Chapter summary: In which Dainsleif swallows his pride and does something he never thought he would do
It is late at night. So late that even the bustling nightlife of Liyue Harbour ceased about two hours ago.
Zhongli has always enjoyed immersing himself in the nighttime activities of the harbour city, choosing only to return to his home after most others decide to retire for the night.
The time after that would usually be spent reminiscing about the past with the company of his chosen beverage of the night in the quietness of his home.
But not tonight.
He has headed straight towards his home after he left Wangsheng Funeral Palor earlier. The documents he has taken with him as he left his workplace have even garnered some wide-eye stares from his colleagues.
He has never taken his work home. As stated in his contract, he only ever works within the working hour agreed upon. Hu Tao is not one to overwork her employees and the work of a funeral parlor simply doesn't compare to the work required to manage the affairs of the whole Liyue when he was still their God.
However, he had taken too many leaves and his work had piled up. Then, after resuming his job, he's embarrassed to admit that he had been too distracted to focus on work. And now, when he is finally no longer troubled by matters of the heart, he is asked to take another long leave due to the impromptu trip to Dragonspine.
He can't say he doesn't appreciate how the little ones came up with such elaborate plans with Barbatos for him, but he hopes Hu Tao understands that giving him more leaves means making it more difficult for him to catch up with his work…
A slight frown marred his face after he finished the document he's been working on. It is about the adjustment of the lesson plans for the more junior undertaker and funeral consultants after consolidating the various assessment reports written on them by their seniors.
The document itself is not the cause of his frown. He enjoys this prospect of his job where he could be involved in the education of the newer generations.
No, what makes him frown is the fairly distracting presence that's been perched somewhere outside his window for quite a while already.
Now that he's had an extended amount of time to 'study' this particular presence, he realized, from the depths of his memory, that he has also felt this same presence intermittently throughout the years.
He never put up any effort to investigate it further, as such occurrences have always been too fleeting to garner his attention.
But not this time.
Then, he supposes, with their current circumstances, this meeting is inevitable.
Though he's always thought that he would be the one seeking the other out. Not the other way round.
He stands up before calling out with a steady voice. "I trust there is a valid reason for you to seek me out at this time of night?"
Without waiting for a reply, he leaves his study and makes his way towards his kitchen where he fetched two ceramic cups and the pot of tea he brewed earlier and has been keeping warm for when he finished his work.
When he exits the kitchen, a shadow is already occupying a relatively inconspicuous corner of the dining room.
He puts the tea set on the table, takes a seat and gestures for his guest to take the seat opposite to him. Hot tea is poured into the two cups as he waits for the man to make his move.
He can almost feel the reluctance and hesitation radiated as the man slowly walks over and sits down before him.
"A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Dainsleif." He greets the Khaenri'an cordially.
If the man is surprised at his tone or his knowledge of his name, he has skillfully covered it with an expressionless facade.
"I would have said it would be an honour, but then we both know it would be a lie." The man replied curtly.
Ah, the barely contained hatred against archons that Barbatos mentioned.
A Khaenri'an who has witnessed the destruction with his own eyes. Not only that, this man was also present when Kaeya nearly killed himself all those years ago and had likely been searching for the whereabouts of the Khaenri'an prince for so long.
This hostility is understandable and well justified. For him to seek an archon out of his own accord…
"Let's cut to the chase then," he continues smoothly, showing the other that he is not bothered by this adversity at all, "how may I help you tonight?"
"Why did you come to Mondstadt?"
An interrogation session? Is he worried that he would pose a threat to Kaeya?
"The same reason you intermittently came to Liyue and tailed me fleetingly throughout the years, I reckon." Their reasons might not be exactly the same, but the root of the cause of their actions is still tied to Kaeya.
A glint akin to satisfaction briefly passes through star pupiled eyes that look so different from the one he's used to.
"Then why leave in such a hurry? There's nothing stopping you from speaking to Prince Kaeya." Dainsleif stares at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "Or is there a contract restricting your involvement?"
Instead of answering, he returns with another question. "What are you looking for by coming here?"
He doesn't mind entertaining Dainsleif's questions, as he knows the blond is asking not out of spite but worry for Kaeya, but he also wants to know where this is heading first.
The man contemplates for a while before responding. "The Fatui has given Prince Kaeya several offers to choose from. But my prince is unable to tell me nor others he trusts what is on his mind because the Tsaritsa is spying on us."
He refrains from frowning at the words. If it's merely the presence of Childe, he's sure Kaeya, with how resourceful the man is, would be able to find a way to outwit the Fatui Harbinger.
After all, the bluenette did manage to manipulate him to take him around Liyue, going from ruins to ruins, without him having the slightest clue as to what his true aim was until it's too late.
Though he supposes he's fairly biased when it comes to anything related to Kaeya…
"How is she spying on you?" He asks in the end.
"The seal on his eye." Dainsleif replies without missing a beat. "There's evidence pointing to the fact that she's been spying on Prince Kaeya through it."
He stiffens at the idea of her planting such a distasteful feature into the seal and has been using it to spy on the bluenette all these years.
But… it's still within the scope of their contract.
"What sort of evidence?" He needs to look at it logically and give the Ice Queen the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise.
"She has knowledge about the threat the Abyss Order is posing to Prince Kaeya and has adequately included suitable measures against the Abyss Order in quite a number of the offers she gave my prince."
He mulls about the information he's given as he takes his first sip of the tea that is no longer hot enough to release any steam.
He hasn't dwelled much on this protection against the Abyss Order that was mentioned when Childe outlined the summary of those offers to him. But now that he thinks about it…
According to Barbatos, they were attacked by the Abyss Order five days ago. And those offers were given to Kaeya yesterday.
Suppose one of her agents witnessed the fight and sent a report to her immediately after, she would still be able to include those measures in her offers before sending the new instructions to Childe.
It is quite a stretch but it's still doable for a letter to be sent from Mondstadt to Snezhnaya then back to Mondstadt in just four days.
However, there is also merit to their concern.
The Abyss Order has always been a threat to the whole Teyvat and most would think of an attack in the wilderness being nothing more than a chance encounter. He only knows that there's more to this attack because Barbatos was there to personally hear the exchange between them towards the end of the fight.
With how meticulous she's been handling this matter up till now, he's inclined to believe she would have added a spying feature to that seal of hers.
"It doesn't matter if our guess is wrong. What matters is that Prince Kaeya wouldn't be able to discuss freely with us so long as he thinks there's a chance of information leakage." Dainsleif says.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I want information. And…" The man hesitated for several seconds, "any help you are willing to offer."
He resists the urge to raise an eyebrow at the request that sounded almost like a plea.
"A contract." The Khaenri'an looks confused at his words. "Keep my involvement in this and everything said within this room to yourself and I shall exchange information with you."
"It's a contract I can accept." The man says only after moments of consideration.
"Very well, we shall sign a formal contract for this then."
He then excuses himself and gets back to his study to grab a piece of paper before returning to the blond.
"This will be a binding contract that allows me to know if you ever break any of the terms in it." Golden light gathers at the tip of his finger as he writes down the exact wordings of what he said just now.
"Use your blood to seal it." He tells Dainsleif and passes the contract to him.
Instead of taking the contract, the Khaenri'an stares at him. "I never heard of Morax signing any binding contracts with others."
"Without my gnosis, this is the only way for me to know whether you are keeping to the terms once you leave."
"Very well." The blond takes the contract, reads the content of it and signs it with his blood.
He rolls up the signed contract and puts it aside.
"What do you remember of the aftermath of the destruction of Dunyu?" He asks.
Narrowed cerulean eyes stare at him in an almost glare as Dainsleif gives his answer. "I only knew how ungrateful my fellow countrymen had acted when I witnessed them leaving alongside the Ice Queen."
And thus leaving Prince Kaeya alone with you went unsaid but the intent was clear.
"After that, I could only watch as you took my prince away." The blond finishes bitterly.
"Why didn't you reveal yourself?"
Something akin to self-resentment overcomes the feature before him for a moment before the Khaenri'an schools his expression into one of neutral again. "I was recuperating from a grave injury I sustained and could barely move."
He takes another slow slip of the tea to hide his frown at those words. It's remiss of him to not do a final check to see if there were anyone else in the vicinity, but…
No one should still be injured because of what Kaeya did as their time should be reverted to before the battle in Danyu first broke out. And according to Xiao, Dainsleif was fit enough to help them escape, so the theory that he's already gravely injured before coming to Dunyu is out.
That leaves…
The bottom of his ceramic cup hits the table with a dull clang as he stares into the star shaped pupils of his guest. "I have heard of this… unsavoury method Khaenri'ah had devised to tie the life of a servant to their master."
It's a wild guess. But the fact that the man before him was able to live for five hundred years without the help of the Cryo Archon… the fact that he could feel the 'suspended' corruption of the curse from the man… and also how he could still keep to his purpose without any physical assurance of Kaeya's survival for five hundred years…
"I did this on my own discretion."
He is barely able to hide his surprise at the slow yet determined words. It's a display of the man's fierce loyalty towards his master.
The way he phrased it also tells him that Kaeya was none the wiser when the seal was made.
"Does Kaeya know about it?"
"He found out about it several days ago."
An unprepared bout of jealousy washes over his being at the implication that Kaeya has chosen to forgive this man for hiding something so important from him.
If he had gone to Kaeya sooner instead of drowning in self-resentment… if he talked to Kaeya before Childe even had the chance to so much as step his foot into Mondstadt…
He pushes these unwanted feelings away to refocus on the matter at hand.
"She proposed a contract to me." He begins his own recounting of that event. "A seal that would guide Kaeya to subconsciously use his power to heal himself for a chance to lay her own offer to all the Khaenri'ans under my care. I am not to interfere unless her intention is to cause them harm."
Dainsleif lowers his gaze to the cup of tea before him for several long seconds before staring him in the eyes again.
"It's a multilayered seal." He states.
"Yes. The first layer was broken the moment Kaeya's body is reverted back to before his eye was first activated."
"What about the other layers?"
"The second layer recovers the memory lost due to the time reversal."
A frown. This is the first time the Khaenri'an didn't immediately go back to his expressionless self.
"I- we thought it's a memory suppression seal…"
"A fair deduction." He says. "I also once thought of the same before discarding the idea. A seal that suppresses the memory would be a blatant disregard of the terms and conditions laid down in our contract and it's fairly easy for me to notice such a seal."
The frown deepens. "You didn't know the full features of those seals when they were first crafted?"
He ignored the apparent accusations in the tone. "She claims to have read the research notes on Kaeya's eye by Khaenri'ah and has demonstrated her knowledge. I had no choice but to defer to her judgement regarding this matter."
"The third and final layer allows Kaeya limited access to his power. It will stop him the moment the time of his body starts to reverse." He continues.
"That's the summary of the seals I was notified of. Due to recent events, I reviewed the information I have and with the help of a friend, we realized that she's been siphoning all the excess chrono energy expelled by the seal for her own use."
He then narrows his eyes at Dainsleif. "I won't put it past her to also make it so that she could keep an eye on Kaeya through the seal. However, these are still well within the parameters of our contract."
He lets Dainsleif mull about his words for a while before asking another question of his own. "What of the Abyss Order? What do they want from Kaeya?"
"They want Prince Kaeya to join them." The Khaenri'an answers. "I won't put it past them to do the unthinkable if it means they could get their hands on his power even after my prince rejects them."
He raises an eyebrow at that. "Are you saying that Kaeya hasn't yet rejected their offer and is in fact considering it?"
"No." Dainsleif almost growls out the word. "They left before my prince could reply, saying that they will come back at a later time to hear his answer."
"When are they coming back then?"
"In another five days." The blond scowls. "But the Abyss Order found a way to separate the two of us this morning… I fear more would have happened to Prince Kaeya if not for Barbatos…"
He blinks at the sudden mention of his friend's name. "It seems I will have to prepare some of the Liyuen alcohol he favours the next time he comes to visit." He says fondly.
Dainsleif stares at him with an indecipherable expression. "You… are contract bound to not contact Prince Kaeya in any way before he gives his answer to the Fatui."
He nods.
The Khaenri'an averts his gaze and stares at the untouched cup of tea before him. "I won't apologize for what happened… even if I can see now that it was a misunderstanding…"
What happened was unfortunate. But he doesn't think what the man before him did was wrong. He might have done the same if he was in his position.
"Prince Kaeya is of the opinion that… you don't want anything to do with him but are contract bound to protect him."
His eyes widen momentarily and his breath hitches at the revelation.
And he has been thinking that Kaeya is angry at him for not telling him the truth… Just where did this preposterous misunderstanding even come from?!
Dainsleif looks up again and holds his gaze. "My prince might not have said anything the past few days, but I know he wishes to hear from you."
"I intend to speak to Kaeya once he gives his answer." He says almost a bit too quickly.
If not for the contract, he would have rushed over to Mondstadt to reassure the bluenette and clear up this misunderstanding right this moment.
"But what if…" the blond furrows his brows slightly as he contemplates his words. "Tartaglia said there's no time limit. So what if Prince Kaeya decides to not give them a concrete answer and chooses to give them a wild goose chase around Teyvat instead?"
He blinks in surprise. This… this is something he has never considered. He has always thought that Kaeya would either accept one of those offers or reject all of them…
It's another remiss of his to overlook something so simple…
"My prince already resigned from the Knights of Favonius and has decided to leave Mondstadt after he rejects the Abyss Order."
This is starting to get more and more out of hand. "And the two of you agreed to let him leave Mondstadt."
It's selfish of him, but he knows Barbatos would help him protect Kaeya so long as the bluenette stays in Mondstadt, but if he leaves Mondstadt…
"Diluc protested, saying that Prince Kaeya will be more protected in Mondstadt. But my prince also raised some fair points as to why it's more dangerous for him to remain in Mondstadt."
"What about you? Don't you have any preference on what your master chooses?"
"I am but a mere knight sworn to protect my prince. I will stand by any decision made by my sworn master so long as it doesn't jeopardize his own life."
It's a humble answer he more or less expected from the man before him.
He closes his eyes as he thinks about it. He can see the merits and demerits of Kaeya leaving Mondstadt. And when he really thinks about it… he can see why Kaeya would have made this decision.
He has originally planned to immediately go to Kaeya and apologize to him the moment he gives his answer to Childe. After that, he will act based on the decision made.
If Kaeya rejects all the offers, then he will help the bluenette fend off any other unwanted attempt on his person made by the Fatui.
If Kaeya chooses to accept any one of the offers, especially those that require him to leave Mondstadt, then he will offer to go with him and provide his support and protection along the way. The contract is for him to not interfere, but it wouldn't be counted as interference if all he does is to make sure no harm ever comes to Kaeya.
The addition of the Abyss Order simply means he will also have to protect the bluenette from them.
But if Kaeya chooses to not give his answer to Childe…
Wait…
There was never a term in their contract saying that the Khaenri'ans had to give their answers to the Cryo Archon.
He digs out the terms of that particular contract from the depths of his memory and opens his eyes to look at the Khaenri'an before him.
"The exact wording of our contract states that I am not allowed to interfere should any Khaenri'ans that have been under my care choose to accept her offer. I am also not allowed to do anything that might in any way affect their decision regarding her offer unless her intention is to cause them harm."
"It is fine if Kaeya decides to not give his answer to her. But he needs to let either one of us know of his decision… If Childe is her representative regarding this matter, then all I have to do is send my own representative to hear Kaeya's decision."
The corners of his lips turn upwards as he continues. "Luckily, I have the most ideal individual for such a delicate task in mind."
"One of your adeptus?"
He hums as his smile widens. "No one ever said the representative of Rex Lapis has to be an adeptus."
Dainsleif furrows his brow and looks at him in confusion before he widens his eyes in incredulity.
"This is absurd." The man deadpans.
"Is it?" He replies with barely hidden mirth. "You are the perfect candidate. I couldn't delegate this to any of the adepti or another third party who isn't already involved as it would be interpreted as me interfering the moment they tell Kaeya they are to collect his answer on my behalf."
"I can provide the means for you to talk to Kaeya without any outward interference. But you are not allowed to let Kaeya know of my involvement in this nor are you allowed to offer your own input on this matter anymore, which I suppose won't be an issue considering you have been planning to follow his decision right from the start."
He lets the Khaenri'an think over his words as he finishes the now cold tea before pouring another cup of tea for himself. The tea is cold, but the allure of it is still there.
A pity that Dainsleif never touched the cup of tea in front of him.
"As unorthodox and ridiculous this all sounds, I am willing to do anything within my power to ease my prince's burden." The blond says eventually after he drank almost a third of his newly filled cup of tea. "I suppose we will have another contract for this?"
He nods, satisfied at how quick the Khaenri'an is catching on. "Are there any other terms you want to add?"
"Under normal circumstances I would have wanted to take more time to think about it, but time is of the essence and I do not wish to drag it any longer than necessary."
"Very well." He gives a quick glance outside the window. It's almost dawn now. "The method I mentioned cannot be executed during the day. We will finalize our contract tonight then. You can also make use of the time to think about this contract. I will be departing for Dragonspine in an hour's time. You can find me in Wangshu Inn tonight."
"You are also heading to Dragonspine?" Dainsleif didn't even hide his surprise.
Right, he supposes Kaeya would have received his own 'invitation' to go to snowy mountain by now.
.
Having already finished breakfast, Kaeya pretends to read the documents in his hand while sipping his cup of coffee as he subtly glances at Dainsleif.
His knight is currently partaking in the light breakfast he's prepared for the both of them when he realized the blond was not in his home earlier this morning.
Dain made a fuss when he told him he made breakfast for the both of them. Protesting that he should be the one preparing breakfast for his prince. And he had to resort to sighing exasperatedly and outright asking his knight if he's going to waste the food he made before the man eventually relented.
To his credit, Dain looks to be unaffected by his 'subtle' glances and only finally addresses him after he finished the food before him.
Well, he did tell the blond to finish his breakfast first and he supposes his stubborn knight is treating this simple request as an order.
"My prince, is there something you want to discuss with me?"
He hums as he thinks about his reply. It's clear to him that Dain didn't sleep much, if at all, the night before.
He knows his knight has been reprimanding himself ever since Lumine's sudden visit yesterday morning despite his reassurance that he's fine and that nothing bad happened.
It's plain as day the man has been out gathering intel on their enemies the whole night. He needs to find a way to tell Dain to rest… but…
The blond is stubborn. Maybe even on a Diluc level stubborn.
"I am planning on announcing my resignation in Angel's Share later tonight."
Dain looks at him questioningly. "Why Angel's Share?"
He blinks at the question before grinning sheepishly, understanding how confusing his statement might have been.
"I will have Jean, the Acting Grand Master, call for a meeting to tell the knights in the Headquarters today. The announcement in Angel's Share is for the sake of the knights out working in the field and other interested parties."
He originally wanted to announce it three days before leaving Mondstadt. But with the sudden trip to Dragonspine, he might not be in Mondstadt by that time.
Telling the others about his resignation too late would seem rude, it would sound like he didn't care at all about his fellow knights' feelings. Especially since he will be leaving Mondstadt after that.
But he also doesn't want to announce it too early as it might make Childe think that he's eager to take up one of those offers that require him to leave the Knights of Favonius.
The Abyss Order might also be monitoring his activities. Lumine's visit yesterday tells him that it's possible they might do something drastic if they realize just how reluctant he's to even consider their offer.
By announcing his resignation to literally everyone in Mondstadt, he can keep both the Fatui and the Abyss Order appeased for the time being by making them think he's considering their offers.
He also plans to invite Jean over to Angel's Share tonight so she can talk to Diluc about that matter they discussed before.
'That matter' refers to Jean's idea of him being an undercover agent gathering intel from all over Teyvat for the Knights. He really wants to take this olive branch, but if his suspicion on how the Tsaritsa has been keeping track of him is correct, he would be unable to take up this offer at all…
But if Diluc is willing to help him with that, then he might be able to pull it off.
He will have to trust his brother to know which is the best approach for this while hoping that the man won't be blinded by his hatred for the Knights…
"Do you wish for me to relay this information to Diluc?"
He grins. "Yes. And I suppose you will want to talk to him about my coming trip to Dragonspine. I will spend the day in Mondstadt, so you should take some rest after you finish your discussion with Luc."
An expected frown is directed at him. "Even if you are to stay in Mondstadt the whole day, it is prudent of me-"
He holds up a hand and pauses the other's speech. "I will just be holing up in the Knights Headquarters in the morning, have lunch with Childe, talk to Klee, then hang around in the city until the night."
He doesn't like exposing Klee to the Fatui Harbinger that much, but the tiny ball of energy managed to wring out a promise from the Snezhnayan to let her play with them today before they go to Dragonspine tomorrow…
"The Abyss Order wouldn't be able to do much if I am inside Mondstadt and with a Fatui Harbinger next to me." He winces when he realises how wrong it sounded and quickly glances at his knight to make sure the man didn't take it the wrong way.
Especially since Dain 'failed' to keep the Abyss Order away from him yesterday…
"I suppose it is a clever move to use the Fatui Harbinger in such a way." The blond adds. "And it would indeed be more difficult for the Abyss Order to separate you from the others within the city."
He raises an eyebrow at the way his knight takes this arrangement.
"Yes, and we will be leaving for Dragonspine tomorrow, so I want you to rest more today." He pushes.
Dain closes his eyes for a bit before opening them to stare at him with a questioning look. "What about our training session?"
He waves his hand around. "We will have to forgo it for the time being. Since I won't be in Mondstadt for several days, I will be too busy to continue it until I leave Mondstadt."
His knight nods. "I also want to discuss with you about the Fatui's offer."
He hums thoughtfully. He thought Dain is already informed of how he doesn't want to talk about it in case a certain someone is spying on them.
"I gathered some information on the Fatui. More specifically, information on the Fatui Harbingers."
"Oh? I thought you consider the Abyss Order a larger threat and have decided to leave matters related to the Fatui to Diluc?"
"I still stand by it. However, this is related to the survivors of Khaenri'ah."
He raises an eyebrow at that. Survivors of Khaenri'ah means the Abyss Order, right?
"The Fatui's offers mention a Khaenri'an and I believe it is talking about Pierro, the first Fatui Harbinger."
He blinks in surprise. "The first Fatui Harbinger is…"
"A Khaenri'an who lived through the Cataclysm." His knight finishes for him. "He might be someone we know, but I was not able to gather more information on him except for his gender."
He frowns. If this is someone even Dain couldn't get any information on…
"With his experience and knowledge, if the Cryo Archon sends this person to make sure you are keeping to the offer you choose…" his knight trails off.
So this is a roundabout way of Dain telling him just how much the Cryo Archon is investing on him and how he most likely couldn't just choose any one of the offers then vanish from their radar.
Though to be fair, if the Cryo Archon is really spying on him through the seal on his eye, he wouldn't be able to vanish from their radar anyway.
"I will take this into consideration when I think about the Fatui's offer then. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
The blond shakes his head. "That is all. I will see you later tonight."
He almost blinks at the words, he thought there will be more struggle before Dain relents to leave him alone for the day.
Maybe Dain is less stubborn than Diluc after all?
.
Dainsleif watches from afar as Kaeya disappears into the Knight of Favonius Headquarters and lets his mind drift towards his conversation with Morax last night and the one with his prince this morning.
He never wanted to tell the bluenette about the Khaenri'an who became the first Fatui Harbinger. But this is the only way he could think of to let his prince understand that it's nigh impossible for him to get out of it once he chooses to accept any of the offers.
He understands why his prince is reluctant to accept any of the offers by the Cryo Archon. But he still hopes his prince will keep to the choice he makes, even if it means he's to work for the Cryo Archon from now on.
This is for Prince Kaeya's sake. And, to a certain degree, Morax's sake.
He can feel that the affection the Geo Archon has for his prince is genuine. Especially with the apparent agitation the archon displayed when he is informed of Kaeya's view of the relationship between them.
But even so, Morax would never understand how much anguish he will cause his prince by being there.
He is fairly certain the archon plans to help his prince in his own way the moment the bluenette gives his decision. He doesn't know if Morax plans to tell Prince Kaeya of his involvement in this himself, but even if he plans on keeping his prince in the dark, the moment his prince does anything that deviates from the offer…
No matter how much affection Morax has for Prince Kaeya, as the God of Contract, his first priority will always be to make sure a contract is upheld.
If Geo Archon decides to tell his prince about his involvement in this, with how clever his prince is, he will immediately arrive at the conclusion that Morax is the real 'enforcer' of the Fatui's offer.
And it will devastate his prince.
There is still some time till his meeting with Morax tonight. He needs to think about how he should approach this.
He needs to tread carefully if he is to help his prince fulfill his wish.
Author's Note:
Hi everyone! I'm BACK! Sorry for the late update, but, well... I had a very long overseas trip, then after I got back to HK, my family got covid, and when they are nearly cured I got covid from them... in the end I have to be quarantined for 22 days... then after I recovered I had to catch up with my work... then after that I have to catch up with the Sumeru updates and events, so...
So in this chapter both Dain and Zhongli are stepping up their games by coorperating with each other *gasp* I don't think I have seen many fics where Dain coorperates with an archon, hehe~
I dunno... I am actually not very satisfied with the conversation between Zhongli and Dainsleif myself... but I also dun wanna put off posting this chapter any longer... hope you guys like it ^^
