It was already late at Yujing Terrace. Most of the staff had gone home to rest, leaving only a few people behind to stay on duty.
"Ryou-sama!" a middle-aged man called out.
Ryou nodded at him. "Mm."
"Wait!" The man hurried after him.
"What is it?" Ryou turned back.
The man rubbed his hands together, clearly wanting to speak, but not quite knowing how to start.
"If you've got something to say, just say it." Ryou smiled. "The Ministry of Civil Affairs and Yujing Terrace work together all the time. We're all serving Liyue Harbor. If you've run into trouble, tell me."
"Well… I… I wanted to ask if the Ministry of Civil Affairs is still hiring." The man's face reddened. "I want to transfer over."
"I heard that if you finish your assigned work, you get paid an extra one thousand Mora for every additional file you complete. Is that… true?"
"It is," Ryou said. "But we're already pretty full. We only have seventy slots."
"If you're interested, you can submit a transfer request. I don't have any objections on my end." Ryou patted his shoulder.
"I'd be happy to have you come over. You people at Yujing Terrace deal with so much paperwork every day—your skills are solid."
"Having you help the Ministry of Civil Affairs would honestly make me happy. But you still need to apply through proper channels."
"Understood, Ryou-sama!" The man looked genuinely grateful. "I'll go ask Ganyu-sama about the transfer right away."
"Oh—right, I need to write the request letter too. I'll do it immediately!"
He rushed off.
Ryou chuckled to himself.
He hadn't just been saying pretty words. The Yujing Terrace staff really were sharper than the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Ganyu was strict, and she watched everything closely. With her breathing down their necks every day, it was only natural they'd improve over time.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs, on the other hand, lagged behind. Keqing was always busy and constantly out and about. And the Ministry hadn't originally been under her management either—she only took it over later. Without someone staring at them day in, day out, the staff never got pushed the same way.
Even if they had some ability, they still couldn't match the people working at Yujing Terrace. If a transfer order really came down, the Ministry would probably panic.
Still, competition was a good thing. Let them push each other.
With that thought, Ryou headed for Ganyu's office.
The middle-aged man returned to the lower office. The moment he walked in, he saw several people waiting for him.
"H-Hey, what are you all doing?" he blurted.
"Don't play dumb," someone said. "Tell us—what were you doing, hovering around Ryou-sama?"
"Yeah!"
A pretty woman leaned in, eyes bright. "Spit it out. Stop making us guess."
"Ah—fine, fine." He gave up. "I just met Ryou-sama. He's really nice. No attitude at all."
"People outside keep saying Ryou-sama is some kind of bandit. That's absolute nonsense."
"I told him I wanted to transfer to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and he agreed. He even said Yujing Terrace is a lot stronger than the Ministry, and he's looking forward to us coming over."
"But we have to write formal transfer requests first."
"Ryou-sama is seriously amazing," one of the women sighed. "I'm so jealous of Keqing-sama. He handles everything so thoroughly that Keqing-sama doesn't even need to show up at the Ministry anymore!"
"Seriously!"
"Enough talking—go write your transfer requests!" someone urged. "If you wait too long, you'll miss your chance."
"Ganyu-sama won't approve all of us going, but the first few might make it!"
"Right! Hurry up!"
"I—I'm going too!"
In an instant, everyone scattered back to their desks and started writing.
The middle-aged man watched them go, then felt his head ache.
Great. Now I've made myself a whole pile of competitors.
…
Ryou reached Ganyu's office and pushed the door open.
Ganyu was watering the plants.
The problem was, she'd clearly already watered them—and she didn't even notice. The water kept pouring, running right down, soaking her clothes.
Ryou cleared his throat. "Ganyu."
"Ah!" She jolted, flustered all over again. "S-Sensei—Ryou-sensei, why are you here?"
Ever since she came back from his house earlier, her mind had been a mess. That whole scene had hit her way too hard. Seeing him now only made her panic worse.
Is he here to scold me?
But I didn't do anything to Keqing!
I was the one who got bullied. I was the one who got kissed. Why am I the one getting blamed?!
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She looked up at him, eyes stinging.
"This isn't my fault. Keqing kissed me first. I… I'm sorry!"
Ryou froze.
Keqing kissed you?
He couldn't help thinking back to how confidently Keqing had insisted nothing happened. That sour feeling rose in his chest.
So she actually hid this from me?
But… he'd been "bullying" Keqing for days. He hadn't noticed anything off about her at all. And Keqing clearly liked men. Besides, if she was getting worn out by him every day, where was she getting the energy to "mess around" with other ideas?
Ryou looked at Ganyu. "What exactly happened? Tell me from the beginning."
"I…" Ganyu hesitated, but since he was Keqing's husband, she explained everything—start to finish.
Ryou frowned slightly, rubbing his chin as he thought. Then he held out a hand.
"Give me your hand."
"O-Okay." Ganyu nodded.
He took her wrist and checked her pulse.
His first thought was medicine—something slipped into the food. But from what he could sense, his guess didn't fit.
If it wasn't drugs, then how did this happen?
Keqing and Ganyu were close. Keqing wouldn't use something like that on her. So if it wasn't them, who was it?
The Fatui?
…That actually made sense.
Maybe the Fatui were using some kind of substance to push them into doing something stupid—forcing him into a scandal, throwing him into chaos, buying time for their plans. Or maybe they had something brewing and wanted to create an opening.
Ryou's expression turned cold.
"It was the Fatui." He spoke with certainty. "They drugged you."
"My food has never had issues, and I know I wouldn't do that to you."
"Keqing treats you like a sister. She wouldn't do it either."
"And lately, the Fatui have been unusually quiet. That means they're plotting something."
"They wanted to force a scandal and create an opportunity for themselves. Disgusting."
"If I catch them, I won't let them off."
"So that's what it was…" Ganyu finally understood. "No wonder that food felt strange. I just couldn't figure out why…"
Then another thought flashed through her mind, and her cheeks heated again.
If I'd actually gotten drugged properly… wouldn't I have…?
Too bad.
Fatui… you're awful.
And when you're going to drug someone, can you at least do it right? Would it kill you to add a little more? Northland Bank isn't short on Mora—why are you being stingy about this of all things?!
Ryou looked at her and softened his voice. "Ganyu, don't dwell on it. I'll handle this."
"This time it was something like that," Ganyu said, the seriousness finally sinking in. "But what if next time it's poison?"
"You know what happened to Uncle Tian. If they try to poison you too…"
"I know." Ryou nodded. "I'll be careful."
"Enough about that." He glanced at the night outside the window. "I came to help you clear some paperwork. Once we finish, I'll head back."
"It's late, and it's getting colder. I want to get home and rest."
"Okay… then I'll be counting on you." Ganyu nodded.
They got to work.
In less than half an hour, Ryou cleared everything cleanly. A thick stack of completed files sat neatly on the desk.
He placed the last one on top, stood up, and stretched.
"I've finished your paperwork," he said. "But you really should learn to let your team handle more of it."
"If you do everything yourself, you'll burn out. Work is work, but you still need a balance."
"Mm. I understand." Ganyu nodded.
Still, she couldn't help thinking about it.
Yujing Terrace had far more work than the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It was more complicated, too. Clearing it quickly felt almost impossible.
Even with what Ryou had just handled—if it were her, she would've needed days. Not because she was slow, but because the contents were a mess: every trade, every industry, every kind of problem imaginable. Sorting through it all took time.
She couldn't help a bitter smile.
I'm an adeptus, and I still need that long… so how did he finish it in half an hour?
The gap is ridiculous.
"T-Thank you," she said seriously.
"Why are you being polite with me?" Ryou set his things down and reminded her again. "You can't personally handle everything. If someone can help, let them. You'll feel a lot lighter."
Ganyu stared at the paperwork, hesitating.
She didn't know if she should say it.
She knew Ryou couldn't keep helping her like this. The only reason he'd come these times was because Keqing agreed. Next time, she might not get the chance.
"Ryou… there's something I want to tell you," Ganyu said quietly.
"What is it?" Ryou asked with an easy smile.
"I…" Her voice caught. "Drink some tea first."
She poured him a cup. But the moment she saw the cup in her hands, her face burned so hot it felt like it might melt.
"Go on," Ryou said, watching her. He could tell she'd been working up to something—he just didn't know why she looked so embarrassed.
Ganyu took a deep breath, then finally forced the words out.
"I… I've thought it through."
"Ryou… I think I've fallen for you."
"Every time I see you, my heart starts racing. I've never been through this before, but I know what it means."
"No matter how hard I try to lie to myself, I can't anymore."
"So I want to tell you the truth. Properly."
The moment she said it, it felt like a stone dropped out of her chest. She'd never felt this light.
She looked straight at him, serious and steady.
"I regret it, too. When I met you, you and Keqing had only been married for two days."
"I kept thinking… if only I'd met you earlier."
"I know we probably won't have many chances to be together in the future, but I don't want to miss this one."
"Even if you blame me… even if you scold me and call me shameless… I still wanted to say it."
"After saying it, I feel so much better."
"Ryou, you…"
Ryou sat there with the teacup in his hands, silent.
He'd come here to quietly help with paperwork, and now Ganyu was confessing to him out of nowhere.
Ganyu was beautiful. Her personality was gentle, too.
But he already had a wife.
He could tell she'd thrown everything on the table. Getting that far couldn't have been easy for her.
Now she felt lighter.
But for him, it was a problem dropped straight into his lap.
[End of chapter]
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