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[In dimensions too lofty for words to describe, we are a single existence.]
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Nagami's lips curved slightly.
He could read the flurry of thoughts passing through Lumine's mind as if they were written in the air.
He moved his hand with deliberate meaning.
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[Lumine, you need to understand this precisely: I am another you, and you are another me.]
[Let me help you get used to the resonance between counterparts, so you won't make that same rookie mistake again.]
[No need to thank me—we're completely the same person after all.]
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"…"
Lumine said nothing.
She didn't swat Nagami's hand away, either—only gave him a faint, sideways look.
At that glance, the goofiness that usually clung to her vanished.
Her long, curled lashes fluttered, and the aura around her turned unexpectedly alluring.
"Have you had enough? If you're done, put me down."
The festival's cheerful noise dimmed into an odd hush; every eye around them fixed on the blonde girl in Nagami's arms.
No one expected Mondstadt's honored traveler to be carried in a princess hold.
Murmurs ran through the crowd.
Even Lumine's famously thick skin showed the slightest tremor under that attention.
But after sensing the imperturbable calm of her counterpart, her embarrassment faded.
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[Before you say that, suppress that little thought in your heart about how comfortable this is.]
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Both the ease of being held and the softness of a pretty girl in one's arms—honestly, it felt pretty nice.
Caught out so plainly by Nagami, Lumine displayed no shame or guilt this time.
She was already growing accustomed to the bizarre mechanism of counterpart resonance.
More importantly, she'd finally grasped the full meaning of meeting another "self" from a different world.
She offered a small smile.
This unexpected turn wasn't so bad—over the long stretch of years ahead, the only one who could truly be a partner to her might very well be… herself.
Even Aether, if he ever met someone he loved, couldn't stay forever by her side. She, however, was different.
At first, Nagami's self-to-self antics had been shocking; now Lumine could, in some measure, understand him.
For an immortal's standards, this stretch of time was already enough for her to accept things that would shatter a normal person's worldview.
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[Nagami]: The worldview of the long-lived is truly extraordinary.
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Nagami himself was immortal now too, but strip away the counterpart relationship and he felt like a newborn in her presence.
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[Nagami]: Wanna come with me to the Honkai world later?
[Lumine]: Want to go back already when we just got to Teyvat? Isn't that a bit quick?
…Well, maybe I could consider it. Wait—what?! You actually have such a big harem in that world?! I'm going! I'm going!
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Across millennia, one of Lumine's few amusements had been teasing pretty girls—watching their bashful little expressions and soaking up the joy like a kind of energy.
Fair skin, long legs, graceful waists, varied personalities—such girls were treasures of civilization, irresistible to anyone.
Of course, her orientation wasn't "confused."
As an immortal who could travel worlds, she simply never expected to find a true partner.
"I kind of want to take that back—let's pretend I never said it."
While holding Lumine, Nagami could clearly sense that her primary interest was him.
Her views on the Herrscher girls of the Honkai world were buried too deep for him to reach.
That was some serious self-control.
Truly, the mind control of a long-lived being was terrifying.
If it had been the Doctor in physical contact with Nagami, any stray thought would've been exposed instantly.
But Nagami possessed the Apocalypse Virus's special influence over soul and consciousness—he could veil parts of his mind with a fog for a short while.
Enough to prevent Lumine from digging any deeper.
"Eh? The Traveler?"
A bright, clear voice called from behind.
Lumine stiffened like a rusty automaton and slowly turned her head.
There stood a blonde twin-tailed girl in a white dress trimmed with dark-blue lace, white tights patterned with petals, and a little cleric's cap.
Barbara stared at Lumine in Nagami's arms—the Cecilia flower tucked in her hair—eyes wide in disbelief.
The bouquet Barbara had been about to hand over fell from her fingers.
A bit of context: while waiting for Nagami to bring her to the Ranma Spring water, Lumine—now living like a comfortably wealthy lady—had gotten into the habit of sleeping until noon almost every day.
Her afternoons and evenings were packed.
Pull Noelle out for a countryside date, then nap under a tree.
Share iced mint nectar with Barbara while enjoying the view.
Or have a candlelit dinner with the mature, flirtatious Lisa—Lumine would play the naïve ingénue while secretly steering the conversation, enjoying how Lisa adopted an "older-sister" teasing role just to bait her.
She'd also take trips to Liyue for a few days, eat Xiangling's delicious food, casually drop hints about commercial models from other worlds to pique Ningguang's interest.
Each day was sweet but exhausting.
Truly, she was Teyvat's master of time management.
Of course, Lumine knew how to respect boundaries—she'd leave one day.
The best relationships she maintained were always "more than friends, less than lovers," so that if she vanished, the girls wouldn't be left utterly broken.
With her breadth of experience, "messing up" should be impossible. Or so she thought.
There's one betrayal you can't escape in this world—your own betrayal, even if it's coming from other version of you..
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[Nagami]: Backstabbing you actually feels pretty good.
[Lumine]: ...…I'm going to stab you myself today!