"Tch, foolish woman."
"You almost lost your life and you're still thinking about Mondstadt."
Kai left the Knights of Favonius Headquarters with an annoyed expression.
He muttered to himself; his mood extremely foul.
Kai actually understood Jean's concerns.
After all, apprehending a Fatui Harbinger, even with ample evidence, is no different from completely breaking ties with Snezhnaya.
Under such circumstances, as the Grand Master, Jean's first consideration of this aspect was not unacceptable.
However, thinking of how she always prioritized Mondstadt's safety, as Jean's husband, Kai felt extremely annoyed.
"Even if we can't act openly,"
"it's not impossible to secretly cause trouble for the Harbinger."
The Fatui people the other day were practically directly reaching out and slapping the entire Knights of Favonius in the face.
It had already escalated to such a degree, and she still wanted to endure it.
Even knowing the culprit's whereabouts, they would only monitor?
Especially since the other party didn't even bother to run, and stayed in Mondstadt with disdain, as if they didn't care about the Favonius Knights at all.
Honestly... if it were Kai, he would have already taken Snezhnaya's diplomatic mission and given them a good beating on the ground.
"Please care about yourself a little."
"Really..."
Looking back at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters,
Kai sighed, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the Goth Grand Hotel in the distance.
At this time, because the Fatui's booking hadn't ended, even the entrance of the entire hotel was guarded by Fatui diplomatic personnel.
It was clearly an exhibition of their own territory.
A somewhat cold light flickered in his eyes.
As if thinking of something, Kai walked straight home.
"Forget it, I'll handle the aftermath."
Since it wasn't suitable to openly act against the Fatui,
then, changing his identity wasn't impossible.
Night, ten o'clock... the office at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Jean happily enjoyed the steaming hot meal, her gaze occasionally peeking at the person beside her.
On the other side...
Master Kai, on the other hand, rested his chin on one hand.
He looked out the window, slightly bored, as if gazing at the scenery.
Noticing Jean's furtive glance, he couldn't help but raise his head, feigning an impatient expression.
"What are you looking at me for?"
"To see if you're still angry," Jean whispered back, moving a little closer to Kai.
"I'm not," Kai replied concisely, his profile still fixed on the window.
That tone—how could anyone not hear the anger in it?
Jean sighed, somewhat deflated, and pondered for a moment with a furrowed brow.
After a thought, she suddenly extended both hands and gently tapped Kai's back, her voice full of apology.
"I'm sorry, Kai."
"While I know you care about me a lot, I am still the Dandelion Knight, after all."
"If I were to directly confront the Fatui, it would cause extremely troublesome diplomatic disputes."
As for whether she had any good feelings towards the Fatui, Jean naturally had none whatsoever.
But the unfortunate truth was that since she bore the title of Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, there were certain matters where she couldn't act according to her own wishes.
Therefore, even if she encountered an attack at the Fatui's stronghold, and even if they outright stole the Holy Lyre der Himmel, for the sake of the still-existing alliance between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya, as the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean could only pretend not to know, to avoid a larger conflict.
"I'm not angry about that."
Turning around, Kai raised his hand and flicked Jean's forehead, saying irritably, "Of course I know what would happen if you directly confronted the Fatui."
"What I'm angry about is that you don't take yourself seriously enough!"
"Mondstadt... While Mondstadt is indeed very important, how can you not be angry when the Fatui bully you to this extent? Don't you have any thought of fighting back?"
"If... if Kai is with me, I cannot be angry no matter how badly I'm bullied..." Jean replied, her head bowed, her voice weak, completely devoid of the aura of an Acting Grand Master.
In an instant, Kai didn't know what to say anymore.
To continue lecturing Jean... seeing her pitiful voice, Kai really couldn't bring himself to do it.
But if he said nothing, he felt like this person would never learn.
He watched his wife for a long time. ---Requesting flowers--- Finally, Kai raised his hand and pinched Jean's cheek.
He clearly had no way to deal with his wife at all.
"Even if you don't act openly, you can still retaliate against the Fatui in private, right?"
Although the Fatui's power is strong, this is still Mondstadt, no matter what.
If someone were truly arranged to secretly attack the Fatui, even if the other party wanted to retaliate, whether they could find the target would probably be a huge problem.
"Acting in private is too risky."
"The Harbingers are not that easy to deal with, and if we are exposed... it would give Snezhnaya an extremely perfect excuse."
The Fatui weren't afraid of exposure because they knew that as long as they weren't openly attacking Mondstadt, even if the Knights of Favonius discovered these acts were done by the Fatui, the current strength of Mondstadt simply wouldn't dare to cause them trouble.
However, the opposite was true for Mondstadt.
If their identity were exposed during a covert attack, Snezhnaya could use it as an excuse to directly declare war on Mondstadt.
Moreover, with Grand Master Varka still in the snowy mountains and not yet returned, if such a situation arose, things would truly become troublesome.
"Are you afraid of exposing Mondstadt's involvement?" Kai sighed, seemingly melancholic, but inwardly he nodded slightly, understanding the crux of the matter.
"So, as long as no one knows that Mondstadt was behind it, then there won't be any problems, right?"
Kai thought of a good plan.
"What is Kai saying?" Jean looked up, somewhat confused, as if she had vaguely heard something strange.
"Nothing..."
"Anyway, you finish your meal first. I'm going to Springvale."
"I just remembered we're out of ingredients at home for tomorrow."
Kai stood up and said, appearing to no longer be angry.
"Ah? Going to Springvale now?" Jean blinked, showing a surprised expression, and couldn't help but glance at the time.
"It's already late night."
"It's fine. You're probably working overtime tonight anyway and won't be home."
"I'll just come back tomorrow morning then."
Kai showed a relaxed expression.
"Anyway, I'm off now."