"Purr, purr…" Diona squinted her eyes, nestled in Star's arms, enjoying Star's petting.
Although just a short while ago, she had been blushing furiously and almost turned the tavern upside down because Star touched her tail.
Fortunately, Star's technique was skillful enough, and his reaction was quick. He almost instantly calmed down this ruffled little cat.
"Even, even if it's like this, I won't forgive you…" Although Diona said this, she had indeed never felt such warmth in anyone's arms other than her mother's.
It felt like she couldn't leave.
"Alright, alright, it's all my fault. I will apologize to Lady Diona for my entire life." Star's attention was entirely focused on petting the cat, so he didn't really pay much attention to what Diona was saying.
Anyway, this tsundere little cat wouldn't speak her true feelings. Compared to words, Diona's actions were enough to show everything.
When he touched her tail just now, he felt a softness he had never felt on any other kitten. The texture was truly wonderful.
Fortunately, there was no one in the tavern at all right now. Those timid fellows, upon seeing Diona's tail being touched by Star, immediately put down their Mora and left without looking back.
It seemed this incident had a precedent. They were very familiar with what terrible things would happen after someone touched Diona's tail.
However, they would never have imagined that Star was not bitten by Diona, and the tavern was not turned upside down.
If others saw Diona in her current state, they would probably be so surprised that their jaws would drop.
"Oh my, what an unexpected sight."
Just as Star was immersed in the pleasure of petting the cat, and Diona was immersed in Star's embrace, a sound that startled both of them suddenly came from the tavern entrance.
Stelle was startled purely because the other person spoke suddenly, but Diona was different.
"M-Miss Margaret!?" Diona immediately pulled away from Stelle's embrace, her cheeks once again flushing red.
"I heard someone touched little Diona's tail, so I rushed back, but I didn't expect..." The woman called Margaret covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
"You are?" Stelle looked at the other person doubtfully.
"I'm the owner of this tavern, just call me Margaret... Hmm, you really are a lovely child, no wonder Diona likes you." Margaret carefully scrutinized Stelle for a moment, then nodded.
"H-hello." Stelle had been to the tavern many times, but this was her first time seeing the owner.
She greeted them with a somewhat guilty and embarrassed smile.
After all, she had just teased... well, 'teased' might be too strong a word with its negative connotations; she was just having a friendly interaction with Diona.
But no matter what, she had ultimately startled Diona.
Now, facing Diona's "parent," it was a bit awkward.
"Alright, no need to be so nervous. To be able to touch little Diona's tail and not get bitten is enough to show how much little Diona likes you," Margaret said with a smile.
Not to mention, to even have little Diona act spoiled in her arms, that was even more unheard of.
It was a good thing Stelle was a girl, otherwise, if Mr. Duraf found out, he would probably angrily come with his bow and arrows to demand an explanation, wouldn't he?
"No way! I-I just..." Diona stammered, but in the end, she couldn't articulate anything coherent.
She could only blame Stelle for being too cunning, using such a wicked trick to make her accidentally fall into it and let Miss Margaret see her embarrassment.
"My teeth just haven't been good lately, otherwise I would have bitten her already." Diona huffed self-deprecatingly and turned her head away.
No matter how flimsy the excuse, she still needed a way out.
Margaret knew Diona's personality well and just watched her with a smile, not saying much.
-
In the evening, it was already dark. As an apology, Stelle stayed in the tavern for a while longer, only leaving when it was completely dark outside.
At this time, there was basically no business. Stelle sat in the tavern and had a pleasant conversation with Miss Margaret.
Stelle could tell that Miss Margaret was also more or less affected by her constitution. Fortunately, Diona was there, so in an environment where they weren't alone, no major problems arose.
It was almost the agreed-upon time, and Stelle should leave.
"You don't have a cat's night vision, will you be alright walking at night? If you want me to escort you..." Standing at the door, Diona looked at Stelle somewhat shyly.
The night roads in Mondstadt were actually very safe, but Diona was still worried that Stelle might encounter an accident.
However, she had forgotten a very important thing.
"Um, aren't there streetlights on the way?" Stelle scratched her head, asking with some confusion.
She had noticed it before when she had dinner with Amber and the others; although Mondstadt's nights weren't exactly brightly lit, the lighting was still very good.
"Eh? Lights... Who-who said I'd escort you, hurry up and go!" Diona's little face instantly turned crimson, and with a bang, she pulled the tavern door shut.
Stelle stood still, not reacting for a moment.
She seemed to have chosen the wrong option; she shouldn't have brought up the lights.
"Well, I'll come see you again in a few days, goodbye~" Stelle smiled, called out to the tavern, and turned to leave.
"Who wants you to see them..." Diona leaned against the door, huffing softly.
However, after a moment of hesitation, she still ran to the window and watched Stelle's retreating figure through the glass.
Behind her, Margaret watched her actions with a smile, her thoughts unknown.
"Diona, do you like her very much?"
"No way!"
"Oh~" Margaret nodded.
So, that meant she liked her, and Margaret liked her too.
Although their conversation wasn't long, Margaret found that Stelle possessed a naturally very attractive aura.
She wasn't some young girl experiencing her first crush, but no one had ever given her such an inexplicable feeling as Stelle did.
"Hmm..." As Margaret thought, she became a little troubled again.
Her tavern's business was getting better and better, and sometimes Diona alone couldn't handle everything.
Recently, she had been thinking about hiring a new staff member, but hadn't found a suitable candidate yet.
Now she had, but she didn't know how to convince the other person to join.
It seemed she needed to do some thorough research... If she could persuade that Damselette to come over, Diona would be very happy, wouldn't she?
Hmm, this was all for Diona.
Absolutely no other selfish motives.