Gulp.
The fiery liquor slid down her throat like a venomous serpent woven of ice and flame.
It brought no warmth—only froze her heart even more solidly, a heart already soaked in bitterness and self-loathing.
The empty glass slammed hard against the wooden table.
Thud.
The sound echoed like the final sealing of her frozen heart.
"I'm going outside to get some air."
Before the words had even fully fallen—
Eula stood up abruptly.
The glaring bouquet of yellow daffodils, symbols of ending, were left deliberately—yet with a trace of unconscious reluctance—on the table. Alone under the flickering candlelight, they looked like a cold written verdict.
"Eula! Wait!"
Amber sprang up in panic, ready to chase after her.
"Don't follow me."
Eula didn't turn around.
She only left behind those three words.
Her back was straight—bearing the pride of the Lawrence clan and the Reconnaissance Captain—
yet her steps were rushed, almost fleeing, as she charged straight for the tavern door.
BANG—!!!
The heavy oak door slammed shut with explosive force!
Stacks of cleaned glasses on the bar rattled violently in response.
Outside, the night wind—like a beast that had been waiting all along—surged in, bringing bone-chilling cold and completely sweeping away that suffocating blue presence.
Absolute silence replaced the former noise.
Every movement, every expression—
even every breath—
seemed frozen in time.
Eyes, pulled by invisible strings, first followed the vanished blue figure charged with storm and fury.
Then—
all at once, carrying massive question marks and tangled emotions
(gossip, shock, sympathy, schadenfreude)—
they locked onto the other eye of the storm:
Yichen.
The first to break the suffocating silence was, as always, Kaeya—who never missed a chance to stir chaos.
He shoved his elbow extremely affectionately—and very hard—into the side of the statue-stiff Yichen.
"What are you standing there for?! My good big brother!
CHASE HER!
NOW!
IMMEDIATELY!"
That elbow finally snapped Yichen back to reality.
The dazed "who am I, where am I" look hadn't even fully faded from his face.
He rubbed the spot where Kaeya had jabbed him, then looked at Kaeya with an expression of pure sincerity—almost philosophical confusion.
"Chase her… yes, I could chase her…"
"But…"
He paused, brows knitting as if carefully sorting out a logical framework—then calmly delivered a question that instantly plunged Angel's Share into absolute zero.
"…in what capacity should I chase her?"
Kaeya's "everything-is-under-control" expression shattered on the spot.
"W-WHAT CAPACITY?!"
His voice cracked so badly it nearly split in two.
He grabbed Yichen by the shoulders and shook him hard, as if trying to slosh the water out of his brain.
"Yichen! My dear big brother!!
NOW you're discussing capacity?!
Eula!
EULA LAWRENCE!
The Eula Lawrence who just got hit by your seamless transition to Grand Master Jean and exploded on the spot!
She ran out!
It's dark outside!
And you're talking about capacity with me right now?!"
Kaeya felt like his entire lifetime supply of snark was combusting at once.
"You lunatic!
Is THIS really the time to care about that?!
This is an emergency!
No—this is a SCENE-RESCUE SITUATION!"
Yichen was a bit dizzy from the shaking.
He blinked, still wearing that infuriating look of intellectual curiosity and rigorous logic, even carrying a hint of innocent confusion.
He spread his hands—as if Kaeya were the unreasonable one.
"Should I chase her as
'a man pursuing the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius'?"
"And then… express concern for a colleague?"
"Wouldn't that seem a bit… intrusive?"
"And the stance would be wrong too.
I mean, I literally just confessed to Grand Master Jean, and then I go comfort Captain Eula?"
He searched for the right word.
Finally, he found it.
"…Isn't that a bit too scummy?"
The entire Angel's Share plunged into an even deeper, more suffocating silence than when Eula had slammed the door.
The air itself felt drained.
Even the crackling of candle flames vanished.
Every onlooker—
Including Diluc behind the bar, polishing a glass so hard it looked ready to shatter.
Including Jean, who had just picked up her scattered documents, shock still written on her face.
Including Lisa, whose fingertips were already crackling with faint purple sparks—
All eyes were locked onto Yichen's devastatingly handsome face, now stamped with:
"Clear logic."
"Firm principles."
Kaeya remained frozen, hands still gripping Yichen's shoulders.
The light vanished from his single eye, replaced by a horrifying mix of:
utter absurdity,
disbelief,
shattered worldview,
and… deep self-doubt.
Slowly—painfully slowly—Kaeya released his grip, stepped back, and looked Yichen up and down as if seeing him for the first time.
"Yichen…"
"You…"
"Are you really…"
"…human?"