[You received a mission that required traveling to Mondstadt. Your partner on this trip was Yelan.]
[With you gone, the Fatui in Liyue had noticeably reined in their activities, likely due to the loss of their intelligence source.]
[However, Yelan discovered that recently, a large amount of funds had been flowing from Mondstadt into Northland Bank.]
[That anomaly caught her attention, so she decided to personally bring you along to Mondstadt to investigate.]
[The two of you posed as a married couple traveling from Liyue to Mondstadt for sightseeing, following Ningguang's merchant caravan on the journey.]
[The moment you arrived at the gates of Mondstadt City, Yelan immediately put on a gentle, approachable smile and struck up a conversation with the Knight of Favonius on duty.]
"Hello, knight. My husband and I just arrived from Liyue. These are our identification papers. Please take a look."
[After carefully checking the forged documents you had meticulously prepared, the Knight of Favonius gave you both a polite knight's salute.]
["Everything is in order, honored guests. I wish you a pleasant stay in Mondstadt City."]
["Thank you." Yelan accepted the documents handed back to her, then continued smoothly. "Knight, my husband and I plan to stay in Mondstadt for a while. Do you have any suitable inns you could recommend?"]
["The best hotel in Mondstadt, Goth Grand Hotel, has recently been booked in full by a Snezhnayan delegation. You could consider the smaller inns within the city, or perhaps taking a holiday in nearby Springvale would also be a good option."]
[The Snezhnayan delegation.]
[You and Yelan exchanged a silent glance.]
[Since Fatui operatives had appeared in Mondstadt City, staying inside the city itself was the obvious choice if you wanted to gather information.]
[With your cover as husband and wife, and to avoid drawing suspicion, you booked a single room at an inn.]
[Night fell.]
[You sat by the window of the inn, gazing out at Mondstadt City under the glow of lantern light, your thoughts drifting slightly.]
[Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, and a wave of warm, humid air rushed toward you.]
[You turned around to see Yelan stepping out of the bathroom, freshly washed, towel in hand as she dried her hair.]
[She was wearing a blue, sheer, spaghetti-strap nightdress that revealed her slender arms and long legs.]
[The blue fabric made her smooth skin look even paler.]
[Droplets of water slid down from her damp hair.]
[Yelan looked like a siren just emerged from the sea, her beauty tinged with an indescribable allure.]
[You found yourself momentarily lost in the sight before you.]
[Noticing your expression, Yelan smiled softly.]
[The sound of her laughter snapped you back to your senses.]
[Yelan sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot beside her.]
["Husband, it's late. Let's go to sleep."]
[Faced with Yelan's invitation, you had to decide…]
[1. Accept her.]
[2. Refuse her.]
"Yelan really never misses a chance to tempt me."
Seeing the options provided by the System, Kael chose 2 without the slightest hesitation.
It was obvious that in this life simulation, the person he loved was Hu Tao.
And even after he had abandoned her, Hu Tao still stubbornly held onto her feelings.
Since that was the case, there was no reason to involve anyone else.
"Two."
[Her deliberately soft, slightly husky voice made heat rush to your cheeks.]
[Although you had experienced many things by now, at your core, you were still a newly adult young man who had never been intimate with a woman.]
[Yelan's feminine presence washed over you, leaving you struggling to hold your ground.]
[If your heart had not already belonged to someone, you really might not have been able to resist.]
[You carried the pillow and blanket from the bed over to the sofa.]
["I'll rest here tonight."]
[Yelan looked at your flushed face and slowly licked her lips.]
["All right. But if you get cold during the night, there's still space here for you."]
[You and Yelan continued to pose as tourists, wandering through Mondstadt City inside and out.]
[Your favorite place to visit was Good Hunter.]
[Sitting in the outdoor seating, you could look down from above at Mondstadt's busiest street.]
[Amid the constant flow of people, countless secrets lay hidden.]
[You learned that a very important figure had recently arrived at Goth Grand Hotel…]
[It seemed that a Fatui Harbinger had also come to Mondstadt.]
[You both sensed that something was off.]
[However, the Fatui guarding Goth Grand Hotel were on high alert. In this foreign land, you had very few connections to rely on, making it impossible to obtain more concrete information.]
[Just as Yelan was at her wits' end, you found a way forward.]
[On Mondstadt Bridge, there was always a little boy named Timmie standing there.]
[You noticed that a male ghost was constantly lingering near him.]
[Using your Talent, with Deceiver passively triggering, you quickly struck up a rapport with the ghost.]
[You learned that the ghost was Timmie's father, who had died in an accident.]
[To keep the truth from Timmie, the ghost's friends would periodically send letters to the boy.]
[Still, the ghost had many things he wanted to say to Timmie.]
[He hoped his son would grow up to be a man who could stand tall, hoped he would help take care of his mother, hoped he would…]
[Since you could see ghosts, he asked you to help by writing the letters for him, recording everything he wanted to say.]
[You agreed to his request.]
[For several days in a row, you wrote letters on the ghost's behalf.]
[From Timmie's tenth birthday to his eighteenth, one letter each year.]
[Each letter was filled with a father's deepest love and heartfelt advice to his son.]
["Timmie, happy eighteenth birthday.
This is the last letter your father will write to you.
I wonder if everything at home is well. My Timmie must have already grown into a man who can stand on his own.
I'm sorry, son. Your father lied to you."]
[You found a way to pass the ghost's letters to a nun at Favonius Cathedral, asking her to deliver them to Timmie each year.]
[After you helped the ghost fulfill his wish, he honored your agreement and infiltrated Favonius Cathedral on your behalf to gather information on the Fatui.]
[Ghosts were the best sources of intelligence you could ask for.]
[They could pass through walls and go unnoticed by anyone else.]
[Being able to see ghosts was a Talent that had played a crucial role in allowing you to uncover so many secrets in Liyue, earning you the position of a senior Fatui intelligence agent at such a young age.]
[Timmie's father infiltrated Goth Grand Hotel and soon brought back the information you wanted.]
[Why were so many Fatui gathered in Mondstadt, and why was such a huge sum of money flowing into Northland Bank?]
[The answer was the Gnosis.]
[Gnosis was a term unfamiliar to you.]
[Was it the heart of a god?]
["Mr. Kael, the traveling bard who arrived in Mondstadt not long ago, Venti, is actually the Anemo Archon Barbatos!"]
["You must tell the Knights of Favonius about this. You can't let them harm the Anemo Archon!"]
[Exposing the Fatui's scheme was also part of your plan.]
[But the timing was not right yet, and you had no intention of using this piece of information now.]
[With a few casual words, you brushed Timmie's father off.]
[The Fatui were actually coveting something that belonged to a god.]
[The Anemo Archon Barbatos had vanished for nearly a thousand years, yet they still managed to track him down.]
[Then what about Liyue's Geo Archon?]
[Rex Lapis had always been protecting Liyue and appeared before the people every single year.]
[With such an obvious target, how could the Fatui possibly let him go?]
[What exactly were the Fatui trying to do?]
[With your keen intuition, you sensed that Teyvat was on the verge of drastic change.]
[Thinking of Chenxi and Hu Tao back in Liyue, unease settled heavily in your chest.]
["Since we haven't gained anything particularly useful in Mondstadt, we might as well head back to Liyue first. There are some things I need to confirm."]
[Yelan didn't question you further.]
[That was simply how the two of you worked together.]
[Although she was your superior, she never tried to command you.]
[She also knew she couldn't truly control you.]
[Between the two of you, there had always been a delicate balance.]
[That was also why you kept your distance from her and could never fully trust the affection she showed you.]
[In your eyes, her kindness and temptation were merely tools she used to try to bind you.]
[Because of your insistence, you and Yelan hurried back to Liyue without delay.]
[Reality proved that your concern had been well founded.]
[The Fatui had indeed begun to make their move.]
[On the outskirts of Liyue, you and Yelan were ambushed by the Fatui.]
["Kael, I've known since I was young that outsiders like you can never be trusted!"]
[A Fatui squad of around ten people surrounded you.]
[The leader was a massive man wielding an ice spear. As he spoke, he stared at you with a malicious gaze.]
["Trash like you isn't worthy of The Knave's mercy!"]
[The hulking man wore an eyepatch. On the lower half of his face, not covered by it, were severe burn scars.]
["Oh, it's you." You looked at him with mild curiosity. "What was your name again?"]
[You recognized him as the small-time bully whose face you had ruined back at the House of the Hearth.]
[The moment he heard your words, his expression twisted.]
[He had never forgotten you for a single day. In order to take revenge, he had pushed himself relentlessly, eventually becoming a Fatui lieutenant and the leader of a small squad.]
[And now, the enemy he had obsessed over for so long didn't even remember his name.]
[He let out a cold laugh and raised the ice spear, pointing it straight at you.]
["I'll see how long you can keep that mouth of yours!"]
["Watch out!"]
[Yelan saw the ice spear release a violent surge of freezing energy toward you.]
[You stood there without dodging, as if you had been scared stiff.]
[Her face went pale. She immediately raised Aqua Simulacra, ready to unleash an elemental attack.]
[But she was still some distance away, and it was clearly too late.]
[Suddenly, a massive wall of ice rose up in front of you.]
[The freezing energy from the ice spear was completely absorbed the moment it struck the wall, even causing the ice to thicken further.]
[Yelan hadn't expected you to be a Cryo Vision holder.]
["Oh? An ice spear?"]
[You had once been part of the Fatui, so you knew their weapons were fixed. Once chosen, they couldn't be changed at will.]
[From behind the ice wall, you smiled lightly at the hulking man.]
["Looks like you really admire me. You even picked the same element as mine for your weapon."]
[The shadow of being frozen during his childhood had followed him all his life.]
[Your overwhelming strength and terror back then were etched deep into his heart.]
[So when choosing his exclusive weapon, he had instinctively gone with Cryo.]
[Having it exposed so bluntly, his face filled with humiliation.]
["Damn it! What are you all standing around for? Get them!"]
[He roared angrily at the squad behind him, and the Fatui quickly launched their attack.]
[At that moment, Yelan reached your side, fighting shoulder to shoulder with you.]