"So that's how it is. Well, I certainly can't let that guy get what he wants." Having listened to Keqing lay out the plan in full, Mobius drifted back down into her seat and said it just like that.
There it was again — that guy.
What exactly was the relationship between those two?
Keqing was sitting beside Ningguang, and as she listened to Mobius speak, she couldn't help but turn the question over in her mind. She'd originally assumed the two of them were simply enemies — at most, the kind of complicated adversaries who'd known each other long enough that the hostility wasn't entirely clean-cut.
But she'd clearly been wrong. Whatever was between them, it was nowhere near as simple as she'd imagined.
Ugh…
That guy…
No, wait —
Why didn't he tell me any of this?
"You two — don't go telling that guy that I already know about this plan, understand? Otherwise, I can't promise what might happen."
Just as Keqing was fuming over her own swirling thoughts, Mobius drifted up in front of the two of them and dropped that remark.
"Naturally. I understand, Miss Mobius." Ningguang looked at her and gave a composed nod.
In truth, Ningguang hadn't needed it spelled out. She already knew better than to breathe a word of this to anyone.
"And what about you, little kitten? What do you say — are you planning to run straight to that guy the moment I step out the door?" After Ningguang had agreed, Mobius turned her gaze to Keqing. Beside her, Ningguang looked over as well.
Whatever happened, she hoped Keqing would give the same answer.
Of course, she knew Keqing would understand what she needed to do.
"Of course not." Keqing said it plainly — though she looked about as gracious as someone who'd just bitten into a sour plum.
"I hope both of you big sisters will keep your word," Mobius said with what seemed to be a very satisfied smile. "Otherwise… something entertaining might just happen." With that, she drifted immediately toward the exit and was gone, just like that.
"Has she left?"
After a long moment of silence, Keqing rose from her seat.
"Seems like it." Ningguang stood up right after her.
The two of them walked out together. Outside, there was no trace of Mobius anywhere — she had vanished without a hint of where she'd gone.
"Looks like she's really gone." Ningguang glanced around, then said it mildly. Her gaze shifted to Keqing, and she continued: "That plan of yours — I have to say, I didn't expect it. Did you have it worked out from the beginning?"
"More or less."
Keqing turned to look at her and answered offhandedly.
Now that Mobius knew about the plan she and Kaito had put together, there was no telling what the woman might do next.
She was genuinely torn. Part of her wanted to tell Kaito — and part of her didn't dare.
After all, the leak had come from her end. If something bad happened to him because of it, that was on her.
But if she told him, who knew what Mobius would do?
Damn it.
No matter which way she went, she'd be in the wrong. Keqing felt utterly stuck.
If she'd known it was going to come to this, she never would have gone to find Kaito in the first place.
Right…
What exactly is Mobius's relationship with Kaito, anyway?
The question surfaced out of nowhere, and Keqing decided to just ask Ningguang. From what she'd seen of Mobius just now, it was already glaringly obvious that the woman's feelings toward Kaito were anything but ordinary.
"Ningguang."
"You want to ask about Kaito and Mobius, don't you? Like — what exactly is between them?" Before Keqing could even finish forming the question, Ningguang had already guessed it.
"Exactly. What is their relationship? Because I get the feeling that…"
"That it's something romantic between a man and a woman?" When Keqing trailed off searching for the right words, Ningguang supplied them.
"Yes. That's exactly what I think." The moment Ningguang said it, Keqing nodded several times in quick succession.
"My read is that it's Mobius who has feelings for Kaito — one-sided. Kaito, on the other hand, doesn't seem to feel the same way about her." Ningguang glanced at Keqing, then walked to the edge of the terrace where she could look out over all of Liyue Harbor below. "A relationship like that… I wonder how Kaito intends to handle it."
"She likes Kaito? And Kaito doesn't like her back?"
Hearing Ningguang describe it that way, Keqing couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the whole picture. She hadn't expected it to be quite such a peculiar dynamic.
But if that was really the case — did it mean she didn't need to worry so much about Kaito suffering any consequences because of her slip?
Given that Mobius apparently had feelings for him, Keqing allowed herself to think that things probably wouldn't turn out as badly as she'd feared.
Still, that was all just speculation. There was no knowing how any of it would actually unfold.
Haah…
The moment she remembered that she'd already let the plan slip — and that there was nothing she could do about it now — Keqing felt a wave of deep, helpless frustration wash over her.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Keqing. Kaito is hardly an ordinary person." Ningguang turned to look at her, clearly reading her thoughts, and offered that much by way of comfort.
"All I can do now is hope you're right."
Keqing said it without any real conviction. She had nothing to stand on right now — no leverage, no control over any of it. What was there to feel certain about?
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