At the Favonius Cathedral plaza.
Fischl sat alone on a bench, watching the passing crowd with the eye not covered by her eyepatch.
Oz, perched on her shoulder, spoke up, "Milady, the sun's setting. We should head back for dinner."
Fischl frowned. "Dinner? Hmph, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung requires no such—grrgle…"
Oz said, "Milady, your stomach is protesting. Even if you're not hungry, we should head home. Otherwise, the Emperor and Empress will worry about you."
Fischl clutched her stomach, conflicted. "I've waited here so long already… how could I give up now?"
Oz thought for a moment. "Milady, since that man played his music here this morning, why don't we come back early tomorrow? We might run into him."
Fischl considered. "Tomorrow morning…"
"If not tomorrow, we can wait a few more days. We can't possibly be that unlucky… And if we are, milady, you really ought to consider leaving Benny's Adventure Team!"
"The Prinzessin never breaks her promises!"
"Alright then. Worst case, we can wait until the Windblume Festival music contest. He's bound to show up for that."
"Indeed!"
Fischl leapt off the bench and started walking home.
—
Klee had stayed inside all day.
In her little workshop, she used the fireworks recipe she got from Aunt CLoud Retainer—no, from Sister Cloud Retainer—to make lots of fireworks.
Looking at her handiwork, Klee's face lit up with joy.
"In a few days, Klee's gonna give everyone a super big surprise!"
"Ugh, Klee's so hungry…"
"Haven't eaten all day… Klee needs food!"
She packed up her fireworks, changed out of her dirty clothes, and dashed out the door.
Not far from home, she ran into a familiar figure.
A girl about her size.
"Long time no see, Klee!"
"Dori!"
Klee beamed and threw herself into Dori's arms.
For once, Dori wasn't wearing her usual shrewd business smile but showed a rare, gentle expression.
"Running around like this—where are you off to?"
"Klee's going to eat!"
"You haven't had dinner yet?"
"Klee hasn't eaten all day!"
"What? Why? Out of Mora? I can—"
"Nope! Klee was busy today and forgot to eat!"
"Oh… then let me take you for a feast."
"Yay! Thank you, Dori! Oh, right—Dori, where's Mom's present this year?"
"I've got it right here. After we eat, I'll give it to you."
"Okay!"
Soon after, Dori brought Klee to the most expensive restaurant in Mondstadt.
With a grand wave of her hand, Dori ordered the priciest dishes and told them to serve quickly.
The chefs, energized, whipped up the food in record time.
The table was soon covered in a feast.
Dori nodded in satisfaction. "Klee, you must be starving. Eat up!"
"Okay!"
"Good, huh?"
"It's okay."
Dori blinked. "Okay? This is Mondstadt's finest restaurant! The best chefs! It should be way better than the Knights of Favonius' cafeteria, right?"
Klee nodded. "It's better than Noelle's cooking, but not as good as Big Brother Xia Zhi's food!"
"Big Brother… Xia Zhi?"
The name sounded familiar.
Dori quickly remembered—he was the former owner of the Summer Shop.
That young man who once bought things from her stall.
He's in Mondstadt now? And Klee's eaten his cooking?
Dori thought for a moment, then looked at Klee.
"Klee, tell me—how did you meet this Xia Zhi?"
"Well, that day Klee was testing fireworks outside, and then—"
—
Upstairs in the Favonius Library, a peculiar device sat quietly—a Custom Heating Crucible. It was crafted with a design completely incomprehensible to most Mondstadters, equipped with delayed heating, semi-automatic additive release, and limited heat preservation.
Lisa had burned through a hefty budget and tied up the workshop for two weeks to make this custom machine.
With it, any precise heating operation could be done by pulling no more than two levers.
Its most common use? Keeping Lisa's tea perfectly brewed while she sorted books.
After all, the most important part of Lisa's day was her relaxing afternoon tea.
But today, the device had found a new use.
Instant noodles.
Lisa finished her second cup, leaned back in her chair, and sighed contentedly.
"This stuff… really is amazing…"
"If I can have instant noodles ready every time I get hungry while reading at night…"
"Alright, break's over… still one more cup left… tonight I'll try recreating it myself…"
-----
After an evening stroll around Cider Lake, everyone returned to the Favonius Cathedral.
Once again, Xia Zhi spotted that smoking Cryo nun sitting in the last pew.
For some reason, this time her icy gaze ignored everyone else and locked directly onto him.
It felt like she'd set her sights on him.
Noticing this strange behavior, Xia Zhi maintained his calm expression but quietly observed her through his God's-eye.
With his exceptional medical expertise, he immediately noticed traces of old injuries on her body—some deep, some shallow, clearly accumulated over different periods of time.
Her hair was slightly dry and frayed at the ends. Dark circles under her eyes hinted at long-term malnutrition and severe lack of sleep.
Her expression remained cold and distant. Whether yesterday or today, her face carried no emotion at all, revealing her obviously withdrawn nature.
One hand held her smoking pipe, while the other rested casually at her waist. But Xia Zhi could see clearly—beneath her clothes, she was concealing a dagger.
And yet, this was the Favonius Cathedral—the safest place in all of Mondstadt.
Despite being in such an environment, her subconscious still maintained this constant vigilance.
It was clear she'd grown up in a brutal world where letting your guard down, even for a moment, could get you killed.
With all this, Xia Zhi came to a preliminary conclusion: this was a poor girl who had suffered abuse since childhood, struggled to survive hunger and hardship, and grown up in violent competition.
Her hands had surely been stained with blood, and her psyche was riddled with trauma…
A "bad girl" wrapped in sin, yet now she was wearing the robes of a nun, a symbol of purity and kindness in the Favonius Cathedral.
Xia Zhi thought this situation was… rather interesting.
He didn't know why she had suddenly started paying attention to him, but from this moment on, he decided to start paying attention to her, too.
Since they were all living under the same roof now, perhaps this festive season would bring something amusing.
Back in the room, everyone entered the Serenitea Pot together.
A massage, a bath—the day's exhaustion vanished in an instant.
That was when Ying'er took out the test tube and let everyone give it a try.
Sure enough, this time, everyone's breath turned into that pink-purple glow.
Mona asked, "So, what's this 'Breaths of Joy' actually for?"
Ying'er shook her head. "No idea. That Miss Sucrose has never successfully collected it either. We'll have to research it from scratch."
Mona sighed, disappointed. "Oh. I see."
Ying'er put the test tube away. "I'll bring it back to Miss Sucrose tomorrow. Once we get some results, I promise I'll tell you all first thing."
Everyone was interested. "Okay!"
Xia Ci leaned lazily against the side of the bath, his tone relaxed. "Why make it so complicated? If you're curious, just go ask Cousin directly."
Cloud Retainer thought for a moment. "Whether it's alchemy or mechanism mastery, the most important quality is a thirst for knowledge. If we always rely on asking Mr. Xia for answers, over time we'll lose the ability to explore things for ourselves."
Ying'er considered this. "So what do you suggest, Cloud Retainer?"
Cloud Retainer said, "Let's study it on our own for a couple of days. If we still can't figure it out, then we'll ask Mr. Xia."
Ying'er nodded. "You're right. Let's do that."
Xia Ci glanced at Cloud Retainer, smiled faintly, and said nothing more.
----
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