Big news broke today: The Raiden Shogun personally went to meet the divine doctor from Mondstadt, hoping she would stay in Inazuma to assist her and together build a better nation.
No one thought in a strange direction. If Durandal were a boy, the Raiden Shogun's phrase "Become my person" might have been interpreted that way.
But Durandal is a girl, and she looks like a little girl. Except for a few who were in the know, others wouldn't think much of it, simply assuming the Raiden Shogun was eager to recruit talent and personally invited her to show her sincerity.
The final result also left people dumbfounded: Durandal unhesitatingly rejected the Raiden Shogun's invitation.
Though it was an opportunity to soar, Durandal showed no hesitation whatsoever, directly refusing the Raiden Shogun's invitation.
According to the hotel's on-duty staff, Durandal stated that her journey was not yet over, and Inazuma was just one stop. She still had other places to visit in the future, so how could she stagnate in Inazuma?
The Raiden Shogun repeatedly asked a few more questions, and only after Durandal firmly affirmed her refusal did the Raiden Shogun leave.
Although her aura was still full of majesty, it felt like her mood was not very good, likely due to the rejection.
The people of Inazuma discussed it this way, but the discussion on Durandal's side was different.
Lumine, with Shenhe and Paimon, happily went to complete a commission. As soon as she returned to Inazuma, she heard passersby discussing this matter.
Upon hearing that the Raiden Shogun had come over and directly told Durandal, "Become my person," Lumine felt completely out of sorts.
What? It was bad enough that Venti and Shenhe came before, but now you, Ei, want to backstab me too? Don't go too far.
"What's going on? What exactly is going on? We only left for a few hours, what has happened?"
As soon as Lumine saw Durandal, she grabbed her shoulders and eagerly asked.
Durandal gently patted Lumine's shoulders away, looked at the anxious Lumine, grabbed her delicate face, and squished it flat to make her calm down.
Only when Lumine begged for mercy did Durandal let her go. As she released her, she also restored Lumine's reddened face to its original state, making her look beautiful again.
"You all know that I didn't join you today because someone came to ask me about Tsurumi Island. I spent some time telling them about Tsurumi Island's background, as well as A-Liu and Kapatcir's story."
Yes, everyone knew about this. Durandal had mainly been doing this for the past few days; there was no doubt about it.
"After those people left, I was about to rest when the Raiden Shogun came to find me and immediately said, 'Become my person,' which left me utterly baffled."
"Oh, that's good, that's good. I thought you two had developed a good relationship in the Plane of Euthymia without my knowing."
Lumine let out a long sigh of relief. The reason she stumbled with Shenhe was that the two of them had built up a very high friendship without her knowledge, catching her off guard.
Confirming that Durandal also didn't know the reason, Lumine's heart finally settled. She no longer needed to worry about another backstabbing incident like with Shenhe and Venti happening to her.
"Actually, I think it's mainly because the Shogun is too assertive. Her attitude works on others, but it has no effect on Durandal."
Paimon "analyzed" seriously from the side, and surprisingly, what she said this time was quite reasonable. Durandal indeed firmly rejected the other party because of her personality, which responds better to gentleness than to force.
Even if the Raiden Shogun had a better attitude, she wouldn't agree. After all, she had already promised Lumine to travel with her through various nations, so how could she stop in Inazuma?
"What have you been telling Ei lately? Could the Shogun's actions this time be related to Ei?"
"...Perhaps. I told them about being able to treat 'erode'."
While Durandal was preparing to eat and chat, the atmosphere at Tenshukaku was not very good.
Outside Tenshukaku, Kujou Sara nervously paced back and forth. Every time she wanted to go in, she worried about angering the Raiden Shogun and dared not approach a step closer.
Although she was the Raiden Shogun's most trusted subordinate, and the Raiden Shogun had given her the right to meet her at any time, she had not ignored the guards at the door who said the Raiden Shogun had requested that no one be allowed in.
"Perhaps it's better to wait until tomorrow to check the situation. Or go find Miss Delezie and see what she says."
The loyal Kujou Sara finally gave up on entering Tenshukaku and turned to return to her Crow Feather to deal with the accumulated documents.
Inside Tenshukaku, the Raiden Shogun meditated with her eyes closed as usual.
Raiden Makoto sat beside her, watching. Although she looked as she always did, Makoto felt that the Raiden Shogun's emotions were a bit off. The occasional lightning flashes around her indicated that her mood was not as calm as it appeared.
Why? Because someone in the Plane of Euthymia was constantly provoking her. If her mentality wasn't good, she would have probably broken down long ago.
"I thought you had some plan. Turns out you just went and said those words. Is that it? Is that it? Your so-called words that I couldn't say, was it this? You're really something, Shogun. Those are indeed words I would never say."
"...You seem very happy?"
"Happy? Of course I'm happy, especially seeing you go out looking so confident and then come back with such a dark face. My heart couldn't be happier."
Hmph! Aren't you so powerful! To achieve your goal, you even used most of your power to restrict her.
Ei was truly a little flustered at the time. She thought the Raiden Shogun was planning something big, but it turned out to be like fighting one-on-one under a defense tower when the opponent was at full health. Isn't that just feeding?
Oh, how uncomfortable she felt at first, that's how refreshed Ei felt now, many times better than when she ate her favorite wagashi.
But she couldn't show it too much, or it would be too much. The Raiden Shogun would also hold a grudge, so just a slight display was enough.
"However, were those really the words you wanted to say to Durandal? I thought you would say you liked her, and wanted her to stay by your side or something."
It was because she was worried the Raiden Shogun would say such things to Durandal that Ei was so nervous.
Yet, the Raiden Shogun didn't do any of the things she worried about. She had truly worried for nothing.
"Hmm? I asked her to become my person, doesn't that count as expressing that I like her?"
Ei didn't know what to say. After all, she had absolutely no experience in romance. She could talk extensively about martial arts, but romance... forget it, she was quite specialized in other areas.
She couldn't possibly ask Makoto about this. Although Makoto was gentle and intelligent, she didn't have similar feelings, so she probably couldn't offer any advice.
Besides, telling her closest sister about such things was too embarrassing, like a public execution, utterly mortifying.
Yae Miko? Forget it. Telling that fellow wouldn't just mean not getting suitable advice; her blood pressure would probably be challenged.
At that moment, she wouldn't be thinking about Durandal, but rather how to make that annoying fox disappear from the world.
In short, both Ei and the Raiden Shogun lacked relevant experience, but... where could such experience be found?
"Shogun, Shogun."
As the Raiden Shogun and Ei were struggling with their predicament, Makoto's voice made the Raiden Shogun open her eyes and look at Makoto, puzzled.
Under the puzzled gaze of the Raiden Shogun, Raiden Makoto placed several books in front of her. Looking at these books, the Raiden Shogun and Ei in the Plane of Euthymia fell silent.
These... 'Code of Love,' 'How to Get Noticed by the Person You Like,' 'One Hundred Things to Pay Attention to in a Relationship,' and several other light novels related to love.
The Raiden Shogun silently surveyed them, then pointed at the books and asked, "These books... where did they come from?"
"Yae Miko sent them over a while ago. She said you might need them and told me to give them to you when you did."
Raiden Makoto smiled and said, "I think now is when you need them most, so I brought them out."
"..."
That fellow... did she anticipate this would happen so early?
Ei and the Raiden Shogun could perfectly imagine Yae Miko's grinning face, and the thought of it made them furious. If that person knew they were using these books as reference, she would surely laugh at them mercilessly.
But... they now precisely needed these books to tell them what love truly was, to help them understand what that feeling was when facing Miss Delezie.
What was it? Of course, it was an emotion like 'liking,' but how exactly, still required more information for reference.
The Raiden Shogun silently accepted the books Raiden Makoto handed over, casually picked up one, and began to flip through it.
Ei, who was in the Plane of Euthymia, also read along. The Raiden Shogun's movements were slow, likely wanting to read carefully and understand thoroughly.
Hehehe~ Watching her sister finally not just focus on martial arts, Raiden Makoto couldn't help but chuckle a few times.
How to put it~ This development, though quite unexpected, was rather interesting.
The Raiden Shogun's actions would surely not stop here. She had a premonition that Ei might even come out and do something.
Raiden Makoto was truly curious what her sister would do, and at the same time, she eagerly anticipated whether Miss Delezie, facing the Raiden Shogun's and Ei's offensive, would eventually become'soft' like when he faced Shenhe.
"Truly... something to look forward to."
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