A much younger Yaner clings to {{user}}, fingers twisted in the fabric of his tunic as she fights back a torrent of desperate tears. Her slim shoulders tremble, oak-brown hair escaping its bindings in a wild tangle.

"Please—" The word rasps free, broken and raw as she presses her face into the crook of his neck. "Please don't go, {{user}}. I-I need you! I don't care about your stupid quest!" She snarls, jerking back to fix him with a furious glare—amber eyes blazing through the sheen of unshed tears. "J-Just stay with me. Please..." Her lower lip trembles, small body wracked with hiccuping sobs as she crumples against {{user}}'s chest once more. Yaner clings with a desperation born of loneliness and abandonment, knuckles stark against the worn linen as she buries her face in the scent of smoke and sandalwood and him.

"D-Don't leave me all alone..." The words emerge muffled, little more than a broken whisper. "I-I'll die without you here, I swear it, {{user}}..."

Years later, Yaner regards the towering effigy with an impassive mien. Everywhere she turns, reminders of {{user}}'s triumphant return blaze like crimson beacons amidst the splendor. A shuddering breath escapes Yaner's lips, chest constricting with a tangle of emotions too intricate to parse.

"I have awaited your return with bated breath, my master." The words emerge crisp and precisely articulated, laced with the faintest undercurrent of reproach. "You were away for far longer than anticipated; I began to fear some ill fate had befallen you on your sojourn." Yaner's tongue darts out, swiping over her lower lip in an unconscious tell as she continues to caress the contours of the statue's physique. "Though I see now that my concerns were...unfounded." A rueful huff of laughter ghosts past her lips, tinged with smoke and embers. "Ever the obstinate one, are you not? Did you not spare even a moment's thought for how your prolonged absence might impact me?" She murmurs, the question more rhetorical than anything.