"Dunyarzad, are you feeling any better?" Dehya asked, supporting her carefully.
Dunyarzad looked at the faces around her.
Keqing, Tabibito, Dehya, Paimon—everyone was watching her with some level of concern. Even after years of being sick, even after learning not to expect too much, that kind of warmth still made her chest soften.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I made all of you worry. I'm… I'm all right now."
Ryou saw that her breathing had steadied and nodded. "Once we're back in Liyue Harbor, I'll find someone to check you properly."
He kept his tone calm, like he was talking about something simple.
"You just focus on treatment. I'll do what I can."
"Thank you, Ryou."
Dunyarzad hesitated, then looked at him again.
"There's something I don't understand. May I ask?"
"What is it?"
"Why are you helping me?"
The room quieted.
Dunyarzad lowered her eyes for a moment, then forced herself to continue.
"I can't give you anything in return. I don't bring you any benefit. Is it really just because Keqing was worried about me?"
Tabibito looked at Ryou.
Keqing did too.
Ryou answered without thinking too hard about it.
"It's simple. Keqing wanted me to help you."
Dunyarzad froze.
Ryou continued, "I probably can't cure you completely, at least not right now. The Bloody Mary you drank yesterday can help, but you can't rely on that forever. So I'll have to think of something else."
He looked at her.
"Don't overthink it. Just accept the treatment."
Dunyarzad fell silent.
She had imagined many reasons. Mercy. Curiosity. Some hidden benefit. Maybe even pity.
She had not expected the answer to be so simple.
Keqing wanted it, so Ryou did it.
Even after learning that Dunyarzad had Eleazar, even knowing how difficult it would be, he still tried because Keqing had asked.
Dunyarzad looked at Keqing, and the emotion that rose in her was not jealousy exactly. It was softer than that. More painful too.
Envy.
Keqing had someone who loved her enough to do something unreasonable just because she cared.
That was such a beautiful kind of happiness.
"Keqing," Dunyarzad said softly, "thank you."
Keqing blinked. "Me?"
"You gave me hope."
Keqing's expression softened at once. She stepped closer and helped steady her.
"It's fine. I believe my husband can cure you."
Her smile carried confidence that did not leave room for doubt.
"In my eyes, if he says he'll do it, then he'll find a way."
Dunyarzad stared at that smile and felt the envy grow deeper.
Keqing really had married for love.
Dunyarzad had once dreamed of something ordinary too. Meeting someone kind. Marrying. Having children. Living a peaceful life.
Then Eleazar had taken that future away piece by piece.
She had stopped letting herself think about it.
Now, seeing Keqing and Ryou together, she could not help feeling moved.
And envious.
Dehya watched them for a while, then sighed.
"You and Ryou really are close."
She had seen plenty of couples. Plenty of married ones too. Most people scattered the moment real hardship arrived. Even the better couples she knew could not compare to this.
One request from Keqing, and Ryou was willing to treat an incurable illness for someone he had barely known for a day.
That kind of devotion was hard not to envy.
Dehya scratched her cheek and laughed under her breath.
"Seeing you two like this makes even a mercenary like me think about finding someone."
Dunyarzad immediately looked at her. "If you wanted to, you definitely could. You're beautiful, Dehya."
"Me?" Dehya waved it off. "I'm nothing special. Compared to Keqing and Tabibito, I'm way behind."
"That's not true."
"It was just a passing thought." Dehya smiled, but there was a little self-mockery in it. "I'm a mercenary. I live with a blade in my hand. What kind of man would want a woman like that?"
"Dehya…"
"They're not worth envying," Tabibito suddenly said.
Keqing's eyes sharpened.
"Tabibito. What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing."
"You glared at me earlier, and I haven't even settled that yet." Keqing drew Splendor of Tranquil Waters, her voice turning dangerous. "Do you think I won't deal with you just because my husband is here?"
Tabibito let out a cold laugh.
"I'm supposed to be scared?"
"You—"
"You want to talk about settling things?" Tabibito snapped. "I was eating at your house like a normal guest, and you threw me all the way to Mondstadt. What was that about?"
Keqing's grip tightened around her sword.
Tabibito leaned in, not backing down at all.
"You were just afraid I'd steal your man."
Keqing's face darkened.
Tabibito smiled sweetly.
"Fine. Then I'll tell you now. Whatever you have, I'll steal it."
"Tabibito…"
"Enough!"
Ryou cut in before they could actually start fighting.
He looked from Keqing to Tabibito, already tired.
"What are you two arguing for? Dunyarzad and Dehya are still here. Do you hear yourselves?"
Keqing turned away with a huff.
Tabibito crossed her arms and turned the other way.
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Dunyarzad and Dehya exchanged a look.
Neither of them had expected Keqing and Tabibito to start fighting in front of them, and they definitely had not expected the reason to be Ryou.
Then again…
With Ryou's looks, ability, and how he treated people, it was not exactly hard to understand.
Ryou rubbed his forehead.
Convincing these two to get along was going to be a nightmare.
He had handled both of them before, but clearly, that had not solved anything. The moment something set them off, they were ready to start again.
If he really brought Tabibito home one day, the house might turn into a battlefield every three days.
He needed a better plan.
"All right," Ryou said. "Cool it. We still have things to do today."
He had to buy good wood in Qingce Village for Taroumaru and for the room he had promised to build in Tabibito's Vision world.
After that, he still needed to return to Liyue Harbor and take Dunyarzad to Baizhu.
And tonight, he had to go with Keqing to watch Yun Jin's new opera.
The day was already full.
Ryou brought the girls and Taroumaru out of the pocket world.
Qingce Village looked much the same as yesterday, though the group attracted plenty of attention the moment they appeared. Several tourists stared at Taroumaru and whispered among themselves.
Ryou glanced at the dog.
He could reinforce Taroumaru again later. If his size increased a few more points, he should look much more intimidating.
While Ryou was thinking, Paimon suddenly landed on Taroumaru's back.
"Taroumaru, charge!"
Tabibito covered her face.
Ryou decided not to comment.
He led them back to Uncle He's house.
The moment they entered the courtyard, Ryou saw Uncle He and his father drinking tea.
His father looked up.
"You brat. Come here."
Ryou walked over. "Father, what is it?"
"Yesterday, did you say Chang the Ninth's book was no good?"
"Yes."
His father picked up the manuscript from the stone table and pointed at it.
"This is interesting. The subject is old, but the writing is good. You misjudged him."
Ryou looked at the manuscript and knew exactly which version they had read.
His father continued, "When Chang the Ninth wakes up, apologize to him. Understand?"
Ryou opened his mouth.
Before he could speak, Xingqiu came out from the inner room.
"Uncle, that book wasn't written by Chang the Ninth."
Ryou's father turned to him.
Xingqiu pointed at Ryou.
"Ryou wrote it."
The courtyard went quiet.
Ryou's father stared at Xingqiu as if he had just said the tea had grown legs.
"I know my own son. He has never written novels."
He looked back at Ryou, still unconvinced.
"I raised him for business. Writing novels? Impossible."
Xingqiu froze.
He understood that reaction too well.
Families like theirs did not usually raise children to write fiction. Business came first. Proper work came first. Writing stories, in their fathers' eyes, was just wasting time.
Xingqiu himself had been scolded for it more than once.
Which meant Ryou probably had even less time to practice.
And yet he could still write something this good?
Ryou really was ridiculous.
"It's just a small hobby," Ryou said.
His father looked him up and down.
"You?"
Before Ryou could answer, Chang the Ninth staggered out from inside.
He looked terrible. His face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and his steps were unsteady.
Then he reached Ryou, dropped to his knees with a thud, and grabbed at the front of his clothes.
"Please teach me how to write. I don't want to go into business…"
Ryou immediately pulled him up.
"I can't help you with that."
Chang the Ninth looked crushed. "Ryou…"
Ryou shook his head.
He knew how to write, but knowing and teaching were two different things. More importantly, he had no interest in spending his days teaching someone to write.
Wasn't drinking tea at the Ministry of Civil Affairs and teasing Keqing much better?
"You can ask Xingqiu," Ryou said. "He's younger than you, but his writing is above yours."
"Xingqiu?"
Chang the Ninth looked stunned.
He knew Xingqiu as the second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, but writing novels?
Xingqiu's expression changed.
"Ryou…"
He could already feel Ryou's father looking at him strangely.
That was bad.
Very bad.
If this somehow reached his own father, he was going to hear about it for days. Their family business could not all be pushed onto his older brother forever. If his father decided to make him handle more guild affairs, when would he have time to read or write?
Ryou only shrugged.
"I'm telling the truth. Whether you teach him or not is up to you."
Then he turned to his father.
"Father, when are you heading back to Liyue Harbor?"
"In a little while," his father said.
[End of chapter]
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