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n***

nIgnoring her cutesy, plaintive cries, Yomite continued to embrace Paimon as he twirled around on the spot.

n“Ah, that truly healed my heart! Also, thanks for the food!”

n“W-wait a—! That’s not…W-would you let go…Paimon is not…!”

n“Good girl, good girl! You’re so, so cute! You’re wonderful, Paimon! You’re the best, Paimon! Paimon forever!”

nGrandly singing her praises, as if she was a small precious animal, Yomite lifted Paimon way up as he spun all around.

n“Eheheh…Paimon…didn’t do much…”

nPaimon’s face was beet red as she accepted his praises and let herself be hugged. She happily dangled from his arms, laughing joyfully at his praises.

nThe group around them watched the worked-up pair with gentle eyes.

nThen, after getting his fill of messing around, he let the blushing Paimon go, and as he turned around to face the group, a certain blond haired girl with an eyepatch on her left eye walked right up to him with silent steps.

nHer gaze was cast downwards, so he couldn’t see her expression, but he was expecting a few slaps from her as well.

n“…”

nA silent moment that seemed like eternity itself had passed, and she slowly fell against his frame, her head crashing on his chest and her thin arms enveloping his tall stature, giving him a tight hug.

n“Why…why did thou have to do it? Just why?”

nShe started crying into his chest, bawling her eyes out as tears ran down her eyes like a stream.

nIt was a question that was meant to be shouted, but it came out as a soft mournful whisper.

nHer nose was buried in his shirt, her tears soaking through.

nYomite wasn’t sure what to say to her. He felt a heavy sense of guilt that threatened to tear his insides apart. His heart clenched in agony as he witnessed her quivering form…

n“I’m…sorry.”

nHe had been apologizing to Hu Tao a lot the past few days, but the person he should be apologizing equally as much to was Fischl. He unconsciously bit his lower lip seeing her like this.

nHu Tao was one thing, but the girl in front of him was another.

nAt first, Fischl’s feelings weren’t as clear as Hu Tao’s to the naked eye, but with a little bit of intuition and his Tempus of the Heart ability, he found out about them right before they fought with Dvalin.

nBut now, she was affectionate enough to cry tears of joy from the fact that he managed to recover safely from the terrible disease called Cholera.

nFischl and Hu Tao.

nTwo girls that had feelings for him.

nSomething like that would have never happened in his old world.

nCaressing her small head with his right palm, he made an extra effort to hug her closer to him, so she could feel that he was sincerely touched by her feelings of worry.

nHe felt her small, tear-stained face lift from his chest. A look of joy flashed in her eyes. She leaned up and laid her head on his shoulder, sobbing quietly. A small smile etched on her lips as she did so.

n***

nThe news about the new disease spread around the world of Teyvat, and so was the fact that Yomite, the one who came up with the prescriptions and a way to cure the wild disease, fell victim to it not long after.

nYomite’s party was currently on their way back to his mansion.

nHis cheeks still hurt, a lot, from when Hu Tao slapped him…

nShe truly didn’t hold back…

nSpeaking of the little daredevil, she was as peppy as ever, running around joyfully, all over the streets, after being in isolation for so long.

nHis only worry was Iris who wasn’t present…

nBut it seemed he was worried for nothing, as Lumine explained that Iris entered a deep state of hibernation after he didn’t appear for a long time, saying she would wake up somewhere in the following month.

nThat was about two weeks ago, and she had yet to wake up.

n***

nThe crackling of the fireplace was soft, as two figures laid on the sofa, close to each other.

nBoth of them were completely out of energy and their bodies were exhausted.

nThe past few weeks have been stressful for everyone.

nTaking a rest from their daily routine of training was a must.

nThey had enjoyed their small dinner consisting of a few slices of bread and vegetables, while passing some small talk back and forth, leaving the fire without new fuel and letting it slowly burn out instead.

nFischl fell asleep almost immediately once they arrived and she was currently in her room, resting.

nShe was stressed out as badly as it could get, more so than anyone else bar Hu Tao, so she deserved some rest.

nIris was still hibernating and Lumine and Paimon went to play card games in their room.

nApparently, a new edition card game called Magic was released and Paimon wanted to try it out.

nThat only left Hu Tao, who was laying on the couch next to him.

nHe held Hu Tao’s hand in his, and now that there were no distractions, he couldn’t help but notice just how soft and small her hand was compared to his.

nHer whole body was precious and cute.

nThey just lay there, without doing anything, without saying anything, yet despite that, it felt much more intimate than anything else they had ever done before.

nWith how quiet it was, he started listening to the rhythm of her soft breathing, his heart beating faster despite nothing changing, nothing happening.

nEventually though, he broke the calming silence.

n“Hu Tao, I’m really sorry for being so rash…You were totally right about everything and I paid for it… I’m sorry to make you guys worry…”

nThe matter had been weighing a bit heavily on his consciousness, more than he felt it should.

nThe decision to go and save Barbara was a rash one, and even if he succeeded, the consequences almost cost him his life.

nHu Tao however quietly watched his figure as he apologized, her eyes slowly losing that bright intensity of hers and her smile shrinking.

n“I knew you would go for that from the start…You are a dummy, after all. I had all the reasons to stop you, yet I knew that I would fail.”

nShe sighed helplessly, shutting her eyes for a few seconds as he laid there in worry.

n“You sure enjoy calling me dumb, huh? Genius…”

nHer smile slowly came back as she looked at him, “Aren’t you though? You went straight into danger…I had already forgiven you with that slap. Besides, it’s thanks to that hardship we’re together now, no?”

nThough they bantered much like before, their intimacy was incomparable to anything prior.

nHu Tao was just too cute for Yomite to resist.

nAnd his being was now filled with never before explored feelings for the cute troublemaker.

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