"Miss Yelan, after all the trust I placed in you, even bringing you into the prison…
Is this how you repay me?"
Su Ran's face showed deep betrayal as if he had just encountered a scumbag ex.
"Well, then I'll apologize in advance"
Yelan's voice,
"Sorry I accidentally played with your feelings.
I'm actually a bad woman."
If Su Ran weren't Fatui, she might've felt a twinge of guilt.
But since he was Fatui?
She felt even more at ease.
She was only dealing with a Fatui agent—no pressure at all.
"Miss Yelan," Su Ran continued, "aren't you curious what position I hold in the Fatui?"
He sounded almost excited.
Even with his back to her, she could feel the smugness radiating off of him.
"And what if I don't want to know?"
Someone like Yelan, who lived moving through shadows and danger, was extremely sensitive to threats.
She felt danger.
But she didn't know why.
From appearance alone, Su Ran seemed ordinary.
Not the sharp air strong warriors had.
And in a dream where death didn't exist she became bolder.
"Then you'll regret it," Su Ran replied calmly.
He truly didn't mind being kidnapped.
Even if this wasn't part of his plan, it hardly changed anything.
Yelan wasn't a protagonist not even an important pawn.
At most she'd cause small ripples in the story.
But that only made things more fun.
Su Ran was strong enough to handle any variable.
He simply disliked "deus ex machina" solutions.
"So?" Yelan asked, "this important identity of yours what is it?"
"I," Su Ran said with a smile, "am a Fatui Harbinger."
"…"
Yelan's hand trembled.
Her dagger nearly slit Su Ran's throat.
He instinctively leaned back which only made her eyes sharpen.
"Don't move."
"You be careful too," Su Ran countered, "If I bleed even a little, this could spark an international conflict."
Yelan snorted.
"Oh? You mean the Raiden Shogun would speak up for you?
Does she even know you're a Harbinger?"
To Yelan, Su Ran was an undercover agent at best.
The Shogun couldn't possibly tolerate him.
"Quite unfortunately," Su Ran said lightly, "the Shogun knows very well.
It's precisely because she knows that, a few days ago in Liyue… she fought the Tsaritsa over me."
"Th-The Cryo Archon… went to Liyue?"
Yelan felt her stomach drop.
She didn't even dare imagine what Liyue looked like now.
The Geo Archon gone, then the Electro and Cryo Archons both arriving…
"Yes," Su Ran nodded, "They even turned Guyun Stone Forest into a wasteland."
"…Then I must leave here even more urgently."
Liyue needed her.
Immediately.
"Can you undo the seal on Mister Zhongli?" Yelan asked.
A seal strong enough to bind the Geo Archon was no ordinary artifact.
She doubted she could undo it.
But maybe this Harbinger could.
"Oh, it's quite simple," Su Ran smiled.
"It only takes a single thought."
"???"
Yelan stared.
She glanced at his face again.
"…Why?"
"Oh—because I defeated Zhongli.
He surrendered of his own will and entered this prison."
"?!?!?!?!"
Yelan's heart nearly stopped.
He—
HE could defeat Morax???
And here she was, holding a tiny dagger to the throat of a man who defeated the Geo Archon?
Her mind screamed:
This is impossible how am I still alive???
She desperately looked toward Zhongli, hoping for denial.
But Zhongli merely sighed… sadly.
He did not deny anything.
Yelan's soul collapsed.
Great.
Just great.
The last time she abducted someone, she kidnapped the Shirasagi Himegimi— a servant of a god.
This time she kidnapped a "mere Harbinger" who turned out to be someone who could beat the Geo Archon into submission.
Her luck was unbelievable in the worst way.
Every time she struck, she targeted someone she absolutely should not target.
It was unbearable.
"If I say I was just joking will Lord Harbinger forgive me?"
She wasn't afraid of Childe-level Harbingers.
But one who could beat Morax?
Oh, she definitely needed to be afraid.
"Miss Yelan," Su Ran chuckled, "weren't you desperate to leave the dream?
The only one with authority to leave the dream is me."
The dagger at his neck meant nothing.
A tiny blade couldn't cut him.
"Hehe… is it too late if I surrender now?"
Yelan immediately dropped her dagger and raised both hands high— using the classic Fontaine-style surrender pose.
Su Ran sighed in disappointment.
"I thought you'd be braver.
At least learn from Keqing even faced with a god, she never flinches."
He sounded genuinely let down.
He wanted to tease Yelan a bit more.
"The Yuheng Star is young," Yelan replied dryly, "but I'm an adult. I know my limits."
Unlike Keqing, Yelan had experienced too much.
She knew when to fight and when to bow.
"If you were any braver," Su Ran murmured,
"I might've plucked this ripe fruit of yours."
He opened the cell door beside them.
"Please"
Yelan obediently walked in.
There was no resisting. Strength decided everything.
"Um… Lord Su Ran," Kokomi finally spoke up timidly, "may I… leave now?"
She looked up hopefully.
She had been imprisoned so long.
And for what?
Stealing a dessert?
Surely her sentence was over by now…
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