Lisa had definitely noticed Rowan buying all those Vanessa-themed souvenirs.
Or rather, Rowan hadn't bothered to hide it from her in the first place.
He didn't avoid her gaze at all.
That made a guess naturally form in Lisa's mind.
Maybe those souvenirs were meant for her dear best friend?
Lisa had been the first person to learn about what happened between Rowan and Jean.
Even earlier than Frederica.
That day when Jean had limped her way back to the Knights of Favonius headquarters, Lisa had noticed immediately.
Under Lisa's relentless questioning, Jean confessed.
Mostly because Lisa was simply too sharp.
She might look like she spent all day napping, slacking off, or pretending to be lazy, but once you gave her a task, Lisa would always handle it in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
So perfectly that no one could pick out a single flaw.
That's what a genius looked like.
Even if Jean hadn't said anything, Lisa would've probably dug the truth out on her own eventually.
So Jean figured it was better to be honest herself than let Lisa find out in some other way and risk hurting their friendship.
After learning that Rowan had "done that" to Jean, Lisa's first instinct was to do something to vent Jean's anger for her.
Even if Jean kept saying Rowan hadn't done it on purpose, that his condition had been abnormal back then.
Lisa didn't care about any of that. In her eyes, Jean was just blinded by love.
Yes, it was true that ever since Rowan took the throne as Knight-King of Mondstadt, the city had been getting better and better.
In fact, present-day Mondstadt was already surpassing its most prosperous era.
But that still wasn't an excuse for him to take advantage of someone.
Even if Jean had whispered in her ear who knows how many times about how amazing Rowan was, how good he was in every possible way…
Lisa still hadn't taken those words too seriously.
That was why she'd staged that little scene in the morning—purely to mess with Rowan.
But after testing him a bit, she realized that she might have misunderstood him.
Yes, there was interest in Rowan's eyes when he looked at her, but more than that, there was appreciation.
There wasn't that kind of possessive desire to claim her for himself.
Later, when Rowan was reading, Lisa had even leaned right up behind him on purpose, trying to tempt and test him.
The result?
He didn't even notice she was there.
He was genuinely focused on the book.
That was what finally made Lisa change her opinion of Rowan.
After that, their interactions settled into normal, relaxed conversation.
The prejudice and misunderstandings from before quietly faded away, and Lisa discovered that spending time with Rowan was actually quite nice.
No wonder her dear Jean liked him so much.
Soon, little schemes started blooming in Lisa's heart.
If Jean could get that far with him, then Lisa certainly could too.
Especially now, when Rowan still felt no real sense of belonging to Mondstadt, Lisa, as a native of Mondstadt, believed she had an obligation to "devote herself" for the sake of the city.
As long as she could be with Rowan, he would gain an emotional bond here in Mondstadt.
Once he had that attachment, Mondstadt would become his home.
And in the future, even if something happened, he wouldn't be able to abandon Mondstadt.
He would only bend his back and do everything he could for it.
That was also why Frederica wanted Jean to take the initiative and make things clear with Rowan, to be with him.
That way, they could "tie him down" to Mondstadt.
That was how a woman should think.
Men prove their strength by conquering women.
Women prove their capability by conquering strong men.
So really, there had never been any so-called "opposition" between men and women.
They complemented and supported each other.
Those who loudly insisted on absolute independence and "needing no one" were simply out of their minds.
Ahem. Anyway, that's enough of that.
Back to Lisa.
After learning more about Rowan's personality, she had already made up her mind—
She was going to compete with Jean.
And if she couldn't win, then they'd just… share.
Men, after all, naturally fell for one woman after another.
And Rowan was the Knight-King of Mondstadt.
What was so strange about him having multiple queens?
The three great noble clans had been doing that sort of thing for generations.
If they were allowed that, how could the Knight-King not?
Once she'd thought it through, Lisa stopped overthinking it and calmly waited outside the shop for Rowan to finish paying.
Before long, Rowan came out from inside, smiling pleasantly.
Lisa naturally slipped her arm through his again and led him toward Good Hunter.
"It's about noon now. Let's grab some lunch before we continue," she said.
"What do you want to eat?"
Since she'd decided to "conquer" Rowan, Lisa needed to understand his preferences from every angle.
Especially his tastes in food.
Food is the key to the people's hearts—there was no going wrong with that.
"Sure."
"As for what I like to eat, uh… I'm not picky about most things."
"The only thing I don't really like is food that's too sweet."
Rowan, being from Liyue's distant homeland, had a broad palate. Sour, salty, spicy, even sweet—he could eat them all.
The only thing he really couldn't accept was overly sugary, cloying food.
Especially those full-sugar milk teas—he just couldn't drink them.
He suspected very few guys were truly into super sweet food.
Lisa nodded thoughtfully and walked with Rowan into Good Hunter.
Sara, the waitress, came up to them at once.
"Welcome to Good Hunter, Miss Lisa, Lord Knight-King."
"What would you like to eat?"
Lisa glanced at Rowan, signalling for him to order.
Rowan passed the menu back to Lisa instead.
"Forget it. I can eat anything. You go ahead and order first—ladies first."
"Alright then, I won't be shy."
Lisa ordered a few of Mondstadt's more signature dishes and added a note specifically for the Sweet Madame: not too sweet.
Then the two of them sat down at one of the outdoor tables to wait, chatting idly while sipping the drinks Good Hunter provided.
During this time, Rowan happened to see Lumine and Paimon running around chasing a little cat, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
Ever since the Knights of Favonius had refused to accept "free money" requests from ordinary civilians—
All those petty commissions to find lost cats and dogs had been dumped on the Adventurers' Guild instead.
Especially Miss Margaret from The Cat's Tail.
She practically posted a commission every day with the Adventurers' Guild to find missing cats.
Looked like Lumine was really short on cash these days, if she was taking on such trivial work.
Normally, the reward for this kind of commission wouldn't be very high.
That's just how it was—physical labor was always cheap.
After a while, Sara came over carrying a tray.
On it were all the dishes Lisa had ordered: Sweet Madame, Northern Smoked Chicken, Vegetable Soup with Radish, and a fresh vegetable salad.
"Miss Lisa, Lord Knight-King, your food is all here. Please enjoy!"
"Thanks."
Rowan nodded with a smile.
(End of Chapter)
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