Sorting through the library's massive collection and ensuring the Knights had their supply of potions—that was her main duty within the Knights of Favonius, and both could be considered her hobbies. More importantly, it was a leisurely life.
Books were simple enough: as long as they were borrowed and returned in order, with everyone abiding by the Seventh Edition of the Library Usage Regulations... although there were always a few who dared to ignore it. In such cases, she simply had to stretch her limbs a little. Luckily, most were first-time offenders, and hardly anyone truly intended to provoke the dignity of the Witch of Purple Roses.
Potions were even simpler. The Knights of Favonius only needed common medicines, those that had to be produced in bulk. All she had to do was jot down a purchase list, note the steps for preparation, and Huffman and Swan would handle the mixing and supply. As for herbs, merchants were more than eager to deliver them to the Knights of Favonius.
In short, it was an easy job. Even if she spent working hours experimenting with new potion formulas, or combing the market for good books not yet in the library's collection, it was all still part of the job.
After sharing lunch with Jean in the Knights of Favonius' canteen, she checked the special heating cauldron at the alchemy workshop to ensure the ingredients would last until afternoon tea. She also procured a cup of milk tea—red tea, milk, and caramel syrup—and headed back to the library, musing whether the cauldron could be made smaller and quieter, small enough to sit right inside the library itself.
The moment she stepped into the library, Lisa noticed nothing unusual. She carried her milk tea back to her desk, brushed the petals of the purple rose that had bloomed for four months straight, still vibrant and a sign of good fortune, and sipped the tea's still-hot foam. Only then did her gaze wander across the patrons of the library, as was her habit.
During lunch and the afternoon break, the remaining patrons were mostly familiar faces—bookworms and scholars. Among them, a back marked with a bouncing bomb motif stood out starkly.
"..."
Lisa put down her milk tea and, deliberately masking her footsteps, crept closer to see what he was reading—or perhaps to startle him?
But a faint breeze stirred the rising warmth of her tea.
Victor Wang's mind wasn't on his book at all. He was experimenting, trying to see how to use Thousand Winds in the enclosed space of the library without leaving a trace, and also attempting to blend his intent into his elemental skill. The winds he summoned were faint, weak enough that Lisa didn't notice anything.
And just as Lisa prepared her tactic—tapping his left shoulder and darting right—Victor Wang unexpectedly leaned his head back, attempting to meet her gaze and scare her instead.
But he miscalculated. His hair brushed against something dangerous, missing direct contact only thanks to distance and an elegant angle. Still, half his vision was filled with the two white peaks blocking his line of sight.
The joyful surprise of meeting those emerald eyes was ruined by those mountains. Perhaps this trick would work better on Hu Tao…
Lisa's raised hand froze midair, her playful smile stiffened, though her heartbeat quickened. Her fragrance and the sound of her heartbeat reached Victor Wang at the same time.
It was the first time Victor Wang had heard a woman's heartbeat so clearly. Realizing the precariousness of the situation, he quickly raised his head—only to brush once more against that forbidden zone.
"Cough, cough…"
He pretended as though nothing had happened, quickly turning his head aside. His face betrayed seven parts awkwardness, one part falsehood, one part surprise, and one part delight.
"Lisa?! You're back! The journey was long, I know. By the time I arrived, it was already lunchtime. I skipped lunch just to come see you!"
"Hehe~"
"…Didn't expect you to go out for lunch. I guess we just… brushed past each other?"
"Hehe, we still haven't settled the account for Romeo and Juliet~"
Lisa looked delighted, though her height and her folded arms beneath her chest made the twin peaks stand even taller. Around her, the concentration of Electro also swelled.
Victor Wang dared not even breathe too loudly. He lowered his tone carefully and asked, "Romeo and Juliet? Was it not to your liking? Or… are you comparing it to The Butterfly Lovers…"
That might have been the wrong thing to bring up…
"Tell me, what kind of man would choose a tragic love story as a gift for a woman, hmm, Mr. Dust?"
"..."
"Shall we guess? The story may be exquisite, but what kind of mind would gift it? Could it be he doesn't want lovers to find a happy ending?"
"Why? Maybe… maybe he just thought it was a good story?"
"Hm?"
"Give him another chance! This time, it'll definitely have a happy ending!"
Lisa narrowed her eyes. "He said that himself. No one forced him, right~?"
"No, no one did!"
A plagiarist must tread carefully. Victor Wang swore inwardly: from now on, he would set an example and never mess around like that again!
"All right."
Lisa's smile remained, but it was dangerous. She leaned close, forcing the eye-to-eye meeting Victor Wang had imagined… except there was no joy, only dread.
"I also heard that Romeo and Juliet was something Mr. Dust wrote for his girlfriend. Yet The Butterfly Lovers, supposedly written for his new flame, came to him earlier? I'd love to crack open Mr. Dust's skull to see what's inside~"
"…How come I've never heard such rumors? They've spread this far already?"
"Mr. Dust also said Romeo and Juliet is a strict tragedy, while The Butterfly Lovers is romantic and its ending far better. Is that something he made up to placate his new flame, or does he truly believe it?"
It was a deathtrap of a question.
Desperation birthed wit. Victor Wang countered softly, "He also said Romeo and Juliet isn't just a love story. So, in a way, it isn't a complete tragedy either—after all, the two families reconciled, breaking their century-old feud…"
"Mr. Dust really does have a silver tongue. To say one thing to one person and another to someone else—that's exactly who he is~"
Through gritted teeth, Victor Wang muttered, "Ji Fang's tongue is the real demon here…"
"My, my, still trying to blame others at a time like this?"
"Lisa… Sister Lisa, it's all my fault, I admit it. I should never have given you that book without thinking."
"Hehe, all right, I won't tease you anymore. I'm not that petty." Lisa stretched languidly, then pulled a chair close and sat down. "Now then, tell me. Why did you come looking for me?"
"Honestly? Just because it's been a while and I wanted to see you."
"Really? I can see right through you. You're the kind of man who, if he didn't have a reason, would probably never visit me once in his life."
"How could that be! As I've said before—if there's anything you want to do, just call me and I'll be there. But I know you don't like going out… so we can't just sit in the library all day chatting, right? Unless that's what you want. Then I'll gladly oblige."
"…You're right. I like not having to worry about anything, to spend my days in lazy comfort. Now and always, that's who I am."
Victor Wang picked up the hint in her words. "And before? What did you used to like?"
Lisa's smile stayed, but she shook her head. "The past is called the past because it's already gone. There's no need to speak of it. Let it be. So, tell me—did you really only come to see me today?"
"Really!"
He suspected Lisa saw through his lie. But as long as he stuck to it, sincerity or not, keeping her happy was the right choice. Asking about the Lost Country of the Thousand Winds was definitely the wrong move right now!
"Mmm~ I'm glad. Then I'll make an exception and allow you to share afternoon tea with me."
"Great!"
Drinking Lisa's special floral tea, eating her carefully prepared light snacks—ones that wouldn't cause weight gain even without much exercise—and flipping through the latest bestsellers, it was all peace and comfort.
But once the books came out, the topic inevitably drifted to Victor Wang's borrowed wisdom and his "works." Then to his fanciful ideas and the stories each carried in their minds.
With nearly the entire world's classics as his arsenal, Victor Wang could hold his ground easily.
Lisa, a scholar hailed as the Sumeru Akademiya's "once-in-two-centuries" talent, and the Knights of Favonius' own genius witch who "knew everything"—she was no slouch either. She taught him much, shared countless anecdotes, though when it came to her own past, she said nothing.
"All right, now will you tell me the real reason you came?"
"There really isn't one."
"Go on, I won't be angry."
"…If I had to split it, coming to see you was 99%, and the other matter was just 1%."
That part was true. The matter of Khaenri'ah wasn't in Lisa's field anyway—he had planned to ask Kaeya, if he could find him.
Lisa sighed softly. "You know, I truly wish you'd come to rely on me more."
"I'm looking for the Lost Country of the Thousand Winds—the ruins that correspond to the Temple of a Thousand Winds. A nation that should have disappeared long ago."