"Brother Cael?" Seele turned her head in surprise when she realized it was Cael who had grabbed her arm.
She couldn't help feeling confused.
Why stop her from attacking him?
Cael simply looked at Seele calmly and said,
"If he doesn't provoke us, we won't provoke him. Try not to stir up trouble. Liyue Harbor hasn't completely fallen out with the Fatui yet—and besides, this guy might really just be here picking berries."
Hearing that, Seele looked over—and sure enough, the man truly was picking berries.
"He's right. I can sense that that chubby blue fellow has no hostility at all. As long as we don't provoke him, he won't attack."
The voice of Black Seele echoed within her.
When Hu Tao heard Cael's words, she also let out a small sigh of relief.
"In that case, let's just ignore him and keep eating!"
Seele, however, remained standing there, her emotions tangled.
When did I become this sensitive?
She felt uneasy. Ever since being captured by the Fatui, her personality really had changed a lot.
Black Seele sensed her thoughts immediately.
"Don't worry. In the future, just be yourself again. As for enemies… leave them to me. As long as I'm here, no one will ever bully you again."
Feeling that reassurance, Seele nodded.
"Thank you… Seele. But I'll fight too, when the time comes. I don't want to be a burden. Since I've received Lord Agarest's recognition, I must prove myself."
"…Do whatever you want."
Cael looked at her, gently patting her head.
"Alright, let's go back and continue the picnic. We can't let all these snacks go to waste."
"B-Brother Cael…"
Seele's face flushed slightly. She nodded quickly and hurried back to her seat.
Hu Tao, feeling a bit jealous, tugged Cael over to her side.
"Hey now, come on—let's hurry up and eat!"
Seeing her like that, Cael couldn't help but laugh.
Hu Tao really was adorable.
And so, the group resumed their picnic.
To be honest, the desserts were surprisingly delicious—easily the best among Hu Tao's rare successful creations.
...
...
Mondstadt
"Whew—finally done with today's commissions!" Paimon floated in midair, wiping sweat from her brow.
"Even though I didn't really do anything, it was still super hard work!" she giggled.
Lumine turned in the commissions and glanced at the meager reward in her hand—
six Primogems.
That's right. Here, daily commissions only gave six in total.
She let out a long sigh, staring at the evening sky, lost in thought.
Recently, she'd discovered a new use for Primogems.
Somehow, a function called "Wish" had appeared within her.
By spending Primogems, she could perform random draws—clothes, weapons, and the like.
Back then, she'd gotten too excited and spent all her Primogems in one go.
The result…
Almost all blue items. Just one purple.
Stuff like Debate Club.
The only truly useful thing was a Dawnblade—but even that felt awkward to use, so she ended up sticking with her Dull Blade anyway.
"I suddenly really miss having a sugar daddy…" Lumine muttered.
She missed those piles of Primogems he had.
Hearing that, Paimon nodded.
"Now that you mention it… I kinda miss him too…"
So Lumine misses him as well… I thought I was the only one…
Mm-hm! This is just normal friend-level missing!
"Honorary Knight! Please come help me!!"
A voice rang out in the distance—
the exact words Lumine least wanted to hear.
Damn it!
Why does everyone here need help?! And why call me for every little thing?! Aren't there Knights of Favonius right there?!
"So annoying!!" Lumine complained as she reluctantly walked over.
But… they paid.
Paimon pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds, about to snack—
then froze.
Only six bags left.
Her emotions instantly turned complicated.
He did say to save them…
Fine. I'll eat less for now…
She put the bag away and followed Lumine, asking,
"Lumine, when are we going to Liyue? Cael's already been back there for seven days."
Lumine looked up and thought for a moment.
"Tomorrow. There's nothing left to look for in Mondstadt. We should head to Liyue and follow up on some clues."
"Yay! Liyue!"
Lumine shot Paimon a knowing look, smirking slightly.
"So eager to see Cael again?"
Paimon immediately panicked.
"D-Don't say nonsense! I-I just think we're running low on snacks, that's all!!"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure."
...
"Honorary Knight, are you leaving Mondstadt?" Noelle approached Lumine.
Lumine nodded.
"I've stayed here long enough. It's time to head to Liyue—especially with the Rite of Descension coming up."
"I see…"
Noelle looked reluctant, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Then… when you come back to Mondstadt, you have to find me again. I think that with your experience, you'll definitely be qualified to be my teacher!"
Lumine smiled and held Noelle's hands.
"Alright. It's a promise!"
With her hands held, Noelle's face turned bright red. She lowered her head and replied softly,
"Mmm… it's a promise."
She tightened her grip slightly, looking serious.
"I'll be waiting for you, Honorary Knight!"
"Hehe."
Lumine smiled happily.
...
...
After saying goodbye to Noelle, Paimon finally spoke up.
"Lumine, don't you think you and Noelle sound kinda similar?"
"Huh? Really?" Lumine tilted her head.
"Yep! Super similar."
"Probably just a coincidence…"
"And also," Paimon wagged a finger,
"Don't you think Noelle might like you?"
The moment those words came out, Lumine stumbled and almost fell over.
"What are you saying?! Paimon, you can't just say things like that!" Lumine snapped.
"But… my intuition is usually really accurate!" Paimon said confidently, hands on her hips.
Lumine covered her face helplessly.
"Ugh… we're both girls. Isn't it weird for a girl to like another girl?"
Paimon blinked.
"Lumine, are you being discriminatory?"
"Huh? Why would you say that?"
"In Paimon's opinion, liking someone just means liking someone. Gender doesn't matter. Just like if your brother liked a guy, there'd be nothing wrong with that."
Smack!
Lumine punched Paimon on the head.
"My brother would never like a guy! If he's going to like anyone, it should be his cute little sister!" she said angrily.
Paimon immediately gave her a look of pure disdain.
"Lumine… you're not… a brother complex, are you?"
"PAIMON!!"
Lumine grabbed Paimon's cheeks and started pulling hard.
Shouting things like that in public—are you trying to make me die of embarrassment?!
"Lumine! Lumine! Stop pulling! It hurts!!"
"Tonight we're having braised Paimon noodles!!"
...
...
—
HAHAHAHAHA! I love Hu Tao!!