"Congratulations! You won with an overwhelming advantage. Even Durandal and Shenhe combined were no match for you. Truly worthy of the Traveler; you're also very skilled at games."
Before long, a game finally ended, with Lumine emerging victorious. She acquired the most wealth, almost half the land falling into her hands.
Seeing this, Durandal and the others all chose to surrender. The situation was irreversible, and continuing to play would only allow Lumine to expand her advantage. Plus, they had to wake up early tomorrow, so they decided not to continue playing.
Venti applauded Lumine's victory, and Durandal and Shenhe also clapped cooperatively.
It should have been a happy occasion, but Lumine showed no sign of joy, as if she had lost millions. She turned black and white, sitting on the chair with a strange smile, muttering.
"The world… rejected me."
She had tried so hard to trigger the marriage event that Shenhe had drawn, and at the same time, she was hoping for Shenhe's character to suffer an accident and exit the game early.
Right up until the game ended, none of that happened. Even though every event card she drew was good, even though she landed on other people's properties the fewest times, even though her luck was the best, even though she won, she felt like she had lost.
She won, but she completely lost.
This contradictory statement perfectly described Lumine's current state. Seeing Lumine like this, Venti couldn't help but laugh.
It was just an ordinary game, yet it produced such excellent entertainment. It was indeed the right decision to invite her to play.
"Alright, get some rest. None of you are allowed to stay up late tonight. Go to sleep quickly."
After tidying up, Durandal took a final sip of tea and lay down on the bed, ready to rest.
Before she could close her eyes, Shenhe lay down beside her, hugging her arm, leaving no gap.
Venti, meanwhile, had claimed the other side, smiling at Lumine, who hadn't had time to do anything, making her furious and almost reaching for her weapon to assassinate the Anemo Archon.
Now that both sides were occupied by Shenhe and Venti, Lumine had no other place to sleep.
No, to be precise, it wasn't that there was no place to sleep. Durandal's bed was quite large, the kind that wouldn't feel crowded even with five people lying side by side.
But the space next to Durandal was already gone. Could it be… could it be that she had to make do next to Shenhe tonight?
That wasn't impossible, but she felt like she had lost somehow. She didn't want to give up so easily; she still wanted to struggle a bit.
"What are you doing? Aren't you sleeping yet?"
"Sleeping? Of course I have to sleep."
Lumine was in a dilemma, unable to figure out how to resolve the current situation.
As she fretted, Venti's smile seemed so dazzling, as if mocking her for being too slow.
This finally pushed Lumine to the edge. Since they weren't giving her any face, she wouldn't hold back either. She'd go straight for it!
"Alright! Now… time to sleep! Here I come!"
With that, Lumine took a big leap and pounced towards the bed. This action stunned the three on the bed. What foolishness was this person doing?
At this moment, White Oriole, who was downstairs handling gang affairs, suddenly heard a very loud noise from the second floor. She took off her glasses, looking up at the ceiling in confusion.
This villa had excellent soundproofing. After all, it was Regrator's villa, and to prevent unnecessary trouble, the Chen family had specifically put effort into soundproofing.
What were they doing up there to make such a loud noise? Could they be doing something dangerous?
Recalling Durandal's identity, White Oriole shook her head, hoping they wouldn't use their abilities upstairs, or else this villa might not last a few seconds before turning into ruins.
"Have the Millelith noticed? It's fine, even if they have, it's nothing. I'm not the person I used to be."
Perhaps she had recruited too many people recently, and the Millelith had started investigating her gang. Since the gang hadn't committed any illegal activities, the Millelith couldn't find a reason to deal with them.
But this was only temporary. She knew very well that if the Millelith wanted to, they could easily find reasons to arrest her people and extract information from them through certain methods.
Fortunately, she had an absolutely solid backer, not the old Chen family, but Durandal. With her support, she believed even the Liyue Qixing wouldn't dare to do anything to her.
"However, I can't solely rely on Lady Durandal. I must start planning to return the Mora I borrowed from Lady Durandal."
Durandal had said that as long as she returned the Mora taken from the villa in its original amount, she would have no objections.
Now she had taken most of the Mora. If she didn't do something soon, she would be punished by Durandal.
— — — — — — — — — —
In the morning, Durandal opened her eyes and observed the situation on the bed.
The blankets on them were nowhere to be found. Venti and Lumine were sleeping terribly, while only Shenhe and she were lying quietly in their original positions, just like last night.
She really couldn't understand. Didn't Venti often sleep in trees? With so much tossing and turning, wouldn't she fall to the ground?
Secretly turning her body into mist to leave Shenhe's embrace, when she reappeared, her pajamas had already transformed into her usual dress.
White Oriole was already up, preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Seeing Durandal approach, she greeted her.
Durandal nodded, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the fatigue in White Oriole's eyes. She sensed her condition and found that her fatigue had accumulated to a very high degree.
Even with her own magic orb, White Oriole still showed such obvious fatigue, clearly indicating that she hadn't rested properly for some time.
"It's only been a few days, and you're already like this. You haven't been resting well, have you, White Oriole?"
"Lady Durandal…"
White Oriole silently lowered her head. She had tried hard to conceal it, even using makeup, but still couldn't escape Durandal's gaze.
"You should know that one of the people I dislike the most are those who don't take good care of themselves. You are my person, and I won't allow you to continue like this."
"I know, Lady Durandal. But… it's really impossible these days. We're in a critical period, and many things require my attention. Only after I recruit capable and trustworthy people can I delegate tasks, and then I can relax."
Before that, White Oriole couldn't stop. She didn't want to make herself so exhausted, but since she had taken the first step, there was no reason to back down.
Durandal stared into White Oriole's eyes. The latter looked back at Durandal with determination, her resolve evident in her gaze.
Durandal sighed, walked up to her, placed her hand on her chest, and absorbed all the fatigue from her body.
With all the fatigue drawn out of her body, White Oriole felt an unprecedented lightness. She knew this was Durandal's doing, and only she could achieve such a feat.
"Lady Durandal…"
"This is the first time, and the last. I will not use this ability on you again. If I see you in this state again, I will consider taking back everything I have given you. Do you understand?"
Durandal knew very well that the way to make stubborn people like White Oriole listen was to threaten them with what they cared about.
Everything White Oriole currently possessed was bestowed upon her by Durandal. If Durandal took those things back, she would revert to being an ordinary housekeeper.
No, she couldn't go back. Ever since she became Durandal's person, she had completely severed ties with the Chen family. She couldn't go back now.
Even if she wanted to find a job in Liyue Harbor, she would probably be met with constant obstacles due to the Chen family's interference, so Durandal's threat was quite significant.
"...I understand." White Oriole said with a wry smile.
She knew very well that Durandal was threatening her, but it was for her own good, which made her feel touched yet also a bit helpless.
It seems I need to appropriately reduce some tasks and give myself a few hours of rest, otherwise Lady Durandal really won't let me off the hook.
Receiving White Oriole's reply, Durandal nodded in satisfaction, then walked past White Oriole into the kitchen, preparing to personally make breakfast for those who were still sleeping.
As for White Oriole, she would be left to handle other matters; besides breakfast, this house had many issues that needed her attention, so she wouldn't be idle so easily.
"Oh, by the way, there should be a special program tonight, right?"
Just as she tied on her apron, Durandal suddenly remembered something and said to White Oriole's back.
"Yes, the last night of the Lantern Rite Festival always has a special program. Is there anything you need me to handle tonight?"
"No, I just want to make one more request. Tonight, no matter how important your matters are, you must cancel them and participate in this event, understood?"
"...Understood," White Oriole whispered.
She really is... a very domineering Lady. She hadn't properly participated in the Lantern Rite Festival for a long time, yet she was being forced to attend.
However, she couldn't defy her, after all, she belonged to Durandal, and Durandal's commands were everything to her.
Since Durandal had already said so, she could only carry out this order.
She would treat it as a long-overdue holiday for herself. She remembered there was a set of casual clothes in her room that she hadn't worn in a long time. She would take advantage of this break to wear them again, hoping her figure could still fit into them.
With light steps, White Oriole left the kitchen, leaving Durandal alone there.
Before leaving Durandal's sight, White Oriole hid in a corner, silently observing Durandal, who had begun to busy herself, and smiled slightly.
"Thank you, Lady Durandal."
Durandal and White Oriole didn't notice a figure hiding in the shadows, watching everything with a smile.
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