"Gulp..." Aether swallowed the water, his cheeks a bit flushed.
It wasn't out of shame; last night, they had played all sorts of games, so he wouldn't be embarrassed by such a small thing.
It was purely because Cloud Retainer wasn't satisfied with just feeding him water; more often, she was playing games of lip and tongue under the guise of feeding him water.
It made him a little breathless.
"Want more?" Cloud Retainer, lying on top of him, stared into Aether's golden eyes and asked in a low voice.
"No, no more." Warm breath blew on his face, and Aether almost instinctively nodded, but thankfully he reacted in time.
He had already drunk a lot of water. Although drinking a little more wouldn't hurt, Aether was very afraid that if this continued, Cloud Retainer wouldn't be able to control herself and would go deeper.
He knew that he had no combat ability right now.
"Hmm, then never mind." Cloud Retainer nodded, slowly got up, and placed the teacup in her hand aside.
She then sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Aether, who was lying there motionless, a hint of conflicted emotion appearing on her face.
She seemed to want to talk to Aether, but Aether waited silently for a long time, and Cloud Retainer showed no intention of speaking.
Slowly, the atmosphere became a bit awkward.
"Um..." Aether finally couldn't help but want to speak first, but Cloud Retainer suddenly turned around and put her finger over Aether's mouth.
"Since it has already happened, saying more is useless." Cloud Retainer's index finger was on Aether's lips, at first only to stop Aether from speaking, but soon her actions changed.
Her soft fingertip explored Aether's lips, even showing a tendency to open Aether's mouth and go deeper.
"This adeptus is not the kind of person who doesn't take responsibility after something happens. Whether you can accept it or not, this adeptus will compensate you in her own way..." Cloud Retainer dared not release her index finger; she was somewhat afraid of hearing words of refusal from Aether's mouth.
She had thought a lot today. Shenhe had also given her a lot of comfort and told her many internal matters about Aether.
For example, Aether was not only with them, not only in Liyue, but also had many confidantes in Mondstadt...
In short, hearing Shenhe say those words, her heart also felt much lighter.
Although she couldn't say she had completely come to terms with it, as an adeptus and their elder, she felt she shouldn't hesitate.
Since things had come to this, she could only continue down this path, going all the way.
Regardless of whether Aether was willing or not.
"You are very special. In fact, when this adeptus first saw you, she already..."
"Mmm, mmm--"
Hearing Aether's somewhat strange sounds, Cloud Retainer finally reacted, realizing that at some point, she had already entered Aether's mouth, two fingers clamping Aether's pink little tongue, giving him no chance to speak.
She paused slightly, then quickly pulled her hand back.
"In short, yesterday's matter was this adeptus's fault. This adeptus will not evade responsibility for her mistakes." Cloud Retainer looked at her fingers, which had become somewhat translucent under the light, and was momentarily lost in thought.
"A-actually, it's not Cloud Retainer's fault..." Aether shrank his head. He was still completely powerless, and Cloud Retainer's actions just now had somewhat frightened him.
Of course, Aether had listened to what she said, and he even omitted the words "True Monarch" from her title.
To show sincerity, Aether decided to explain clearly to Cloud Retainer that everything was due to the problem with the Pearl Jade Retreat Soup yesterday.
And also because of his own constitution.
He originally thought that adepti, as beings born from elements, would not be affected, or at least not greatly affected.
He didn't expect the final result to be otherwise. It seemed whether the things he made would work, whether the target was a human or an adeptus, simply didn't matter.
As long as it was female... or even a female creature, it probably wouldn't escape the effects of this medicine.
"You don't need to comfort or accommodate this adeptus. This adeptus knows you have many female companions around you. Don't worry, this adeptus doesn't mind." Cloud Retainer said, putting her fingers into her mouth and sucking them for a moment.
In her opinion, no matter how many confidantes Aether had, she was the one who initiated things with Aether yesterday, and last night, Aether was completely powerless to resist and was ultimately left in this state by her.
Ultimately, her mistake was greater.
However, perhaps influenced by Aether, she almost completely forgot her abnormal and strange behavior from yesterday.
"Uh, no, I..." Aether still wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Cloud Retainer waving her hand.
"You should rest well. This adeptus still has things to do. I'll call Shenhe to come and accompany you later." Cloud Retainer slowly got up, then looked at Aether with some reluctance.
Finally, without much hesitation, she leaned down and left a deep kiss on Aether's lips again, separating only after a long while.
"This adeptus is leaving. See you tomorrow."
Cloud Retainer actually wanted to stay, but after all that commotion yesterday, and doing nothing all day today, she had put aside all matters concerning Liyue Harbor and her old friends.
These matters had to be dealt with.
Additionally, that foreign traveler by Aether's side, named Lumine, she also had to entertain her.
-
"Hah... I'm so tired, Aether. When will we finish climbing this mountain?" Paimon hugged Lumine's neck tightly, her entire body sprawled on Lumine's back.
"Am I not carrying you? What are you tired about?" Lumine retorted helplessly.
They were on their way to the top of Mt. Aocang.
In reality, people had long built roads on this mountain for seeking adepti, so at least there was a path to follow when climbing.
However, it was a pity that the mountain was quite high, and Lumine hadn't activated the teleport waypoint here, so she could only climb slowly.
"I wonder if that Adeptus will see us," Paimon completely ignored Lumine's last sentence and changed the subject.
"With the Hundred-Proof Talisman, it should be fine, right...?" Lumine said hesitantly, unsure of the Adeptus's temperament.
It was just that they didn't dare to return to Liyue Harbor right now; otherwise, if they directly asked Shenhe for help, things wouldn't be so troublesome.
"Sigh, I wonder how Stelle and Shenhe are doing," Lumine slowly sighed, looking at the towering mountain in front of her, her mood also somewhat complex.
She hoped their suspicions could be cleared quickly, and they could reunite with Stelle soon.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"