Diona was far too anxious to care about being called cute—her tail swished non-stop as she urgently asked the sword at Victor Wang's waist, "Is there really a way?"
"Uh, how about you don't get too worked up just yet? There are still people waiting for autographs. Why don't we meet somewhere after the signing? I'll come find you then," Victor suggested, seeing the line behind him beginning to stir restlessly. Emma was also walking back from handling matters, so he had to act quickly.
"…Alright then. I'm Diona, bartender at the Cat's Tail Tavern. I'll be waiting there—don't go back on your word!"
After convincing Diona to leave, Victor felt distracted.
Emma noticed something was off. "What's wrong?"
"No, nothing."
He was now shouldering a heavy responsibility—one that could change the course of Diona's entire life.
If Little Wen hadn't blabbed, Diona likely would've grown up with the blessing of the Pure Water Sprite, becoming a master mixologist praised for generations. The Cat's Tail would thrive, and Mondstadt's alcohol industry wouldn't fall into the hands of Diluc's monopoly.
But if she lost the sprite's blessing, she'd no longer be able to make delicious drinks from just any ingredients. Even with a Vision, her path forward could become much harder. The world might brand her "a fallen mixology prodigy."
The steeper the rise, the harder the fall. Diona's still so young—could she really handle something like that?
And if it all went wrong, Victor Wang would be the one to blame.
No. I've got to find a way to stop her from giving up that blessing—or at the very least, explain everything to her clearly.
His grip slipped as he nearly signed the wrong name in a reader's book. Thankfully, he caught himself in time to fix it.
By the time the signing ended, he checked his pocket watch—it was already past 6 PM. Because many people brought copies of Tales from the Box, the actual turnout had well exceeded 3,000.
He stretched as he stood, preparing to leave for the Cat's Tail, but Emma stopped him. "Mr. Dust, would you like to grab dinner together?"
"Sorry, I already have plans."
Victor quickened his pace, sprinting toward the Cat's Tail Tavern.
Emma stomped her foot in frustration. "Ugh! Who knows when I'll see him again?!"
As Victor neared the tavern, three small cats meowed and nuzzled up to him. He pushed open the cat-eared door and first saw the black cat in a top hat and bow tie—"Prince"—then bartender Shuyun behind the bar.
Diona wasn't bartending. Instead, she was playing with some kittens atop a cat climbing tower.
As he listened to the soft music playing somewhere in the background—likely from a card game track—Victor glanced around the tavern.
Business wasn't bad, but it still couldn't compare to Angel's Share.
Only one table had a Genius Invokation TCG deck box on it, suggesting the game hadn't fully caught on yet. Once the craze hit, the Cat's Tail might just match Angel's Share in popularity.
"Diona."
"Ah! You're here! Let's talk in the back room."
Diona led him to the space that would later become the dueling room for card players. Once Victor stepped inside, she shut the door carefully before excitedly urging, "Quick! Tell me how to break this blessing!"
Victor unsheathed the eager Wentian Sword and placed it on the table.
["Ahem! Listen well, little cat-girl—do you remember when you first encountered the Pure Water Sprite?]
"C-Cat-girl?! And how is this sword talking?" Diona was thrown off now that she saw who had been speaking.
["Hmph! I am a spirit stone born of heaven and earth, ten millennia old—"]
Victor cut it off. "Its name is Little Wen. It's a sword spirit."
["Hmph! Exactly. Don't you trust me?"]
Seeing Diona's hesitation, Victor said, "What Little Wen said about the blessing is true. As for how to undo it—I genuinely don't know. But it wouldn't hurt to at least hear it out."
Judging by the drawings on his cloak and the illustrations in Alice in Wonderland, he must be friends with Klee, right?
If she'd known it was a sword talking to her, maybe she should've confirmed with Klee first...
Sigh, she decided to trust them—just this once.
After some internal struggle, Diona said, "Alright. I'll believe you. But after I tell you my story, you can't laugh at me or tell anyone else, okay?"
"I've had professional training. Unless I absolutely can't hold it in, I won't laugh. And I'll keep your secret—cross my heart."
With Victor's promise, Diona looked back at the sword.
["Hmph! Same here!"]
And so, Diona began to tell the story Victor already knew:
"In my hometown, Springvale, there's this ancient legend. Before it became a town, there was a well—long dried up."
"One day, a mother and her terminally ill son passed by that well, resting beside it. Though the boy was gravely ill, he was very thoughtful. He knew his mother had spent all her money trying to cure him, graying far too early from worry. He had begged her to give up, but she scolded him harshly."
"The mother didn't care about anything else—her child was her whole world. She would save him no matter what. Even if they were broke, even if she lost her youth. Though the boy had once considered ending his own life, his mother's stern rebuke changed his mind."
"Every time they found a new pharmacy or healer, before entering, the mother would say, 'This time, we'll find the cure.' But by that day, they had already traveled across half of Teyvat, and both had begun to despair."
"What broke the mother's heart was that the last doctor they saw said her son had only a few days left. Sitting by the well, she repeated the same line to him—but this time, she had to turn away so he wouldn't see her tears."
"The boy overheard. At that moment, he felt strangely relieved—but also terrified of how lonely his mother would be once he was gone. When he saw her crying, he turned away too, and silently wept."
Diona's tone grew more animated.
"And then… a miracle happened. Their tears fell into the dried-up well and awakened the sleeping Pure Water Sprite below. Water burst forth, filling the well and overflowing into a spring outside."
"The dying boy bathed in that spring—and recovered completely! "
"People came from far and wide to witness the miracle. A settlement formed around the blessed spring, and that's how Springvale was born."
Diona looked expectantly at Victor and Little Wen, hoping for some kind of emotional reaction. That story had moved her deeply as a child.
Too bad one of them wore a cloak, and the other didn't have a face.
["Oh! So, you're the kid, huh?"]
"?"
Diona's cat ears twitched in irritation. "What's wrong with your reading comprehension?! I said it was an ancientlegend! Even if I don't think it's just a legend—there's no way that was me!"
["Tch! So, you haven't even gotten to your part yet? No wonder—I was wondering how anyone could bear two blessings from a Pure Water Sprite. Hurry up and tell us your bit."]
"My story's not that special. When I was little, I used to whisper to my reflection in the spring at night. Around the age of seven, I heard the Pure Water Sprite speak to me."
"She said: 'To the hunter's daughter, I bestow this blessing—a gift of growth and farewell. May your cup forever be filled with celebratory wine, as pure and crisp as millennia-old melted snow.' I always thought it was just a dream…"
["Yes! That's it! 'May your cup forever be filled with celebratory wine, as pure and crisp as millennia-old melted snow'—that's unmistakably the Pure Water Sprite's blessing!"]
"Mmm… when you put it that way, the sprite was being kind… but…"
Diona slumped onto the table, her ears twitching and her tail swishing, her inner conflict plain as day.
"No… As long as I have this blessing, I'll never be able to destroy Mondstadt's wine industry or stop all those drunk uncles from drinking!"
She suddenly sat upright on her chair, her feet not even reaching the ground, and said firmly to the Wentian Sword, "Please tell me how to break this blessing!"
["Heh! As the saying goes—only the one who tied the knot can untie it."]