"I imagine everyone's a little confused. No need to rush—here's a letter. Take your time with it. It's from Portia in Mondstadt. From this letter, you'll learn that the 'Doctor' is actually Bellario, and her secretary is Nerissa."
"And there's another bit of good news for Mr. Antonio. Your three merchant ships have returned fully laden. True, they were sunk by the Overlord of the Vortex near Liyue Harbor, but thanks to the help of the Liyue Qixing, not only was equivalent compensation provided, the cargo was also salvaged. Meaning—your investment has been doubled."
Softly reciting the last lines of The Merchant of Fontaine, Lisa closed the book and tilted her chin.
"In every way, this book ends on a note of joy. Good rewarded, evil punished, lovers united at last."
"Hehe, not bad, right?"
"So blissful it's almost unbelievable. Hard to think this really came from the same author as Romeo and Juliet."
She meant it offhandedly, but Victor Wang felt the sting, rubbing his nose awkwardly. "It's definitely the same author…"
"Relax, I'm only teasing."
Opening the book again to revisit certain striking passages, Lisa mused aloud: "When Antonio put all his wealth into those three ships, I knew they'd meet disaster. The 'Overlord of the Vortex'—nice touch, quite timely. But the most interesting bit was the courtroom scene, with the contract's clever twist: 'cut the flesh but spill no blood.' I wonder what contract-bound Liyue—or the Opéra Epiclese itself—would think of such a case."
Victor Wang replied with a half-smile: "If the Geo Archon were still alive, he'd probably say expressionlessly: 'Only contracts cannot be broken. What one does outside their bounds is no concern of mine.' As for the Opéra Epiclese, I too am curious how the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale would rule."
"So, should we publish this one too? I did warn you in advance this time."
"Mhm. I'll leave the troublesome details to you, then!" Victor Wang pressed his palms together and looked at her earnestly.
"Heh~ The first time I helped you, it was just out of passing interest. The second, out of obligation. Now I find myself drawn in deeper and deeper."
Thus, with The Merchant of Fontaine—his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice—entrusted wholly to Lisa as compensation, the plagiarism storm surrounding Romeo and Juliet and The Butterfly Lovers was finally laid to rest.
Leaving the Knights of Favonius headquarters, Victor Wang thought for a moment, then headed for The Cat's Tail.
Two months ago, the tavern's business trailed far behind Dawn Winery's. Now, pushing open the doors, he found three-quarters of the seats taken—even outside mealtime. Not packed, but lively, with patrons who looked like genuine drinkers, not just Genius Invokation TCG players.
Behind the bar, mixing drinks for waiting customers, Diona spotted him. Just one glance—and her tail began wagging eagerly, shaking her shaker twice as fast. She flashed him a look of unmistakable joy.
Since three customers still stood in line, Victor Wang said nothing. He simply smiled back, then turned his gaze to the tavern.
The bartender hadn't changed—Diona was irreplaceable.
The décor and cats were the same. What was new was a ranking board behind the bar: "Top Ten Most Popular Custom Cocktails This Month."
[First place: Mint + Mist Flower + Sunset Berry Jam + Jueyun Chili + Flaming Flower = Frostfire Duet.]
As expected. If not Genius Invokation, the boom could only have come from Diona's earlier anti-alcohol campaign. Clearly, it had worked.
After teasing a cat or two, Victor Wang waited until Diona had a break.
"Victor! When did you get back?"
"Three days ago."
—Day 1: searched for Old Mondstadt's ruins.
—Day 2: explored a Khaenri'ahn stronghold.
—Day 3: practiced combat with [The Two Ends of Beginning and End] + wrote The Merchant of Fontaine.
Today was Day 4.
"Hmph. Only now you come see me." Diona planted her fists on her hips, shut one eye, and tilted her head, ears twitching for a sweet excuse.
"Had things to take care of."
"W-Well, fine then. Not like I care anyway… You're not about to leave again right away, are you?"
"I'm not sure. But I'll have to, eventually."
"...Sigh." Her little act of indignation collapsed into disappointment.
The moment Victor Wang sat down, the door opened. A nun walked in, glanced at the bar, and locked eyes with Diona.
"Diona. Drink." Rosaria carried an odd assortment of ingredients, speaking flatly as ever.
"You again? Shouldn't you be on duty?"
"Don't worry. I followed the rules. By Bartobas' name, I swear—I haven't been drunk in five days."
Her voice didn't waver, but Victor Wang doubted her. Mondstadt had its share of less-devout citizens, after all—and few could mangle the Anemo Archon's name like Rosaria.
But with just a sidelong glance, Rosaria seemed to read his thoughts. "What's that look? Even if the Archon himself got drunk, I wouldn't."
"…Right. Sure."
Victor Wang shrugged. Diona sighed, resigned, and returned to the bar.
"Lizard tail, frog, butterfly wings, slime condensate, devil pepper, and high-proof red wine base… You really need to be this harsh on yourself? Even I've never tried mixing these."
"Not your concern. I like it."
"You say that every time. I think you just want to get on the leaderboard."
Rosaria's face was stone-cold, colder than usual even for her. Through clenched teeth, she forced a single word: "Mix."
Diona sighed again, heavier this time. She ground the dried lizard tail and frog, added iridescent butterfly wings and the dark red devil pepper, then bound it all with slime condensate. Stirred into the wine base, it became a thick black slurry. She reached for water to dilute it, but Rosaria stopped her.
Thanks to a blessing, though, the final product still smelled… oddly pleasant.
Served in a large wooden mug, Rosaria sat at one of the few empty seats. She took a cautious sip, froze for half a minute, then shook her head and started drinking in silence.
"What's with her? Your drinks can't taste that bad."
Taking a seat opposite him, Diona explained knowingly: "It's not that it tastes bad. It just isn't good enough to beat the ones on the ranking board. She failed again."
"Hah. You mean this is a competition?"
"Exactly. Kaeya's idea. He suggested everyone share their best custom recipes—five main ingredients and one base. Customers would be curious: 'How good can it be? I have to try!' So, they'd swear to Barbatos they hadn't been drunk in five days, and trade their chance for one attempt. Great for business, great for our plan."
"Kaeya again…" Victor Wang studied the board. "So, the number one—his recipe?"
"Hehe, wrong! Frostfire Duet was Diluc's. Kaeya made second place Sunset's End and fourth place Glacial Tempest. Third place Song of the Wind came from Venti—who, yes, actually is of age. Tenth place Death of a Rose is Lisa's. Surprised?"
"Honestly? Yeah. Didn't expect Venti to only place third."
"These are all judged by the people. Completely fair!"
As they spoke, both cast a glance at Rosaria. Lowering his voice, Victor Wang asked: "So Rosaria didn't make the cut?"
"Shh. Her cocktail Eternal Night used to be sixth. But then Kaeya, copying Frostfire Duet's idea, added Sunset Berry Jam to it. That created Sunset's End. It replaced Eternal Night, which no one ordered anymore, and it fell off the chart. Rosaria hates jam, so she's been desperate to beat the top two ever since."
"…That does sound worse than never making the list. No wonder. But adding ingredients—isn't that kind of cheating?"
"Not at all. Limit's five ingredients plus a base. Eternal Night only had four. Anyone's free to tweak."
"Jam."
Rosaria set her mug down with a thud, muttering darkly under her breath: "Jam, jam, jam, jam, jam…"
With her sharp senses, she'd clearly overheard their hushed talk. Her emotions slipped—just slightly.
Victor Wang and Diona traded a look, then quickly changed the subject. "How's your father's drinking lately?"
"Since that talk we had, he hasn't been drunk in two months. I even asked the uncles in town to watch him. If they want to try a custom cocktail, they have to swear both that they've been sober five days, and report honestly on my dad. He's not cured yet, but as long as he doesn't get drunk, I'm satisfied."
"And Timmy? Has he recovered, made new friends?"
"He's doing better too. Lately he's been practicing swordsmanship. Sometimes with that adventurer Bennett—you know him, right? Other times with a knight named Eileen. Since they both use wooden swords, Eileen's been eager to pass along tips."
"Wow. Eileen as a teacher, huh? And Klee—has she caused trouble lately?"
"Her brother and Acting Grand Master Jean are keeping her in line."
So… nobody's asking how I'm doing? Diona blinked, hiding the pout on her lips, though her tail betrayed her mood with a restless wag.
Victor Wang grinned. "And you? Keeping up the anti-alcohol campaign—aren't you tired?"
"Not really. The tavern's lively, everyone's happy, so I don't feel tired. I also only work fixed hours. No overtime. So, it's not too much."
"Mhm… Actually, I came to ask you something. I heard you can create elemental shields. Think you could… teach me?"
Diona blinked. "Just me and you?"
"Of course. Who else?"
"M-Me, I don't mind. But it'll have to wait until tomorrow. With all the custom cocktail requests, I can't just walk away without notice."