Ying nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
She could tell that this woman named Odette didn't want to talk.
Her gaze then shifted to Varesa.
She remembered this blue-haired the Damselette the most.
"At the concert, she stood center stage, and the moment she opened her mouth, the entire City of Mondstadt fell silent."
"Excuse me for asking," Ying asked, "Are you also Fatui?"
"Me?" Varesa laughed and shook her head. "No. I'm just a singer."
She paused, then added.
" To Snezhnaya Korolevsky Troupe, Principal Soprano."
Paimon paused for a moment.
" The Snezhnaya's Troupe? The principal soprano?!" Her eyes lit up. "No wonder she sings so beautifully!"
"You flatter me," Varesa said with a smile.
"This time, I went on a trip with them and put on a show in Mondstadt."
"So, what's your relationship with them...?" Ying glanced at Columbina and Sandrone, "What's your relationship with them?"
"Friends," Varesa said casually, "They like to hear me sing, and I like to travel. It's that simple."
Ying looked at her without saying a word.
"If you have the opportunity to come to Snezhnaya in the future..."
Suddenly, Varesa took a small card out of her pocket and handed it over.
"This is my handwritten ticket. Mention my name and I'll reserve the best spot for you."
Ying took the card.
"Thank you," Ying said.
"You're welcome." Varesa ruffled Bai You's hair.
"I just didn't want such a good audience to miss my performance."
Bai You shrank back as she was being rubbed, her ears turning red.
Ying watched this scene and suddenly asked a question.
"Isn't she Harbinger?" Her gaze fell on Bai You, then returned to Varesa's face.
"Why do you keep touching her head?"
Varesa paused for a moment.
Then she smiled.
"She's my girlfriend."
Ying was taken aback for a moment.
"Girlfriend?"
"Hmm." Varesa looked down at the person in her arms, her eyes softening.
"It's simple: I like her, and she likes me."
Bai You's face flushed bright red, and she buried her face in Varesa's arms, refusing to come out.
"... Varesa," she said in a muffled voice, barely audible, "Don't say anything more."
"Why don't you say so?" Varesa smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
"It's not something shameful."
Paimon exclaimed "Wow!" from the side, his eyes sparkling.
"Really? Really?"
"Really?" Varesa nodded.
Venti chimed in from the side.
"Oh dear—" he drawled, his laughter carrying a deeper meaning.
"No wonder your eyes kept drifting towards the audience during the chorus that day."
Varesa smiled and didn't deny it.
Columbina smiled, her eyes crinkling.
"They've always been like this." Her voice was soft, "Even more cloying in the Snezhnaya."
Sandrone crossed his arms and turned his face away.
"Boring."
But the tips of her ears were a little red.
As Ying watched this scene, her grip on the sword loosened slightly.
Three Harbinger, one singer, and one silent companion.
But now they stood together, some bickering, some blushing, and some laughing.
They didn't seem like the Fatui, but rather like a group of ordinary people on a trip.
Venti suddenly took the green harp from behind her back and casually plucked two notes.
The piano music was very soft, drifting across the empty square.
"The Wind God is still in the mood to play the zither," Columbina said with a smile.
"It's precisely at times like these that we should play the piano," Venti winked.
" The Gnosis is gone, but the wind remains."
As he spoke, he strummed a series of light and cheerful tunes—the intro to the song he and Varesa had played together at the concert that day.
When Varesa heard this, her eyes crinkled, and she subconsciously hummed along with the two notes.
Paimon hummed along a couple of times, and as he hummed, his mood seemed to improve.
Ying looked at Venti, remained silent for a while, and finally let out a soft breath.
She knew that this wind god was far more insightful than he appeared.
Varesa ruffled Bai You's hair and looked at Ying.
"Don't be so nervous," she said softly, yet steadily.
"We're not here to fight."
Ying glanced at her.
As this woman spoke, her gaze remained fixed on Bai You; it was very gentle.
It doesn't sound like a lie.
"I understand." Ying finally removed her hand slightly from the hilt of the sword, but not completely.
"But I'll still be watching you."
"Of course," Columbina nodded with a smile. "If it were me, I would have been watching too."
Odette remained silent.
She stood at the very back, her face turned away again, her fingers unconsciously touching— the Burning Amber against her skin, warm to the touch.
She didn't look at it just now.
But she listened.
Listening to the sound of ice forming, and the suppressed groans of the deity, the square was deathly silent.
She knew better than anyone what that woman looked like when she made a move.
Calm, efficient, and powerful.
Just like every movement she taught her.
She remembered when she was very young.
She scraped her knee during training and cried, refusing to get up.
The woman stood in front of her, offering no help, and coldly uttered a single sentence.
"Stand up. I won't be here for you forever."
She hated those words at that time.
Now she realized that what that woman said was true. From the very beginning, she had no intention of staying with anyone forever.
"... Let's go." Odette suddenly spoke, her voice flat and emotionless. "The show's over."
Columbina glanced at her, didn't ask any further questions, and waved to Venti and Ying with a smile.
"We'll be going now. Wind God, please rest well. Until we meet again."
Sandrone said nothing, simply nodded to Venti, and turned to leave.
Bai You, led by Varesa, took two steps forward and then looked back at Venti.
Odette walked at the back, without saying a word.
Her hands were still in her pockets, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the edge of the Burning Amber.
The woman left.
Having obtained the Anemo Gnosis, he left without looking back.
He didn't even glance at her a second time.
... No, I've seen it.
Before she turned to leave, her profile lingered for half a second.
Half a second.
Odette closed her eyes briefly, trying to banish that half-second from her mind.
"... Odette," Columbina's voice drifted from the front, "Are you alright?"
"It's alright," Odette's voice was calm. "Let's go."
Behind them, Venti watched their retreating figures, then glanced at Ying beside her, and suddenly hummed a couple of lines softly.
"Next, Paimon's voice drifted over."
"What should we do? The Gnosis has been taken away, should we chase after it?"
"We can't catch up." Venti shook her head. "Besides, it involves the god of Snezhnaya; it's very complicated."
"What should we do then?"
"Hmm--" Venti drawled.
" The Gnosis has been taken, but the winds of Mondstadt will continue to blow. It's you, Luminous, who should head south."
"South?"
" Liyue," Venti chuckled.
"The oldest of the Seven, the Rex Lapis. I heard his annual Rite of Descension is approaching."