Inazuma City.
Raiden Makoto and the others brought Jiang Yan to the Tenshukaku.
Neither Jiang Yan nor the group stayed long at Ritou.
After all, as Inazuma's god, Raiden Makoto attracted a great deal of attention throughout the nation.
Especially with her breathtaking appearance paired with that gentle temperament of hers—
No matter where she went, she naturally drew eyes.
Combined with her status as a deity, it was incredibly easy for her presence to cause a stir among the common people.
You could practically say that Makoto and the other two had snuck out behind everyone's backs.
Because aside from Chiyo, the rest of Inazuma's officials had no idea the three of them had secretly run off.
Upon arriving at the Tenshukaku, Jiang Yan saw Chiyo handling documents inside.
"Oh? Well, look who it is."
"Isn't this Liyue's Tianquan?"
"What brings you to Inazuma today?"
"Normally you're always hiding and refusing to show your face, aren't you?"
Chiyo's tone was dripping with resentment.
Especially after seeing Jiang Yan had come too—
That resentment almost became tangible.
Originally, after the Khaenri'ah war five hundred years ago, Chiyo had been extremely grateful to Jiang Yan.
After all, thanks to him, Inazuma had escaped disaster.
But ever since then, Makoto and the others had seemingly become possessed, crazily pursuing Jiang Yan.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan had continued avoiding his feelings for them.
And that led to this situation:
Every time Makoto and the others secretly ran off to Liyue, Chiyo was left behind handling all the government affairs alone.
Watching Makoto and the others return disappointed every single time also made Chiyo deeply unhappy.
If they went and actually got results, Chiyo wouldn't have minded much.
But they'd go all the way there only to not even see Jiang Yan's face.
Now that annoyed her.
So I handled all those government affairs for nothing?!
And Jiang Yan too—
You obviously have feelings for Makoto, yet you keep acting all emotionally constipated. Emotionally constipated my ass, you—!
As time passed, Chiyo's resentment toward Jiang Yan naturally grew stronger and stronger.
Fortunately, since Makoto was now able to bring Jiang Yan back with her—
That proved Jiang Yan had finally responded to the feelings of the three women.
Looking at it that way, those five hundred years weren't completely wasted after all.
"Chiyo… I'm sorry…"
Makoto stepped forward, grabbed Chiyo's delicate hand, and puffed out her cheeks pitifully.
And honestly?
Chiyo really was weak to this tactic.
Faced with Makoto acting spoiled toward her, she instantly lost all her temper.
"I really can't win against you…"
Chiyo sighed helplessly.
"Uh… sorry, seriously. This really was my fault."
Jiang Yan apologized sincerely.
"I kept blindly avoiding things, ignored their feelings, and even dragged you into this mess."
"I owe you an apology for that too."
Jiang Yan's earnest tone made Chiyo's expression soften slightly.
She looked toward Makoto and saw the pitiful look in her eyes.
Then she sighed again.
Who told me to end up with such an idiot sister…
And a hopeless romantic at that.
"Fine. Since you're willing to come to Inazuma openly now, then I hope you'll treat Makoto, Ei, and Kitsune Saiguu properly."
"Don't betray their feelings."
Chiyo huffed unhappily at Jiang Yan.
"Mhm. I definitely won't let them down."
Jiang Yan nodded seriously.
"Hmph. Easy words…"
Chiyo snorted softly.
"Alright now, Chiyo. Jiang Yan finally came all the way to Inazuma…"
Kitsune Saiguu stepped forward and wrapped herself around Chiyo's arm while speaking in a spoiled tone.
Makoto and Ei also knew very well that Chiyo had suffered a lot over these five hundred years because of them.
So naturally, they didn't dare complain about Chiyo's grumbling.
Instead, they could only resort to acting cute and spoiled in hopes of muddling through.
In the end, under the combined assault of the three women's撒娇, Chiyo finally stopped complaining.
After relaxing around the Tenshukaku for a while, Jiang Yan decided to take Ningguang and the other two children to visit Ayaka at the Yashiro Commission.
After all, little Ayaka had written him countless letters begging him to visit Inazuma.
Now that he was finally here, it would feel wrong not to go see her.
"I'll come too. It's been a long time since I've seen little Ayaka."
After hearing Jiang Yan's plans, Ganyu also wanted to join them.
After all, she adored that child too.
"Alright."
Jiang Yan smiled and nodded without refusing.
However, when Makoto and the other two also wanted to follow along, Jiang Yan stopped them.
"You really plan on coming back only to immediately throw all the work aside again?"
Looking at the resentful little expressions on their faces, Jiang Yan spoke helplessly.
"If I remember correctly, this period around the Irodori Festival should be the busiest time in Inazuma, right?"
"If you dump everything onto Chiyo alone again, be careful she really gets angry."
"Hey! Do I really seem that petty to you?!"
Chiyo instantly exploded upon hearing Jiang Yan's words.
After calming herself down, she turned toward Makoto.
"You three… Jiang Yan is going to see little Ayaka."
"If all of you go too, the Yashiro Commission would probably explode into chaos."
"After all, no matter what, you're still Inazuma's god and the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine."
"If you suddenly show up there together, the Yashiro Commission would panic."
Chiyo's reasoning finally calmed the three women down.
"Alright now. It's not like Jiang Yan said he wasn't coming back."
Yae Miko smiled as she looked at the disappointed trio.
"You're acting like Mr. Jiang Yan is some scumbag who seduced women and abandoned them afterward."
As she spoke, she shot Jiang Yan one of her teasingly smug looks.
Miko's words instantly made both Jiang Yan and the three women blush.
As expected of you, you smug fox!
Jiang Yan ground his teeth furiously, practically wanting to swallow Yae Miko whole.
Was that really the kind of thing you should say in a situation like this?!
Even Jiang Yan himself felt his face heating up after hearing it.
"Y-You all…"
Chiyo finally understood what Miko meant and stared at Makoto and the others in utter disbelief.
Wait.
You girls seriously just gave yourselves away like that???
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