"Nonsense. Your Master is one of the illuminated adepts. Why would I have any ideas about her?" Ryou shot Shenhe a glare.
"That's enough," Keqing said, naturally unwilling to believe Ryou would fall for Cloud Retainer. They had barely met a few times, after all. She took the chance to bail him out, feeling that this conversation would only get worse if it kept going.
The next moment, the door opened, and Lumine walked in with Paimon.
But the moment she saw Keqing and Shenhe, her expression darkened. She shot Ryou a glare, thinking, I came here to talk to you, so why did you bring your wife and Shenhe with you? How am I supposed to make a move now?
Keqing looked from Lumine to Ryou. After a long pause, she said, "Did you and my husband make plans to eat here together? What exactly are you two doing behind my back?"
That question clearly shook Lumine. She glanced at Ryou.
Ryou glared back at her. You're the one who threatened me, and now that Keqing's caught on, you want to dump this on me instead?
"Keqing, you've got the wrong idea." Ryou grabbed her hand and pulled it onto his lap, only to get pinched hard before he could say another word.
He hissed in pain. "Keqing! I asked the Tabibito here because I wanted to discuss something private."
"It's just... this is a complicated matter. It's not that I didn't want to tell you. I was worried you'd overthink it."
Ryou's mind raced for an excuse, and very quickly he landed on the matter of her brother. That identity could serve a useful purpose here. It would calm Keqing down and shut Lumine up at the same time.
"Then say it." Keqing stared at Ryou for a long while. She knew he wasn't that kind of man, but she was still dying to know why he had secretly arranged to meet Lumine behind her back.
Seeing how angry Keqing looked, Lumine got annoyed too. She folded her arms and said, "Keqing, don't you want to know what this is about? Fine, I'll tell you. Your husband and I were planning to go do something bad later."
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Keqing slammed a hand onto the table hard enough to make it shake. "Say one more thing like that, and don't blame me for turning on you!"
"Oh, I'd love to see you try!" Lumine snapped, rising to her feet. "Keqing, I've put up with you for a long time already. If it comes to it, we can settle this with a fight!"
"Good. Very good." Keqing grabbed Lion's Roar. "Then let's go."
"Fine by me. You think I'm scared of you? We'll settle old scores and new ones together!" Lumine followed her straight out.
Ryou and Paimon both got headaches watching the whole thing unfold. This had started as a simple dinner. It should've blown over by now.
Instead, the two of them had gone from bickering to openly preparing to fight.
Ryou stepped forward, grabbed Keqing with one hand and Lumine with the other, and snapped, "Can both of you calm down and sit back down so we can talk this out?"
"Ryou, I don't think Tabibito said anything wrong," Shenhe said as she walked over to them. "If possible, I'd like to join in too. Whoever wins between the three of us gets to take you away."
Ryou glared at her, furious. "At a time like this, you're still throwing fuel on the fire?!"
"Shenhe!" Keqing glared at her too, thinking, I brought you here, and instead of helping me, you're trying to steal my husband too?
So that's how it is. Every last one of you has your eyes on my man, huh?
Lumine looked at Shenhe and proposed, "How about this? You and I team up first and take Keqing out, then we settle things between ourselves afterward."
She had been irritated with Keqing for ages. All she had done was glance at Ryou a few more times, and Keqing had been hostile ever since. Did Keqing really think Tabibito was that easy to bully?
"Works for me," Shenhe said.
"Like hell it does!" Ryou shot them all a glare and dragged them back into the private room.
He forced all three women back into their seats, then looked at them and said, "This is ridiculous. We're in Liuli Pavilion. What exactly are you trying to do, making a scene here? Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Ryou, those two are openly trying to steal you from me. Was I supposed to say nothing?" Keqing glared at him, feeling like he was taking their side.
"Keqing, will you just listen to me?" Ryou stood in front of the three of them and said, "I asked Tabibito here because I found something out."
"The reason I didn't tell you is because it involves her brother, and her brother is deeply tied to the Abyss. I was worried you'd think too much into it."
"The Abyss..." Keqing murmured softly.
"My brother is connected to the Abyss? What do you mean?" Lumine looked at Ryou, suddenly remembering that Yelan had hinted at something similar before. Back then, there had been a lot of Abyss monsters trying to attack her brother. Why had that happened?
Seeing her reaction, Keqing realized that Lumine genuinely didn't know. That made her feel a little better. So she really had misunderstood.
Thinking back to the mess she had just caused, Keqing felt a little guilty. She knew what kind of man Ryou was. She should have trusted him.
Still, if she had to blame someone, she'd blame Lumine for provoking her. This woman was infuriating.
Keqing had suspected for a while that Lumine had ulterior motives, and now she wasn't even trying to hide them anymore.
And then there was Shenhe. Keqing had taken her in, only for her to turn around and try to steal her husband. No, to try to take her husband.
"I only found this out by chance," Ryou said to Lumine, speaking slowly and clearly. "There is a prince within the Abyss... and that prince is your brother."
"My brother... is the Abyss Prince?" Lumine froze.
She thought back to all those Abyss monsters that had kept going after her brother. So they hadn't been trying to kill him?
Had they been trying to rescue him from Liyue Harbor?
Lumine didn't know what to say. She could feel the way Keqing was looking at her now, and it made her deeply uncomfortable.
She knew how much harm the Abyss Order had caused across Teyvat. There was no threat more hated than the Abyss.
Ryou felt a little regret the moment he saw that look on her face. But he also knew this was the only way to defuse things. Otherwise, Keqing and Lumine really would have fought.
As for Lumine, he could only find another chance later to explain things properly.
Keqing's gaze toward Lumine turned complicated. She knew very well how constantly the Abyss affected Teyvat. Even within Liyue, Abyss monsters could be found.
Now she understood why Ryou hadn't told her. The matter was far too sensitive, and it was exactly the sort of thing that could make her overthink everything.
Before, her dislike of Lumine had mostly come from the way Lumine kept circling around Ryou. But if Lumine's identity really tied into something like this, then that discomfort would become something much more real.
Ryou squeezed Keqing's hand gently and said in a low voice, "I kept this from you because I was afraid you'd think too much."
"The Abyss has done real damage to Teyvat. People hate it for good reason. That's why... I wanted to tell the Tabibito in private."
"I figured she probably didn't know any of this herself. Once I learned it, I wanted to tell her, because I trust her. She wouldn't do something like that lightly."
"I... I really didn't know." Lumine stood up and looked at Keqing and Shenhe with complete seriousness. "I would never do anything to Liyue Harbor. Please believe me. I'm... sorry."
With that, she turned and ran out, emotions in complete disarray.
"Tabibito!" Keqing called after her.
Ryou felt awful watching Lumine run off like that. The last thing he wanted was to let her leave in this state.
"I have to go after her," he said to Keqing. "If she keeps running around like this, something could happen."
"Go," Keqing said softly. "Tell her we won't blame her. She is her own person. Her brother's choices are his own."
"She also saved the people of Liyue. She's one of Liyue Harbor's heroes. We won't condemn a hero for this."
Then she lowered her voice even more. "And... about earlier, I'm sorry. Please apologize to Tabibito for me too."
Ryou gently stroked the back of Keqing's hand to reassure her, then got up and hurried after Lumine.
He found her outside the city, sitting silently on a large rock. Paimon floated nearby, flustered and not knowing what to do.
Ryou walked over, sat down beside Lumine, and said, "I'm sorry. I was planning to tell you later. But things got complicated tonight, and I didn't have a choice."
"This is a huge shock for me," Lumine said after keeping her head down for a long time. Then she turned and looked up at him. "I honestly don't know what to do right now... but you're willing to believe me, aren't you?"
"I believe you." Ryou nodded.
"As long as you believe me, that's enough." Lumine let out a long breath of relief, but her feelings were still a tangled mess as she looked at him.
"You really are a terrible man. You only brought up my brother to cover up the fact that I asked you out. It hurts."
"I'm sorry." Ryou looked at her with complete sincerity.
"One apology, huh?" Lumine shot him a glare, then fell quiet again. "Honestly, I already started thinking about this back when my brother refused to come with me."
"I'm me. My brother is my brother. I can't confuse the two." She lifted her head and looked straight at Ryou. "Do you remember what you said to comfort me back then?"
"You told me to live my own life. You even said I should go find a man. And now... I think I already have."
"What?" Ryou looked at her, confused.
"Hm?" Lumine leaned forward.
Before Ryou could say anything else, Lumine kissed him.
It was as if she could sense the spiritual energy in him, because she kept drawing it in as she kissed him.
Her arms were strong and forceful around him, holding him tight.
Ryou felt like crying.
What was wrong with these women? Why was every single one of them clinging to him now?
And yet, this time, his mood felt strangely lighter.
When he had comforted Lumine before, it had left him in a terrible state, because he had always felt there was something else behind her, something guiding her choices from the shadows.
But compared with Ganyu, Ningguang, Shenhe, and the others, he found himself far more willing to accept Lumine.
Because Lumine was the protagonist.
To any player, she held a special meaning.
And he was no exception.
[End of chapter]
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