An attribute that raises luck through misfortune...
Nolan's eyes lit up slightly—it really was a perfect match for Bennett!
For example, if he were unlucky enough to be hit by a falling rock, his luck would rise significantly, and the next bout of misfortune might be partially offset.
What puzzled Nolan a little was that, once Bennett's luck increased to the point where he was no longer unlucky, this attribute might lose its effectiveness.
After all, it only boosts luck after a "trial" or "hardship," but if his luck got high enough, he might not face hardships anymore.
And without hardships, there would be no further increase in luck.
So, in terms of growth potential, the attribute seemed a bit limited. But if it helped him consistently stay lucky, it could completely neutralize his naturally unlucky constitution.
In other words, it fundamentally solved the side effects brought on by Bennett's "C6" Fated Constellation, successfully patching a major flaw in his kit.
All things considered, this was excellent.
When Bennett learned the effects of his new attribute, he was thrilled!
"It really can raise my luck!" Bennett said, deeply moved.
According to the attribute's feedback, if he just endured a few more unlucky moments, he could basically break free from the bad luck that had haunted him for years!
After all, no one wants to get randomly hit by a rock just walking down the street.
"As long as you're happy," Nolan said with a smile, then turned to Noelle.
"All right, Noelle, it's your turn now. I've got enough power left for one more attribute today. Let's see if luck's on our side and we get the one we want. If not, we'll try again tomorrow."
"Mhm! I'll leave it to you, Mr. Adventurer!"
Noelle nodded vigorously, her fair chin moving up and down as she looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Nolan activated Spiritual Core once more. Pale green spiritual light gently descended onto Noelle's body.
Before long…
He received the feedback from Spiritual Core:
[Spiritual Core Attribute · All-Purpose Maid: This attribute only appears in intelligent lifeforms. The bearer can master any form of housework with ease, significantly increasing work efficiency. After helping others, if the recipient feels grateful, the user gains one stack of "Gratitude." Each stack increases all attributes by 1%, up to a maximum of 100 stacks.]
Nolan was silent for a moment as he read the attribute.
If it weren't for the goal of finding an ability to discern good from evil…
This attribute might as well have been custom-made for Noelle.
Expert in all household tasks, highly efficient, and boosting all attributes just by helping others.
Even if it wasn't perfect, it was at the very least an extremely high match!
Unfortunately, it wasn't the one they were hoping for. As expected, finding a specific attribute wasn't going to be that easy.
"All-Purpose Maid!"
Unlike Nolan's disappointment, Noelle called out the name with delight. The work efficiency bonus hit her right in the heart.
This was exactly what she needed. With this ability, she could help everyone even more in her day-to-day life!
"Mr. Adventurer, I think this ability suits me perfectly."
Noelle looked at Nolan with sparkling eyes full of anticipation.
"Uh... What about the knight selection in half a month?"
Nolan rubbed his temples, a bit confused.
"Um… Becoming a full-fledged Knight of Favonius is so I can better help the people of Mondstadt, right?
"With this ability, I can already do that more effectively.
"So… even if I don't pass this year's knight selection, it doesn't matter.
I'll gain more experience over time, and eventually I'll make it!
"Until then, I can keep helping everyone as a trainee knight!"
Noelle spoke seriously.
She truly liked this attribute. She was afraid that if she gave it up, she might never get it again.
Even if it meant delaying her official promotion by a year or two, it was worth it.
"I see... That's fine, then."
Looks like the promise Nolan made to Acting Grand Master Jean would have to be delayed.
He sighed quietly and said:
"But even without the attribute, we can't give up so easily. There's still half a month before the selection—if you work a little harder, you might still pass!
"So let's go adventuring again tomorrow!"
Really, he was just using that as an excuse to keep exploring with Noelle.
Mainly to raise her affection level—after all, it was already at Level 8. Full affection wasn't far off, and once it maxed out, he could unlock her unique affection skill.
Ideally, he wanted to bring Barbara and Rosaria along, too. Spending long periods of time together would make it easier to raise their affection as well.
"No problem!" Noelle agreed cheerfully.
[Noelle Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (410/800)]
"Great. Then I'll come find you at the Knights of Favonius HQ tomorrow,"
Nolan said, smiling in satisfaction as the system prompt popped up on his interface. Then he looked across the table at the boy:
"Bennett, you can wait for us at the Adventurers' Guild tomorrow."
"Okay—wait, actually, maybe not. Your strength is just too overwhelming, Nolan.
"If I go adventuring with you, no matter what kind of trouble we run into, it won't count as a 'hardship,' right?
"And if there's no hardship, my luck won't go up.
"So I think I'll go team up with Razor instead!"
Bennett had instinctively agreed at first, but after thinking it through, he shook his head.
Better not to adventure with Nolan, after all.
He was so powerful that, as long as you followed him, you'd probably be able to turn any danger into a blessing. Naturally, that was an incredibly good thing.
But without hardship, the attribute couldn't activate its effect.
"Uh… yeah, that does kind of make sense. In that case, once you've gotten your unlucky constitution under control, we'll go adventuring together,"
Nolan nodded in agreement—what Bennett said wasn't wrong.
It seemed that solving his own bad luck problem ultimately had to come down to Bennett himself.
8:00 PM
The streets were filled with townsfolk winding down after a long day of work, heading out for a stroll after dinner to relax.
Bennett figured it was getting late and decided to head back to take care of the old dads.
Nolan, after escorting Noelle home, returned to his Wonderland.
When he stepped into the living room, he found the entire space had been rebuilt—it had expanded from three floors to four.
There were many more rooms now, though the overall style had changed a bit…
Hmm, it now looked somewhat similar to the Jade Chamber.
For example, the characteristic Liyue cloud patterns—fitting whether placed on walls, doors, or windows—now adorned every room. They conveyed elegance without being overly ornate.
It gave off a calm and soothing atmosphere—this was clearly Ningguang's handiwork.
Before the renovation, everyone had designed their own rooms with Lumine's help based on personal taste. While pretty, the styles weren't very unified.
"Ugh… you stupid attendant! You're finally back! That vile woman bullied this princess again!"
Just as Nolan was carefully examining all the changes in the Wonderland, a golden flash darted into his arms, clinging to him with a pouty complaint.
Golden, silky long hair.
A sleek, backless bodysuit with a skirt tail.
Asymmetrical sheer black thigh-highs that went just past the knees...
—It was the adorable Fischl!
He wrapped his arms around her waist, gently stroking Amy's soft, snow-white back.
His palm brushed the smooth curve of her shoulder blades, warm and smooth like finely carved jade.
Nolan kissed her on the forehead and smiled, asking,
"Now, now, who's the vile woman bold enough to bully my great Prinzessin?"
Fischl straightened up and pulled him over to where Ningguang sat sipping tea gracefully in the lounge area of the living room.
She glared at her and indignantly pointed,
"It's her! She wiped out all the decorations outside my room and replaced them with those ridiculous patterns she likes. How tyrannical!"
"Ah… I see."
Before the renovation, the whole Wonderland had been decorated by Lumine. There weren't many embellishments, just some wooden panels to unify the visual style.
It looked nice overall.
But as the noble Prinzessin der Verurteilung, how could she accept a bedroom as ordinary as everyone else's?
So she had spent several nights carefully designing her room with all kinds of unique decorations and asked Lumine to craft them using geo energy.
For instance, she had a stone statue of Oz guarding her door, and the walls and windows were covered with murals of her "conquests of the starry multiverse."
It wasn't a big deal, so Lumine had gladly fulfilled her requests.
Fischl's room did look fantastic—but it definitely stood out and clashed with everyone else's.
Still, no one minded. As long as Fischl liked it, that was what mattered.
The current situation, however, was easy enough to guess:
Ningguang clearly did mind that it stood out too much.
When the Wonderland was rebuilt, Fischl's room was not restored.
And she didn't allow Lumine or Yun Jin to remake it either.
Hence why Fischl now felt she had been "bullied."
"In a high-class residence," Ningguang began, reclining slightly into the sofa, her platinum-blonde hair forming soft creases where it touched the backrest, "consistency of style is the most basic requirement. If even one room stands out too drastically, it throws the entire balance off."
Nolan could understand her reasoning.
After all, having high standards for the place you live in was perfectly reasonable.
And honestly, looking at all the neatly matched room styles—and then Fischl's outlier—if you were even a little OCD, it would absolutely drive you crazy.
And so, Fischl's expectations for her room clashed with Ningguang's aesthetic standards. Unfortunately for our dear Prinzessin, she simply wasn't a match for the ever-capable Lady Tianquan.
And thus, the conflict between the two began—Nolan sighed internally, a bit troubled.
With so many people living together in the same space, all from different nations and cultures, it was inevitable that small disagreements would occur from time to time.
"Hey, Ningguang… what if you gave in to Fischl a little? I mean, it's not a huge deal for one room to stand out a bit,"
Nolan sat close beside her, slipped an arm around her waist, and gently tried to persuade her.
Right now, Ningguang was clearly the one in control. Fischl had come crying to him already, so he figured he'd at least try to get Ningguang to ease up a little.
"Wouldn't it be better to have a uniform exterior design? Or are you saying you also prefer things to be a bit… unique?"
Ningguang crossed her left leg over her right, lightly tapping his shin with her black high heels, then said with a faint sigh of resignation,
She knew she was going to have to compromise—after all, when it came to boys, whoever pouted first usually had the upper hand.
Nolan playfully squeezed her calf and smiled,
"I honestly don't mind much. How about a compromise? Fischl can decorate the walls however she wants, but she shouldn't change the overall shape of the room.
"As long as the structure stays consistent, the difference won't be too glaring, and it'll still look good."
Ningguang felt a tingle from the touch on her calf. Her cheeks flushed slightly, though she tried to keep a calm expression. After a short pause, she replied,
"Since you put it that way… fine."
Whew.
Nolan let out a breath of relief internally—half the problem was resolved. Now for the other half.
He stood and walked over to Fischl, gave her a kiss on the cheek, wrapped an arm around her, and asked,
"So? What do you think of this compromise, Fischl?"
As he spoke, his hand slid leftward, gently caressing the snowy-white thigh clad in sheer black stockings above the knee.
"Eek!"
Even though they'd already shared a bed many times, being teased like this in front of Ningguang—who hadn't been in the Wonderland for long—still made Fischl feel incredibly shy.
She quickly grabbed his misbehaving hand, wriggled out of his embrace, and dashed upstairs. As she ran, she called out,
"T-That'll do! I shall go find Lumine to redecorate my chamber—no, my royal bedchamber!"
Watching her flee in embarrassment, Nolan chuckled inwardly. Fischl was always easy to handle.
And with that, all problems had been resolved.
"You really have a way with girls, don't you? No wonder so many are willing to follow you,"
Ningguang said, arms crossed beneath her chest, her raised left foot gently swaying as she cast him a not-so-pleased look.
Nolan caught a trace of jealousy in her words—faint, but definitely there. Smiling, he sat back down next to her and said,
"Come to think of it, as a couple, we haven't even kissed yet. Want to give it a try?"
Ningguang recalled how he'd kissed Fischl just moments earlier. Her crimson eyes flicked to the left, then returned to him.
After a brief pause, she leaned forward slightly, offering her cheek and saying,
"Go ahead. I'm not going to lose to a little girl."
"Gladly!"
Nolan kissed her soft, fair cheek without hesitation.
Feeling the gentle pressure on her skin, Ningguang relaxed a bit.
So this was what it felt like…
Just a simple touch.
It felt about the same as holding hands—nothing too dramatic.
No big deal.
Just as she let her guard down, she suddenly felt the softness on her cheek slide forward—
—before she could react, it landed directly on her lips!
Her eyes widened in surprise. For a rare moment, emotions surged inside her heart.
She forgot to resist altogether… and simply let him kiss her.
---
(End of Chapter)