She Will Definitely Like This Gift—I Like It Too

It had to be said, in Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's eyes, Jiang Qiao at this moment was indeed quite alluring. This, of course, wasn't out of any kind of affection or liking.

Although, due to being too involved with Jiang Qiao, she did indeed develop certain unavoidable feelings for him, compared to humans, for Archons like Egeria and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, the influence of such emotions was much more controllable.

What truly tempted Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was Jiang Qiao's current essence.

If, before, Jiang Qiao was appealing to her because of the sweet 'memories' he contained, allowing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata to savor everything within, like flipping through a fairy tale book, and feel the emotions between people.

Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, due to this anticipation of emotions and craving for beauty, had, after an inadvertent contact, become tainted with a greed for him.

Then now, although she still craved those beautiful emotions, what made it even harder for Greater Lord Rukkhadevata to endure was 'Jiang Qiao' himself, after he had completed his 'I alone am the honored one' state.

To transcend the world with one's self—this in itself was equivalent to becoming a 'rule' unto oneself. Just like the Madoka's Law of Cycles that might appear next door, the current 'Jiang Qiao' possessed a similar nature. His very existence represented a truth, a truth named 'Jiang Qiao.'

Although this was definitely not the path Greater Lord Rukkhadevata pursued.

But...

No matter what, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was once the God of Wisdom. Or rather, even now, after Nahida's advent, this essence of the God of Wisdom had not changed... This was an unalterable starting point for them, born as offshoots of the Irminsul.

And so-called wisdom, in the end, was a kind of exploration, a kind of craving for the truth of the world.

To place such a truth of the world before the God of Wisdom, this was no longer just a sweet little cake.

...It was poison!

And a potent poison at that!

A poison that, once indulged in, would be difficult to extricate oneself from—but even knowing it was poison, it was absolutely impossible to resist this desire to make contact. Because this was Her very nature.

Greater Lord Rukkhadevata gritted her teeth, staring intently at him, yet trying her utmost to resist this 'unseemliness'... Although craving wisdom was blameless and natural, due to Jiang Qiao's special nature, as a reserved Archon, she had to maintain her dignity.

Even though she desperately wanted to pin him to the ground on the spot and fiercely seize the wisdom she desired, she could only endure, even deliberately concealing her wretched state.

"Speaking of which, I heard from Egeria that for the Sabzeruz Festival, we're supposed to prepare a gift for the Dendro Archon, right?" Miss Furina, who was happily chatting with Jiang Qiao, hadn't noticed, but upon seeing the lively decorations and people setting things up, she suddenly remembered: "It's been a while since I last saw her, and I didn't prepare a gift when I came... This probably isn't good, right?"

"But there's still plenty of time before the Sabzeruz Festival begins, we can use this opportunity to prepare... But what should we prepare?"

"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata should know, after all, they come from the same lineage." Faced with Furina's predicament, Jiang Qiao directed the question to Miss Greater Lord Rukkhadevata beside them.

"That's right! Greater Lord! Greater Lord! What do you think we should prepare for Nahida?"

"Mmm... Your presence is the best gift for her. There's no need to deliberately prepare a gift." Miss Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, trying her best to suppress the impulse in her heart, gave her suggestion as calmly as possible.

Furina was somewhat dissatisfied with this: "How can that be!"

"If you absolutely must prepare something, it's fine. A gift filled with heartfelt intentions will make Nahida very happy," Greater Lord Rukkhadevata amended.

"Got it! Then I'll give her my favorite little cakes!"

"I actually have a more suitable suggestion," Jiang Qiao said, seemingly having thought of something.

"Eh, what is it? What is it?"

"How about a dance?"

Hearing Jiang Qiao mention this, Furina paused: "Huh... a dance?"

"I heard that at the very beginning of the Sabzeruz Festival, it was King Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers preparing a birthday celebration for Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The former gifted her presents, while the latter offered the Dance of Sabzeruz. Although the Goddess of Flowers is gone now, since they are all gods, the Hydro Archon should be fine, right?"

"Compared to little cakes, what you're best at is also performing."

"That's true, performing is no big deal... but I feel a bit constrained here in Sumeru."

"The Sabzeruz Festival, huh..." Hearing Jiang Qiao talk about those things, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata showed a hint of nostalgia. That was indeed the most beautiful period of her past. Al-Ahmar (King Deshret) had gifted her beautiful ornaments, and Nabu Malikata (Goddess of Flowers) had danced for her.

"Then let's go with a dance. I happen to want to do a tour in Sumeru anyway. By the way, what are you preparing for Buer (Nahida)?" Although somewhat hesitant, Furina accepted the task, but then she became curious about Jiang Qiao's gift.

"How about a bookmark made of leaves?"

"Sounds pretty lame..."

"Can't be helped... I don't really have any presentable gifts." Faced with Furina's disdain, Jiang Qiao smiled wryly—an object to express heartfelt intentions. For him, the pursuit of material things was no longer that important, and his personal preferences... were more towards people than objects.

Crystal Flowers? That was Elysia's symbol—Elysia would definitely give something like that to Nahida.

Jade Chamber Agate? That was Qingque's sentiment, clearly not quite appropriate.

He pondered for a moment.

"Then I'll give this."

Like a magician performing a trick, a small box appeared in Jiang Qiao's hand.

"Ha, what's inside?"

"Secret~"

"I already told you my gift, and you're keeping it a secret from me? Let me see!"

"No way!"

"Let me see! Give it to me! I'm angry! Hmph, if you don't give it to me, I won't look... Sneak attack!" While Furina was playing hard to get, trying to use cunning tricks to snatch away his little box, Miss Elysia, who had also come along, saw through what it was at a glance and said with a smile.

"Mhm~ Qiao is so generous, I want a gift like that too."

"...Haven't you already taken a lot?"

"When it comes to this kind of thing, I can never have too much~"

The interaction between Elysia and Jiang Qiao drove Furina a little crazy—What's with this feeling of everyone knowing except me! Damn it!

Miss Furina, who had always felt a considerable psychological burden regarding the former's existence, puffed her cheeks. Noticing this, the "chubby" pink-haired lady wore a calm and composed expression, smiling quite naturally. That unshakable smile made Miss Furina even more annoyed.

Miss Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, unable to join in, stared at the box and couldn't help but swallow.

That's right! That's definitely... It's the 'Jiang Qiao' I want!

Undoubtedly—within that box was 'Jiang Qiao'... or rather, 'Jiang Qiao's sentiment.'

For the not-so-wealthy Mr. Jiang Qiao, this was probably the only thing he could offer. Since he really couldn't find anything that suited his own intentions, then... The thing that could best embody his intentions was 'himself,' wasn't it?

Thus, after much deliberation, a certain Mr. Jiang chose to give this. Although it might seem a bit strange, it was indeed the thing that could best express his feelings.

As for whether doing so seemed a bit rash… After all, when in Teyvat, Egeria and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had already "made a move" on 'him' many times. Elysia was still continuously "sneaking into the house" with the 'backdoor' she had snatched from him. So, giving another one to Nahida should be fine, right?

"Since it's a gift for Buer, I'll deliver it for you," Greater Lord Rukkhadevata proactively suggested.

"Mm." Very easily, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata obtained the small box from Jiang Qiao, making Furina grit her teeth—Damn it, let me see it first!

"I hope she likes this gift."

"Yes, I guarantee Buer will absolutely love this gift."

Clutching the box tightly, pressing it against her chest as if wanting to directly crush the outer packaging and taste the small dessert inside, which held an allure like a potent poison, Miss Greater Lord Rukkhadevata praised with considerable certainty, while simultaneously having such a thought in her heart.

—After all, I like this very much too.

"There's still quite some time before the Sabzeruz Festival. You all can wander around. I also have some things to attend to. Apologies, I must take my leave first." After speaking, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata hurriedly left. Furina found this a bit strange. "Where is she off to?"

"After all, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata has also been away from Sumeru for some time. Speaking of which, she hasn't had a good look at Sumeru since returning from the Irminsul. Now that she's finally back, it's not strange that she'd want to look around."

"What's more, it's the Sabzeruz Festival now. Perhaps she was moved by the scene, remembering King Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers, and wants to commemorate them or something..."

"Mhm~ It's also possible she wants to sneak a snack~"

Hearing Elysia's suggestive words, Furina, who didn't grasp the meaning, only felt that as a foodie, she was starting to get angry. She huffed, "What? Sneak a snack... Greater Lord Rukkhadevata has good food and is hiding it from us, honestly! So ungenerous!"

"Should we secretly follow her? If I catch her, I'll definitely teach her a good lesson!" She waved her little fists.

"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata isn't that kind of person, right?"

"She's not even a person, right?"

Facing Furina's sharp pinpointing of the crucial detail, Jiang Qiao, glancing in the direction Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had left, scratched his cheek and shook his head: "Uh... Let her be. We'll just wander around."

As the day of the Sabzeruz Festival drew nearer, the whole of Sumeru became extremely lively. People were coming and going everywhere—and because of Sumeru's cooperation with Fontaine, many Fontainians and Melusines could be seen joining in the fun, having come from Fontaine to Sumeru to play.

"Huh... Is that?"

As if sensing something, Elysia's gaze met directly with a girl on the other side—it was a blonde girl, with an unidentified flying object hovering beside her shoulder.

For some reason, even though she was a complete stranger to the other party, upon seeing that blonde beauty, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if they were old friends... Could it be that she was some long-lost relative of hers? No, no, no! Looking at her hair and eyes, that couldn't be possible.

"Hey, look, it's Furina!" The unidentified flying object spoke first—Paimon was quite excited.

"Furina, you guys came to attend the Sabzeruz Festival too?"

"Yeah, are you guys too?"

"Mhm, Lumine and I are traveling in Sumeru, and we happened to run into the Sabzeruz Festival, so we were invited by Nilou to participate." Because she had lost the temporary, limited-time original voice substitute, Fairy Elysia, Paimon, the original voice substitute back on duty, cheerfully answered Furina's question.

"These ladies are?"

"Oh, they were invited by me to attend the Sabzeruz Festival. After all, festivals are better when they're lively."

As they talked, they walked to a restaurant and sat down.

Whether it was for Jiang Qiao's organized tour group or for the foodie duo of Lumine and Paimon, tasting Sumeru's delicacies was clearly an irresistible temptation. Eating while talking became an extremely suitable way to converse.

"This child is so cute~" Due to some unspeakable fate, Miss Elysia and Lumine quickly hit it off.

Kiana, on the other hand, was feasting wildly with Paimon, with Bronya also joining in. Seele was quieter, and Miss Raiden Mei, who had little presence, had gone to the back kitchen to ask for cooking tips.

Looking at this harmonious scene, Jiang Qiao smiled.

But then he remembered something and looked at Lumine: "Have you guys only experienced Fontaine and Sumeru so far?"

"Ah... yes. We stayed in Fontaine for quite some time. Because it's very close, Navia recommended we come to Sumeru... So many things happened here, it was very interesting. But Lumine still didn't get much news about her brother from Nahida. So if it weren't for the Sabzeruz Festival, we would have already gone to the next region."

Hearing Paimon's words, Jiang Qiao fell into thought, then felt it wasn't strange.

Actually, it had only been a few months since he came to Teyvat to deal with Furina's matters—and for the blonde duo's travel career, although the time they spent in one region wasn't measured in years like in the game, it was still measured in months.

To be able to finish touring Fontaine and quickly complete Sumeru was actually because he had already cleared all the main quests in these two regions. Starting from Fontaine instead of Mondstadt, this progress wasn't anything strange.

And next, their two choices were undoubtedly the nearest nations—either Natlan or Liyue.

"Are you guys planning to go to Liyue next?"

Paimon grinned: "Hehe, I heard there's a lot of delicious food in Liyue. But Nahida suggested we go to Natlan. Nahida said there might be clues about Lumine's blood relative in Natlan."

"Natlan, huh..."