Inside a realm.
A green-haired girl and a white-haired girl sat side by side on a rock.
After deciding to create a paradise together, they had constantly traveled back and forth between the realm and the outside world.
It was worth mentioning that Ellin and Sucrose had happened to run into Fischl while gathering plants and other materials to decorate the realm.
"Sorry... maybe... I came at a bad time."
Seeing Ellin and Sucrose walking together, chatting and laughing, Fischl pressed her lips together and lowered her head.
Ellin froze for a moment, then smiled. "No! You came at just the right time!"
And so, Ellin invited Fischl to join their plan to build a paradise.
Once Fischl learned about their plan, her face immediately lit up.
"Hehe, let this Prinzessin lend you her power of consecration and manifest the land of your dreams!"
Fischl struck a cool pose as she spoke to Sucrose.
"Eh... huh?" Fischl's grandiose words left Sucrose a little bewildered.
Ellin smiled. "She means she'd like to help you build your paradise too."
"Ah! That's wonderful!"
Sucrose was overwhelmed by the kindness, but with her social anxiety, she couldn't think of what to say. All she could do was keep bowing to Fischl and thanking her.
Before meeting Ellin, Fischl hadn't had any friends either and had no idea how to hold a normal conversation.
Faced with Sucrose's formal thanks, she didn't know how to respond, so she awkwardly bowed back.
Ellin stood to the side, smiling as she watched the two lonely girls bow to each other over and over.
With Fischl joining them, their work went much faster.
With Feng'er and Oz helping too, the three girls bustled about for an entire week and finally succeeded in creating the paradise of their dreams.
As the realm's owner, Ellin used her authority to bring the islands from all three areas of the Luofu Abode together.
The three islands now floated side by side in a sea of clouds.
An enormous house stood on the middle island. To suit their paradise's theme, Ellin had chosen a large Liyue-style mansion.
All sorts of flowers and plants transplanted from the outside world grew around the house.
A gigantic "Small" Lamp Grass had been planted outside the courtyard. The countless blossoms hanging from its many branches formed a little starry sky, spreading over much of the courtyard.
An enormous Mist Flower continually released ice crystals and chilly air.
Beneath the "Small" Lamp Grass grew a carpet of actual Small Lamp Grass, gathered into a vast sea of lights.
To create this sea of lights, Ellin and the others had nearly picked the Small Lamp Grass in Wolvendom into extinction.
Some bird nests Ellin and Fischl had brought back rested in the "Small" Lamp Grass, while foxes and other small animals lived beneath it.
Several apple trees also grew amid the sea of lights. They were all bizarre: some bore fruit no bigger than a thumb, but their branches were completely covered in apples.
Others bore fruit nearly a meter across, but only two apples grew on each tree.
On the other side were two pumpkins measuring two meters across, along with several Sunsettia trees whose fruit was as large as watermelons.
The middle island truly resembled a fantastical fairy-tale world.
The island on the left was filled with Sweet Flowers, though these weren't exactly ordinary Sweet Flowers either.
Some climbed everywhere like morning glories, while others took flight in the wind like dandelions.
Some spread into fans like a peacock's tail, covered in Sweet Flowers.
Amid this sea of bizarre Sweet Flowers stood the enormous, five-meter-tall Sweet Flower, like an emperor receiving the homage of its countless peculiar subjects.
Sucrose and Fischl caught plenty of butterflies and released them into the sea of Sweet Flowers. Ellin had even ventured out in the dark one night with a bag to capture a colony of bees and bring them back.
Now, bees and butterflies danced through the Sweet Flowers, and even the air smelled sweet. Just breathing it in was enough to lift anyone's spirits.
As for the island on the right, Sucrose had scattered her "Improved Type 2364 High-Reproduction Dandelion Seeds" there. These improved dandelions were easy to grow and grew especially fast.
In just a few days, a vast Dandelion Sea had spread across the island.
Of course, Sucrose had also transplanted Windwheel Asters there.
They weren't exactly ordinary Windwheel Asters either.
Some had more than twenty windwheels on a single plant, all whirring whenever the wind blew.
Others grew several meters tall, with windwheels a full meter across.
What left Ellin most speechless, however, was a Windwheel Aster with a windwheel two meters in diameter.
This Windwheel Aster could spin without any wind, and it generated strong gusts as it turned!
At Ellin's adamant insistence, Sucrose reluctantly changed its original name, [Type 336 Improved Gale-Producing Windwheel Aster], to [Wind Fan Flower]...
In the gusts produced by the Wind Fan Flower, the Windwheel Asters on the right-hand island whirred and spun, while dandelion seeds drifted through the air, making the island breathtakingly beautiful.
Beneath the "Small" Lamp Grass.
The white-haired girl and the green-haired girl sat side by side.
The soft glow of the gigantic "Small" Lamp Grass's countless blossoms shone like thousands of stars, illuminating their figures.
Countless Small Lamp Grass surrounded them, making it seem as though they sat in a sea of lights.
The fragrance of flowers and grass drifted over on the breeze, while insects chirped and birds sang around them.
A few little foxes lay beneath the Sunsettia trees, nibbling on fallen fruit.
Glittering Crystal Cores flew freely among the flowers and grass alongside fireflies.
Everything was so quiet and peaceful.
The two girls simply sat beneath the tree, letting the breeze brush their cheeks.
Neither spoke. They quietly gazed at the radiant paradise and savored the beauty of the moment.
After an unknown amount of time, a system notification suddenly sounded in Ellin's mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Master, on becoming close friends with Sucrose. You have obtained a Vision matching hers!" "A new weapon slot has been unlocked!" "A new Artifact slot has been unlocked!" "The Serenitea Pot has unlocked a new feature: A Thousand Miles Apart!"
The sudden notifications jolted Ellin out of her immersion in the beautiful moment.
She had imagined many scenarios in which she might obtain an Anemo Vision like Sucrose's, but none had resembled this.
It had all happened so quietly that she found it almost unbelievable.
She turned to look at the green-haired girl beside her and found her still gazing dreamily at the paradise.
Yet, without realizing it, the green-haired girl's lips had curved into a smile... a smile of happiness.
A glimmer of tears had also appeared in her eyes without her even noticing.
"Sucrose, would you consider me a close friend?" Ellin asked.
"Of course! You're my best friend!"
Sucrose wore a contented, happy smile. "You know, it's actually hard for someone who does research like me to make friends."
"And you've been so good to me."
"You're so beautiful and so powerful, and you're the hero who drove back the dragon. You shine so brightly."
"But I'm just an ordinary girl who hides away in a laboratory."
"I never imagined I could become friends with someone who draws everyone's attention like you. I thought we belonged to completely different worlds."
"But you've been truly kind to me."
"You gave me that precious skeleton. Even while fighting the dragon, you remembered to collect its scales, blood, and flesh for me. I never asked you to do any of that, but you still kept it in mind."
"Without my even realizing it, my life has changed because you came into it."
"With your help, I cultivated the plants I needed to create a paradise."
"With your help, I fulfilled my dream of creating a paradise!"
She stood and walked to the edge of the island, looking at the Dandelion Sea on the other side.
Then she turned back to the white-haired girl.
"Ellin, I don't think I've ever told you why I wanted to create a paradise, have I?"
"Legend says that somewhere in Teyvat, there's a paradise with very, very tall flowers and spirits that fly freely."
"When I was little, my two best friends and I firmly believed that if we could reach that paradise, we'd find everlasting joy and happiness."
"Sadly, one of them went far away with their adventurer parents and never returned."
"And the other changed completely after their father died of illness and stopped keeping in touch with me."
"I was still very young when I learned about alchemy. I knew I might never find that paradise, but I could become its creator."
"So I began studying alchemy, convinced that once the paradise stepped out of the storybooks, my dear friends would come back to me."
"But as I grew older, I came to understand that life is full of joy and sorrow, meetings and partings... even if the paradise appeared, those two friends wouldn't return to my side."
"I kept studying alchemy, but really... I was just afraid to face it, unwilling to admit it. Or perhaps I was simply afraid of being alone."
"But even now, I still believe that once the paradise appears, I'll find happiness and joy."
She looked at Ellin, then at Fischl, who was playing with Oz in the Dandelion Sea.
"It's true that those two friends may never return to my side."
"But... two new friends have come into my life along with this paradise."
"What I've lost is gone forever. It's time I let go of the sadness of the past and welcomed the beauty that's already here."
"Ellin, Fischl, thank you for coming into my life!"
"Right now, I feel so happy!"
"I really do love you both so much!"
She patted the rock beside her, motioning for Ellin to sit down.
Once Ellin had sat down, she quickly settled onto Ellin's lap.
With her back to Ellin, she presented her pair of animal ears.
"Only my mom and dad have ever touched these ears."
"I remember you once said you were curious about them. Now, go ahead and touch them!"
Before you continue