"Hello! I'm Paimon, and this is Lumine."
"Nice to meet you, Lumine!"
As Lumine's mouthpiece, Paimon took the initiative and stepped forward to greet Keqing.
Keqing nodded in a friendly way, then looked toward Istaroth and Jean, surprised.
"Captain Jean… I didn't expect you to be in Liyue Harbor too."
"Ningguang didn't even tell me."
"And welcome to Liyue Harbor!"
As one of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing naturally needed to keep track of information from neighboring nations. Since Jean was Mondstadt's top leader, Keqing had to know more about her.
But she didn't know Mondstadt's leadership had already been completely reshuffled.
Jean was no longer the Acting Grand Master.
There was no helping it, Lady Keqing was just too busy.
Aside from her official duties, whenever she had free time, she would go experience life among the people.
If she wasn't working as an offal stew cook, then she was going undercover with the Treasure Hoarders or something like that.
In short, she was someone who couldn't sit still—completely different from Jean, the type who would take on work that wasn't even hers whenever there was something to do… or even when there wasn't.
"Hello, Keqing. I'm Jean. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"But I'm not the Acting Grand Master anymore. This time, I'm visiting Liyue as the King's consort."
"Let me introduce you—this is Her Majesty the Queen, Istaroth."
Jean also knew Keqing wasn't aware of Mondstadt's current situation. Smiling, she stepped forward and introduced Istaroth.
Istaroth smiled as she held onto Rowan's arm and greeted Keqing.
"Hello, Keqing."
"Oh, hello to you both."
"Please come with me. We've already prepared accommodations for you."
"And Ningguang has arranged a banquet at Liuli Pavilion. After I bring you to your residence, I'll take you there."
Keqing hadn't expected that Rowan already had both a queen and a consort. He'd only taken over Mondstadt for a few days, hadn't he?
So he looked all dignified and proper on the surface, but in private he was actually a complete womanizer.
Better keep some distance from him in private.
Rowan had no idea Keqing had already labeled him a womanizer.
Even if he did know, he wouldn't care.
What's wrong with a man liking beautiful women?
"Great! Great!"
"Rowan, I didn't expect that coming to Liyue with you means not only free lodging, but also a free feast!"
"I heard from Xiangling that Liuli Pavilion is one of Liyue's two great culinary styles and the best at Liyue cuisine!"
Paimon happily spun around in midair.
Following Rowan really came with endless benefits.
They'd only just arrived in Liyue, and their house and banquet were already arranged.
It felt amazing.
Lumine couldn't help nodding in agreement.
She wasn't stupid. If it weren't for traveling together with Rowan, the Knight King, then forget a visit hosted by the Qixing—most likely even passing Millelith soldiers wouldn't spare them a second glance.
And a grand meal? They probably wouldn't even know where Wanmin Restaurant was.
Now they could freeload a feast too—bliss.
A short while later.
Everyone followed Keqing into a courtyard on Yujing Terrace.
"Sir Arthur, this is the residence we specifically prepared for you."
"From today onward, it belongs to you exclusively."
"It's also a small token of our sincerity. Please don't mind it."
Keqing opened the door and spoke with a smile.
Paimon and Lumine instantly got jealous.
Seriously—just coming to Liyue once, and Rowan already got a whole courtyard.
With the décor and location, it probably couldn't be bought without a few million Mora.
If Rowan knew what these two little ones were thinking, he'd probably laugh himself to death.
A few million Mora to buy property on Yujing Terrace?
You couldn't even afford a restroom.
This was Yujing Terrace—land worth its weight in gold. Anyone who could buy property here was either extremely rich or extremely powerful.
This single courtyard, without tens of billions of Mora, wasn't even on the table.
And even then, it was the kind of thing money couldn't always buy—priceless and rarely available.
A few million Mora? Forget Yujing Terrace— even in the cheapest part of Chihu Rock, you probably still couldn't buy a courtyard.
This was Liyue, the very heart of Teyvat's wealth.
Of course, to Keqing—who held authority over Liyue's land and resources—this was nothing.
She had plenty of courtyards like this in her hands.
Yujing Terrace, Feiyun Slope, Chihu Rock—she had them all.
"Tonight, please rest well here."
"You can put down your luggage first. I'll wait outside. After that, I'll take you to the banquet to welcome you."
Keqing glanced at the wristwatch she wore and smiled.
Ever since Rowan handed those blueprints to Albedo, more and more modern conveniences had started appearing.
In order to make Mondstadt's economy flourish, large amounts of high-tech goods were manufactured and exported to other nations.
Wristwatches were one of them.
As the Qixing member who valued punctuality the most, Keqing bought one the moment wristwatches appeared in Liyue Harbor.
And it was even a custom-made version—worthy of a young lady.
"Alright, sorry to trouble you."
"We'll come out after we put our things away."
Rowan smiled and nodded. He walked into the house, took a quick look around, then came back out.
He didn't care where he stayed.
Even if he had to stay in the poorest part of Chihu Rock, it wouldn't matter.
It was only a temporary residence, after all.
Meanwhile, Istaroth and Jean enthusiastically chose their rooms, while Lumine and Paimon didn't really mind either.
They casually picked a room outside and moved in.
Back when they were traveling toward Mondstadt City, they'd slept out on the streets more than once.
For them, having a place to stay was already enough.
And besides— even the smallest room here was basically on the level of the Goth Grand Hotel.
Naturally, they had no complaints.
By the time Istaroth and Jean finished choosing rooms, half an hour had already passed.
Then the group followed Keqing to Liuli Pavilion for dinner.
Aside from Keqing, another Qixing attended as well.
The Tianshu Star was there too, but the head of the Qixing, the Tianquan Star Ningguang, did not come.
There was no helping it—tomorrow was the Rite of Descension.
As the person in charge, she was swamped and simply didn't have time to accompany Rowan for dinner.
The banquet itself was pretty good.
Especially Paimon—she put on a performance for everyone: the vanishing food technique.
She ate a full seven people's worth of food before finally clutching her belly and declaring she couldn't eat anymore.
Good thing this meal was on Keqing's tab. If it were Lumine paying, she'd probably have to work at Liuli Pavilion for more than ten years to pay it back.
"Ahhh…"
"I'm so full… If only I could eat like this every day."
Paimon struggled to float in midair, saying happily.
Lumine didn't say a word—she just shot Paimon a cold glare.
Every day? Do you think I've got a mine at home?
I work myself to death and only earn a few thousand Mora a day, and most of it ends up in your stomach.
And you still aren't satisfied? You still want to eat your fill every day?
Do you have any idea how much Mora your one "full meal" costs?
"How about you just go follow that Yuheng Star? I'm pretty sure she can afford to raise you."
"Uh… forget it!"
(End of Chapter)
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