Jinhsi

"Little Sanhua~ We have visitors~ Is Jinhsi in her office?"

"Lady Changli, the magistrate went out to check on the people half an hour ago." Sanhua deftly dodged Changli's clutches. "You can take your guests to the reception room first. I expect she'll be back shortly."

"Mm-hmm~ All right." Changli nodded and led Lu Guan and Dania toward the reception room.

"I'll prepare some tea for you."

But just as Sanhua was about to leave, she inadvertently met Dania's gaze and froze on the spot.

Sanhua had been blind from birth, but while she was still an infant, the town where she lived had been struck by a sudden Tacet Discord Phenomenon.

A survivor of that disaster, Sanhua had her right eye corrupted by an unknown Tacet Discord. The frequency of the remnant miraculously reconstituted itself into a new eye, allowing her, who had been born unable to see, to perceive the essence of the frequencies of all things in the world.

Little did she know that the Tacet Mark in her right eye was both the symbol of a Resonator and a curse from the Lament.

As she grew older, her Resonance ability grew stronger. The part of the frequency in her right eye that belonged to the Tacet Discord began stirring like an evil spirit. The Tacet Discord's instinct to devour frequencies drove her, making her ability increasingly difficult to control.

Only after training at a temple did she barely manage to master it.

In Sanhua's eyes, Dania's frequency was exceedingly strange-almost complete and utter nihility, yet it truly existed, like an absurd paradox.

"Sanhua?" Changli asked. "Why are you standing there in a daze?"

"It's nothing... Lady Changli." Hearing Changli's question, Sanhua finally recovered from the lingering shock. She shook her head, then walked straight to the pantry.

"Please enjoy."

"Mm... thank you." Lu Guan accepted the teacup with both hands and gave Sanhua a polite nod.

She looked up at Lu Guan and froze again.

Lu Guan's frequency, like Magistrate Jinhsi's, appeared to her as an extremely clear human figure.

"Sanhua? Is something wrong?" Changli asked again. "It's not very polite to stare so intently at my guests!"

"I'm sorry... Lady Changli, I didn't mean to," Sanhua said apologetically. "It's just that your two honored guests look a little unusual from my perspective..."

"Please, continue your conversation. I have other matters to attend to, so excuse me."

She then bowed slightly and left the reception room.

"What's... going on with Guard Sanhua?" Lu Guan asked Changli. He didn't know much about the backstories of these four-star characters.

"Mm... it's a little complicated."

"Simply put, you can think of it this way: because of her Resonance ability, her eyes can see things more thoroughly than other people's..."

Dania had not said a word since entering the city, but now she finally spoke for the first time. "Maybe she... saw something strange on me..."

"...No." Lu Guan shook his head. "It could also be that because of the Tacet Discord of Nihility, she didn't see anything on you at all."

"Ahem..." Changli interrupted, taking the lead in questioning Lu Guan. "When you said Threnodian Resonator... did you mean the Tacet Discord of Nihility?"

"I wouldn't say that's entirely accurate..." To put Dania more at ease, Lu Guan took her hand. "Dania was captured by the Fractsidus and used as a test subject. She was forced to accept the power of a Threnodian."

"Perhaps she's exceptionally gifted, but she resonated with Aleph-1. Even so, she can't quite be called a Threnodian Resonator..."

"So that's what happened... Then this shouldn't be too difficult to handle." Changli nodded. "However, someone may be monitoring you for the near future. It's in the regulations, and I hope you understand."

Lu Guan and Dania exchanged a glance. When he saw her nod, he said, "We understand. Jinzhou is Huanglong's gateway, so caution is necessary. We'll cooperate with the Frontier Court."

"That's enough official business for now. The final decision rests with the magistrate." Changli blew away the steam rising from her teacup and took a small sip before continuing. "Next is a personal question..."

"A personal question?"

"Mm-hmm~ When your mother heard you were coming to Jinzhou, she wrote to me especially to ask me to look after you~" Changli smiled at Lu Guan and Dania. "Though as things turned out... I suppose I got you out of a tight spot just in time."

She added inwardly, If you hadn't misspoken and nearly called me auntie earlier, I'd be in an even better mood...

"I'm deeply grateful, Sister Changli."

"More than that... I'm curious how you two got together." Changli asked teasingly, "Could you tell Sister Changli about your relationship?"

At that, Lu Guan, the more outgoing of the two, found himself at a loss for words...

As an outstanding young man of the new era in Huanglong, respect for his elders and care for the young were ingrained in him. Faced with a question like that from the older unmarried woman Changli, Lu Guan had no idea how to answer.

After all, whatever he said would be a provocation!

Dania, however, clearly didn't understand any of these subtleties. Seeing Lu Guan stammer and fail to get a word out, she thought Changli was one of her rivals. She promptly rose on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips.

Stake your claim! Old auntie!

"Mmph...!"

"Oh, oh, oh!!!" Changli's eyes lit up at the sight.

This was exactly the pairing she wanted to ship!

Her pen pal in Lahai-Roi mentioned Lu Guan in every letter, often slipping in the melancholy and resentment of an older unmarried woman. Somehow, Changli herself had caught a little of it.

Now, watching Lu Guan and Dania flaunt their affection in front of her, Changli finally understood what she wanted deep down...

Shipping couples is so much fun, hehehe...

"Master? What are you all doing?"

As soon as Jinhsi pushed the door open, she noticed three problems.

"Oh? Xixi, you're here?" Changli beckoned to Jinhsi, whose face was a little flushed. "Come over quickly, I need you for something."

"...I never imagined that besides Sentinel Resonators, Threnodian Resonators existed too..."

After listening to Changli's account, Jinhsi looked at Dania with a complicated expression. Dania was blushing, her head lowered as she fiddled with the hem of her clothes.

This girl looked even younger than Jinhsi herself, yet she had suffered such torment because of the inherently evil Fractsidus...

However... although Jinhsi personally sympathized with Dania's plight, she was, after all, the magistrate of a Huanglong city, and naturally had to consider things from Jinzhou's perspective.

In the end, she chose to handle the matter according to procedure.

"In that case... I need to arrange for the relevant personnel to monitor and protect you for one week. Do you have any objections?"

"I don't have a problem with that. It's already hard for me to imagine not being discriminated against because of what I am." Dania quickly shook her head. Combined with her delicate manner, she looked rather pitiable.

Hearing this, Jinhsi's gaze immediately changed.

She turned to Sanhua, who stood at her side. "Then, Sanhua, sorry for the trouble, but please arrange guest rooms for our two honored guests."

Lu Guan was taken aback. "Oh? You're letting us stay at the Frontier Court?"

"Mm... at present, I'm afraid I'm the only one in Jinzhou who can reliably suppress a Threnodian Resonator, as a Sentinel Resonator myself." Jinhsi answered quite frankly. "Having you stay at the Frontier Court makes it easier to monitor you."

Changli looked at Jinhsi with a smile.

Xixi... you're looking more and more like a mature magistrate. Although the way you word things to conceal your thoughts is still a little unpolished, the fact that you want to do so is enough to make me feel gratified.

Jinhsi then looked at Lu Guan.

"I've heard a lot about you, Lu Guan."

"Oh?" Lu Guan immediately grew much more serious and straightened his posture. "I'm sitting properly now!"

Jinhsi: "???"

She turned to look at Changli. Why was this model child her master often mentioned a little different from what she had imagined?

She had originally thought Lu Guan had the temperament of a young prodigy, the kind of person who would be difficult to get along with. But now that she had met him, he seemed a little goofy and absurd?

"Sitting... sitting properly for what?" Jinhsi asked in confusion.

"Ahem... Lu Guan means he's been sitting for a long time. Could he go find somewhere to rest?" Changli hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

But Lu Guan didn't appreciate the help. He tossed his hair with a bit of swagger.

"No... what I mean is..."

"Apple U~ Do you know Wo's story~?"

That infectious accent from the nut-cake seller was the last straw that shattered Jinhsi's previous preconceptions of Lu Guan.