Chapter 59 — Eula: The Knight Who Dances Alone
"Unlucky. Why does she have to eat here?"
"The Lawrence family shouldn't even be allowed in Mondstadt!"
"Exactly! Someone like her doesn't belong here."
"How did she even become a Knight of Favonius? The Grand Master must have lost his mind!"
"The monsters outside the city have multiplied—what if she's the reason? She's a Lawrence. Who else could be responsible?"
"Right! It must be their cursed bloodline. The Lawrences have always brought disaster wherever they go."
The restaurant buzzed with bitter whispers, venom masked as idle conversation. When Jean, Kael, Ying, and Paimon stepped inside, the hostile murmurs reached their ears almost immediately.
Jean's heart sank.
Though Eula Lawrence often called Jean her "rival," Jean had always seen her as something far more important—a trusted comrade, a proud knight, and perhaps the most misunderstood hero Mondstadt had.
If anyone in the city had earned forgiveness, it was Eula.
When the monsters had surged across the wilds, Eula had been there on the front lines. She had bled for Mondstadt, her sword breaking bone and her body bearing scars. She had refused to retreat when even veterans faltered. Yet despite everything she had done, Mondstadt still spat on her name.
Jean clenched her fists. If she had grown up under such constant hatred, she wasn't sure she would've endured it as Eula had.
Kael's expression was unreadable as he scanned the tense restaurant. Then, with the faintest hint of amusement, he began walking straight toward Eula's table.
Every head in the room turned as he pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. The scraping of wood on stone echoed louder than any whisper.
Eula looked up from her plate, icy blue eyes sharp as frost. "You're sitting here?" she asked coolly. "Aren't you afraid of what people will say?"
Kael smiled faintly. "I'm from Liyue. If they talk too much, I'll beat them up. Then it becomes an international incident, and everyone wins."
For a moment, silence. Then a few nervous laughs from those too afraid to breathe wrong.
Eula arched a brow, the faintest curve tugging at her lips. "You're either reckless or very confident."
"I've already turned one of the Fatui Harbingers into a statue this morning," Kael said calmly. "The Fatui don't even dare look me in the eye anymore. These people?" His gaze swept across the crowd. "They're cowards who never step outside the city walls. They need a scapegoat for their fear—and who better than the last Lawrence who still has a spine?"
A hush fell over the restaurant. The gossipers who had mocked Eula moments ago now sat pale and trembling. The news of a Harbinger being turned to stone had spread through Mondstadt like wildfire, and now the man responsible sat among them, his tone as casual as if he were ordering tea.
No one dared to speak again.
Eula sighed quietly, setting her fork down. "You didn't have to defend me."
Kael met her gaze. "No. I didn't. But someone should."
Her lips pressed together, her expression unreadable. "I'll remember this grudge," she said softly, though there was the faintest glimmer of humor in her tone.
Kael chuckled. "You're not the first person to tell me that."
Then his expression shifted slightly. "Eula Lawrence… Yanfei mentioned you."
That caught her attention. "You know Yanfei?"
Kael nodded. "And her grandmother. I used to have tea with her often. She asked me to bring you this."
From within his coat, Kael drew a sealed envelope marked with crimson wax. He set it on the table gently.
Eula hesitated before reaching for it. Her fingers brushed the elegant script, instantly recognizing Yanfei's handwriting. For the first time that night, her eyes softened.
It had been years since she'd received a letter from Liyue.
Before she could speak, Jean walked over and quietly sat beside her. The act was small, but the room reacted as if thunder had struck.
"Captain Jean is sitting with that woman?"
"She's a Lawrence! She doesn't belong here!"
"Captain Jean, please, remove this traitor from the Knights!"
"And that man from Liyue—he attacked a Fatui diplomat! He's trying to drag us into war with Snezhnaya!"
"Exactly! They're conspiring together! Arrest them both!"
Jean's jaw tightened. She rose halfway from her seat, trying to calm the growing mob. "Enough! You're crossing the line—"
But the words were drowned out by shouts. Chairs scraped, voices rose, and fear twisted into ugly fury.
Kael, however, simply leaned back and sighed. "I gave them a chance."
His voice was soft, but the air itself seemed to still.
He raised one hand and snapped his fingers.
The loudest among the mob froze mid-yell. Then, before anyone could react, their skin began to pale, harden, and flake—until their bodies turned to cold, smooth stone.
The entire restaurant went silent.
The remaining patrons stared in horror as the transformed figures stood frozen like grotesque statues—faces contorted in mid-scream, eyes wide with terror that would never fade.
Paimon yelped, darting behind Ying. "That's terrifying! What kind of power is that?!"
Ying didn't answer. She was staring at Kael—not in fear, but in awe. There was something ancient about him, something that made the Archons themselves seem… smaller.
Jean stood abruptly, her voice trembling between outrage and disbelief. "Kael! Release them—please. They only spoke out of ignorance!"
Kael's gaze drifted lazily toward her. "Ignorance is still a choice. I told them to shut up. They didn't. Now they won't ever again."
"You…" Jean's words caught in her throat. "Even Barbatos himself wouldn't go this far!"
Kael smiled faintly—an expression that held neither warmth nor cruelty, only certainty.
"Who said Barbatos is allowed to disobey me?"
The words were soft, but they fell like a thunderclap.
The weight behind them was suffocating, an invisible force pressing against the soul. Jean staggered back, heart pounding. For the first time in her life, she felt genuine fear—not from monsters, not from gods, but from the quiet man before her.
The wind outside seemed to still. Even the candles in the restaurant flickered lower, as if afraid to burn too brightly in his presence.
Kael stood, straightened his coat, and turned toward the door. "Eula," he said without looking back, "if anyone bothers you again, tell them you're under my protection."
And then he left—walking into the moonlight as if the night itself parted for him.
Eula watched him go, her gloved hand resting on the unopened letter from Liyue. Her eyes lingered on the doorway long after he vanished.
"Who… exactly is he?" she whispered.
Jean didn't answer. Her hands were trembling.
Outside, the wind stirred again, carrying with it a faint, haunting whisper—
"The law of heaven walks among you."