Four days remained before the Windblume Festival ended.
Everyone would naturally wait until it was over before leaving.
After all, Charlotte had entered the photography contest—results wouldn't be announced until the festival concluded.
No rush anyway.
Xia Zhi had a few things to take care of first.
Like a certain Cryo nun. Solitary, with an inverted schedule, she was hard to approach. But Xia Zhi already had a good opening laid out.
That morning, he headed to the Knights of Favonius headquarters and knocked on Captain Jean's office door.
Jean, as warm as ever, set aside her paperwork to brew him tea.
After a sip, Xia Zhi finally spoke. "Captain Jean, actually… I have a small favor to ask."
Jean set down her cup, attentive. "Please, Mr. Xia."
Xia Zhi looked a little embarrassed. Lowering his voice, he said, "It's awkward to say… but I was hoping you could help me find my cat."
Jean blinked. "Your cat?"
Xia Zhi nodded. "We had a lovely white cat. It stayed indoors most of the time, but one day it went out and never came back. At first, we thought maybe it went looking for a mate, so we didn't worry. But days passed, and still nothing. We've searched every street ourselves, no sign. With the Windblume Festival almost over, I want to give it one last effort. Of course, I'm not asking the Knights to turn Mondstadt upside down over a cat. I only thought—since your patrols cover so much ground, if the knights could keep an eye out while on duty, I'd be grateful."
Jean nodded. "Understood. Don't worry, Mr. Xia—I'll issue the notice. Everyone will keep a lookout during their patrols."
"Many thanks, Captain Jean."
After the tea, Xia Zhi gave Jean a massage before leaving.
Jean felt thoroughly relaxed.
Leaning back in her chair, she picked up her phone, thought for a moment, then posted to her circle of friends:
[Searching for a cute white cat in Mondstadt. Please contact me with any leads.]
It was just a casual post.
But as soon as she set her phone down, a reply came in.
Barbara.
That instant reply made it hard not to suspect her little sister had been refreshing her feed obsessively like a true sis-con.
[Barbara]: I think I saw Rosaria from the cathedral pick up a white cat recently.
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Rosaria had gone out again last night to play executioner outside the Church of Favonius.
But she came back much earlier than usual.
For some reason lately, she'd noticed the shady types and monsters inside Mondstadt had suddenly decreased.
It was like some other executioner was secretly stealing her kills.
With no suspicious targets to hunt down, Rosaria simply returned to her nun's dormitory.
Wandering the streets alone at midnight was pointless anyway. She'd much rather go home, curl up with her cat, and sleep.
Her kitty was soft and snow-white, smelling sweet after a bath. Hugging it close and burying her face in its fur for a deep inhale felt so, so good.
Far healthier than a smoke pipe, that was for sure.
Rosaria slept comfortably with the cat in her arms all night.
She woke in the morning full of energy.
First thing out of bed: scoop the litter box, then add milk and food to the bowl. Just as she was about to head into the bathroom to wash up, she heard a knock at the door.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
She wasn't exactly sociable. Basically no nun ever came looking for her.
Except Barbara. She'd occasionally drop by to deliver things distributed by the church—uniforms, scriptures, that kind of stuff.
Rosaria walked over and opened the door.
Sure enough, Barbara stood outside.
But she wasn't alone—beside her stood a young man in black glasses.
Rosaria's gaze brushed over Xia Zhi, then landed back on Barbara. "What is it?"
Barbara eyed Rosaria's sleepwear, the chest crumpled with strange claw-like wrinkles, and asked curiously, "Did you just get up?"
Rosaria nodded. "Mm. What do you want?"
Appearing in rumpled pajamas before a strange man wasn't exactly proper.
But since he was blind, whatever.
Barbara glanced past her into the room. "Oh, it's like this—you picked up a cat recently, didn't you?"
Rosaria raised a brow. "Why are you asking?"
Barbara explained, "Captain Jean just put out a missing-cat notice. She's looking for a cute white cat. I remembered seeing you holding a white cat lately, so I came to ask."
Rosaria paused. When she first found the cat, she did circle the church a few times trying to locate its owner, but with no luck. She hadn't expected someone to suddenly come knocking now. "I did pick up a white cat. But how do you know the one I found is the same cat Captain Jean's looking for?"
Barbara gestured to the man beside her. "This is Mr. Xia—the one who lost the cat. He came with me to confirm it himself."
Rosaria looked at Xia Zhi, suspicion flickering in her eyes. "You lost the cat?"
Xia Zhi nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. My cat likes to wander off, but it always knows the way home. A few days ago it ran out, and at first we didn't worry… but then it never came back."
Rosaria studied him. "Your eyes can't see. How would you know it's your cat?"
"My cat's very smart. As long as I call its name, it'll come running."
"Is that so? What's its name?"
"Little White…"
The moment Xia Zhi said the name, Rosaria and Barbara both felt something white flash across their vision.
A white cat darted out from the room, leaping straight into Xia Zhi's arms.
"Meow meow meow…"
The cat tilted its head back and cried in a cloyingly sweet tone, like it was complaining about its owner only now remembering to look for it after several days.
Xia Zhi reached out to stroke the cat in his arms, soothing it. "It's fine now. I'll take you home soon."
At those words, Rosaria's expression shifted slightly, though she said nothing.
Barbara leaned in to examine the cat curiously. "Looks like this really is Mr. Xia's missing cat."
Xia Zhi nodded. "Yes. I didn't expect to find Little White so quickly. I'm very grateful to you, Miss Barbara, for the information."
Barbara waved it off with a smile. "It's nothing. No need to thank me—Mr. Xia's even given me singing tips before."
Xia Zhi turned to Rosaria. "And thank you, Sister, for taking care of Little White these past few days."
Rosaria crossed her arms, face blank, watching the cat that had cuddled with her last night throw itself into someone else's embrace. "No need to thank me."
From his god's-eye view, Xia Zhi glanced at her.
Not because the crossed-arms posture framed a perfect cleavage window—he'd seen plenty of that through cat vision and wasn't interested.
But because, in psychology, crossed arms usually suggested rejection.
Which meant this seemingly calm, collected Cryo nun might very well be cursing him in her head.
After a bit of small talk, Xia Zhi and Barbara took their leave.
Rosaria stood in the doorway, silently watching their backs fade into the distance.
From greeting to parting, the cat hadn't looked at her even once.
That faithless creature…
She remembered something.
That night she'd carried the cat on a walk, she'd seen Xia Zhi and Noelle together and followed them.
If the cat really was his, then having finally spotted its owner, it should've shown some excitement at least.
But back then it had stayed quiet the whole time—none of the clinginess it showed today.
Rosaria felt something didn't add up.
But since she'd only shadowed them without revealing herself, she had no way to bring it up now.
Once their figures disappeared completely, Rosaria returned to her room and shut the door.
A few steps in, she spotted the cat bowl by the wall, still full of untouched milk and jerky.
Her chest felt strangely tight.
With a sigh, she picked up the discarded smoke pipe from the corner.
Smoke once again filled the room.