"Mr. Albert shouldn't want my life, right…?"
Barbara lowered her head. After being scolded by Rowan, her little face had turned bright red.
Hearing Rowan describe Albert as so worthless and so bad, she couldn't help raising her head and stubbornly retorting.
The moment Rowan heard that, he felt awful.
Anger surged up, and he lifted his right hand high.
Barbara got so frightened she hurriedly shrank her neck, not daring to look at Rowan.
Looking at Barbara trembling a little from being scared by him, Rowan sighed.
His heart softened.
After all, she was just a kid not even eighteen yet.
Just a minor—back in his hometown, a girl her age would probably still be innocently living her life and going to university.
With that thought, Rowan's raised right hand slowly relaxed, then landed on Barbara's head, gently rubbing it.
"Barbara, you need to understand something."
"This world doesn't only have good people. It also has bad people."
"Right now, Albert really hasn't done anything that directly harmed you."
"But have you ever thought about one thing—hasn't he been getting more and more excessive?"
Barbara hadn't expected Rowan to only rub her head gently. She felt a little shy.
But after hearing his words, she froze.
…It did seem like that.
At first, Albert only liked her. When she sang, he would shout and cheer like crazy from below the stage.
Then he started asking for autographs and giving her gifts.
All of it was the kind of thing fans did, including the existence of that Barbara Fan Support Club.
Barbara knew about it. Most of the people in it were like Albert.
They liked her, cheered for her, and praised her as fans.
But as time passed, Albert's behavior became excessive.
A few days ago, Barbara went to Wolvendom to pick hook-shaped berries, and halfway there, she realized someone was following her.
When she turned around, it was Albert.
If Lumine hadn't appeared in time to help her out, who knew what he would've done?
Even though he had righteously claimed he was "there to help."
Barbara was naïve, and she wasn't good at refusing people—but she wasn't stupid.
In the wilderness, a girl walking alone.
With an adult man behind her.
Even an idiot knew what could happen.
Even if Barbara had a Hydro Vision, she was still just an ordinary prayer deaconess—she had no combat ability at all.
Now that Rowan brought it up, Barbara finally realized that maybe she had been targeted long ago.
"Barbara, just from your expression, I can tell—he's definitely done more than just today."
"So tell me. Is he really innocent?"
"Yes, he won't take your life."
"But you'll lose some things… and you should understand that better than I do, as a young girl."
"Not to mention—you're still the future Grand Priestess of the Church of Favonius."
Rowan noticed Barbara's face growing paler and paler, and he knew his words were taking effect.
And that Albert really wasn't crossing the line for the first time.
What obsessive fans would do—anyone who understood, understood.
Anyone who didn't could just look it up and they'd know.
Albert had already started openly peeping and stalking.
What he would do next…
It really wasn't something anyone wanted to imagine.
"You two sisters are seriously both a headache."
"You know refusing people could prevent so many problems, but you just refuse to do it."
"And look at what it's become. Seriously—impressive."
Rowan was genuinely speechless at these two sisters.
They really were carved from the same mold.
No wonder they were family.
Barbara lowered her head, not saying a word, not sure what she was thinking.
"In short, Barbara, you need to understand one thing," Rowan said.
"Don't learn from your sister—doing anything and everything just because Mondstadt's residents ask."
"And don't cater to those fans during your holidays."
"When it's time to rest, that's your private time. There's no need to keep satisfying fan requests."
"Keep it to official settings. Like concerts, or you can set one time slot each week where you do autographs and photos at the Church of Favonius."
"There's no need to keep accommodating them during your private time."
"That will only make them push further and further. Sure, some people might turn from fans into haters because of it, but you have to make choices."
"Otherwise things like Albert will happen again. You need to learn from this."
"Don't let it be like today, then tomorrow you act like nothing happened and just go back to normal."
"When something truly happens, it'll be too late!"
Rowan spoke earnestly.
Barbara still didn't say anything, her head lowered.
After a long time—just when Rowan started to worry he'd made Barbara cry—
Barbara finally lifted her head and forced out a smile, then left in a daze.
"…I'll think it through. I'm a bit tired today. Please tell Sister Victoria for me."
"I'm going home to rest."
Watching Barbara's back, Rowan felt a guilty sense that he'd bullied her.
But there was no choice—she had to change her current situation.
Otherwise, who knew what would happen later?
Rowan was truly doing this for her sake, not talking nonsense.
He could only hope Barbara would understand it herself.
Hadn't Jean been the same back then?
She also drifted through a few days in a haze, then figured it out.
He hoped Barbara would recover quickly too.
After returning to the Church of Favonius and telling Sister Victoria, Rowan finally left.
Meanwhile…
Barbara returned home. Without even greeting Jean, she went straight to her room, threw herself onto her bed, and kept thinking about Rowan's words.
What should she do?
Could it be that… being good to fans was wrong?
Jean looked worriedly at the tightly shut door.
Barbara's expression today was really off.
And she wasn't as lively as usual.
What happened?
Jean didn't know Barbara had been harassed—otherwise she wouldn't be this calm.
"Father, do you know what happened with Barbara?"
"Why does she seem so down when she came back today?"
Jean didn't know what happened, but Seamus definitely would.
Even though Seamus was no longer the Grand Priest of the Church of Favonius, he still had plenty of information channels.
Barbara's situation at the church—he definitely knew it all.
Seamus set down the coat in his hands, changed into slippers, walked up to Jean, and sighed while looking at the tightly shut door.
"Sigh…"
"You two sisters are the same."
"I really don't know what to say."
(End of Chapter)
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