Chapter 186.
Do not discuss your career with two specific girls who possess Pyro Visions.
Mona warned, her tone grave.
Otherwise, something catastrophic will happen.
Yoimiya blinked, utterly bewildered.
Setting off fireworks is catastrophic? she wondered, struggling to connect the dots.
Beside her, Kamisato Ayaka's breath hitched. In a sudden, terrifying flash of insight, she remembered a specific fear Futsu Mitama had once voiced.
Klee and Hu Tao.
If you added Yoimiya's explosive, unfiltered enthusiasm to the Spark Knight and the eccentric Funeral Director—it wouldn't just be an elemental reaction. They would level the entire harbor.
Is Mona's astrology truly that terrifyingly accurate?
Ayaka thought, her heart skipping a beat.
Watching the gears turn in Ayaka's head, Yae Miko's lips curled into a mysterious, highly satisfied smile. The Guuji had deliberately brought Yoimiya to Liyue hoping for a little chaos.
If the fireworks maker naturally gravitated toward Klee, and then organically stumbled into Hu Tao—well, Miko wouldn't actively push them together. But she certainly wouldn't stop fate, either. She was simply here to enjoy the fireworks.
"I have absolutely no idea what that means, but I'll write it down!"
Yoimiya nodded cheerfully, completely oblivious to the apocalyptic scenario she represented.
"Next."
Mona announced, wiping the hydro mirror clean.
But as Ganyu and Miko stepped forward, the astrologer immediately threw up her hands and stepped back.
"No. Absolutely not. I cannot read either of you."
"Huh?"
Ganyu blinked in soft surprise.
"Why the hesitation, Mona?" Miko teased, a dangerous, playful glint in her violet eyes. "Is our future truly that cloudy? I thought you could read anyone."
Mona sighed, rubbing her temples to ward off an impending headache.
"It's not my skill that is lacking. It is a matter of survival. Both of you are intimately tethered to Archons. Trying to divine your fates is tantamount to spying on the gods themselves."
Mona shuddered, remembering her disastrous attempt to scry Zhongli's fate a month prior. Peering into the lives of divine familiars was essentially knocking on an Archon's front door and asking for a fight.
Unless her master—the infamous 'Old Hag'—was present, Mona wasn't suicidal enough to risk the cosmic backlash.
"If Futsu Mitama were here to act as a buffer, I could safely peer through the veil."
Mona explained flatly.
"But without him? I am far too young to invoke the wrath of the heavens. I refuse to court death."
"I understand." Ganyu breathed a sigh of genuine relief, her curiosity easily giving way to caution. "We can simply wait for his return."
"Does that mean it's my turn?"
Gorou stepped forward, his ears perked with desperate hope. He looked at the astrologer as if she were a lifeline.
"Please... can you tell me how much longer I have to suffer?"
Mona's brow furrowed.
Suffer?
Out of professional obligation, she condensed her hydro mirror. The stars swirled, and as the constellation settled, Mona cast a deeply sympathetic look at the Watatsumi General, then shot a knowing glance at Yae Miko—who was smiling serenely.
"To change your fate." Mona said solemnly, bound by the unvarnished truth of the stars, "you must first change yourself."
Change myself?
Gorou's tail drooped. He stepped aside, instantly plunging into an agonizing spiral of self-reflection. What part of himself was he supposed to change?
Watching him sulk, Kujou Sara shook her head in silent exasperation.
Both she and Kaedehara Kazuha had repeatedly warned the general about Miko's manipulative tactics at the Yae Publishing House, yet he continuously fell into the Guuji's traps. He was a brilliant, iron-willed tactician on the battlefield, yet utterly defenseless against a cunning kitsune.
Pushing past the canine general, Sara stepped into the light.
"Will Inazuma know peace for the next century?" she asked firmly.
Mona deadpanned.
"Are you trying to get me killed? Divining the century-long destiny of a divine nation is a death sentence. The variables are astronomical. Even my master would refuse that."
Sara accepted the rebuke gracefully.
"Then... what of the Kujou Clan? Is there any hope left for my family?"
She wasn't asking for herself. Her own future was secure, but her clan had been stripped of its noble prestige following Takayuki's treason. Without the Shogun's favor, they were drowning, and Sara—despite her rank—could no longer intervene on their behalf.
Mona gazed into the watery depths.
"The Kujou Clan's future is... stable. But unremarkable. There will be no grand resurgence."
A flicker of quiet disappointment crossed Sara's eyes, though she masked it instantly. It was a cold, logical truth. Unless a second 'Kujou Sara' was born into their ranks, their golden age was permanently over.
She stepped back, accepting the cold reality without complaint.
A heavy silence fell over the porch. Every eye slowly pivoted to Kamisato Ayaka.
"Well, Ayaka?" Miko purred, thoroughly enjoying the sudden tension. "Aren't you going to consult the stars?"
Ganyu tilted her head in curiosity. Even Gorou and Sara watched expectantly.
Ayaka took a deep, trembling breath, steeling her resolve. She stepped close to Mona, her cheeks flushed with a soft pink hue.
"I wish to know about... love." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the evening breeze. "But please, Miss Mona, only reveal the result to me privately."
Her plea was meant to be discreet, but to the heightened senses of the qilin, the tengu, and the kitsune, it was crystal clear.
Miko's eyes practically sparkled with predatory delight. The Guuji knew exactly whose name was written on the Shirasagi Himegimi's heart.
"Of course."
Mona agreed smoothly. She was accustomed to the fragile egos of the lovestruck.
She channeled her Hydro vision, the water mirror rippling as dazzling starlight fractured across its surface. Mona peered into the astral reflection, seeking the threads of Ayaka's romantic destiny.
Suddenly, Mona's breath hitched. A myriad of complex, overwhelming emotions flickered across the astrologer's face as she looked up at the young noblewoman.
"Well?"
Ayaka asked, her hands clasped tight against her chest, her heart hammering frantically against her ribs.
Mona parted her lips, preparing to deliver the revelation—
"WE'RE BAAAACK! You guys waited forever, right?!"
A shrill, excessively cheerful voice shattered the quiet intimacy of the courtyard. Paimon floated through the entryway, waving excitedly.
Trailing right behind the floating fairy were Futsu Mitama, Lumine, Sangonomiya Kokomi, Kuki Shinobu, and the rest of the missing entourage.
The quiet fortune-telling session was officially, and abruptly, over.