"Isn't that exactly why we're urging you, Grand Sage?"
"You're already in your twenties."
Idris could only nod in deep helplessness.
He knew that if you looked at things by the standards of real history, they were… kind of right.
Under normal circumstances, by the time a king hit his twenties, forget concubines—
He'd probably already have a fully appointed crown prince.
But that was for ordinary humans.
His body had been reforged by dragon blood, his lifespan stretched far beyond mortals, and he had a collection of powerful elixirs backing him up.
Reaching a lifespan comparable to the archons themselves was only a matter of time.
So no—Idris didn't plan on naming any crown prince.
Given his life expectancy, whoever became "crown prince" might end up holding that title for… centuries.
Was there anyone in this world who'd been a crown prince for a few thousand years?
And it wasn't like Idris cared about "continuing the bloodline" either.
So what was the point of worrying about it now?
He'd much rather focus on something that actually mattered:
Making Sumeru stronger.
Strong enough that one day, this nation alone could stand against the Abyss, or even the Heavens themselves.
From the moment he planted that new World Tree to balance light and shadow, Idris had already set his goal—
He was going to rewrite the entire order of Teyvat.
That goal would one day draw the gaze of Celestia.
He'd have to be ready to cross them.
And then there was the Abyss…
Compared to the Abyss, the Fatui were just the second-biggest scapegoat.
The true source of the rot would always be the Abyss.
So Idris waved a hand dismissively.
"Right now Sumeru's overall strength is only barely squeezing into the top three in the world."
"This country is nowhere near stable enough yet. I'm not wasting energy on romance."
For Idris, carving out time to go on a casual date with one of Sumeru's girls was already considered "cultivating the soul."
Having said that, he gave his answer like swinging down a blade, and went right back to plowing through the pile of work on his desk.
Looking at his utterly unshakable attitude, Nahida and Rukkhadevata shared a weary look.
They'd originally thought that what happened in Vanarana might at least nudge Idris a little bit toward caring about "matters of the heart."
But clearly… no.
Besides, Nahida had a practical problem:
She couldn't just turn into her flowering young maiden form whenever she wanted.
Even with support from the Alchemy Faction's elixirs and the nourishing power of the World Tree, Nahida would still need around three years before her body stabilized in that older form.
"So in the end…"
"We really do need to help the girls of Sumeru push things forward themselves," she murmured.
"Otherwise, with how dense he is, he'll probably rather spend all night drinking with Alhaitham or someone like him."
Just thinking back to Idris chatting away with Wriothesley in Fontaine about that giant mechanical ship—
Nahida felt speechless.
He'd talked more in those few hours about machines than he did with any girl in three days.
Women could never compete with technology in this man's heart.
He looked like a walking collection of evil flags, but in this area, he was unbelievably hopeless.
Nahida glanced at Rukkhadevata's mature, perfect figure beside her, cheeks flushing slightly.
Taking advantage of Idris's focus on his work, she quietly leaned over and whispered:
"Tree King… how about… you give it a try?"
"Me? N-no, no, absolutely not!"
Rukkhadevata's face instantly went scarlet.
The seniority alone made her head hurt…
Even though "seniority" had already been scrambled ever since Idris named Nahida his Little Auspicious Princess, Rukkhadevata still defaulted to seeing herself as the elder.
But to go and take the role of Idris's pillow-side companion…
That was a bit…
She shook her head even harder.
"In any case, we should help him… branch out a little more in that area."
Nahida nodded.
"Mm…"
She turned her head, watched Idris still buried in documents, then quietly tiptoed over and slipped into his bed.
Just like always, she took up her usual post as his living bed-warmer.
Given her current petite loli form, there wasn't much else she could do…
It was nearly dawn by the time Idris finally finished processing the last of his backlog.
He turned, saw Nahida curled up in his bed, and chuckled.
"Back home and you still insist on doing your warm-bed shift, huh?"
Nahida's cheeks flushed. Her small head popped up from under the blanket.
"I-I don't 'insist' on it! If I weren't your secretary, I wouldn't be doing this at all!"
Idris just laughed and didn't argue.
He clearly remembered: the one who'd come knocking to be his secretary in the first place…
was Nahida herself.
But he wasn't so tasteless as to say it out loud.
He yawned, felt his own mental fatigue catching up, then lifted the blanket and lay down.
As usual, he wrapped his arms around the little Dendro Archon like a plush pillow.
Breathing in that soothing scent and dense vitality, Idris's nights were always especially restful.
Watching him drift off with such a relaxed expression, Nahida couldn't help but smile softly in her heart.
Then, her consciousness quietly slipped free of her body, drifting away.
Now it was her turn to work.
She was going to sneak into someone else's dream…
to teach them a little "lesson" and gently steer them toward a certain decision.
Very soon, Nahida slipped into Nilu's dream in the Grand Bazaar.
Compared to entering the dreams of strangers, using her old believer as a target felt a lot more secure.
In Sumeru City, there were quite a few like Nilu—
people who had once been under her direct care.
Nilu, in particular, adored her.
Not just because she was cute, but because, for Nilu, it was under Nahida's guidance that she'd become the girl closest to Idris among all of Sumeru's women.
Well… closest on the "human" side, at least.
Appearing in the dream, Nahida manifested in front of Nilu.
As soon as Nilu saw that familiar little figure, her heart warmed. She ran over on tiptoe.
"Little Auspicious Princess! You're back from your trip abroad?"
Even if Nahida was no longer the Dendro Archon, and Nilu no longer her follower,
they could still be friends—that part wouldn't change.
Nahida nodded.
"Mm. I'm back."
"And not just me. Idris, the Grand Sage, is back too."
"That means," she smiled, "you'll have more chances to go on dates with him again."
Nilu's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really?! That's wonderful!"
It had only been two or three days, but her longing had piled up into something heavier.
Since she didn't hold any official post, Idris had been too busy to contact her while dealing with affairs of state.
So she had no idea he'd already returned.
But… as soon as Nahida mentioned it, another thought made the little Archon's cheeks redden with guilt.
"Um, Nilu… There's actually something I need to tell you."
"Before this, there was one time that… I accidentally crossed the line I was supposed to keep as 'god' and 'sage'…"
Her entire face turned crimson as she spoke, her tiny frame like a ripe pomegranate.
She had promised Nilu she'd help her become the first one to 'sneak ahead'.
Who would've thought the one who ended up stealing the march…
would be herself?
And now she had to come clean, face-to-face, with the very girl she'd once encouraged.
If there had been a block of tofu nearby, Nahida genuinely felt she might just go smash her head into it.
As expected, Nilu's clear features froze.
She might be a bit of an airhead, but Nahida had practically spelled it out.
Nilu understood perfectly what she meant.
And so… she froze.
She had never imagined that one day, her beloved god would betray her and sneak ahead.
What's more, in her mind, the relationship between Idris and Nahida should have still been somewhat guarded.
Even if the imprisonment incident hadn't been directly Idris's fault,
the fact that he'd stripped away all of Nahida's divine authority definitely had everything to do with him.
Yet here they were: no wariness, no distance—
they'd already taken that step?
That was too much!
Still, perhaps because she was too stunned, or just too soft by nature, Nilu blurted out:
"Um… Little Auspicious Princess, why did you and the Grand Sage do… that?"
"Does he… like your current… body type?"
Nahida's face went bright red. She quickly shook her head.
"No! That's not it!"
"It's just that, once, I used a special environment to boost my powers, and my body temporarily changed into… something more like yours."
"That's when… it happened."
"Phew… I see…"
Nilu let out a complicated breath of relief.
So Idris wasn't a hardcore loli-con, then.
She'd genuinely worried he was only interested in girls with Nahida's usual figure.
If that were the case, she'd really have no chance at all.
Once she'd digested that, Nilu's cheeks pinked again.
"So… Little Auspicious Princess… now that you've told me this… what does it mean?"
"Is there… something else you want to say?"
She couldn't help feeling a little betrayed.
If she weren't such a harmless sweetheart, she might well have snapped right then and there.
Nahida could only keep blushing as she explained,
"Um… Nilu, please don't take it the wrong way. I actually came to give you some… advice."
"The thing is… Idris doesn't really care how pretty a girl is."
"He won't be the one to take the initiative."
"So next time you get a chance, just get him a little tipsy—and then be the one to take the lead."
"Ahem. As for how to take the lead…"
"I've got a few ideas. And since Idris will be staying in Sumeru for a long while, it'll be easy for me to cooperate with you…"
Meanwhile, fast asleep in the real world, Idris had no idea—
He'd barely gotten home…
and his own pillow-side Archon was already designing his downfall.
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