"K-Keqing, what is it?" Barbara stammered when she saw Keqing staring straight at her. Her whole face had gone burning hot, her heart was racing, and she suddenly didn't dare meet Keqing's eyes.
Seeing Barbara like that, Keqing immediately guessed a few things, and her mood soured at once.
Sure, her husband was handsome, but why did every girl who met him seem to fall for him without even trying?
What was with that?
"It's nothing. We'll just walk around a bit. Come on, let's go." Keqing pulled Ryou away.
Once they stepped out through the main entrance of the cathedral, she noticed Barbara following a little behind them. That made Keqing even more tense.
Just as I thought... Barbara's after Ryou too.
Keqing dragged Ryou into a side path nearby, found a bench, and sat down. Then she looked at him and asked, "Did you get the feeling Barbara likes you?"
"Keqing, Barbara was staring at you the whole time. If she likes anyone, it's you," Ryou said as he pulled her into his arms.
"My Keqing gets more charming every day. Lately, you've been very popular with girls."
"That's nonsense. How could girls like me? She was obviously looking at you." Keqing glared at him and pinched his ear. "I'm warning you, we only came to Mondstadt to have fun. You are not allowed to fool around."
"Alright, alright." Ryou nodded quickly.
Then he stroked her gently and held her a little tighter.
"Ryou..." Keqing tilted her head up toward him, but then her eyes caught something in one of the cathedral windows. A nun was leaning against the frame with a scarf around her neck, casually blowing smoke into the air.
It looked like the nun had noticed her too and glanced down at them, but she didn't seem to care much and simply went back to smoking.
"Ryou, look over there. That nun is smoking. Can nuns even do that?" Keqing pointed.
"A smoking nun?" Ryou looked up as well and saw her there, leaning against the window and exhaling lazily.
Even from that distance, he could tell she was tall and slender, the nun's habit outlining her figure clearly.
Because Eye had been enhanced so many times already, he could see far more than most people could. Her long legs stood out immediately, and the fishnet stockings on them were especially eye-catching.
The pale skin beneath those dark lines was broken up into elegant little sections, half-hidden under the habit, which only made her seem more mysterious and free-spirited.
"She's definitely different from the other nuns we've seen," Ryou said with a smile. "I think she's interesting. Very different."
"Oh? So you like that type?" Keqing shot him a look.
"Keqing, why are you getting jealous again?" Ryou leaned close to her ear and murmured, "I just think those fishnets look really good. We should buy you a few pairs later."
Then he gently stroked her again and added, "Though you already look great as you are."
"Shut up." Keqing rolled her eyes and caught his hand, but her whole body was already heating up.
In a small voice, she said, "We're still outside the cathedral. What if someone sees us? Fine... I'll buy them, alright?"
"That's more like it." Ryou drew his hand back with a grin and pulled her close again.
After sitting there a while longer, Ryou took Keqing with him and wandered through the area. In the end, they reached the square in front of the Anemo Archon statue, where a crowd of Mondstadters had gathered.
The sound of a lyre drifted through the square, and the singing was beautiful.
"It's him," Keqing said when she spotted Venti.
As she listened to Venti sing, she couldn't take her eyes off. It was as if she could feel the mood in the music itself. She wrapped her arms around Ryou's waist and said softly, "That bard sings so well."
"Bard, we meet again." Ryou smiled as he walked over with Keqing in his arms, just as Venti finished performing.
"So it's you two. I didn't expect you to come to Mondstadt." Venti winked at Ryou, grinned, and quietly tucked away the Mora people had given him.
Ryou just laughed.
A middle-aged man in the crowd suddenly noticed Keqing and Ryou and started clapping. "Young man, you two really are a perfect match."
Then he turned to Venti. "Bard, can I request a song to bless them?"
"Sorry, I'm not very good at writing blessing songs." Venti scratched his head and smiled apologetically. "Looks like I won't be earning your Mora today."
Keqing said nothing, but some of the anticipation in her eyes faded.
Before, she might not have cared much.
But now she knew Venti was the Anemo Archon. Wind, freedom, and a bard's soft singing all blended together into something almost dreamlike.
If he could sing a blessing for her and Ryou, the meaning would have been completely different.
Ryou noticed the trace of regret in her eyes and held her a little tighter.
"I'm fine," Keqing said, shaking her head gently.
"Maybe I can't bless people as well as a bard can, but if you want to hear it, I can sing for you." Ryou lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Just don't blame me if I sound terrible."
"You're going to sing?" Keqing looked up at him.
"If you want to hear it, then I'll sing it for you." Ryou smiled.
"If it's you singing, then I'll want to hear it." Keqing gazed at him without blinking.
"You..." Ryou laughed softly and rubbed her head.
"I can accompany you on the lyre," Venti offered.
"I might need that." Ryou wasn't entirely sure, especially now that more and more people had started gathering around. They were all staring at him, and it made him feel a little awkward.
Song after song ran through his mind as he tried to choose one.
In the end, one came to him.
He looked down into Keqing's eyes and thought of everything they had been through together. At the same time, he heard Venti begin to accompany him on the lyre.
"I always knew that one day, we would stand here like this. And now you're walking toward me in white. I can hardly believe my eyes. I'm looking at the rest of my life."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou noticed more and more people gathering. Men, women, old people, children—they had all slowed their steps and stopped to watch.
But he didn't look at any of them.
He only looked at Keqing.
Because this woman was everything. She was the one who would walk beside him all the way to the end.
"Ryou..." Keqing could see the depth of feeling in his eyes. Her own eyes reddened, and tears began spilling onto his clothes.
The sound of the lyre didn't stop. It only softened.
Ryou held her and felt a patch of his chest go damp, but he didn't care. He kept singing in a low voice. "And right now, I'm a mess. Because after everything we've been through and all the way we've come... I can finally call you my love. Lucky me. Truly lucky me. I really did marry you."
The moment his voice fell, the whole square seemed to go quiet.
Ryou could hear Keqing crying harder in his arms, and around them, other quiet sobs began to rise as well.
He gently patted her back, soothing her.
Gradually, the lyre came to a stop, but Ryou didn't stop yet. He continued softly, "At this moment, you're like a beautiful melody. You're the reason I lose my mind. So trust me, my love. We'll stay together until our hair turns white."
This time, he really did stop.
He only kept patting Keqing's back.
Then he heard it—the sound of quiet crying around them, followed by applause.
The applause grew louder and louder.
Only after a long while did it finally begin to fade. Ryou kissed Keqing on the forehead and held her close.
"You're impressive, Ryou," Venti said seriously, holding the lyre in his hands. "That song was only a few lines long, but it really moved people."
"You may not have sung it perfectly, but the feeling in it was enough to make anyone cry."
Ryou nodded to Venti. Then, past him, he noticed Barbara standing on the steps leading down from the cathedral, watching him and Keqing.
He could clearly see the emotion in her eyes—she was moved, but there was envy there too.
Off to the side, farther up another set of steps, a blonde woman had been standing there with a knight for some time. After taking a deep breath, she finally walked down toward them.
"Ryou, that song just now wasn't complete, but... it was deeply moving. And the bond between you two is moving as well." The blonde woman stopped directly in front of Ryou and Keqing.
"Thank you."
"Keqing, would the two of you mind coming to the Knights of Favonius with me?" she asked. "I'm Jean."
She mainly said that because she wasn't sure whether Ryou would know who she was.
She had met Keqing before, but seeing Keqing clutching Ryou so tightly and burying herself in his arms still startled her.
Then, when she remembered the song from a moment ago, she understood a little better.
If a woman had a man sing to her like that, how could she not be deeply moved?
Jean envied Keqing too.
She didn't have much experience in love, but even she could tell how deeply Ryou felt for Keqing.
She quietly pushed those thoughts out of her head and led them toward the Knights of Favonius.
"Keqing, we're at the Knights of Favonius now," Ryou said as he held her and patted her gently on the back.
"Mmph... This is all your fault. I cried forever because of you. I... I'm not talking to you." Keqing glanced at him, then turned her face away.
Ryou just smiled.
Right now, she felt much softer than before. All that old sharpness had melted away.
"Alright now. Jean is still right here," Ryou reminded her.
"Ah... Jean, I..." Keqing's whole face flushed bright red. She lightly thumped Ryou a few times. "It's all your fault. You made me embarrass myself."
Jean stood there in awkward silence, watching the two of them openly shower each other with affection right in front of her.
[End of chapter]
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