"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Eula. I'm Keqing, and this is my husband, Ryou." Keqing smiled as she introduced him.
"You're married?" Eula looked surprised.
"Mm." Keqing nodded.
"I'm Ryou. I currently work at the Ministry of Civil Affairs." He smiled at the group. "Since you're all here, I'll give each of you a ticket. Whether you win or not, though, I can't promise anything."
Xingqiu quickly handed them each a lottery ticket. "The winning numbers are posted on the wall to the left. You can check them yourselves."
"The top prize is one million Mora. Good luck."
"Thanks."
The group took their numbers over to compare them.
Ryou glanced at the others, then took Keqing's hand and led her outside. "Keqing, I heard Mondstadt has several places with beautiful scenery. Windrise, Starsnatch Cliff, the Favonius Cathedral..."
"Let's go walk around a bit. We're leaving again tomorrow anyway."
"Alright."
Keqing nodded and followed him out.
Yanfei stayed behind in the shop, staring at the ticket in her hand.
No win.
"Ahhh, another miss. I've already spent a hundred thousand Mora on this, and I only made back thirty thousand!"
"You think it's just you? Same here!"
"I'm down three hundred thousand Mora. How is that one million prize this hard to hit?"
"Do you think they never even put the one million Mora prize in there?"
"Forget one million—even the five hundred thousand prize hasn't come up for anyone yet."
...
Listening to all that, Yanfei started getting a bad feeling. She turned to Eula. "Eula, has anyone actually gone broke because of these lottery tickets?"
"...Let's leave first." Eula noticed several people looking their way and quickly led them out of the lottery shop.
Once they reached a teahouse, she said, "To be honest, there have already been several cases like that recently."
Arataki Itto sucked in a breath. "The lottery's that bad?"
"Boss, people always say nine gamblers out of ten lose," Shinobu said. "In my eyes, this lottery is just another form of gambling."
"So that's what this is. Good thing I'm not interested." Itto looked relieved.
"Boss, you really shouldn't touch it," Shinobu said, giving him a look.
"N-No way! I wouldn't!" Itto shook his head frantically.
Then he lowered his voice and muttered, "Besides, it's not like I even have that much Mora."
Yanfei drained her tea in one go and set the cup down. "I'm going to investigate this properly. If these lottery shops stay open, more and more families are going to be ruined."
"I'm with you," Shinobu said at once.
Eula looked at the group and said, "If you need any help, let me know. I'll do what I can."
Yanfei asked, "Eula, can you take us to meet some of the victims?"
"I can." Eula nodded and led Yanfei and the others to a small house.
"This family was poor to begin with, but recently the husband spent a huge amount of Mora on lottery tickets and lost everything."
"His wife had no choice in the end and reported it to the Knights of Favonius."
But just as Eula was about to take them inside, she realized the woman who opened the door was gone. The person standing there now was a strange man.
"Who are you people?" he asked coldly.
"Where are the people who lived here before?" Eula frowned.
"What's it to you?"
"We're here on behalf of the Knights of Favonius. Cooperate with the investigation," Eula said, her tone sharpening.
"So just because you're with the Knights, I have to answer you?" The man sneered. "Don't bother looking for that couple. The husband's dead, and the wife followed him."
He looked over the group, then pointed outside the city. "If you head toward Wolvendom, maybe you'll still find their bodies."
"They're both dead?" Yanfei was genuinely startled.
The man glanced at her. "What's so strange about that? The husband was a degenerate gambler."
"He sold the house and kept buying lottery tickets. In the end, when he had nowhere left to go, he killed himself. His wife followed after him."
"Hmph. The lottery is just gambling with a prettier face. The Knights of Favonius keep turning a blind eye to it, so I don't think much of you either."
With that, he slammed the door shut.
Eula's expression turned ugly. She led Yanfei and the others to a quieter place to sit.
"I had no idea the lottery's gotten this bad," Itto said in disbelief.
Shinobu's voice was low and heavy. "People are throwing away their homes for a shot at one million Mora, and in the end they're killing themselves over it. That's way too serious."
"This lottery is hurting people. I refuse to believe that's the only case in Mondstadt."
She turned to Eula and Amber. "Can you help me track down more victims?"
"I need evidence. If this lottery keeps spreading, more and more people are going to lose everything. I can't just stand by and watch." Yanfei looked at Eula with complete seriousness.
"Alright. I'll help," Eula said firmly.
"I'll do everything I can too," Shinobu said.
"And me!" Itto added.
"Good. I know we can make this work. As long as these lottery shops get shut down, a lot of this danger can be stopped." Yanfei looked at the group, her resolve hardening.
...
Outside the Favonius Cathedral—
[ Ding. Eye entering Darkened Mode! ]
[ Ding. Eye: Darkened Mode active. You can now bestow a Holy Light state upon any item. That item will randomly gain an increase to one of its attributes! ]
Hearing the prompt, Ryou looked up at the cathedral.
Did coming here trigger it?
"What is it?" Keqing asked.
"Nothing." Ryou shook his head.
Then he looked at the cathedral again and smiled. "It's beautiful. A wedding here would probably be incredible."
"Keqing, our first wedding was a little too simple. If we get the chance later, let's hold another ceremony here."
"Mm." Warmth filled Keqing's chest, and she hugged him tighter.
The Favonius Cathedral felt different in her eyes too.
That feeling had already been there, but now it was even stronger.
Maybe one day, after she helped her husband win Ganyu over, they really could hold another wedding here...
The thought made Keqing smile to herself.
Just then, she noticed a nun walking toward them out of the corner of her eye. The girl looked oddly familiar, though Keqing couldn't quite place where she had seen her before.
"You two seem very close," the girl said with a smile as she looked at them. "I happened to overhear you talking about a wedding. Would you like to arrange one here?"
"Thank you, but we're already married." Ryou smiled as he held Keqing.
"Oh! So you're already married." The girl looked surprised. "Then I really do envy the two of you. You look perfect together."
"Thank you," Ryou said with a smile. "If we get the chance, I'd still like to give my wife a proper ceremony here someday."
"You treat your wife so well." The girl smiled sweetly. "If you ever need help, feel free to come find me. Oh, right—I'm Barbara."
Barbara was petite, fair-skinned, and her nun's habit gave her a very different kind of charm.
She resembled Keqing a little, though she looked younger and softer—cute in a way that made people want to tease her.
But standing beside her, Keqing looked stunning in a completely different way.
Her purple dress showed off her figure perfectly. Everything about her had blossomed beautifully, and compared to before, she had clearly grown more mature and even fuller, to the point that she now outshone even Ganyu in certain ways.
At this point, Keqing's feminine charm had practically been pushed to the limit.
She was gorgeous.
She was graceful.
She was mature and alluring.
Her figure was just right, even leaning a little toward full and soft, the kind that would feel incredible to hold.
Ryou looked at Barbara and said, "Barbara? Oh... I've heard Mondstadt has an idol named Barbara. They say she sings beautifully, and she's very pretty too."
Then he immediately felt Keqing's stare and gave a dry laugh. "I'm just repeating what I heard."
"Keqing, in my eyes, no one is prettier than you."
"Hmph." Keqing shot him a glare.
Hearing Ryou praise her, Barbara felt her entire face heat up.
Because she longed for exactly that kind of man too—someone who would treat her with the same warmth and sincerity he gave Keqing.
She could feel it clearly. Ryou's feelings for Keqing were absolutely genuine, and the affection between them was deep. It was enough to make her jealous.
"You two really have a wonderful relationship," Barbara said softly. "It's enviable."
"I'm sure you'll find something like that someday too." Keqing smiled at her, then glanced sideways at Ryou before adding, "Honestly, that feeling comes in an instant."
"It's like this—you see someone, and suddenly your heart starts racing. You get nervous for no reason. You can't help wanting to look at them, and no matter how hard you try, you can't control it."
"Oh... is that what it's like?" Barbara scratched her head.
Then, all of a sudden, she felt her own heartbeat speed up.
And the more she looked at Keqing, the stronger that strange feeling became. She just wanted to keep looking at her.
It threw Barbara into a panic.
Was this what it meant to have her heart stirred?
But... wasn't she supposed to like boys?
Why did looking at Keqing make her feel this way instead?
When Barbara looked at Ryou, she didn't feel much.
But whenever she looked at Keqing, she couldn't control the tightness in her chest. Even her breathing grew uneven.
When she spoke again, her voice had turned hesitant and flustered. "I-I think I understand that feeling now. Sorry, I'm... I'm suddenly a little nervous."
Keqing immediately sensed that something was off.
Because this was clearly what someone looked like when they had fallen for another person.
And there was only one man here—her husband.
Keqing widened her eyes.
She had only tried to explain what it felt like to fall for someone.
And somehow Barbara had ended up falling for her husband?!
I was trying to make a friend, and you want to steal my man?!
[End of chapter]
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