"So she's not going back?"
"No." Columbina shook her head. "She's going to Liyue."
Liyue?
"Hmm," Columbina said.
" Bai You wants to go to Liyue Harbor; she went there with Varesa from the Korolevsky Troupe."
"Let them be," she said. "They don't affect anything."
"So... they'll walk by themselves?"
"Hmm," Sandrone said, "We're not going."
Columbina listened and nodded.
Another silence fell.
Most of the tea has already been drunk.
Sandrone leaned back in his chair, looking out the window, and suddenly spoke.
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
Odette.
Rosalyne's hand paused almost imperceptibly.
Just for a moment.
Then she put the cup back on the table, making a very flat sound.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She also wants to return to Snezhnaya," Sandrone said.
"... She's going back too?"
"Hmm." Sandrone looked at her.
She said she had fallen behind in training and it was time to go back. She had been thinking about it these past few days.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Rosalyne lowered her eyes, staring at the swirling tea in her cup for a long time.
Columbina glanced at her but said nothing.
After a long while, Rosalyne finally spoke softly.
"... Then she..."
There are only two words.
"So," Columbina continued, "The four of us will return to Snezhnaya together."
"Me, you, Rosalyne, and Odette," Columbina counted on her fingers.
" Bai You and Varesa went to Liyue. We parted ways here."
Rosalyne stood up and walked to the window.
"Let's set off tomorrow then," she said.
"Tomorrow?"
"Hmm." Rosalyne nodded.
"Tomorrow morning, once you're all ready, come to the city gate. Also, go and inform Odette; I have something I'd like to say to her."
"Okay." Columbina stood up and straightened her skirt.
Sandrone got up, walked to the door, and then looked back one last time.
The three cups on the table were all empty.
"The tea is good," she said.
Rosalyne did not turn around.
"Hmm."
Sandrone and Columbina pushed open the door and went out.
The door to the wooden house closed gently behind me.
Inside the wooden house.
Rosalyne stood by the window, watching the two figures grow smaller and smaller as they disappeared into the distance.
She lowered her head until she could no longer see him, lost in thought.
After walking for a while, Sandrone suddenly spoke.
Do you think Odette will go along?
Columbina smiled.
"Yes."
How did you know?
Do you think they don't get along?
"Isn't that right?" Sandrone frowned. "Back in the square, Rosalyne hadn't even glanced at her. Odette did the same, turning her head away and ignoring her completely."
"Hmm." Columbina turned around and continued walking.
"Their problem is misunderstanding. They both misunderstood each other."
Sandrone followed without saying a word.
" Rosalyne," Columbina's voice softened, "You know her too."
Where is Odette?
Odette thought Rosalyne was strict with her because she didn't like her.
Columbina said, "I thought all that training, all those rules, and that special piece of Burning Amber were all surveillance, all control."
"Isn't Burning Amber being monitored?"
"No." Columbina shook her head. "I overheard Arlecchino and Rosalyne's conversation. Burning Amber is... a way out; it's Arlecchino's Fire of Two Worlds."
Sandrone paused for a moment.
"A way out?"
"Hmm," Columbina said.
"I also overheard Rosalyne saying something when she gave the Burning Amber to Rosalyn: 'If I'm gone one day, this thing will take care of you for me.'"
"Have you handled it well?"
"It's just..." Columbina thought for a moment, " The Fire of Two Worlds will allow her to forget everything about the Fatui, forget Rosalyne, forget the training, forget all the pain. And then, freedom."
But Odette didn't know?
"She didn't know," Columbina said. " Rosalyne never told her."
Why didn't you say so?
"Because if I said that, I wouldn't seem like Rosalyne anymore."
"And Columbina, why do you eavesdrop on everything? Did you overhear me too...?"
"No, the Clockwork Princess of the Deconstruction of All Principles."
"..."
"Columbia!"
"What will you say later?" Sandrone asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Tell Odette that we're going back to Snezhnaya tomorrow," Sandrone said. "And... Rosalyne too."
Columbina thought for a moment.
"To tell you the truth," she said, " Rosalyne asked us to inform her that we should meet at the city gate tomorrow morning to return to Snezhnaya together."
"Will she go?" Sandrone asked again.
"Yes," Columbina said, "She had wanted to go back anyway."
"But what if she knew Rosalyne was with them too...?"
Columbina glanced at her and smiled.
"She'd want to go even more."
In the corridor of the Goth Grand Hotel.
Columbina and Sandrone stopped at Odette's door.
Sandrone raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Thump, thump, thump."
There was no sound from inside.
Sandrone knocked again.
Odette?
Sandrone knocked on the door again, this time a little harder.
"Odette, that's us."
The "whooshing" sound inside stopped.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
Odette stood in the doorway, sweat beading on her forehead, her damp hair clinging to her face. She was wearing a simple training uniform.
She paused for a moment when she saw the two people outside the door.
"... You guys?"
"Can we go inside and talk?" Columbina asked with a smile.
Odette stepped aside to let them in.
In the room, there were a few drops of sweat on the floor, and a jacket was draped over a chair.
Odette wiped her sweat with a towel.
"What is it?" she asked.
Sandrone and Columbina exchanged a glance. Sandrone remained silent.
"We're going to find Rosalyne."
Odette paused for a moment as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
Just for a moment.
Then she continued wiping, as if she hadn't heard anything.
"And then what?"
"Then," Columbina said, "We've decided to return to Snezhnaya tomorrow."
Odette's hand stopped again.
This time, the stop lasted a little longer.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes." Columbina nodded. "Meet at the city gate tomorrow morning."
"... Are they all going back?"
"Go back, all of you," Columbina said. "Me, Sandrone, Rosalyne, and you."
Odette did not speak.
She placed the towel on the table, turned around, and looked out the window.
Her expression was calm, but the knuckles of her hand holding the towel were slightly white.
"Is Rosalyne going back too?" she asked.
"Hmm."
"She... said it herself?"
"She said it herself," Columbina said.
"She said, ' Mondstadt's mission is complete, and he'll be leaving with us tomorrow.'"
Odette remained silent for a long time.
So long that Sandrone thought she would never speak again.
Then she spoke softly.
"... Did she send you to inform me?"
"Hmm," Columbina said.
Odette did not turn around.
Her gaze was fixed on the view outside the window, seemingly on something.
After a long while, she spoke calmly.
"I understand."