Although the cans hadn't been easy to come by, Diona wasn't stingy about it and let the cats in the shop have some. Ye Xi and Eula found a spot to sit down and sampled Diona's special cocktails.
There was no telling what had been mixed into this drink, but the flavor was surprisingly delightful. It had many layers to its taste, thoroughly addictive.
At first, Eula chatted normally about the day's events on the snowy mountain, but little by little, she seemed to grow tipsy. A flush of drunken red rose across that cold, gorgeous little face.
Then she began rambling on about various trifling matters within her family.
Even after all these years, some of her distant cousins still carried themselves with the airs of the old nobility, dragging the Lawrence family's reputation down to rock bottom.
She fought desperately to salvage it, while the people in her family ruined it without any principle at all.
Over the years, she'd harbored no small amount of grievances in her heart. Though at night she would sometimes pour out her troubles to Amber, this was the first time she'd spoken of these things to anyone besides her.
Ye Xi, naturally, was filled with righteous indignation on Eula's behalf.
He let Diona know, and had her help fetch some food from the Good Hunter next door.
They hadn't eaten dinner, and drinking on an empty stomach was quite uncomfortable.
So, he and Eula ate grilled skewers and Flower-Wreathed Chicken while drinking the special cocktails.
It was a rather nice meal that evening.
After finishing the last cup of wine, Eula let out a deep, contented breath.
"Alright, any more and I'll get drunk..."
As she spoke, she braced herself against the table and slowly rose, asking, "Would you accompany me for a walk?"
Ye Xi nodded. "Let's go."
By the time they came out of the tavern, the sky outside had already grown dark. Even though Mondstadt was a free city-state, once night fell it couldn't be quite so free anymore.
After all, people needed to sleep. Both sides of the city streets were lit only by a few small Lamp Grass night lamps, and the market streets were already empty of passersby. At this hour, only the taverns still had people eating and drinking.
Walking along the pitch-black little path, Eula suddenly drew a bit closer. "Ye Xi, can I ask you a few questions?"
Hearing that slightly hesitant voice, Ye Xi couldn't help feeling a little puzzled. "What is it? That tone really doesn't sound like you."
"Tonight's little drink was pretty good, so ask whatever you'd like."
Eula gave a dry cough, then stammered out, "With so many wives at home, is there one you especially like the most?"
"Now that's a death-trap question." Ye Xi chuckled and answered, "If you ask me, I like them all."
Eula sighed helplessly. To be honest, that answer didn't surprise her in the least.
In truth, she really wanted to know whether, in Ye Xi's eyes, these many girls ranked higher or lower against one another.
Lately she couldn't stop thinking about it—if she really did become one of Ye Xi's little wives, would she be neglected within just a few days? The girls in his household were each more outstanding than the last, and there was even a God among them. She was just an ordinary knight—what did she amount to? If she really were to be left out in the cold after only a few days, she would be terribly sad. But if Ye Xi wouldn't tell her the truth, there was nothing she could do. Since the conversation had already come this far, she boldly asked, "If I said I wanted to become part of your family, would you agree?"
"I would."
"That decisive!?"
Eula was a little stunned. She'd thought Ye Xi would take a moment to think it over.
Even if he didn't think about it, there should at least be some reaction time, right?
But the speed of Ye Xi's answer was as if he'd long anticipated she would ask this—she hadn't even finished speaking before his reply had already come. In fact, ever since they'd left the Cat's Tail earlier, Ye Xi had already had this premonition. When the usually so haughty and tsundere Eula suddenly grew hesitant and uncertain, it went without saying—she surely wanted to bring up something hard to put into words. From these days spent together, and from today's experience on the snowy mountain, he felt Eula was just about ready to make her decision.
So, quite calmly, he'd given her an affirmative answer. Why would he hesitate over one more wife?
Hearing Eula's astonished exclamation, Ye Xi said with a smile, "If I'd hesitated, wouldn't you have held a grudge again?"
"Ahem, ahem..."
Eula choked on her own saliva and coughed for a while before muttering to herself, "Am I really that easy to read?"
Hearing Ye Xi's laughter, Eula asked earnestly, "Then, can you seriously answer my question from just now?"
"Among the wives at home, is there one you like the most?"
Ye Xi wrapped an arm around that slender little waist he'd been longing for and said with a straight face, "Right now, you're the one I like the most."
"That answer is way too much of a foul! And besides—"
Eula was startled by Ye Xi's move and struggled slightly. "Wh-what are you doing, suddenly getting all handsy!"
...Requesting flowers, 0...
"You're already my wife, what's wrong with a little hug?"
"Ahem, ahem... I just said 'if,' as in hypothetically!"
"Oh." Ye Xi drew his hand back and said, "Then never mind."
"Eh?" Seeing Ye Xi give up so easily, Eula suddenly felt a pang of regret.
She was just a little shy—she hadn't expected Ye Xi to take it seriously. She hurriedly grabbed Ye Xi's hand and explained, "I... I won't resist anymore, hold me properly. I'm just not quite used to it yet..."
Ye Xi began to laugh, his gaze full of amusement.
Eula quietly logged another grudge.
For the rest of the walk, there were no words spoken.
...0
Eula still had a feeling that none of this was quite real.
Thinking about it carefully, if the promise just now counted, then she was already one of Ye Xi's little wives.
To be honest, she'd thought earlier that Ye Xi wouldn't refuse her—that as long as she brought it up, it would fall into place naturally, like water flowing to form a channel.
But now that it had actually happened, it truly was impossible to calm down.
Becoming one of Ye Xi's little wives also meant that the Serenitea Pot had already become her home too.
She was no longer a guest, but a mistress of the house—one of them.
To be able to live forever in that wonderland, working in Mondstadt during the day and going back at night to chat and play with everyone.
This kind of life would become the norm from now on.
She would never again have to occasionally return to the old Lawrence family estate to face those stubborn cousins. Thinking of this, she suddenly asked, "Ye Xi, can I move all my things from home over there?"
"Of course. That place is our home from now on."
Earlier while drinking, he'd heard Eula mention that she often had to return to the ancestral estate.
Those relatives made her very unhappy. Yet no matter how unpleasant it was, in the end that place was still her home—and it was to escape it that she'd taken to living at the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
Now that the Serenitea Pot had become her new home, wasn't moving over there only natural?
Eula brightened at his words. "Mm, now that's more like it! Tomorrow I'll call Amber to help me move!"
"Tonight..." At the thought of the night, she suddenly remembered—tonight she would surely be together with Ye Xi. Wouldn't that mean... th-that...
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