold and isolated, a life-fractured Narrow Space Walker, possibly fall in love with another person.

Could he truly fall in love with someone?

Now Church knew.

Church nervously shook Afeiya’s hand, showing a friendly smile, and just as he was about to say something, Afeiya suddenly moved closer, looking at him thoroughly with wandering eyes, finally locking onto Church’s pupils.

Afeiya knew where the odd familiarity came from. Without waiting for Church to introduce himself, she cautiously spoke.

"I guess your name is Church Burton, right?"