"What exactly do you want me to say…"
After locking eyes with Lumine for a moment, Dainsleif slowly lowered his gaze.
He had no idea where Lumine had gotten this information from.
But since things had already been dragged out into the open like this, there were some things he no longer needed to hide.
"I only have one question."
"I hope you can answer honestly."
Lumine slowly stood up, her tone ice-cold.
"Ask."
Dainsleif nodded. "I will answer truthfully."
"You'd better."
Lumine took a deep breath, then asked in a low, heavy voice:
"You and Aether—why did you separate?"
"What did that man named Clotar Alberich say to Aether?"
"…"
Dainsleif's whole body went rigid.
He looked up at Lumine in disbelief.
How… did she know about something like that?
In just an instant, a string of names flashed through his mind, and his expression gradually chilled.
"Who told you these things?"
Bang!
Lumine slammed a palm down on the table, her voice like frost.
"Don't get it twisted. I'm the one asking the questions right now."
"I only need to hear the answers I want from you. Everything else has nothing to do with you."
Who had told her—was that really so important?
Trying to dodge the point, change the subject.
What, was saying a few sentences really that hard?
Doing it on purpose, clearly hiding things?
People have their tempers; she's not made out of mud!
Right now… she was absolutely furious!
"…"
Seeing the chill on Lumine's face, Paimon at the side jumped in fright.
She had been traveling with Lumine all this time.
Never once had she seen her show such a cold, distant side.
Looked like Lumine was really mad this time.
"Hey, you, the guy with the eyepatch."
Paimon puffed out her cheeks, stomping her little feet in anger.
"Lumine is asking about her brother. You know something, so why won't you say it?"
"You're definitely hiding something on purpose, aren't you?"
"You don't look like any good person to me!"
Between some stranger and Lumine, there was no question whose side Paimon would take.
Anyone who made Lumine angry was in the wrong—end of story.
"…"
Lumine shot Paimon a surprised look.
For a moment, the icy expression on her face softened quite a bit.
"Hmph~"
Noticing Lumine's odd look, Paimon snorted proudly.
"We're best friends. If I don't help you, who else would I help?"
"And besides, this guy just looks sketchy."
As she spoke, Paimon's eyes rolled around; hands on her hips, she started swaggering and waving around someone else's prestige.
"I'll have you know, Lumine is Mondstadt's Honorary Knight, and the Anemo Archon Barbatos is our close, dear friend."
"Lumine is also an honored guest of the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing."
"If you still refuse to talk, then hmph…"
"…"
Dainsleif frowned slightly at Paimon.
His movements… could not be exposed. Not yet.
"…Very well."
Dainsleif finally spoke softly.
"Aether and I parted ways in Sumeru, three years after the fall of Khaenri'ah."
"As for the exact reason he left, I am still investigating it."
"I don't intend to lie to you. This is the truth."
"All I know is that the reason Aether left is tied to a plan called the Loom of Fate."
"And the one who proposed this concept was precisely Clotar Alberich."
"His son, Caribert Alberich, is the key figure."
"As for what the Loom of Fate actually is… I'm sorry. I don't know that yet either."
Loom of Fate?
Caribert?
As she listened to these unfamiliar words, Lumine's brows knitted together.
From Aether leaving, to him joining the Abyss and establishing the Abyss Order—was all of it connected to this Loom of Fate plan?
And Caribert was the key?
Restoring the nation?
Overturning the divine thrones?
Did Aether wish to rewrite Khaenri'ah's fate?
It felt like Lumine had caught hold of some special clue.
But the threads of information in her hands were still too few, nowhere near enough to string everything together into a complete picture.
Still… at least she had gained a target, hadn't she?
"Not enough. It's still not enough."
Lumine mulled it over for a moment, then raised her head to look at Dainsleif again.
"I heard you're still tracking the Abyss right now. How far have you gotten?"
She needed more information.
Key intel that could piece together all the puzzle fragments in her mind.
But she herself knew very little about the Abyss Order.
She could only try to draw something out of Dainsleif.
"…I'm sorry."
"I can't answer that for the time being."
Facing Lumine's questioning, Dainsleif slowly shook his head.
"Before answering these questions, I must first confirm where you stand."
"If you side with Aether, or with the Abyss…"
"Then I cannot reveal any of this to you. Not even a little."
Confirm where she stood?
What kind of stance was he talking about?
"How do you plan to confirm that?"
Lumine frowned, expressionless, staring straight at Dainsleif.
"It's simple."
Dainsleif's face became grave.
"I need to know whose mouth you heard all this from."
"…"
The moment Dainsleif asked that question—
Lumine immediately grasped the most crucial part hidden in it.
"Whose mouth?"
From the way he phrased it, this "who" was obviously plural.
Which meant there were more than just two or three people who knew about this.
Among them were individuals whom Dainsleif was wary of, who leaned toward the Abyss.
Perhaps more than one.
Those on the Abyss-leaning side could be left aside for now.
On the other side, among the ones "in the know"…
Did that include Venti?
It should.
She'd long since known that drunkard wasn't being straight with her.
But there was something strange about the way Dainsleif had asked his question.
Taro's intel had already been spread throughout the land by the Fatui.
Across the Seven Nations, anyone even slightly capable would have heard at least some of it.
Since this guy clearly knew she had come from Liyue…
Why would he still be asking something like that?
A little deduction and it wasn't hard to guess the answer.
"You…"
Lumine gave Dainsleif a rather odd look.
"You really don't have any of Taro's intel?"
"Taro?"
"What Taro?"
Dainsleif was momentarily stunned.
The name Lumine spoke was completely unfamiliar to him.
It wasn't on any shortlist of suspects he kept in his mind.
He had suspected the Hexenzirkel, guessed it might be the Sinner, or even Morax himself.
But this "Taro"… where had that come from?
"He really has chased the Abyss until it scrambled his brains."
"How long has it been since you last went back to a human city?"
One look at his dazed expression, and Lumine already had her answer.
Still, to be safe, she asked anyway.
"It's been quite some time."
Dainsleif frowned slightly.
"Other than this time, the last time I entered a human city was half a year ago."
"That Taro… is he someone who appeared in the last six months?"
Well then. Case closed.
He really had chased the Abyss until he'd gone stupid.
His last visit to a human city was half a year ago?
And these last few days in Mondstadt, he probably hadn't heard anyone mention it.
If he didn't know, that was understandable.
"Forget it."
Lumine rubbed her temples.
"You should be familiar with the term 'Descender,' right?"
"He arrived two months ago."
"Descender…"
Dainsleif's eyes narrowed.
Another Descender had come to Teyvat?
He'd been on this continent for less than half a year?
Then how did he know what had happened five hundred years ago?
The next instant, Dainsleif reacted.
And at the same time, a chill ran through his whole body.
Wasn't the answer obvious?
That Descender…
(End of Chapter)
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