Late-night talk

She probably wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

After gazing lovingly at the chandelier on the ceiling for a long while, Gabrielina finally reached that depressing conclusion.

So, did I have insomnia? Or did Flügel actually not need sleep at all... Ah, crap. I really did have a little alcohol before bed the last two nights, didn't I? Had I already sunk so low that I needed booze to fall asleep...?

Paimon was sleeping soundly beside her, and Lumine also lay quietly with her eyes closed. With a girl on either side, Gabrielina could only lie there wrestling with herself.

Why not chat with the system? Please. With two... one top-tier beauty right beside me, I'd still stoop to chatting with an AI?

That wouldn't just be a kick in Gabrielina's ass. It would be a slap in the face to every transmigrator out there.

So, what should I think about to pass the time?

Back during military training in high school, didn't we girls get together for some kind of... late-night chat?

She had to admit, high school had been a pretty grueling stretch. A round-the-clock schedule, mountains of test papers, and teachers and elders piling on relentless pressure had all come together to form three years of not-so-wonderful youthful memories.

Fortunately, Gabrielina had gotten into a fairly decent local private school. She was also reasonably well-liked, and her parents had a little money... Her high school life had been pretty good.

Then she had gone overseas to study. Hmm... She hadn't been quite as close with her roommates there, which made her school days before eighteen feel all the more precious.

But so much time had passed that she probably couldn't recall everything they had talked about even if she kept trying until morning...

Oh! There was one topic I remembered very clearly...

Gabrielina shifted her bottom, carefully moving her wings to a safe spot away from Lumine.

That night's topic had been, "If I landed XXX, what would I do with them?"

Interestingly, the object of their affection wasn't restricted to real people, or even to men... Of course, nobody had openly declared herself a lesbian that night and given her dormmates the shock of their lives.

The real crux of the question lay in "what would I do with them?"

The aggressive camp said they would obviously pin him down right away. The literary camp wanted him to tell them bedtime stories. The devoted-wife-and-mother camp insisted they would fatten their darling up until he was nice and plump, while the career-minded camp sneered that men would only slow down their sword draw. If they absolutely had to find a partner, he could tag along with them, and they would guarantee him nine missed meals in three days.

Throughout the whole discussion, Gabrielina had been a complete outsider.

Living by the motto "where there's gossip, there's a way," she had thoroughly enjoyed munching away while everyone else roasted one another.

Only when her roommates realized she was about to polish off the watermelon they had bought that evening all by herself did that rather unfriendly question finally land on her. And after her bold declaration of "I don't want a boyfriend! You're all my beloved consorts!" she had immediately been subjected to a lengthy round of scorn.

Now, so much time had passed and so much had changed. The girls from that late-night chat probably all had boyfriends of their own. Meanwhile, her own big mouth had made her words come true, somehow talking herself straight into another world to become someone else's wife...

...Mm, no! She was the wife!

Muttering to herself, Gabrielina quietly rolled over.

She turned her head to the side, facing Lumine on the other side of the bed.

Moonlight slipped through the curtains that hadn't been fully drawn, falling over the girl's soft fringe. Her blanket was pulled all the way up to the back of her head, leaving only her delicate little face exposed, her long eyelashes casting two shadows across it.

The halo above Gabrielina's head glowed faintly, letting her see Lumine's sleeping face more clearly, along with...

...One...

...Two...

...Nine...

...Uh, ten, fifteen?

Weird. The internet clearly said counting eyelashes was romantic... Did I not know how to count...?

"Gabrielina... Are you asleep?" Lumine suddenly spoke, her voice soft and slightly sleepy, barely audible in the quiet darkness.

Gabrielina froze for a moment, then hurriedly averted her gaze.

"N-not yet... You're awake too?"

"I wasn't sleeping very deeply."

"Sorry, sorry. Was I too loud when I rolled over?"

"No... It's just been a long time since I slept with someone else, so I'm still... not quite used to it..."

While Gabrielina lay perfectly still in embarrassment, Lumine wriggled under the covers and turned to face her.

The girl's eyelids were half lowered. In the gentle glow of moonlight from the window, her hazy, slightly drowsy amber eyes stared straight at Gabrielina from mere inches away.

Gabrielina swallowed involuntarily.

"You should get some sleep, Lumine. Tomorrow... Uh, today, aren't we supposed to go looking for dragon tears?"

"So get some rest s-soon. I'll dim the light for you..."

Her gaze kept wandering, and Gabrielina felt as though she no longer knew where to look. She wanted to roll over and escape the girl's gaze, but Lumine watched her intently, as if afraid she might run away.

And so she stammered away, thinking about her halo but somehow spouting nonsense about "turning off the light."

"Haaah~"

Lumine nodded and gave an adorable yawn, then naturally moved closer to Gabrielina.

The closer she came, the farther Gabrielina retreated.

The farther Gabrielina retreated, the closer she came.

Until Gabrielina bumped into the soundly sleeping Paimon behind her. With nowhere left to retreat, the Angel was easily pressed up against by the girl.

"Stop messing around. Paimon's going to fall off..."

"Oh."

"You and Venti, back at the tavern..." Lumine paused briefly, her dreamy gaze settling on Gabrielina's face beside her on the pillow.

"Paimon definitely hasn't realized yet, but I've been thinking... He says he's a Bard, but how could an ordinary person know so much history that even the Knights of Favonius have forgotten... And then there's his relationship with Dvalin..."

"Venti is actually the Anemo Archon, isn't he?"

"Uh..."

So that was all she wanted to ask? I thought...

Gabrielina steadied herself a little and made her decision almost without hesitation-

At a crucial moment, you had to stab your buddy in the back. Twice.

"Yep, he's the Anemo Archon."

"I knew it..."

The girl took a soft breath. Only after a moment did she slowly recover. "His acting really is awful... If the idea of 'the Anemo Archon being right beside us' weren't so absurd in itself, he probably couldn't fool anyone, could he?"

"Haha... Yeah..."

So, was he actually even trying to act?

"Gabrielina, the Anemo Archon... What did Venti talk to you about?" Lumine asked curiously. "Not just tonight. He called you aside at the cathedral too..."

"Ah... He just asked me to help save Dvalin (don't beat him to death), told me to keep his identity secret (don't tell anyone), and asked me to help the Knights of Favonius..."

"Well, anyway, that sort of thing."

"After all, I'm pretty powerful. As Mondstadt's guardian, it's only natural that he'd take an interest in me." Gabrielina blinked smugly. "He might even be a little scared of me~"

Lumine shook her head thoughtfully. "I don't think so. He is a real god, after all..."

Hey! Funny you should say that!

In my normal state, he might be able to trade a few blows with me, but once I unleashed my Heaven's Strike, hah! He'd learn what a Trisolaran was, and what an otherworldly demon was!

I'd beat that Anemo Archon until he fled with his hands over his head ＼(;´□｀)/, while the people of Mondstadt joyfully wel...

"Hm?"

At some point, the girl who had merely been lying beside her had snuggled tightly against her, her warm breath almost brushing the tip of Gabrielina's nose.

"But, you know..."

"But I feel safe too, with you beside me, Gabrielina."