After a long, deep kiss, Lumine finally let Ryou go and looked at him for a long moment. "Do you think I'm shameless?"
Ryou shook his head, pulled her into his arms, and said nothing.
Lumine's body trembled slightly. Then she hugged him back and quietly breathed in his scent.
Paimon was completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Wasn't Ryou supposed to be comforting Tabibito?
How had comforting her turned into kissing, and now hugging too?
Lumine rubbed against him a little in his arms, then looked up at him. "You really aren't a good man. Fine. I won't argue with you over all that anymore."
"Now that you've kissed me, and... anyway, you have to marry me!"
"Weren't you the one who kissed me first?" Ryou said with a smile.
"I-I don't care. You didn't refuse, so that means you have to marry me!" Lumine burrowed against him again.
She knew perfectly well that Ryou could never divorce Keqing, so she didn't press him too hard.
Ryou looked down at Lumine and gave a helpless smile. "I will marry you. I just can't do it anytime soon."
"You..." The moment Lumine heard that, anger flared in her chest. She lowered her head and bit down hard on his arm.
That bite drew blood immediately and left a clear row of teeth marks behind.
She lifted her head and glared at him through gritted teeth. "You scumbag!"
"I started out as a good man. It's you women who ruined me." Ryou could only laugh bitterly.
When he married Keqing, all he had wanted was to live a good life with her.
Then Ganyu, Ningguang, Shenhe, one after another, had all come at him out of nowhere.
Still, Shenhe's words had given him a glimmer of hope. And the truth was, he really had thought about Lumine.
If some of these things were destined to happen in the future anyway, then he had no intention of letting Lumine slip away.
"You really are awful. You'd better not lie to me!" Lumine glanced at the bite mark on his arm, then fixed him with a serious stare.
Ryou could tell she meant every word. If he failed her, she would absolutely come after him with a blade one day.
"If I say I'll do it, I'll do it." Ryou patted his chest and gave his promise.
"You really are awful." Lumine took his arm and looked at the wound. "Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not really." Ryou shook his head.
"You deserved it." Lumine gently touched the bite mark, then asked after a brief pause, "What are you going to tell Keqing about this?"
"I'll handle it. Don't worry." Ryou soothed her softly.
After treating the wound on his arm, Ryou looked at Lumine and said, "Could you and Keqing try holding back a little? I'm worried..."
"No." Lumine immediately refused. The moment she thought of Keqing, her temper rose again. "She's gone too far. Just because I looked at you a few times, she treated me like an enemy. Tell me, what do I owe her?"
"And now you're my man too. Who you marry isn't up to her."
"We can talk about anything else. Not this."
Then Lumine turned to Paimon. "And Paimon, if you dare leak what happened today, I'll eat you."
Paimon blinked, only then realizing what was going on. "T-Tabibito, I swear I won't say anything! Please trust me!"
"That's more like it." Lumine glanced at her, then turned back and hugged Ryou tighter.
Ryou gently stroked Lumine's back and glanced at the darkening sky. "If we go back now, we can still make the dinner reservation. Liuli Pavilion isn't cheap. It'd be a waste to miss it."
"Mhm." Lumine nodded, still clinging to his arm.
When they returned to Liuli Pavilion, Keqing looked like she wanted to say something. But the moment she noticed the fresh wound on Ryou's arm, she seemed to understand enough and said nothing.
"Let's eat," Ryou said.
"Mm." Keqing nodded.
The meal passed without incident. After dinner, Ryou and Keqing still had to head to the Jade Chamber, so Lumine and Shenhe left first.
"Let me see." Keqing took Ryou's arm. The moment she saw the bloody bite mark, her anger surged again.
"Tabibito went too far. You were trying to comfort her. How could she bite you like that?"
"Keqing, it's just a scratch. I already treated it." Ryou tried to calm her down.
"What do you mean, just a scratch? She bit you hard enough to draw blood!" Keqing was furious.
"Let's go see Ningguang first. Once everything's arranged, we'll go home and rest." Ryou pulled Keqing a little closer, feeling even more apologetic toward this good woman.
After discussing matters with Ningguang, the two of them returned home.
Once Ryou sat down, another thought hit him.
Now that Lumine had ended up with him, the plot had already changed quite a bit.
There was no way she would still end up with the Serenitea Pot under these circumstances.
So where was she supposed to stay?
Ryou thought of Cloud Retainer.
Could one of the adepti make another pocket world for her too? Otherwise, where would she even live?
"Who are you thinking about?" Keqing glared at him. She had already noticed that he'd been holding the teacup for a long time without drinking, clearly lost in thought.
"I'm thinking about my Keqing, of course." Ryou downed the tea in one gulp, took her hand, and led her toward the room.
"You... what are you doing? Don't bully me." Keqing shot him a look.
"How is that bullying? I'm obviously pampering you." Ryou pulled her tightly into his arms and looked straight into her eyes.
"Being able to marry you makes me the happiest man alive."
"W-What kind of nonsense are you saying? Don't say things like that." Keqing's heart started pounding, and her whole face grew hot.
"You're always saying sweet things like this. You... you must be planning to ask for something outrageous again."
"I still have things to arrange tomorrow. You're not allowed to bully me."
"Keqing, even if I make you sore, I can still heal you." Ryou gently stroked her beautiful face and kissed her.
As the scenery around them melted into streams of light, the lavish room vanished.
When Keqing saw the strange qipao laid out beside the hot spring, she lowered her head at once.
This bad man spent all day thinking about nonsense like this.
"Keqing, I didn't say a thing." Ryou smiled as he stroked her softly, then sat down in the spring at an unhurried pace, letting the warm water wash over him.
Keqing leaned against him in his arms, but the moment she saw the bite mark again, her anger came right back. "Ryou, keep your distance from Tabibito!"
"Hey, Keqing, what are you—"
Before Ryou could even react, another bite mark had appeared on his other arm. The sudden pain made his face darken.
Ryou glared at Keqing, pulled her into his arms, and smacked her once on the rear.
"Alright, Keqing, now you've done it. If I don't deal with you tonight, that won't do. You bit me, so I'm returning the favor."
...
[Ding. Keqing's attractiveness to women has increased by 30%!]
Ryou was holding Keqing and about to fall asleep when that notification suddenly rang out. He immediately fell silent.
Why did this reward feel a little off?
Was he about to gain a whole new batch of rivals?
Ryou shook his head, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
But while he rested, Hand, Eye, and Ear slipped out of the pocket world and returned to the outside world.
[Hand: Eye, help me out. Come with me and let's steal the Anemo Gnosis!]
[Ear: I'll keep watch for you!]
[Eye: Keep watch for what? I can already see everything.]
[Ear: You may see everything, but you're still blind in the head.]
[Eye: ...]
[Hand: Let's move.]
The three of them quietly sneaked over to Signora's lodgings.
[Eye: Why does Signora love red wine so much? Every time I see her, she's holding a glass.]
[Ear: What's so good about wine anyway? She doesn't even talk. It's boring enough that I can't do anything.]
[Hand: Is this woman some kind of night owl? It's this late and she's still not asleep.]
[Eye: Look... she's going to sleep. Hand, get moving.]
[Hand: No problem!]
A moment later, Hand slipped inside.
[Eye: So that tiny thing is the Gnosis? Hey, hey, what's Hand doing? It already got the thing, so why is it still hitting her—ah, this woman is way too strong!]
[Eye: Tch. If you'd only messed with her upper half, I wouldn't even bother saying anything. But how are you still... never mind.]
[Nose: Something smells weird!]
[Eye: Bad news, Signora's awake!]
...
Signora immediately sensed that something was wrong. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw that her clothes had been pulled loose and most of her body was bare.
"I'm going to kill you, Ryou!" Signora roared.
She knew that Hand had to be his doing. What happened last time was proof enough.
She reached out and grabbed at it.
Boom!
But in the very next moment, she saw a laser beam blast in from the wall of a nearby building.
The instant Signora spotted Eye, she ground her teeth. "I'm going to kill all of you!"
[Ding. Eye entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding. Eye: Darkened Mode active. Laser Eyes have upgraded to Demolition Eyes. There is now a chance for your eyes to fire explosive beams!]
Eye swept its gaze across the tall building behind it, and the entire wooden structure exploded into chunks of stone and rubble.
Signora unleashed her elemental power in a raging wave toward the building, trying to bury Hand and Eye beneath it for good.
In the next instant, the explosion was deafening, and the entire building burst apart.
Down below, around Feiyun Slope, Yanfei and Kuki Shinobu both heard the commotion and looked outside.
The moment Yanfei looked up, she saw Hand, Eye, and Ear flying into the sky.
The instant she saw them, she guessed that Ryou had done something rotten again.
The memory of his Eye seeing her naked last time made her blood boil.
Then, in the next second, Yanfei saw a figure appear on a rooftop.
That person...
was one of the Fatui Harbingers.
Signora.
[End of chapter]
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