Under the flowering trees with light rain and darting swallows, Ganyu stood trembling slightly, her amethyst eyes rippling, ashamed and angry to the point of wanting to disappear.
Back when her qilin essence had mysteriously gone missing, she had considered asking Ken to use the Great Prophecy to find the thief.
She never expected to see the missing item in Ken's possession.
The coconut milk in Ken's hand was clearly her qilin essence.
W-Why?
Why would her qilin essence be in Ken's hands?
From what Ganyu knew of Ken, she didn't think he would ever do something like… theft.
If so… why was her essence in his hands, and why was he drinking it… This was essence that had flowed out of her own breast. H-How could this be!
Countless thoughts tangled in her mind. Ganyu wanted to crawl into a hole—this was way too embarrassing. But before things were made clear, she couldn't let it show.
Otherwise it might get even more awkward.
Noticing Ganyu's expression, Ken also realized something was off. He glanced at the coconut milk in his hand, and his heart sank.
When the system had labeled it Ganyu-brand coconut milk, he already knew it had something to do with Ganyu.
But he'd assumed this essence was something Ganyu had unconsciously produced over hundreds of years, unknown even to her, and that he'd merely obtained it via a gacha.
Like that Osmanthus wine he drew: not truly brewed by the adepti, but a system-replicated product from Jueyun Karst—same type, even better effects—without troubling the adepti themselves.
But now it seemed he'd overthought it…
The system was this perverted?
Did it steal from Ganyu's home?
Meaning this was all freshly produced essence?
Did the system really need to be this insane?
Do something proper for once, system.
But the system had no consciousness—just a cold machine. No matter how much Ken cursed it, it wouldn't stir. It was just a cheat-channel.
His gaze flicked between Ganyu and the coconut milk for a while, and he finally decided to play dumb.
Otherwise they'd both die of embarrassment.
"What's wrong, Ganyu?"
To ease the awkwardness, Ken set the glass bottle aside and didn't keep drinking.
If he drained it in front of her, the shy, timid qilin might never show her face again.
"T-The thing in your hand… what is it?"
Ganyu mustered her courage. She was too embarrassed to ask directly, but this had to be clarified.
Could Ken really have… s-stolen her essence?
"This? Isn't it coconut milk from Teyvat? Not too salty or sweet—just right. Do you like it too, Ganyu?"
Ken kept a straight face while his heart roiled.
Damn dog system.
What a mess. Looking at the bashful Ganyu, he racked his brains for the best way to resolve it.
If he botched the explanation, Ganyu might think he was a pervert.
Granted, he was a little pervy at times, but not to the point of stealing someone's bre—coconut milk.
"Coconut milk? I just haven't seen that kind before… I wanted to know where you got it…"
Ganyu stammered, doing her best to stay composed.
Even so, her face looked ripe enough to pick.
"The Vortex Gate," Ken said seriously. "Every time the Vortex Gate takes me back from Teyvat, it randomly brings some local specialties. Probably because it's so powerful, it unintentionally affects things around it—hard to control."
The Vortex Gate… So the thing that took her essence was the Vortex Gate.
From Ken's reaction, he clearly didn't know what was inside the bottle. Thank goodness she hadn't said too much, or this would have been impossible to wrap up.
But why would the Vortex Gate randomly take her essence?
Was that considered a Teyvat specialty?
Ganyu was stunned, mortified beyond belief. She forced herself to ask through her shyness, "S-So that's how it is… I thought you bought it somewhere."
"No." Ken exhaled slowly. "It's just one of those random specialties the Gate brings when leaving Teyvat. I don't know where it came from."
Hearing that, Ganyu's expression eased a little.
Ken also quietly let out a breath. He'd almost failed to explain that one.
If his reputation was ruined over coconut milk, what a waste that'd be.
But seeing Ganyu like this, another question dawned on him: could all those bottles he'd gotten recently be freshly produced by Ganyu?
That would be way too deranged.
"Uh… I see."
Ganyu was never very eloquent, and now she was even more at a loss.
But leaving now would be even more awkward…
After all, Mr. Ken didn't know.
It was the Vortex Gate's fault—but it had no consciousness. Maybe when it sucked her in last time, it casually took a Liyue specialty related to her…
Thinking that, Ganyu stammered, "A-Am I interrupting your breakfast?"
"No." Ken had no experience handling this sort of thing, but he knew the best move was to play dumb.
"T-Then go ahead and eat." Ganyu said bashfully.
If she didn't let him continue, wouldn't that seem strange to Ken?
He didn't know what it really was. If she acted like it was nothing, it'd be fine… Ganyu silently coached herself.
"Okay…"
After a brief silence, under Ganyu's mortified gaze, Ken picked up the coconut milk and finished it in one go.
The rich, milky aroma and icy chill spread out, refreshing and invigorating.
He even wanted more.
Seeing his satisfied look, Ganyu kept chanting in her heart: I want to die…
But watching Ken drink it so casually only confirmed her suspicion. He definitely didn't know what was inside—otherwise he wouldn't have drunk it in front of her so calmly.
Though she was mortified…
Knowing Ken was unaware eased her embarrassment a lot.
Unfortunately, all her essence had just been drunk by Ken, leaving her with a hollowed-out feeling.
"Want to go check on the glaze lilies and qingxin? They're doing well."
Not knowing what else to talk about, Ken picked a topic Ganyu liked.
"Huh? …Okay." Ganyu snapped back and followed him to the backyard.
…
In the backyard, the glaze lilies and qingxin were lush and thriving.
The closer they got, the more the fresh fragrance wafted over.
"Want to cut a little to take home?"
Seeing how well the plants were doing, Ken asked.
At the sight of the tender qingxin, Ganyu's body reacted on instinct.
She kind of wanted to eat.
But lately, every time she ate qingxin and glaze lilies, her body would produce essence.
She'd been troubled at first, but once she accepted it was a normal bodily reaction, she didn't reject it as much.
But now…
If she ate Ken's plants again and produced essence, wouldn't the Vortex Gate bring it to Ken once more?
How would that be any different from Ken lying on top of her and drinking it directly?
The more she thought about it, the more ashamed and angry she felt. She hurriedly said, "N-No… If I eat more, I'll have to spend time losing weight again."
With that, Ganyu quickly turned away, forcing herself not to look at the glaze lilies and qingxin. Otherwise it'd be hard to resist.
But to keep Ken from drinking her essence again, Ganyu decided…
She had to endure!
"It's fine. If you want some later, come by and pick a little. With proper moderation, you won't gain weight."
Ken quietly hinted.
Every time Ganyu ate at his place, she started out demure and restrained, but when it came to actually eating, she never held back.
She would chow down hard—sometimes more than him, a grown man. That was one reason she kept getting over-nourished.
Otherwise, even with buffed plants from the system, small amounts wouldn't cause over-nutrition.
Dose matters for everything.
"Mm… I know."
Head lowered, Ganyu stared at her toes, mood complicated.
"If you don't want to take any with you, let's head back. I recently got two light novels from Inazuma's Yae Publishing. Let's check them out." Ken didn't tease the timid qilin, and instead found a topic to break the tension.
Ganyu nodded meekly and followed him back to the front yard.
Though she worked most of the time, she still liked light novels.
Especially those from Yae Publishing.
Ganyu sat obediently on a stool and started flipping through the books on the stone table, quickly becoming absorbed.
Ken let out a slow breath. Today's incident was too twisted, but at least it was resolved perfectly.
As for the novels from Yae Publishing, he skimmed a bit and set them down. The pink-haired fox had decent taste, but it wasn't his type.
…
Meanwhile—
The Jade Chamber was bustling.
After working overtime all night, Keqing came to discuss that plot of land with Ningguang.
When she heard Ningguang planned to build a bank there, Keqing immediately bristled.
"What do you mean by that?"
She stood up, pink eyes glaring at Ningguang.
It wasn't that Keqing was being unreasonable, but their management approaches differed.
To Keqing, Ningguang unilaterally seizing the land broke protocol.
Besides…
You can steal my man, but now you're stealing my land too?
Intolerable.
"Don't be so agitated. The residential areas of Liyue Harbor are sufficient; that's not an urgent need. A bank that can represent Liyue's face is."
Calmly, Ningguang poured herself tea.
The once dignified, noble Ningguang was casual today—a long robe draped over her, white hair loose, languid and relaxed.
But to Keqing, that looked radiant.
And why radiant? Clearly, someone had been… well-nourished.
Keqing's chest rose and fell. "We agreed on this before. You raised no objections at the time. If you suddenly change your mind, the proper process is to formally convene a meeting and re-discuss, not just notify me."
Already, Keqing had a lump of anger over this.
And after Ningguang's stunt last night, she was even more annoyed.
The purple cat-eared girl wore a small, stormy face and clearly didn't want to back down.
"Construction was about to start, so I had to stop it to avoid greater losses. I was going to call a meeting today to re-discuss, but before I could, Yuheng came knocking."
Ningguang smiled, unfazed. "Besides… I heard you came last night. Why did you leave? I got up at midnight but didn't see you."
Keqing: "???"
Staring at Ningguang's smiling face, Keqing wanted to draw her sword.
Are you serious, Ningguang?
You don't know what you were doing in your room last night?
She hadn't brought it up to save Ningguang face, and Ningguang brought it up herself?
Keqing was instantly fuming. "Surely Tianquan knows what she was busy with last night?"
"Mm… No matter what I was occupied with, Yuheng's matters are most important. And those in my room are our own people—they won't fuss over such things." Ningguang said meaningfully. "This bank is an important decision. Whatever personal grievances you have with me, please consider Liyue's future."
"Do you think I haven't? I just feel I wasn't given due respect." Keqing refused to back down.
Soft overcoming hard, Ningguang said, "Then I apologize. It was an emergency and won't happen again. But with your intelligence, you must understand what this move means."
Keqing: "…"
Ugh, so annoying… Once again, Keqing felt stifled by Ningguang.
Punching cotton—frustrated and helpless.
Still, though she was angry, she respected Ningguang's decisions regarding business planning. She just felt disrespected. Now that Ningguang apologized, she couldn't keep pressing.
After all, Keqing always supported what benefited Liyue.
"There's something else. I know you're unwilling to marry Ken for Liyue's sake. As Tianquan, I should dedicate myself to Liyue. I'll maintain a good relationship with Ken."
"You focus on your work. When Ken and I get married, I'll invite you to the banquet. For now, please shoulder more of Liyue's affairs."
Ningguang added slowly, watching the fuming yet helpless Keqing.
She wasn't truly trying to fight over a man—bantering with her colleague was one of her few amusements now.
Besides, Keqing was too slow about this.
Even Ningguang was getting anxious for her.
Keqing: "…"