Goethe Hotel.
Rosalyne's mood was like a rollercoaster, fluctuating wildly.
Staring at the photo filled with densely packed Ruin Machines, Rosalyne broke out in cold sweat.
A few hundred Ruin Machines against a single Knights of Favonius member?
Wasn't that the same as taking her life?
It was like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.
And this was even after knowing full well that Eula's threats were just her catchphrase, not real intimidation.
Rosalyne's mind went blank for a moment.
Eula's grudge-holding was clearly just a form of self-protection, yet it had drawn Su Xuan's ire.
If it were someone as arrogant and domineering as herself, wouldn't her mouth get twisted off the moment she opened it?
Imagining herself with her mouth twisted off, Rosalyne shuddered.
She secretly warned herself: when inviting him later, she had to watch her words extra carefully.
Mondstadt Knights of Favonius.
Amber, who had just left, came charging back.
Her face full of anxiety, she said to Jean and Lisa, "Acting Grand Master Jean, this is bad! Eula offended that traveler from beyond this world on Dragonspine!"
Jean rubbed her temples hard, unsure how to respond to Amber.
Lisa, on the other hand, casually sipped her tea and flipped through Su Xuan's diary, occasionally peering at the photos to count the Ruin Machines on site.
"Amber, no need to panic. Panicking won't help anyway."
"If Su Xuan really meant harm to Eula, even if Acting Grand Master Jean could fly there, it'd be too late by the time she arrived."
Amber: "Huh? Miss Lisa, this..."
Lisa looked up at the near-tears Amber and said solemnly, "Since he knows Eula so well, he wouldn't kill her over something this minor."
"Besides, from my observations, Eula is most likely a holder of the diary copy too. So Su Xuan's probably just joking with her. She'll be fine."
"Diary copy holder?" Amber blinked in confusion. "What does that have to do with this?"
At that, Lisa cleared her throat, put away her usual laziness, and stared seriously at Amber, who gulped repeatedly in intimidation.
This was the first time she'd seen Lisa so serious—the aura alone made it hard for Amber to breathe.
"Amber, listen up. I'm about to tell you the ultimate secret about us diary copy holders."
Amber: "!?"
Jean's eyes lowered slightly; Lisa's behavior left the Dandelion Knight speechless.
It felt exactly like fulfilling an order from their master—sending all the diary copy holders straight to Su Xuan's room.
At that thought, Jean's heart skipped a beat.
Even now, she had no idea who in Mondstadt held a diary copy.
Of course, one figure quietly surfaced in her mind.
"Barbara doesn't have one too, does she?" Jean wondered anxiously.
Seeing Lisa gearing up to coax Amber into heading home and waiting, Jean abruptly stood, ignoring their surprised looks, and rushed out of the office.
Dragonspine.
Looking at the endless sea of Ruin Machines, Eula's scalp tingled, her legs trembling slightly from the sheer terror, barely able to stand.
If this many Ruin Machines marched on Mondstadt, they could probably take the city.
For an individual like her, this situation wasn't about struggling or not—struggling was pointless.
Eula simply didn't bother drawing Song of Broken Pines. She bent her knees, sat properly before Su Xuan, closed her eyes, and said, "I apologize for threatening you earlier."
"Could you just give me a quick end? Like how you instantly snapped that mad village chief's neck on Yashiori Island."
Su Xuan: "..."
The handsome guy was speechless.
The Spindrift Knight was even more serious than he'd imagined.
"I was just planning to play a game with you, to see how many Ruin Machines your power could take down."
"And you surrendered just like that?" Su Xuan shrugged helplessly.
Eula's eyes snapped open. "You're not killing me?"
"When did I ever say I would?" Su Xuan countered.
Eula stood, pulled out Su Xuan's diary copy, and pointed at the last line right in front of him. "You said I'd pay the price."
"So where does it say anything about killing you?" Su Xuan waved dismissively, the Ruin Machines behind him slowly vanishing. "What a buzzkill. Woman, I hold this grudge now."
Eula froze at his words, but then she caught the arc of his smile, and her heart suddenly lightened.
Su Xuan was just mimicking her catchphrase, but paired with his smile, it felt like banter between old friends.
When had she started feeling like old acquaintances with Su Xuan?
Or rather, why did meeting him in person for the first time feel like reuniting with a long-lost friend?
It turned out that reading through Su Xuan's diary had already given her some familiarity with the man before her, and his omniscience only amplified it.
Their unintentional rapport had led to all this.
"Pfft!" Eula suddenly chuckled. "Didn't expect someone as powerful as you to joke around."
"I'm not a robot—why couldn't I? You're the one who can't take a joke." Su Xuan looked disdainful. "But since you ruined my fun, come with me to Durin's Heart Cave."
"I plan to gather some info on Alchemical Creations there."
"Alchemical Creations?" Eula blinked, then eyed Su Xuan curiously. "Didn't expect someone as strong as you to still crave knowledge so much."
"Studying Ruin Guards at Stormterror's Lair, rushing straight to Dragonspine for Ruin Machines, and now off to research Alchemical Creations."
After hearing Eula's praise, Su Xuan gave her a patient, questioning look.
Eula felt a pang of guilt under his gaze.
Afraid she'd said something wrong again and upset him.
She was about to apologize when Su Xuan said, "I'm not as diligent as you think."
"They're right here, so I'm collecting data conveniently. Understanding these things myself, and packaging the knowledge to send to someone else."
"Two birds with one stone."
That piqued the Spindrift Knight's curiosity.
It even ignited Eula's innate feminine gossip soul. She leaned in and asked, "Who are you sending it to?"
"That kind person from Inazuma you mentioned?"
Seeing Su Xuan shake his head, Eula grew puzzled. "Then who?"
"The people you mention in your diary can be counted on one hand."
"You Mondstadters," Su Xuan said flatly.
Mondstadters who loved research.
A voluptuous, graceful figure gradually came to mind.
Eula looked at him in shock, as if struck. "You... you don't mean Lisa, do you?"
"Yeah, she's mine." Su Xuan said it calmly, without a ripple in his heart.
Eula wasn't as composed.
She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. "I thought you two only met a few days ago."
"The first night I met her, she was mine," Su Xuan replied indifferently.
Eula: "?"
"Oh, right, and Jean too. Last night, she was mine as well."
Eula: "?"
No wonder he wrote in the diary about chatting happily with Lisa, helping Jean save Dvalin—they'd clearly gotten together already?
Eula paused mid-step, frozen in place, lost in thought.
Lisa, the elegant and refined genius witch.
Jean, the upright and resilient future Grand Master.
One became Su Xuan's that very night, the next the following night.
Wasn't this pace a bit too fast?
But thinking of the diary copy in her hand eased her doubts a lot.
Still, it felt utterly unbelievable.
This man wasn't just messing with her, was he?
"Miss Spindrift Knight, you seem awfully eager."
Su Xuan eyed the flustered, bewildered Eula with amusement.
"If you're in such a hurry, I permit you to cut in line."
Eula: "?".