"Cloud Retainer… your idea sounds great, but—when did you ever learn how to raise children?"
Ganyu's face went completely red. She didn't even notice her own voice trembling.
"You silly child. Weren't you and Shenhe raised by one?"
Cloud Retainer huffed.
"And one has looked after you for thousands of years. Have you forgotten already?"
"Ganyu, if someone in the mortal realm can make your heart stir, then that's fate. You've only run into a moment like this once in thousands of years—you should seize it."
She paused, then added with a sigh,
"Otherwise, who knows how many more thousands of years you'll have to wait for the next one."
Cloud Retainer sounded oddly wistful.
After all… one had lived for ages and still hadn't run into it.
Envy.
"Cloud Retainer… have you ever been moved by a mortal too?" Ganyu blinked, then looked over, eyes full of curiosity.
That question froze Cloud Retainer on the spot.
Was one supposed to admit that after thousands of years, one still hadn't liked anyone?
Wouldn't that be humiliating?
Cloud Retainer cleared her throat. A faint blush crept onto her face as she forced herself to sound casual.
"Ganyu, those are old matters. Leave them be. One brings this up every year, and it's been thousands of years of you hearing it."
She waved a wing, as if that settled everything.
"Now you finally meet someone who makes your heart stir—hold on to that chance."
"Cloud Retainer… I believe you. I'll listen," Ganyu said, hesitating. "But there's a problem that's really putting me in a corner."
"What is it?" Cloud Retainer asked, watching her.
"Cloud Retainer… he just got married," Ganyu said softly.
"…Hm?"
Cloud Retainer stared.
"Ganyu… you fell for a married man? That's what you're into?"
Then she let out a long sigh.
"Ah… your love story ended before it even began. What am I supposed to say to you? I told you ages ago to act first—you never listened. And now you're alone again."
Ganyu's expression went dark. "Cloud Retainer, isn't that why I said I've been troubled by it? The way you were urging me on… I even started thinking about competing with Keqing for him."
"Nonsense," Cloud Retainer snapped. "One thought you were hesitating over whether to pursue him in the first place. Who knew you'd—wait."
Her eyes widened.
"Did you just say… Keqing?"
Cloud Retainer did remember Keqing. That girl had ability and character—among the new Liyue Qixing, she had the sharpest spark. Every Lantern Rite, she would send gifts.
The gifts themselves weren't useful to one, but the thought had lasted for many years. That meant Keqing remembered.
And if Cloud Retainer recalled correctly, Keqing and Ganyu were quite close.
"C-Cloud Retainer… Keqing invited me to her home," Ganyu said, cheeks burning as she explained everything from start to finish. "I could tell she probably wanted my help with something. Then he came back, and my heart… just."
She swallowed.
"After I returned to Yujing Terrace, I couldn't focus on work at all. So I came to see you, to ask you what I should do."
Cloud Retainer fell silent.
At first, Ganyu liking a married man already felt wrong. Ganyu had adepti blood—how could she be involved with someone else's husband?
And on top of that, it involved Keqing.
For once, even Cloud Retainer didn't know what to say.
"Master," a woman's voice said calmly. "In my view, have Keqing divorce him. As long as you step in, Master, even Ningguang wouldn't dare argue with you."
At some point, a tall woman had walked out from the abode. Her figure was slender, her bearing impeccable—yet cold enough to keep people at a distance.
Cloud Retainer stared at Shenhe like she'd lost her mind.
"What?"
You want one to go to Liyue Harbor and force Keqing to divorce?
Then make him marry Ganyu?
Does your Master not need dignity?!
[End of chapter]
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