While the defenders of Redstone Tech City were locked in bloody struggle against the mutant horde, deep silence hung over the small estate beneath Mt. Tianheng.
Sleep eluded Ganyu and the others.
Their eyes wandered repeatedly toward the outer courtyard, only to remember that the towering archway of the dimensional portal had already dissolved into thin air.
After what felt like hours, Ningguang quietly stepped out of the bedroom shared by Klee and the young ones.
She looked visibly drained.
Lisa looked up from the table, sliding a warm cup of freshly brewed tea across the surface.
"Did the little ones finally drift off?"
Ningguang gave a faint nod. Setting aside her usual regal grace, she took the porcelain cup and emptied it in a single long draught.
She pressed a hand to her throat, her voice carrying a soft, raspy rasp.
"They were restless for hours. I had to tell story after story before their eyes finally shut."
She let out a dry, helpless laugh, shaking her head.
"I genuinely have no idea how Ryen manages it every single night. The children are sweet and precious, but when bedtime arrives and they refuse to sleep, coaxing them is an ordeal in itself."
Yae Miko masked a sly chuckle behind her sleeve.
"Count your blessings. Klee and the girls are remarkably gentle by nature. Had you been dealing with ordinary children, you would have lost your voice entirely by now."
"I am hardly far from that state as it is," Ningguang admitted with a sigh.
"Ryen handles the bedtime routines so effortlessly that I never gave it much thought. Taking over tonight only proves how thoroughly he spoils them."
"The care he pours into Klee and the others is immense. He invents new tales every day and sits patiently beside their pillows. He has maintained that routine without missing an evening for months."
Noticing that Ganyu was still sitting with lowered eyes, her fingers nervously pleating her sash, Ningguang shifted the conversation to ease her mind.
"Ganyu, was it always this difficult when Ryen put them to bed?"
Ganyu blinked, offering a quiet, gentle shake of her head.
"Not at all. Klee and the girls listen to him without fuss. Once they are curled in his arms, hearing him speak softly, they usually drift off within a few minutes."
A gentle, knowing silence settled over the room.
Ningguang had spent two agonizing hours trying to soothe them.
The trouble was not that the girls were being mischievous; they simply were not accustomed to his absence.
In truth, they missed him terribly.
No matter how chaotic the day became, Ryen had always made sure to hold them close and see them off to sleep before tending to anything else.
With that rhythm broken so abruptly, the little ones felt hollow inside.
Furthermore, Klee and the others understood the peril of what Ryen was facing. Although they did their utmost not to cause worry, their tender hearts could not bear such heavy concerns, leaving them wide awake.
"It has not even been a full day yet," Lumine noted with a faint pout, crossing her arms on the table.
"If seven whole days pass without him stepping through the gate, those little girls will tear the roof off."
"Listen to yourself," Yae Miko murmured, a teasing smile playing on her lips.
"If seven days passed without you seeing him, you would be the one tearing the roof off."
Lumine stuck her tongue out, offering no defense.
The truth was, while their hearts were filled with longing, none of them harbored genuine dread for Ryen's survival.
They understood their partner better than anyone else alive.
Ryen was the undisputed master of cautious preparation.
If there was even a sliver of genuine mortal risk, he would assemble a hundred layers of contingencies before taking a step.
Had Redstone Tech City proved truly indefensible, he would have dragged the entire garrison back through the gate without an ounce of hesitation.
They knew this in their minds, yet feelings rarely obeyed pure reason.
For Yae Miko, the greater trial was facing seven cold nights without his presence in her chambers, a prospect she found profoundly vexing.
"Going by the hours, the fighting around Redstone Tech City must be reaching its fiercest peak right about now," Lisa observed softly.
She turned her gaze toward the open window, where the cool, pale crescent hung suspended above the drifting sea of clouds.
Far below, the lanterns of the Jade Chamber bathed the peaks in soft golden warmth.
The night over Teyvat was serene, calm, and quiet. Yet beneath that stillness, the women could only picture the sickly crimson sky and the endless waves of mutants battering the walls of another realm.
"Ryen and the commanders went in fully prepared. The lines will hold," Ningguang said softly, offering comfort to the others as much as to herself.
"If the defense holds firm, he might step back across tomorrow afternoon to look in on us."
"I hold no doubts about their ability to endure. With an obsidian fortress at their backs, the ground is entirely ours."
The women nodded in quiet consensus, letting the subject drift away.
Had their sovereign duties across their respective courts not demanded a steady hand, and had the children not needed protection, nothing could have persuaded them to leave his side.
"Hard to believe it has already been more than half a year since that gateway first opened," Hu Tao remarked, counting idly on her slender fingers.
"In barely six months, Teyvat has changed so rapidly that it scarcely feels like the same world."
"To tell the truth, half a year ago, having a partner by my side was something I never even dreamed of. Now, here I am, already wondering what our children might look like."
Hu Tao's candid words brought soft, knowing smiles to the faces around the table.
"I once believed my entire existence belonged solely to Liyue, and that my life would be spent carrying its ledgers until my hair turned grey," Ningguang reflected with a gentle laugh.
"Now our nation stands proud and prosperous, and my heart has a harbor to anchor within. Such days lay far beyond anything I dared imagine, yet they surpass every ambition I ever held."
"Quite so," Lisa agreed with an amused hum.
"Half a year ago, my vitality was quietly burning away its final embers. I certainly never anticipated having the luxury to indulge in deep affection."
The room filled with soft laughter and quiet murmurs, setting aside the dark specter of the cataclysm for a fleeting moment.
Rest was impossible with their minds so full of him; tossing and turning in bed would only invite troubled dreams.
"Once this cataclysm lifts, the new modules unlock, and Redstone Tech City becomes a true dwelling place, I intend to begin settling the first wave of Liyue's people there," Ningguang said, her tone shifting into a measured, thoughtful cadence.
The women turned their eyes toward her as she continued.
"As more modules integrate and the New Continent is charted, the labor required to cultivate that realm will multiply rapidly."
"Relying entirely upon our standing army means the soldiers will have no respite, which is an unfair burden to place upon their shoulders."
"Moreover, the hour of the Heavenly Principles waking draws closer with each passing season. War is inevitable. Moving a portion of our folk across the threshold provides an enduring safeguard."
"Even in the worst conceivable turn, if our blades prove insufficient against the heavens, our people remain safe within a haven beyond reach, preserving our strength for another day."
"I consider that outcome exceptionally remote, mind you."
"The Heavenly Principles no longer pose an insurmountable wall to us. Even so, the tests born from the Imaginary Tree, which Ryen spoke of before, demand foresight."
"The other realm belongs entirely to Ryen. Its sanctuary is absolute."
Ningguang paused, her amber eyes shining with sharp, administrative clarity as she laid out the vision taking shape in her thoughts.
"Redstone Tech City can comfortably support over a hundred thousand residents."
"Once the siege breaks and we secure our Administrator privileges, we will convene to adjust the foundational rules of the city."
"It will become a secure, thriving home."
"Liyue can plant its roots deep into that soil, leading with the families of our veteran soldiers."
"It will alleviate the crowding within Liyue Harbor while granting peace of mind to our troops, who can return home to their kin each day."
"Once Redstone Tech City is recognized as an authentic, thriving city, Ryen will undoubtedly anchor a permanent gateway within its plazas."
"The folk living there can move freely between realms without hindrance."
"Looking at the picture whole, preparing this migration now is the wisest move. Our people will welcome the chance with open arms."
Hu Tao grinned, resting her chin on her palm.
"And while you settle them, you can conveniently handpick skilled artisans from the settlers to relieve the soldiers of their building duties, right?"
Ningguang returned the smile with a dignified nod.
"It is only proper governance, and a natural transition of crafts."
"A soldier belongs to the spear. In the earliest days, having them lay bricks and forge iron was acceptable out of necessity."
"Long term, it wastes their training. My purpose for the army is to secure unexplored territory, maintain order, and conquer the new modules."
"Masonry, carpentry, and agriculture should rest in the hands of those who truly understand them. Have you forgotten the houses the vanguard built when they first arrived? Every single dwelling was a crude dirt matchbox."
Ningguang's description drew quiet laughter from the women.
"To be completely honest," Lumine chimed in, spreading her hands with a bright, mocking grin, "as far as I know, the settlements built by Sumeru, Snezhnaya, and Khaenri'ah are still mostly dirt matchboxes right now."
"Sumeru and Snezhnaya are simply rushing for time, but my brother... he talks grandly about racing against the clock and living frugally, when in truth, not a single soul among his colonists possesses an eye for architecture."
"He actually thought he fooled me with his noble talk! That boy nearly drools every time he looks at Ryen's courtyard villas."
"The bitter truth is simply that he doesn't know how to build one!"
Lumine leaned over the table, shaking with muffled laughter.
When Khaenri'ah first broke ground on their settlement, Lumine had dropped by for an inspection, only to find an endless field of dirt cubes.
The crowning achievement was Aether's personal manor: a slightly taller matchbox with a pyramid roof slapped onto the top.
Aether had held his head high, grandly lecturing about how their homeland was in a critical phase of restoration, and that aesthetic indulgence could wait for peace.
In reality, the prince had spent the previous evening tearing his hair out in private, scolding his engineers because none of them knew how to lay a curved archway.
Did he truly prefer sleeping in a dirt box over an estate?
He simply lacked the skill to craft one!
"Precisely," Ningguang murmured with an amused shake of her head.
"The households of our soldiers encompass countless skilled trades. Once they cross the divide, they can easily assume the foundational labor."
"We can coordinate closely with Khaenri'ah on that front, given that their entire people are preparing to move."
"As your nations begin to settle their own people in turn, a complete, self-sustaining community will naturally emerge across the cities."
"Right now, we are laying the bedrock."
"Besides, how could Ryen's world be left solely to Khaenri'ah?"
"Allowing such a boundless, fertile realm to be inhabited by them alone is something I would never accept."
Ningguang's pointed remark resonated deeply with Jean and Makoto's interests.
While Lisa and Yae Miko paid little heed to administrative politics, they supported Ningguang without hesitation.
Their partner's sovereign foundation could not belong to another people.
To nurture that civilization, as Ryen's companions, they were bound to claim their rightful place.
In every sense of the word, they were the true mistresses of that realm.
"Naturally, the core milestone remains the Genshin Impact module following the cataclysm," Ningguang concluded softly.
"Once that module activates, the vast majority of resources will mirror the materials we already understand."
"When that hour comes, our own folk will master them far faster than anyone else."
At the mention of the Genshin Impact module, Yae Miko failed to suppress a sudden, breathy giggle.
She quickly smoothed her expression, but Lumine's sharp gaze had already caught the slip.
"Miko! What are you laughing at?"
"Merely a pleasant thought," Yae Miko replied smoothly, offering a polite cough.
"A pleasant thought..." Lumine eyed the fox shrine maiden with deep suspicion, wondering if her thoughts had wandered into scandalous territory.
Yet Miko looked entirely composed, without the slightest blush upon her cheeks.
"Did Ryen secretly whisper another mischievous secret to you?"
Yae Miko pressed her lips together, weighing whether to spoil the surprise regarding the world bosses.
Considering that none of the women sitting around this table had corresponding boss variants within the module, letting them in on the secret would not diminish the upcoming entertainment in the slightest.
Just as she parted her lips to speak...
A sudden, brilliant spray of starlight condensed in the center of the courtyard, slowly swirling into the familiar, luminous archway of a dimensional portal.
The women caught their breath, rising to their feet in unison.
"Ryen!"
~~----------------------
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