A short while later, Henry led Ningguang away from the growing crowd near the shop entrance and toward a quieter stretch, where the constant noise of excited customers and shouting children gradually faded into the background.
Behind them, Atsuko continued demonstrating the bikes near the city exit while Xingqiu handled the increasingly chaotic flood of customers with the calm patience of someone who had clearly grown up surrounded by merchants and negotiations his entire life.
Breeze drifted across the grasslands, stirring Ningguang's long white hair gently as she slowed near the bike Henry had brought over for her. Several attendants returned back to the shop when Ningguang signalled them to not follow them.
Ningguang rested elegant fingers lightly against the handle before glancing toward Henry with visible curiosity in her golden eyes.
"So," she said, lightly tapping the side of the bike with one heel, "what wisdom does the great inventor have for teaching me how to ride this thing?"
Henry stepped beside her with a grin. "First, I'd recommend not falling. And you should probably remove the heels too. This thing's difficult enough for beginners already."
Ningguang glanced down at the heels for a moment before giving him a slightly amused look. "You noticed those first?"
"I notice many things."
[Do you have a foot fetish too, Henry?]
Henry ignored Orianna completely.
A small amused smile appeared on Ningguang's face before she bent slightly to remove the heels herself, placing them neatly near the side of the road. Even something as simple as that somehow looked refined when she did it.
Unlike Ganyu or Atsuko during their first attempts, Ningguang approached the bike with surprising confidence, gathering her dress slightly before climbing onto the seat in one smooth motion. For a second she actually looked perfectly stable there, poised and graceful enough that Henry briefly wondered if she might somehow master riding immediately through sheer elegance alone.
Then the bike wobbled violently the moment she tried to push forward.
"Careful—"
Ningguang instinctively leaned sideways as the balance disappeared beneath her, and before she could properly react, Henry stepped forward quickly, catching the handle with one hand while steadying the bike before it completely tipped over.
Ningguang herself had already grabbed onto him for support.
One arm wrapped around his shoulder while her other hand pressed against his chest to steady herself, and the sudden closeness made Henry's brain momentarily short-circuit because her large chest had ended up firmly smooshed against him during the near fall.
Oh.
For a brief second neither of them moved.
"…It seems you aren't helping me learn," she said with a playful little frown, though the teasing glint in her golden eyes made it painfully obvious she knew exactly what effect her chest was having on him.
Henry coughed lightly, desperately forcing his brain to function again.
"Y-Yeah. Sorry. I'll hold the bike seat from now on"
Ningguang finally released him, clearly enjoying how flustered he had become far more than she should have.
"Thank you"
She pushed forward again while Henry walked beside and slightly behind her, one hand firmly holding the seat steady as the bike rolled slowly along the plains.
"Keep the handle steady," Henry said as he walked beside her, matching her pace while one hand stayed firm on the back of the seat. "Don't lock your arms. Let them stay loose so you can adjust when it tilts."
Ningguang glanced down briefly at her hands before correcting her grip. "You say that as if it's easy."
"It is—once your body stops fighting it," Henry replied with a comforting smile. "Right now you're overthinking every movement."
"Am I?"
Ningguang attempted another careful push forward, the bike wobbling slightly before stabilizing again under Henry's support. Unlike Atsuko, who had panicked repeatedly during her first lessons, Ningguang adapted quickly after every mistake, adjusting her posture almost immediately whenever Henry corrected something.
Still, despite how quickly she understood the basics, Henry gradually realized that what she seemed to enjoy most wasn't necessarily the bike itself.
It was everything surrounding it.
The novelty of trying something completely new without a crowd of servants or officials hovering around her every movement, and the simple freedom of riding through open grounds instead of remaining inside the Jade Chamber buried beneath endless work.
And perhaps—
The attention Henry gave her throughout the lesson.
Most people in Liyue treated Ningguang like someone untouchable, either intimidated by her status or too respectful to act naturally around her. Henry, meanwhile, continued talking to her casually, teasing her occasionally whenever she lost balance while patiently steadying the bike each time she nearly tipped over again.
Unfortunately for him—
She was currently wearing white tights, and they were making his concentration difficult.
Very difficult.
Henry genuinely tried focusing on the lesson like a respectable human being, but every time Ningguang adjusted herself on the seat or shifted her posture slightly while pedalling, his eyes kept drifting downward before he forcibly redirected them elsewhere.
Focus on the handlebars.
Not the thighs.
Not the tights.
Definitely not her rump.
Unfortunately, the problem only became worse whenever the bike wobbled, because Ningguang would instinctively tense slightly before pressing herself back against the seat again, and Henry was beginning to understand exactly why some the player base on Earth had simped for her.
[You are staring again.]
"I am literally teaching her,"
[You are literally staring.]
"Shut up Orianna."
"You do realize," Ningguang said suddenly while carefully steering another turn, "most people become terrified when speaking to me."
"You don't seem very terrifying."
"That's because," Ningguang replied calmly, "you spend most of your time staring at my legs instead."
Henry nearly choked on air.
Ningguang glanced back just enough for him to catch the teasing amusement in her expression before she faced forward again as though she hadn't just attacked him with pinpoint accuracy.
Despite the teasing, however, Henry noticed that Ningguang's mood had visibly relaxed throughout the lesson. The composed and elegant Tianquan who had first approached the shop with calm curiosity now looked far more comfortable, occasionally laughing softly whenever the bike tilted too much or Henry made another ridiculous comment.
At one point she nearly lost balance again during a wider turn, causing her to instinctively grab Henry's forearm again while he steadied both her and the bike together.
"…This thing truly requires fear of not falling,"
"That's why I'm holding you."
The moment the words left his mouth, Henry immediately realized how that sounded.
Ningguang did too.
A faint smile appeared on her lips while Henry internally died.
"How bold."
"I meant the bike," he defended weakly.
"Of course you did."
Several more attempts followed after that, and although Ningguang never fully mastered riding independently, she improved steadily enough that she could move short distances without immediately panicking whenever Henry loosened his hold slightly.
More importantly, by the end of it, she looked genuinely happy.
Not the controlled public smile of the Tianquan.
A real one.
When she finally stepped off the bike again, Henry held it steady beside her while Ningguang brushed a loose strand of white hair behind her ear.
"Thank you for the lesson, Mr. Henry," she said.
"My pleasure."
Ningguang began walking away with the same graceful elegance she carried everywhere.
Then, after taking several steps—
She suddenly paused.
Henry looked up just in time to see her glance back over her shoulder before giving him a small wink.
"I don't particularly mind you staring at my white tights so much," she said casually, the teasing amusement in her voice making it painfully obvious she had noticed far more than Henry originally thought. "No need to hide it. You may do it openly."
Henry froze completely.
Ningguang smiled faintly. "You are quite handsome, after all."
And just like that, she turned and continued walking away with perfect composure leaving Henry standing there in stunned silence as his brain struggled to process what had just happened.
…I never knew Ningguang was this forward.
Then again, maybe it only felt strange because the game had never really shown this side of her properly. Ningguang always carried herself like someone completely untouchable, standing at the very top of Liyue where almost nobody could approach her casually, let alone flirt with her openly the way Henry did. Most people probably spent half their time trying not to offend her.
And yet somehow—
She was reciprocating his flirting.
---
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