"Acting Grand Master Jean, is the Knights of Favonius's work alright?" Stelle looked at the tall, graceful figure walking in front of her and couldn't help but ask.
Although it currently seemed that saving Dvalin was more important, Acting Grand Master Jean was, after all, the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, and according to Amber, Acting Grand Master Jean had a lot of work every day, so much so that she couldn't even spare a moment to rest for an entire day.
"It's fine. Generally speaking, there's no work at night." Acting Grand Master Jean seemed to have misunderstood Stelle's meaning, looking as if it were a matter of course.
"Uh… I wasn't talking about the night." Stelle looked up at the night sky.
They were all people of action. Not long ago, they had formulated a plan to save Dvalin, and then Grandpa Lu… Ahem, she meant Diluc, Diluc immediately set off with Stelle.
From the looks of it, they should be able to bring the skylyre back today.
Therefore, Stelle and Acting Grand Master Jean also immediately followed the two, heading from the tavern to the location Venti had marked on the map.
As for what Venti was doing… in this plan, he seemed to have forgotten to include himself.
Perhaps he was taking advantage of Diluc's absence to drink alone and drown his sorrows.
"Acting Grand Master Jean, if you don't rest tonight, will tomorrow's work be affected?" Stelle regained her composure and continued to ask.
"Oh, that's fine, actually. It's just staying up one night." Acting Grand Master Jean seemed to have long been accustomed to this.
"By the way, Miss Stelle, why have you been following behind me?" Acting Grand Master Jean suddenly reacted and turned her head to ask in confusion.
"This…" Stelle was a bit at a loss for how to explain.
She couldn't possibly say: "I'm afraid you'll be enchanted by me and then devour me."
"No, nothing, I'm sorry… I'm walking a bit slowly." Stelle scratched her head, offering a forced explanation.
"Is that so? My apologies, I didn't consider that." Acting Grand Master Jean did not express doubt about Stelle's explanation.
She was, after all, someone who ran every morning, and coupled with her usual need to race against time to handle Knights of Favonius work, the habit of walking fast had long been formed.
Therefore, she immediately slowed her pace and walked side by side with Stelle.
"Although collecting the tear Crystalize is very important, we still have plenty of time."
"Hmm…" Stelle nodded guiltily, glancing at Acting Grand Master Jean's figure, and said nothing more.
Actually, thinking about it carefully, not everyone had been attracted to her so far.
Although she herself was a bit afraid to look at herself, perhaps there were some exceptions among the people in this world.
For example, Rosaria seemed very calm when interacting with her.
And Miss Margaret, whom she met this afternoon, didn't show anything particularly unusual either.
So, it should be fine for her to walk closer to Acting Grand Master Jean, right…
Stelle looked thoughtful, walking and lost in thought.
And she didn't notice that Acting Grand Master Jean beside her was not as relaxed as she appeared at the moment.
"What's going on…" Although the night air was cool and pleasant this season, Acting Grand Master Jean inexplicably felt a wave of heat.
Walking beside Stelle, she always found herself irresistibly drawn to look at Stelle.
It was as if Stelle possessed some kind of magic.
Subconsciously, she wanted to distance herself, but she had been the one to slow down and walk beside Stelle. If she distanced herself now…
Stelle would probably overthink it, right?
The two of them each thought about the other, and they didn't say anything more along the way.
The atmosphere felt a little stiff, and by the time they realized it, neither knew what to say first.
"That…"
"Acting Grand Master Jean…"
Both spoke at the same time.
They both wanted to break the awkward silence, but they didn't expect their timing to coincide perfectly.
"You go first." Acting Grand Master Jean's cheeks were slightly flushed, and she said softly to Stelle.
It was a bit too strange. She wouldn't normally act like such a young girl, but today…
She wasn't even that familiar with Stelle yet; their time together hadn't been long.
Yet now, merely speaking a few words, she acted as if she had harbored secret feelings for the other person for a long time.
It was truly too strange…
"Haha… Well, actually, I don't know what to say either. I just felt that this continuous silence was a bit awkward, so I wanted to find a random topic." Stelle laughed awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Acting Grand Master Jean slowly exhaled, allowing her flushed mind to cool down for a moment.
She felt that she had been overly preoccupied, which had caused her to neglect Stelle and make their atmosphere so awkward.
"Let's just, chat simply. We still have some distance to our destination." Acting Grand Master Jean was saying perfectly normal things, but her eyes were somewhat evasive, as if she was feeling guilty about something.
"Alright, what does Acting Grand Master Jean want to talk about?" Stelle nodded. Being able to talk a bit was better than awkward silence.
"Um, I was wondering, Miss Stelle, do you… have a lover?" Acting Grand Master Jean's face was red, and her last sentence was so quiet it was almost inaudible.
"…"
The air seemed to solidify. Stelle looked at Acting Grand Master Jean, her expression somewhat complex.
Acting Grand Master Jean had asked the question on impulse, and now seeing Stelle remain silent, she also panicked a little.
"Ah, it's just, well, I usually enjoy reading romance novels, so I'm quite curious about that sort of thing."
To avoid making Stelle suspicious, she even revealed her little-known hobby.
"Hmm, currently widowed." Stelle looked at Acting Grand Master Jean with a hint of despair and slowly spoke.
Sure enough, she was still affected by her.
But why was Rosaria fine? She felt that as long as she didn't actively tease Rosaria, interacting with Rosaria should be no different from interacting with ordinary people.
Was it due to personality?
Rosaria seemed like a more aloof and lazy person, while Acting Grand Master Jean—she was a really good person, and her good reputation spread throughout Mondstadt City.
Perhaps because of this, she was more easily influenced by her…
"Um, Acting Grand Master Jean, I'm sorry, I was just kidding." Stelle looked at Acting Grand Master Jean, who had subconsciously stopped in shock, and quickly explained.
She remembered someone asking her a similar question before, and she seemed to have answered the same way.
That person immediately saw that she was joking, but Acting Grand Master Jean seemed to have taken her seriously.
"Oh, is that so? That's good then…" Acting Grand Master Jean breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile reappeared on her face.
Hearing Ann say that, and seeing his somewhat desperate expression, Acting Grand Master Jean truly held her breath.
Her heart was filled with complex emotions: regret for asking that question, pity for Ann, and more than anything, an impulse.
She almost blurted out, "I'll take care of you from now on!"
Thankfully, Ann was just joking.