Orion followed Jean to her residence, a house located high up in Mondstadt City, not far from the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
It could be said to be publicly allocated, after all, as the Deputy Grand Master and Acting Grand Master, Jean often had to reach the Knights of Favonius quickly to command if any emergency occurred.
Today, however, she had a rare male guest invited to her home.
Entering the house and changing into slippers, Orion subtly observed Jean's living room.
Orderly and meticulous, he wondered if that was an appropriate description.
The entire living room was very bright, with furniture consisting only of a dining table, two sofas, a small coffee table with a set of black tea utensils on it, and a cabinet next to it, which he wasn't sure if it was a bookshelf or for storing miscellaneous items.
After entering the house, Jean took off her boots, slipped her white-socked feet into slippers, and then removed her small cape, revealing her beautiful back.
Her feet were two sizes larger than Barbara's, and her back was so smooth it felt like it was missing a complete set of stigmata.
After Orion was seated, Jean brewed tea for him. Jean chose a rather high-grade black tea, one she didn't usually drink herself but reserved for guests.
With a force much greater than when he fought Dvalin, Orion tore his gaze away from the two curves of Grand Master Jean and looked at the tea set on the table.
There were traces of two people living there, but one of them hadn't been used in a long time.
"That's my mother's. She went to another country with Grand Master Varka's expedition team, in the direction of Natlan. But she still writes to me often," Jean smiled, bending over to pour tea. However, due to the narrow space beside the sofa, her rear curve bumped Orion's head, almost setting him ablaze.
Jean seemed to notice and quickly straightened up, blushing and not daring to look back. But this sudden movement caused the water in the pot to spill out, splashing onto Orion's pants.
Jean became even more flustered. The water had just been heated; nearly 100-degree hot tea splashing onto someone could scald off a layer of skin.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Jean apologized repeatedly, quickly crouching down. She wanted to wipe Orion dry with a tissue, but the burn seemed to be a more serious issue.
Orion noticed her panic and quickly said, "It's fine, it's fine! This temperature is nothing! With my strength, even approaching the sun isn't dangerous!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Jean blamed herself. From Orion's appearance, she knew he wasn't older than her, just grew faster.
And yet, this younger brother had saved them from the Dragon Crisis twice, and now, despite being cursed, he was enduring the pain (?) to consider her. How, how could such a good person exist!
Moreover... she had misunderstood him before, thinking he was faking a curse to deliberately get close to Barbara!
She had even delayed the progress of alleviating his curse's pain, yet he had never blamed her, nor even explained himself!
I truly deserve to die!
Suddenly, Jean remembered something else: Barbara had once told her that Orion indeed said he wasn't sure how to specifically remove the curse, but he always felt much better after each dispelling, so it should be improving.
Jean gritted her teeth, "Come on, follow me into the room!"
"Ah? W-what are you going to do?"
"I have something useful in my room that can help heal your body."
"Heal my body? Is it, is it a first-aid kit?"
"Hehe! It's even more effective than a first-aid kit!"
Jean took Orion's hand and led him into the room.
Orion hadn't even taken a sip of his high-grade black tea: "Hey, the tea! I haven't drunk the tea yet!"
"Take it, take it!"
A moment later, in Grand Master Jean's room, Jean peered at Orion's leg repeatedly, finding not a single burn mark.
"That makes no sense?"
Orion:...If that could burn me, then this tea would definitely have some special abilities.
However, if he told Jean that, she probably wouldn't understand. But Orion's clever mind quickly came up with an explanation: "Look, you've seen me turn into a wolf, right? When I turn into a wolf, my whole body is engulfed in flames, and my flames are much hotter than this temperature! So I feel no pain at all!"
Jean, hearing this, covered her mouth. No pain, what did 'no pain' mean?
As the Deputy Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, having undergone strict training since childhood, she knew very well that pain was a protective mechanism of the human body, to remind you that you are injured, that it's dangerous, and to quickly find a safe place to heal.
A person tormented by a curse to the point of losing the sensation of pain—what kind of life had he endured all this time?!
Jean dared not imagine.
Looking at Orion's warm smile, like a small sun, and thinking of his selfless contributions to Mondstadt City, his 'good guy' personality was well-known throughout the city, and many passing merchant caravans had even been rescued by him in the wilderness.
Jean bit her lip, making up her mind.
Seeing Jean unresponsive, Orion reached out to dry his pants, intending to put them on, but his hand was immediately pressed down by Jean.
Orion looked at Jean: "Grand Master Jean, what's wrong?"
"Call me older sister."
..."Ah, ah?"
"I said, call me older sister." Jean raised her eyes, her gaze incredibly serious.
Orion swallowed, "Jean... older sister?"
Jean slowly stood up, unbuttoned her clothes, and they fluttered to the floor.
"I can't let little Klee... lose her hard-won older brother!"
Jean pressed down.
It must be said that the Grand Master was indeed worthy of her title; even without using elemental power, the strength she had honed over many years in the Knights of Favonius was not to be underestimated.
Especially since Orion accidentally injured Jean at the start of their sparring, causing her to bleed, Orion dared not launch a serious attack and could only passively defend.
Thus, Grand Master Jean, who was initially not very skilled in their exchange, quickly grasped Orion's offensive rhythm and began to counterattack using the grappling techniques she learned in the Knights of Favonius.
Orion was overwhelmed by the stormy offensive, unable to catch his breath, but his physical strength was immense. Even if Jean's hands and feet ached from fighting, she couldn't break through Orion's defense.
Finally, after an hour of martial arts combat, Jean showed some fatigue, and Orion seized the opportunity to counterattack.
"What?! You've been deliberately going easy on me all this time! Ugh, kill me!" Jean felt her knightly pride insulted, her face flushed with shame, but humans cannot defeat ORT. Jean could only retreat step by step, being chased from the Seventh Underworld all the way to the First Underworld.
After another hour of martial arts duel, Jean finally conceded defeat, and her knightly pride also fell.
She lay on the ground, panting, looking at Orion with soft eyes, a sense of mutual appreciation between martial artists.
"Is your, your curse, any better?"
Orion exposed his body, showing only toned muscles, without a single black 紋路.
The textures were completely deleted.
"It's fine now."
"That's good..." Jean sighed in relief, but immediately her expression turned somewhat melancholic.
She was thinking about the theory of lifespan.
Klee and Orion were both long-lived species, but she was an ordinary human, ultimately unable to walk with them to the very end.
Then Orion suddenly made a sound of confusion.
"Eh?"
He looked at Jean in surprise, how could this be?
Jean looked back, puzzled: "What's wrong with me?"
"Crystal Creek Valley has activated," Orion said.
Jean was confused: "What? What West Valley?"
"Crystal Creek Valley," Orion explained, "It's an innate ability of mine. Its original purpose was to make the surrounding environment more favorable to me after activation, but... it activated on you."
Orion placed his hand on Jean's forehead, somewhat shocked: "You seem to have been judged by Crystal Creek Valley as an 'invadable object', and then this ability transformed you into something akin to my familiar, sharing my lifespan."
[Name: Jean Gunnhildr
Gender: Female
friendship: 8.5/10
Identity: Wife / Deputy Grand Master and Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt City
Affiliation: Knights of Favonius
Vision: Anemo
Constellation: Leo Minor
Passive Skills: Pseudo-Immortality (A+) / Pseudo-Long-Lived Species (A+) Riding (Ex)]
Is this Riding correct?!
Jean's eyes widened. Ignoring her body's fatigue, she quickly scrambled up and grabbed Orion's arm: "Can you make Barbara a long-lived species too?"
Orion:???
How are there people throwing themselves into your arms?
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