The gates of Mondstadt welcomed the family home with the familiar rush of dandelion seeds dancing on the breeze. Boreas and Elowen ran ahead, laughing as they chased the fluffy white orbs, while Varka and Nicole walked more slowly, hands linked, savoring the sight of their children rediscovering their city after months away.

  They headed straight for the Knights of Favonius headquarters. Jean was waiting in the grand hall, standing behind a desk buried under towering stacks of parchments, reports, and ledgers. Her usual calm composure had cracked; faint shadows circled her eyes, and her shoulders carried the unmistakable slump of someone who had been holding up the sky for far too long.

  “Grand Master,” she greeted, voice steady but weary. She offered a small, tired smile. “Welcome back.”

  Varka winced the moment he saw her expression. He removed his cloak and draped it over a chair, already sensing the storm brewing behind her politeness.

  “Jean… how bad is it?”

  She exhaled through her nose. “Lohen and I have managed. Barely. The paperwork alone could fill Stormterror’s old lair. Diplomatic missives from Fontaine, trade negotiations with Liyue, patrol schedules for Dragonspine, reconstruction requests from Springvale after the last hilichurl surge… and that’s before we even touch the budget ledgers.”

  Nicole stepped forward, apologetic. “We know we’ve been gone too long. The children needed to see the world. We needed—”

  “I understand,” Jean cut in gently. “Truly. After everything you’ve endured—Celestia’s gaze, the threats, the uncertainty—you deserved time as a family. But the Knights still need their Grand Master. Mondstadt still needs you.”

  Varka rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish. “I suppose I’ve been a bit… absent.”

  “A bit?” Jean’s eyebrow arched. “You’ve been gone for nearly a year, Varka.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Before he could respond, Boreas and Elowen burst into the hall, cheeks flushed from running.

  “Jean! We saw so many things!” Boreas exclaimed. “Fountains that dance, flowers that never die, people who talk to trees!”

  Elowen nodded vigorously. “And now we want to see more! Father said something about Liyue and Natlan?”

  Varka cleared his throat. “Ah. Yes. I may have… jokingly mentioned we still have to visit those places.”

  Jean pinched the bridge of her nose.

  At that moment, the door flew open again. Alice swept in like a spring gale, Klee bouncing at her side, clutching a suspiciously large backpack that jingled ominously.

  “We heard there might be more adventures!” Alice announced brightly. “If you’re planning family outings to Liyue and Natlan, we insist on coming along. Klee has never seen the Lantern Rite, and I have… research to conduct in Natlan’s volcanic zones.”

  Klee beamed up at Jean, eyes sparkling. “Please, Acting Grand Master? Pretty please with explosions on top? I promise I’ll be good too!”

  Jean looked from the twins’ hopeful faces, to Alice’s mischievous grin, to Klee’s pleading pout, then back to Varka—who offered only a helpless shrug.

  She let out the longest, most bone-deep sigh of her career.

  “Fine,” she said at last. “Go. All of you. But Grand Master—you are writing a full report upon your return. And you are not leaving again until every single document on this desk has your signature.”

  Varka saluted smartly. “Understood, Acting Grand Master.”

  Before anyone could celebrate, a familiar high-pitched voice echoed from the rafters.

  “HEY! This is so unfair!”

  Paimon zoomed down from above, arms flailing, cheeks puffed in outrage. The Traveler apologetically followed more sedately through the open window, landing lightly beside her.

  “You two get to go everywhere—Fontaine cafés, Sumeru libraries, Nod-Krai bonfires—and Paimon and the Traveler just watch from far away like babysitters! Paimon wants desserts! Paimon wants adventures! Paimon wants to eat until her tummy explodes!”

  The Traveler placed a calming hand on Paimon’s head. “She’s been sulking for weeks.”

  Nicole laughed softly. “Then come with us. All of you. The more the merrier.”

  Paimon’s eyes went wide. “Really?!”

  Boreas and Elowen cheered. Klee clapped her hands. Alice smirked triumphantly.

  Jean rubbed her temples. “I’m going to need a very long vacation after this…”

  And so, two families—plus one floating companion and the ever-watchful Traveler—set out once more, this time bound for the harbors of Liyue. Varka, afraid of Jean’s wrath however, couldn’t leave the Favonius office until everything was settled, as he promised.