"Quiet, quiet."
At night, when all the lights in the villa were off and everyone was asleep, a small figure was stealthily walking down the corridor, heading in a certain direction.
Although she tried to be as careful as possible, the cute sounds she occasionally made involuntarily revealed her presence and identity.
But everyone was resting in their rooms, so she wasn't discovered. She arrived at her target location very smoothly.
She carefully opened the door and looked at the bed. After waiting a few seconds and seeing no movement on the bed, a "Plan Succeeded" expression appeared on her face. She slowly approached the bed, slipped under the covers, and gradually crawled over.
When she thought she had successfully achieved her goal, she found that she was not hugging the person she expected, but a large pillow.
"Is there something you need, coming to my room so late, Klee?"
The balcony curtains were pulled open, and Durandal, dressed in her pajamas, stood there, looking at Klee, who had burrowed under the covers, and asked.
"Du... Durandal sister? Ah haha, ah haha~ Why would you put such a big pillow on the bed?"
"Considering what might happen tonight, I thought it necessary to make some preparations, so I specifically asked White Oriole to prepare a pillow roughly my size. I didn't expect to use it so soon, but the one who took the bait wasn't the one I expected."
It was originally a trick meant for Lumine, but Klee was the one who fell for it. This was truly... a complicated feeling.
She should have scolded her, but for some reason, she didn't feel any anger, only a sense of helplessness. When she saw that cute face, she couldn't get angry no matter what.
"Um... Klee just came to see if Durandal sister was asleep. Since I've confirmed it, Klee will leave now and won't disturb sister's rest."
After saying that, Klee hugged the pillow and prepared to leave the room. Durandal watched Klee's retreating figure, remained silent for a moment, then called out to her.
"Since you want to sleep with me, stay."
"! Really?"
Klee immediately stopped, looked at Durandal in surprise, and exclaimed.
"Yes, but you have to sleep obediently, otherwise I'll have Jean lock you in solitary confinement when she goes back, understood?"
"Mm!"
With permission, Klee returned to the bed. Durandal also gave up the idea of staying on the balcony and prepared to properly accompany this clingy little elf.
As soon as she lay on the bed, Klee eagerly snuggled closer, hugging Durandal's wrist tightly, a smile on her face.
"You're too close. Can you really sleep well like this?"
"This is good, this is good. Hehe~ This way I can fully feel Durandal sister. During this time... Klee really missed Durandal sister."
Even though they had only been apart for a short while, Klee already missed Durandal, just like she missed her mother, Alice, who was always adventuring. Klee now had another person to miss.
This longing made Klee restless; she didn't even want to go fishing anymore. Coincidentally, Jean was coming to Liyue Harbor this time, so Klee desperately begged Jean to let her come. It was only with great difficulty that she got Jean to agree.
Gently patting Klee's back, Durandal looked at Klee, who was constantly confiding in her, and felt that she should do something to prevent this little cutie from feeling lonely while she was traveling with Lumine.
A simple Kamera seemed insufficient; she needed to use other, better ways that would allow Klee to feel her presence more directly.
The next morning, Jean, who had woken up early, went to Klee's room to check on her but couldn't find her.
She checked the bed and found that it was cold, with no signs of anyone having slept there.
Worried, Jean immediately ran to Durandal's room, wanting to tell her that Klee was missing, but upon seeing the situation on the bed, she breathed a sigh of relief and showed a helpless expression.
On Durandal's bed, Durandal and Klee lay face to face, holding each other's hands, sleeping peacefully. The scene was too beautiful to disturb.
She didn't expect that person to show such an unguarded face. Jean chuckled, closed the door, and decided to let them rest a bit longer.
Not long after, Lumine and Paimon also woke up.
They groggily came to the living room and saw Jean sitting there, enjoying the black tea White Oriole had prepared. They looked around but didn't find that familiar figure.
"Strange, where's Durandal? She's usually the first one up. Is she in the kitchen? Or did she go out?"
Due to her guilty conscience, Lumine hadn't gone to find Durandal these past few days and was surprised that the earliest riser in the house wasn't present.
Jean shook her head and smiled, "She's still resting in her room. She probably won't wake up for a while."
"Eh? Is that so? Durandal actually sleeps in; that's really rare."
Even Paimon, who loved to sleep in, was already awake, yet Durandal was still sound asleep. This situation was truly uncommon.
Hmm? No, that's not right. Durandal didn't need rest. Even if she slept, it was only to slightly relax her body, never to be lazy. This could be seen from her previous behavior.
Something must have happened. Based on Jean's expression, she definitely knew what happened. That smiling expression must mean it was something good.
Using the excuse of washing up, Lumine took Paimon to Durandal's room door. She gently opened the door and saw Durandal and Klee sleeping together.
"Ah! Durandal and Klee are..."
Before Paimon could finish her sentence, Lumine covered her mouth, preventing her from ruining the beautiful scene before them.
Paimon, whose mouth was covered, looked at Lumine in dissatisfaction. When she clearly saw Lumine's expression, her gaze changed.
"Ah~ This scene... it's truly wonderful. This is a Durandal I've never seen before."
At this moment, Lumine had a dazed expression, as if she had just received a million Primogems. Whether it was an illusion or not, Paimon felt that she was about to drool.
"What should I do? Can I join them? As long as I'm careful and gentle, I should be able to join them, right?"
No, the moment this thought appeared, Lumine couldn't suppress herself and wanted to join their group.
Just as Lumine took a step, Paimon, whose mouth had been covered, pulled out a Slime Condensate from her personal space and placed it on Lumine's face, preventing her from moving forward.
Then she pressed Lumine's face, trying to push her out the door, not wanting this person to do anything bad at this moment.
As soon as the door closed, Durandal on the bed opened her eyes and looked at Klee, who was holding her hand.
Although she was asleep, she slept very lightly. It was impossible for her to enter deep sleep, and as soon as she detected any anomaly, she could wake up immediately.
Looking at Klee in front of her, Durandal reached out and pinched her face. With a gentle tug, the soft cheek stretched easily, like mochi.
Klee herself made a cute "Ooh-hoo" sound because of Durandal's action, utterly adorable and irresistible.
"Still not going to open your eyes? You're already awake, still pretending to be asleep."
Yes, in fact, not only Durandal was awake, but Klee was also awake, she just hadn't opened her eyes yet.
Seeing that she was exposed, Klee could only open her eyes, playfully stuck out her tongue, then snuggled close to Durandal, hugging her slender waist and giggling softly.
"Honestly, you're already acting spoiled as soon as you wake up. Are you a Children?"
"Klee is certainly a Children. It's precisely because Klee is still a Children that I can act spoiled with Durandal sister."
"Oh? Is that so? Then who told me that she wasn't a Children anymore, so she didn't need to report back so late at night?"
Once, when Durandal and Klee were playing outside and were about to go back, Klee refused to go back no matter what, saying that she wasn't a Children anymore and it didn't matter if she came back late, and so on.
She usually told others she wasn't a Children, but now she was using being a Children as an excuse to act spoiled with others. You really know how to use that identity.
Klee understood this too, and only gave a cute smile at Durandal's teasing, then continued to bury herself in Durandal's embrace, acting spoiled.
No matter what, as a Children, she still had privileges. This was also why she caused so much mischief in Mondstadt and was still doted on by so many people.
Durandal naturally wouldn't dislike Klee for this bit of willfulness. Rather, she looked forward to Klee acting spoiled with her; it was just that due to her personality, she couldn't say such things naturally.
"Durandal sister feels so warm and smells so nice."
"It should be the scent of shower gel. I don't know what brand it is; White Oriole prepared it."
"No, Klee isn't talking about shower gel. This scent must be from Durandal sister."
Saying that, Klee buried her head deep into Durandal's embrace, constantly feeling this comforting aura.
"Honestly... you're clinging too tightly, Klee."
Patting Klee's small head, Durandal's eyes were full of tenderness.
This tenderness softened slightly when Klee pulled her head back, but it was still much gentler than usual.
"Durandal sister, um... Acting Grand Master Jean has important matters to attend to today, so she might not be able to be with Klee. So... um..."
Jean had important matters to discuss with Ningguang at the Jade Chamber today, so she probably couldn't take Klee with her.
Although Klee could go out and find things to play with by herself, Jean was very afraid that Klee would take out her bombs to play with near Liyue Harbor. If she accidentally caused a big incident, that would be a problem.
Jean had already had a dream where she dreamt that Kaeya took Klee to other countries to play.
There was nothing wrong with that initially, but what happened? Every country they went to would have an explosion, and although no one noticed that they were the culprits, Jean in the dream was drenched in sweat and woke up startled from her bed.
In short, Jean definitely wouldn't have time to accompany Klee today, and she couldn't take her to handle matters, so taking care of her could only be entrusted to Durandal.
Klee also hoped that Durandal could accompany her; they hadn't played together for a long time.
"Mm, I promise you."
"Really?!"
"Yes, for the entire day today, I will be by your side."
"That's great! I love Durandal sister the most!"
Looking at Klee, who pounced on her again, Durandal helplessly patted her small head, her face full of smiles.
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