Three Harbingers Gather!
18: Chapter 18: Master Jean’s Inner Turmoil!
Three Harbingers Gather!
Knights of Favonius Headquarters.
Jean stared intently at the private message popping up on her Live Stream Room screen.
[As a form of apology, the involved party (Jean) will be awarded the ‘Sword of Victory: Excalibur’ and a portion of memories regarding the Traveler!] [The Sword of Victory: Excalibur is a legendary holy sword also known as the ‘Sword of Kings’, obtained by King Arthur from the Lady of the Lake in a legend from another world!] [The power of this weapon relies on the determination and conviction of its wielder!] [The stronger the user’s conviction, the higher the maximum power limit of this holy sword!] [Note: The Sword of Victory: Excalibur cannot be transferred or gifted to others.
This weapon can only be wielded by you alone!] Jean’s eyes widened reading the description.
She didn’t expect the capability of the Interactive Live Stream Room to be this powerful.
The system was actually able to casually gift a legendary holy sword from another dimension just like that.
Reading its incredible description, Jean grew curious about what the holy sword looked like.
She immediately summoned it.
In an instant, a sword radiating a majestic aura materialized in her grasp.
However, the exact second she touched the hilt, a flash of memories from another world flooded into her mind.
In those otherworldly memories, the true wielder of this sword was Arthur Pendragon, also known as Saber.
Under the full-powered swing of the King of Knights, this holy sword could easily cleave mountains and part the seas.
Even giant monsters couldn’t withstand its ultimate power and were instantly vaporized into ash.
Jean gasped in awe.
Just by being dragged into a video scandal with Aether, she could obtain a weapon of such devastating power this easily?
However, she quickly realized one thing.
Even though her current physical strength wasn’t to be underestimated, it would be extremely difficult for her to reach the absurd level of power displayed by King Arthur in those memories.
Reaching that level was impossible without years of grueling training.
Even so, with this holy sword in hand, Jean’s strength had multiplied compared to before.
Jean was very satisfied with this compensation.
Right at that moment, another message from the system appeared.
[Initiating the distribution of memory fragments regarding the Traveler!] Suddenly, a wave of memories flooded Jean’s mind.
She received a whole set of memories about her romantic journey with Aether.
From the moment they met, to the sweet dates they shared.
Every scene felt incredibly real, as if she had just experienced it all herself.
However, at the end of those happy memories, Aether suddenly disappeared from that world for no apparent reason.
The young man just vanished into thin air right in front of her.
And the memory stopped right there.
Cut off just like that.
There was no continuation to the story.
For some reason, Jean felt a suffocating emptiness in her chest.
It felt as if the most important part of her memory was missing.
However, she could only assume that the system intentionally didn’t give her the complete memory.
At the same time, Jean replayed the memory fragments of her dates with Aether again.
The more she thought about it, the redder her face became.
Ultimately, the elegant woman’s defenses crumbled.
She covered her violently blushing face and started rolling around frantically on her office sofa.
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Ahhh!
Is this what falling in love feels like?!
This is way too sweet!
What’s more, the Aether in those memories actually said sweet things to her so often!
Didn’t that young man feel embarrassed at all when he said that?!
This is so embarrassing!
The more Jean thought about it, the more flustered she became.
Now, she didn’t even dare to call Aether to come to the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
She was afraid the other knights would stare at the two of them with meaningful looks.
After all, her relationship status with Aether in the video earlier was crystal clear: they were lovers!
The video had even broadcasted their intimacy to the entirety of Teyvat.
If her subordinate knights found out that she was alone with Aether in her office, they would definitely get the wrong idea!
Ahhhhh!
I can’t take this!
Jean’s face was as red as a boiled crab.
She kept rolling around uncontrollably on the sofa!
Just as she was busy throwing her pride away, a knock on the door suddenly echoed.
Knock, knock, knock!
Jean nearly jumped in surprise.
She bolted upright in her chair faster than lightning, fixed her hair and clothes, and put on a serious face like a busy Acting Grand Master at work.
“Come in!” she answered firmly.
A guard knight entered the room.
He gave a knightly salute, then reported.
“Reporting, Master Jean!
The Most Affectionate Man…
ahem, our Honorary Knight, Aether, is currently requesting permission to see you.
He stated he has an important matter to discuss!” Hearing the young man’s name mentioned, Jean’s body subconsciously trembled slightly.
Her previously calm and authoritative expression was slowly replaced by panic.
Why did Aether suddenly come to see me?
Jean suddenly remembered the memory reward from the system earlier.
Don’t tell me…
Aether also received the same memory reward as I did?!
Jean’s panic intensified.
If Aether came and suddenly confessed his feelings directly like in that memory, what should she do?
Should she accept him or reject him?
Her heart was in complete turmoil.
She didn’t even know if she wanted Aether to come in or not right now.
But…
what if Aether gets mad and feels rejected because I refused to see him?
What if Aether never wants to see me again, and decides to date another woman instead?!
Thinking of that worst-case scenario, Jean instantly grew anxious.
“L-Let him in!” she ordered quickly.
While waiting for the knight to call Aether, Jean hurriedly pulled out a small mirror from her desk drawer.
She frantically fixed her makeup and hair, making sure her appearance was as perfect as possible.
Not long after, the knock on the door returned.
Knock, knock, knock.
Jean took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
“Come in.” Thanks to the god-tier visual effects that were always active in the background, Aether’s appearance was currently constantly surrounded by a mesmerizing aesthetic aura.
His sharp yet gentle facial features looked incredibly handsome.
With a golden glow radiating from his body, the young man looked like an unrivaled Prince Charming.
Anyone who saw him would definitely not be able to forget him for a lifetime.
When Aether and Paimon pushed the door and walked in, his gaze immediately met Jean’s eyes.
Jean, who had painstakingly calmed herself down, trembled again and her face instantly flushed bright red.
“A-Aether…
what brings you here?” Looking at Jean, Aether also recalled the scandal video that had just aired.
He felt a little awkward and shy, but he managed to compose himself quickly.
He immediately stated his intention to help the Knights of Favonius clear the temples.
Hearing that explanation, Jean felt a little…
disappointed.
So Aether came here purely for work matters?
However, as a woman who upheld her pride, she certainly couldn’t take the initiative to bring up the embarrassing things from that video.
She had no other choice but to go along with the Honorary Knight’s flow of conversation.
Jean forced herself to return to being rational and started analyzing the situation calmly.
“Since you are willing to step in and help the Knights of Favonius, I would like to express my deepest gratitude on behalf of all the knights,” Jean said seriously.
“We are indeed severely short-staffed right now.
Even though I’ve already dispatched Kaeya, Amber, and Lisa to lead the knight squads to clear the area, we are still overwhelmed.
There are simply too many monsters at the Temple of the Four Winds.
Because every commander has to split their forces to handle different temples simultaneously, they have all suffered varying degrees of losses and casualties.” “The condition is the most severe at the Temple of the Lion, because the forces there are not led by an elite commander.
The casualties there keep increasing.
If you are willing to help, I’m confident clearing that temple will no longer be a major problem.” “I will ask Barbara to bring some medical sisters from the Church of Favonius to accompany you there later.
After all, there are too many wounded knights there and they desperately need medical attention.” Aether nodded in understanding.
“Alright, leave it to me.” After that, Aether turned around, intending to leave immediately to carry out his mission.
Seeing the young man really about to just leave like that, Jean froze instantly.
Did he really come here just to say this?!
Does he truly not want to talk about anything regarding the video earlier?
Or…
don’t tell me he didn’t get the memory reward from the system?
Jean desperately wanted to know if Aether had the same romantic dating memories as she did.
This matter was too important to her!
Right before Aether stepped out, Jean called out to him.
“Wait a minute, Aether!
Um…
did you get any compensation reward from the Live Stream Room system today?” Aether nodded.
“Yeah.
I got god-tier cooking skills, and that’s it.” Hearing Aether not mention anything about awakening memories, Jean’s gaze turned blank.
Her heart suddenly felt incredibly empty.
She didn’t even notice when Aether and Paimon left her office.
Jean stared at the mountain of documents on her desk, and suddenly felt incredibly frustrated.
She slowly rested her body on the desk, staring at the Traveler’s profile sheet in her hand.
There was a passport photo of Aether attached to the corner of the paper.
Jean gently stroked the photo.
Her feelings were a complicated mess, and she had no idea what to do.
…
The Main Gate of Mondstadt.
Three cloaked Fatui figures gathered at this point simultaneously.
The Eleventh Fatui Harbinger — Childe, Tartaglia!
The Eighth Fatui Harbinger — La Signora, Rosalyne!
The Second Fatui Harbinger — The Doctor, Il Dottore!
Dottore stared intently at Mondstadt’s gate.
He smirked cunningly behind his mask.
“It’s been a long time, Mondstadt.
I completely didn’t expect…
that we would be reminiscing again like this!”