Okay, fourth chapter, and as I promised, no smut today, sorry. Though it will lead up to some smut later on, in the next chapter.

I was floating, feeling weightless in my dream.

I opened my eyes, and instead of finding myself in the bedroom, I was floating in an abyss, where only the light coming from the stars illuminating me.

I tried speaking, but no words came from my mouth. Even screaming yielded nothing from my mouth

"So, it seems like many women are falling for you."

I looked, only to focus on…

'Paimon?'

Except, she didn't look like the same Paimon. Instead of being half of my size, she towered over me, with a slender body that looked almost unfamiliar to me. However, she still had the same accessories, like the black star on her hair, and the crown-like accessory over her head.

"Yes, I'm Paimon. This is just my domain, so this is my true form."

'Oh… so does that mean you can read my thoughts, emergency food?'

"... that stopped being funny when we went to Liyue."

'Fair enough.' I sheepishly smiled.

'Though, I have to say, this form looks beautiful.'

"Flattery will get you nowhere." She looked down at me, from her height.

'Though, why have you brought me here? Why now?'

"Well, to be clear, I've stayed out of your way to sleep with Amber and Eula, so the only place I could talk to you is in your dream.'

She waved her hand, and showed the time.

From what her clock showed, it was around the time I slept.

"Time is frozen here. I control it here, in my domain. So I can communicate with you about this while time has stopped."

'What?'

"So, I'll be staying out of your way for the time being, I won't bother you for trivial reasons like food, or treasure, even if I'd love to have those in excess."

'Paimon, no offense, but… why do you sound so different here?'

"I want to say this without joking around, but you've got an important mission to accomplish. There's going to be something coming soon. Remember Celestia?"

I nodded.

"Well, there's three people waiting for you there. The Unknown God, Vennessa and Guhua. The latter two have been fighting The Unknown God for a long time."

'Wait, Vennessa? Isn't that the person Jean holds in high regard?'

"Yes, rightfully so. She's been quite the hero."

Then, the thought of Jean looking up to a woman who's been fighting against hell, never knowing what happened to her… it angered me.

'Wait… why couldn't you tell me this earlier?!'

"Because what could you have done? When you fished me out of the sea, both you and I were far too weak for just many of the monsters, forget fighting on the level of gods. When we were Inazuma, we saw that."

I grit my teeth, but she was right. We couldn't even beat Ei, without Yae Miko's help.

"But, it seems like something is changing. Sleeping with these girls has improved not just yours, but their strength dramatically."

She pulled up Eula, Amber, and my power. It had a lot of buzzwords I couldn't understand, but I could tell by her shocked expression by how much

I was Lvl 90, whatever that meant, and had many artifacts to boost my power. Then, she pulled up a list of my statistics.

20 Percent crit rate, and a 100 percent Crit damage stood out to me. Not to mention the 40k health.

"To compare, before sleeping with Amber/Eula, you had about a quarter of your stats for all of them. You had a 5 percent crit rate, a 25 percent crit damage, and a health bar that was only about 10k."

'So… sleeping with Eula and Amber made me stronger?'

"By a factor of four, yes. And it's not just you." She waved her hand like she did when she was explaining something, then put her hands on her hips.

"Amber and Eula have seen similar gains in their strength. It's almost unbelievable."

'Do you know why?'

"No, it doesn't make sense…" She clutched her head, confused.

'So that's where Paimon is.'

"Hey, Paimon is Paimon!"

I chuckled, but then I realized I couldn't speak, so I was just making the chuckle without any sound escaping my mouth.

"No, I'm not going to have you speak. This is my domain." She had her fists on her hips.

'I'll figure this out with Albedo tomorrow. He'll most likely have an answer.'

"Okay, Aether. I'll stay out of your way, but I want you to know, I'd like an update every two to three nights, for you to tell me what happened, and to see your strength changing over time."

'... how many women do you expect me to sleep with?'

"... you slept with two women in two days. This is more than reasonable."

I had no rebuttal for that.

"Okay, that'll be all from me. I can speed up time. But before I do, here's what I want you to remember."

She had her hand on the clock, and adjusted it, with the design of the clock being similar to that of her cape.

"If you become strong enough, you can rival the power of the Gods. Don't forget that mission, even with all the girls around you."

"Girls?"

She adjusted the time, and sank.

"You have a lot of women you love, don't you? I'd suggest you look into sleeping with them."

As soon as she let go of the holographic clock, I fell down, further and further and further.

The ground of teyvat approached closer and closer.

Then, I jumped up, out of bed.

I breathed out, catching my breath from what I felt was certain death.

"Oh…" The memories of what had happened caught up to me, and I clutched my head, the dehydration starting to kick in.

Then, I looked beside me. Eula and Amber were nowhere to be seen. The light in the windows illuminated the mess in the hotel, with bodily fluids found everywhere, but Eula and Amber were nowhere to be found.

Then, immediately, I heard knocking on the door.

"Alright, I'm coming!"

I focused on my own clothes, which were, albeit scattered on the floor, relatively clean.

At least that's what I told myself.

I put on my clothes, and opened the door.

To which I found-

"Jean?"

She looked cross, with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What happened? Is anything wrong?" I almost reached behind to grab my sword, but she said,

"I think you know what's wrong… Traveler."

Her voice was harsh, almost like she had her heart broken by someone.

"... I don't."

"How about sleeping with my subordinates… is that significantly wrong?"

"..."

My brain caught up with me, and I dragged Jean into the room.

"Wha-"

"Who told you?" I pushed Jean against the wall, which made her slightly blush, but I ignored it.

"Barbara."

I clicked my tongue.

"Of course…"

I let her go, feeling the weight of them get to me.

"Please… Jean, I'll accept any punishment, but please don't have their reputation soiled by this."

I could feel her disappointed gaze towards me.

"You slept with two of my subordinates…" I felt her teeth grit under her breath. "How the hell am I supposed to send them to fight for Mondstant, when I know they can't remain focused? When they're sleeping with a person who's already half gone, and will leave whenever he wants, with no consequences…"

I heard her swallow, as if she was holding back.

"And… since they get pregnant, how am I, in good conscience, supposed to send them out to protect themselves, when they should be taking care of their kids, and focus on giving birth to them? And how am I supposed to trust you to protect Mondstant, when you might sleep with god knows how many other women, and seduce them into sleeping with-"

"I didn't seduce them."

I looked up at Jean, anger in my eyes.

"I feel like shit sometimes, for having to sleep with Amber that day, but I do not regret having a child with her. I slept with her to make sure she wouldn't get impregnated by hilichurls, because she was raped by… them."

I grit my teeth even more, with tears in my eyes.

"Amber was hurt, and she didn't have a choice. I forced her to bear my child, so she didn't have to hate herself for having to carry a monster's child into this world…"

I fell down, against the floor.

"For Amber and Eula, I loved them simply. I wanted them, and they wanted me."

I breathed out, and looked up at her.

"If you want to punish me, you can. Eula and Amber, they'll be fine without me." I chuckled slightly.

"They're strong."

I looked up at Jean, and she looked conflicted, as if she didn't expect this.

"Where are they?" Jean asked.

"I don't know." She looked into my eyes to see if I was telling the truth, which had me almost kissing her.

Then, I heard an explosion, and almost everything slowed down time wise.

"Huh?" Jean heard it, but I ran, when I heard someone screaming.

I quickly picked up my sword, and ran out of the hotel.

I ran, faster and faster with every passing moment, accelerating and running towards destruction… only to see, when the smoke cleared, 10 ruin guards defeated in front of me, their parts all but ruined.

Eula did her signature dance, and sliced a giant ruin guard at its feet, leaving Amber to take down the eye, which made it fall on the same pile.

Eula then jumped, elegantly, off the ground, to deliver the final blow on the head of the ruin guard, bringing the ruin guard down.

Eula stood on top of the ruin guards, as if she was claiming the destruction of them, and she seemed, minus a wound on her face, unharmed.

"What… happened?"

Jean spoke behind me, as she finally caught up.

"Eula… did you take all of them down?" I spoke.

"Not alone, Aether." She removed some blood off her face, with her wound still fresh.

"I took some down as well!" Amber stood behind the ruin guards, and peeped behind it.

I was shocked.

'So that's what Paimon meant.'

I saw the tattoos on their stomachs glowing through their clothes. Then, it eventually faded, as they caught their breath.

"Hey, Eula, Amber, are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm quite alright. Thank you for asking Aether."

"Yeah, same! I feel so alive, right now!"

"I'm glad…" I almost felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders, just for a second.

I saw a young girl pass me to go to Eula, and hugged her leg.

"Thank you for protecting Mondstant!"

I saw that almost moved Eula to tears. She leaned down, and said, "It's merely my duty, to protect Mondstant from those who wish to cause it harm."

I smiled, then I started clapping.

"Eula, and Amber, both protectors of Mondstant!"

I stood up, holding both of their hands up, to an audience that looked more positive.

I leaned towards Eula, and spoke to her.

"You did great. You deserve this."

She smiled, almost crying with joy. Amber and Eula both smiled, as the entire crowd that gathered there was cheering.

I looked at the girls next to me, smiling brightly.

'Is this what Kujou Kamaji felt like, getting married? Even if it didn't happen...' I smiled brightly towards the two girls, and they smiled back. 'God, I love them.'

It took a lot of resistance for me not to kiss both of them there. But then, I noticed there was someone in the crowd who didn't look so happy: Jean.

"Now, everything's alright, so you can go back to doing business! Mondstant will remain free from oppression from monsters!" I spoke out, with one last cheer being done by the crowd before they broke up, and went back into the town.

Except for Jean. She just stood there, and looked… distressed.

"Hey, Aether… do you know what happened to Jean?"

Eula looked in as well.

"She knows you and Eula are pregnant…"

Amber's face became white, but Jean walked towards the three of us.

"Come with me, Aether, Eula, and Amber. I need to talk to you three."

We followed her to her office, where all three of us sat.

She looked at me first.

"I noticed Paimon isn't with you."

"Yeah, she's still here, she's just hiding for now." I quickly spoke, not wanting to give a further explanation.

"I see…" Jean stood up, and closed the blinds behind her, and then proceeded to lock the door, before sitting back on her chair, crossing her legs.

"So, you two are carrying his child, correct?" She leaned back on the chair, standing straight.

Eula and Amber merely nodded.

"Do you love him, or have affection for him?"

"Yes." Both Amber and Eula spoke simultaneously.

"And you? Traveler."

I nodded without a trace of doubt.

"Why do you choose to share him between the two of you?" She had her hand under her chin.

"Because we both love him. And we'd want him to be happy with who he loves." Amber spoke.

"You feel the same way, Eula?"

She nodded as well.

Jean merely sighed.

"Would you… mind sharing him with someone you might not know?"

"If Aether loves the person, then we can be sure we'd come to love them as well." Eula simply spoke.

"Yeah! We trust Aether."

"... Would you mind…" I noticed a blush on Jean's face, as if she were going to ask something embarrassing.

"Would we mind… What, grandmaster Jean?" Eula looked confused.

Amber looked like she understood it, but looked to wait for Jean to speak up.

"Never mind." She shook her head, and I just started to notice the dark circles under her eyes.

"Jean, are you alright?" I stood up, and approached her.

"No…" She chuckled, almost deliriously. "I'm alright. I'm just a bit tired."

"You need to rest, then." I looked at her, tired and almost overwhelmed.

"No, I've got-"

"Jean. Rest."

She looked up at me, concerned for her. The dark circles under her eyes started to come to fruition under her makeup.

"How long have you been awake?"

"... Since 2 days ago. Since learning of Amber's pregnancy."

"Why?"

She chuckled, but eventually, came to lie down on her desk.

I expected her to talk about my insubordination, but she didn't.

"Why? Because I love you so much…"

She laughed, almost, leaving me no room to be confused.

"I want you to make me take care of myself, and check on me, to make sure I'm alright. To make sure I'm always able to be okay… and to punish me for not taking care of myself, and I want to do the same to you, to make sure you're alright, and make sure you don't get hurt. When I learned about Amber and… Eula, I felt like I was jealous, because I thought you were a womanizer, taking advantage of my subordinates."

Then, I heard her tear up, letting a few tears out.

"But no… they love you just as, maybe even more, than I do. And it's all my fault for not being first, to be with you."

She started crying, against her desk.

Amber merely looked concerned, seeing the acting grandmaster looking so distraught.

Eula also was concerned.

"I'd never thought I'd see Eula smile, with another person beyond Amber… and yet you so effortlessly made her happy, and made the people appreciate her in a way I couldn't. You also made me happy, when I had so many layers of insecurity that I'd never live up to Vennessa…"

Hearing her name made me stiffen up, but I walked behind her, and looked in her eyes, turned over to the side.

"... You're someone I admire a lot, Jean. I… never in my life, till I saw you collapse long ago, thought you were someone I should have been concerned about, and I know this sounds kind of bad, but here me out."

Jean nodded, willing herself to sit up, and face me.

"When I saw you collapse, I was so concerned for you."

I smiled simply.

"I liked to see you act, once in a while, not being this strong, powerful woman. You're a human being, Jean, and that means you're able to be weak, to break down, to feel tired. But it is also what makes you strong, because you can be able to be weak, to trust those around you."

I heard her swallow, with tears continuing to leak out of her eyes.

"Can… I kiss you?" Jean asked, softly, blushing like a girl about to confess her love. She looked nothing like the strong powerful woman I had come to know her as in the time I knew her. She looked… innocent.

"Amber? Eula?" I indicated towards them. They merely nodded.

I looked at Jean, who had closed her eyes, waiting for me to meet her lips.

I obliged, and met hers softly. I felt her lips, inexperienced with kissing, but still with a slight fire in her kiss. It felt… not lustful, but like a release of so many emotions at once, like a reunion, like me returning from war, to meet her once again for the first time in a long time.

Then, just as quickly as it started, she and I separated from the kiss, with Jean having a heavy dusting on her face.

"Um… I need to stay asleep, in this dream…"

She laughed, deliriously.

"I wouldn't mind sleeping forever, with that dream playing in my head…" She laughed, and dozed off at her desk afterwards.

I felt… uneasy, at that moment.

'Let me write a note for her. It'll confirm some stuff for her, when she wakes up tomorrow.'

Grabbing a piece of paper, I wrote a note, and gently tucked the piece of paper next to her.

"She'll be alright. She just needs rest." I confirmed with Eula and Amber, easing their worries seeing their acting grandmaster acting that way.

"Yeah…"

"In the meantime, I want to talk with Barbara, and ask who she told this to. And maybe find out how the tattoos work."

They nodded, as we left Jean's office, with a new goal, to find the source of their power, and to find where Barbara was.

Only one of those things would be done that day. Guess which one.

And chapter 4 is done. This took a lot of time, and sorry if you don't like the way I wrote tired Jean, but this is how I'd imagine she'd act in this situation, when the person she cares about slept with two of her subordinates. Anyways, good night.