The aftermath of the encounter with Scaramouche resulted in a new, unyielding reality for Ren: he was now, for all intents and purposes, metaphorically chained to Ganyu's wrist. Her already formidable protectiveness had solidified into a state of absolute, unwavering, and slightly suffocating, vigilance.
His days of solitary strolls were over. His independent missions of observation were indefinitely suspended. If Ren went to the study to read, Ganyu was there, sitting in the adjacent chair, ostensibly reviewing trade documents, but her gaze would flick up to check on him every thirty seconds. If Ren went to the garden to watch the clouds, Ganyu was there, standing a few, precise feet away, a silent, beautiful, and utterly immovable adeptal bodyguard.
He was a prince in a loving, gentle, and inescapable prison of care.
A few days into this new, highly chaperoned existence, they decided it was time to update their other, even more formidable, guardian. They gathered around the adeptal sigil, the familiar, comforting glow a welcome connection to their home in Liyue.
"Master," Ganyu began, her voice a carefully curated blend of cheerful formality and deliberate omission.
They gave Xianyun a heavily edited, almost fictionalized, account of the recent events. They spoke of the Shogun's "unusual but ultimately favorable" reception of Ren. They mentioned the "interesting philosophical discussions" he had had with her. They touched upon the "ongoing political tensions" between the Shogunate and the resistance.
They completely, and skillfully, glossed over the part where Ren had stood before a god's judgment, and the part where another, different, and very angry god-ling had tried to turn him into a small, purple scorch mark on a mountain path. They knew, with an absolute certainty, that if Cloud Retainer got even a hint of the true, mortal danger Ren had been in, she would not hesitate to fly directly to Inazuma, and the ensuing confrontation between a furious, protective adeptal mother and the unyielding, eternal Electro Archon would likely create a new, very large, and very permanent strait between Liyue and Inazuma.
Having delivered their sanitized report, Ganyu then shifted the topic to safer, if no less worrying, ground. "And what of Liyue, Master? Is there any news of the Doctor?"
There was a pause on the other end, and when Xianyun's voice returned, it was laced with a familiar, cold, analytical gravity. "The situation here is… static. The Second Harbinger, Dottore, is still present. He has not left his northern stronghold."
"He is still there?" Ganyu asked, a fresh wave of anxiety in her voice. "But Ren is gone. What could he possibly be working on?"
"That is the question we are all asking," Xianyun replied, a hint of frustration in her tone. "His facility is a fortress, and his activities are a complete unknown. The adepti are vigilant. We are watching his every move, what little we can see. But we have… tacitly agreed not to make a move against him. Not yet."
"Why?" Ren asked, unable to contain his curiosity. "He is a known threat. The adepti are powerful enough to deal with him."
"Power is not the issue, Ren," Xianyun explained, her voice the calm, logical tone of a strategist. "It is a matter of… mortal politics. A delicate game that Ningguang is currently playing with a master's skill."
She elaborated, her logic as clear and as sharp as a crystal. "After the attack by Osial, an event directly caused by the Fatui, Ningguang holds the undeniable political and moral high ground. She is using international law, trade sanctions, every tool at her disposal, to bleed the Fatui's influence in Liyue dry. She is winning the war without firing a single shot."
"But if we," she continued, the 'we' a clear reference to the adepti, "were to launch a direct, unprovoked assault on a Fatui stronghold, no matter how justified, it would shatter that advantage. It would be seen as an act of aggression by the adepti, a violation of diplomatic norms. It would give the Fatui a pretext to retaliate, to claim that Liyue is the aggressor. It would be… a messy, unnecessary complication."
She let out a soft, almost imperceptible sigh. "The adepti are not overly concerned with such 'mortal trifles'. However, this one does not wish to cause unnecessary problems for the Tianquan. She is handling the situation with a commendable, if slow, precision. Therefore, we will wait. We will watch. We will not attack… unless we have concrete, undeniable proof that the Doctor's actions pose a direct, and immediate, threat to the safety of Liyue."
The message was clear. The great, patient spider, Dottore, was in his web, working on his own dark, unknowable schemes. And the ancient, powerful guardians of Liyue were watching, waiting, their own immense power held in a state of careful, strategic check, all while the mortal queen of their nation slowly, carefully, and methodically tightened her own, political, and economic, noose. It was a cold, silent, and very dangerous, waiting game.