"Everyone else, you may leave for now. Genius, come with me — let's walk in the garden."
Su Ran's return had spoiled any further counciling the Tsaritsa had planned. Right now she simply wanted to talk with this Genius privately.
Though she had officially recruited him, she still felt she didn't truly understand her mysterious subordinate.
Especially after Baal's sudden behavior—she'd been furious. Since he was back for once, she had to seize the opportunity to learn more about him.
Columbina watched the Tsaritsa expectantly.
Others left, but she hoped she might stay — she and the Genius were friends, after all. The Tsaritsa caught her look and refused without mercy.
"Maiden, you should go too."
She wanted a private conversation. Two people only.
"Wait!" Su Ran scooped up the little child from Columbina's arms, nuzzled and fussed over the child for a while, then put her back.
"All right, now you may go."
Columbina tilted her head. That was it? The Tsaritsa's gaze continued to linger on them as she left with the child.
When the others were gone, the Tsaritsa rose from her divine throne and led him out.
"Let's take a walk in the garden."
"We — have a garden here in Snezhnaya?"
Across that boundless snow plain, a garden seemed improbable; there were hardly any leafy trees.
The Tsaritsa rolled her eyes and walked ahead to guide Su Ran. Of course the palace had a garden — but not one of perpetual spring.
The plants were sparse: two kinds of hardy grasses and a blossom much like a snow-lotus. Interwoven across the grounds, the arrangement looked lush at first glance but in reality consisted of only those three species. Still, it was the most verdant spot in Snezhnaya: at least here life did not look dead.
"Ever since you joined us, we've never really had a proper talk. I don't really understand you, Genius."
When she first saw him crush the Captain, the Tsaritsa had assumed he was simply a powerful fighter. If she could bind such a peak warrior to her side, toppling the Celestials might no longer be out of reach.
She had been secretly pleased to have recruited a supreme strength… but then discovered he also had formidable scientific talents.
She'd overestimated him — yet underestimated him too. More than annoyance, she felt lucky.
"I am what my name says — Genius," Su Ran said plainly, proud of his abilities. Even if many of them were acquired rather than innate, they were still his.
"So… Genius, tell me — what do you think of the Celestials?"
The Celestials' rule covered all of Teyvat. Long before the Archons, they had managed the land.
"I think they must be exhausted," Su Ran replied. "They fought the Dragonkind once, fought the Third Throne once, and later suppressed Khaenri'ah as well — a ruler without absolute strength."
He didn't speak with hatred toward the Celestials; rather, he seemed to pity them.
For the indigenous dragons the Celestials had been ruthless, but for most of humanity across Teyvat they had often been a merciful creator.
They were tolerant to life inside their domains.
"So in your view, are they good or bad?" the Tsaritsa pressed.
Su Ran's take made her think he retained some fondness for the Celestials — a surprising stance for a Fatui Harbinger.
"Aren't they obvious?" he said. "If you don't touch the ley lines and avoid plunging into the Abyss, haven't the Celestials treated humanity fairly kindly?"
They only issued divine punishments when taboos were broken.
But the Tsaritsa had come to a different conclusion: those very restraints could forever prevent civilizations from advancing.
The destruction of Khaenri'ah made her realize the Celestials' terrifying need to control might strangle the future.
She was not unreasonable; she recognized that the Celestials' punishments came with benefits too. But preventing progress — that was not protection;
it was strangulation. Once she saw the Celestials as the greatest obstacle to humanity, she had no hesitation in raising rebellion.
If successful, the heavenly order would be rewritten and a new order established on Teyvat. Who set the old world on fire was less important than that someone had to.
"The scale of your goal is grand," Su Ran said, "but the world beyond the stars isn't necessarily kinder.
Outside the starry heavens a huge greedy force holds sway — once you free yourselves of the Celestials' embargo, you'll face a universe ruled by greed greater even than what the Celestials imposed."
The Celestials' closure prevented progress, but corporations' exploitation could be just as oppressive.
Compared with those companies, at least the Celestials didn't die for crazily risky profit. The Tsaritsa frowned; she hadn't considered the state of places beyond the starry sky.
"I'll protect my people," she said.
"Provided your power is enough," Su Ran answered. "Even if someone could one-shot the Celestials, there are more than ten who could kill a Celestial; maybe many more.
I don't know if there are a hundred. Ordinary Travelers wouldn't beat the Celestials. Even the Archons have terrain-altering powers — the Celestials can reshape the surface. Compared to a Genius, they're like fireflies against the sun, but Geniuses are rare. There aren't so many."
His words dampened the Tsaritsa's enthusiasm. She asked, "And you?"
"As for me? I'm the sort of Genius they'd lick the ground for," he said casually.
The Tsaritsa's eyes lit up. "Would you be interested in becoming the master of a new order?"
A guardian of a new order must be powerful. To the Tsaritsa, Su Ran's might made him the best candidate.
His temperament suggested that under him the lives of Teyvat's peoples might enjoy maximal freedom. In her view, he was the ideal figure to lead a new order.
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