This scene was, of course, noticed by Piers and Sandrone.
No—what in the world are you blushing for?
With you looking like that, you make it seem as if I’m the kind of person who’d take advantage of a superior while they’re unconscious.
Sandrone, however, didn’t pursue the matter; her expression was even unusually calm, as though she hadn’t seen Katayena at all.
“I’m going back to change my clothes.
I’ll go see Her Majesty the Tsaritsa shortly—you don’t need to follow.” “Understood.” After giving Piers a heads-up, Sandrone left, but she’d taken only two steps when Piers called out to her from behind.
“Lord Marionette, you’re going the wrong way.
Your room is on the other side.” Sandrone visibly paused, and in the next second, for no apparent reason, she suddenly dashed off in the other direction.
Piers found it a bit strange and wondered whether it was some aftereffect caused by the remains of an Archon, but seeing how fast Sandrone was running, her legs were probably fine, so he let it go and left.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to find an Electro Cicin Mage to take Katayena to look for an empty room.
The moment Sandrone returned to her room, she spotted Columbina sleeping on the bed.
“Columbina!
Why are you still here?!” Columbina was woken by the noise; freshly roused, she was a little dazed, even though it was already high noon.
“The bread’s all gone.
I was waiting for you to come back.” Sandrone instinctively assumed Columbina had gotten hungry, finished off the bread, and waited specifically to tell her about it.
“Huh?
How rare—you’d actually tell me.
I thought you’d just eat it and leave.
Never mind, it’s only a bit of bread; you ate it, so be it.
I’m not so petty as that.” “No—I wanted to wait for you to come back and ask if there’s any more.
There was too little bread.” Sandrone: “…” “Co-lum-bi-na!
Get out, this instant!” Columbina gave her wings a flutter, but before she could react, Pronia—standing beside her—lifted her up and carried her out the door, conveniently shutting it behind her as well.
The room was finally quiet.
Sandrone peeled off the stockings Piers had torn and set them aside, changing into a new pair—though her eyes still drifted now and then toward the ruined stockings.
Half an hour later, in a small room of the Zapolyarny Palace.
“Your Majesty, you really ought to have Pantalone cut off Dottore’s research funding.
My research budget takes ten days, even half a month, to be approved, while his is approved in a day or two—sometimes in mere minutes.” The Cryo Tsaritsa sat on the sofa across from Sandrone; she had already been listening to Sandrone complain for several minutes.
“All right, all right, calm down.
I’ll reprimand him.
As for that testing ground where he researches a mechanical Archon, I’ll have him relocate it.” The Cryo Tsaritsa consoled Sandrone in a light tone, even picking up the teapot to pour her a cup of tea.
“Your Majesty, you should just throw him in confinement.
The experiments he runs are so unstable—this time it was a stroke of luck that I went; had it been anyone else, they likely wouldn’t have made it out at all.” Sandrone was clearly dissatisfied with the Cryo Tsaritsa’s “reprimand him”—it sounded more like a brush-off.
“After all, he didn’t hurt anyone, and Dottore’s been like this for ages now.
Besides, as the Second of the Harbingers, it wouldn’t do to lock him up over so trivial a reason.
Calm down, and try this.” She pushed a small cake from the table over in front of Sandrone.
“This just arrived from Fontaine.
I’d wager you’ll most likely like it.” Since the Cryo Tsaritsa had said as much, Sandrone couldn’t very well say anything more, and for the sake of the pastry, her expression softened considerably.
“Fine.
Since Her Majesty the Tsaritsa says so, I’ll let him off for now.” Sandrone picked up the small porcelain plate beneath the cake, took the spoon beside it in her other hand, cut off a small piece of cake, and put it in her mouth.
“Actually, I happen to have something to ask of you as well.” Kitty, having just taken a bite, immediately sensed trouble.
Usually when the Tsaritsa spoke to her like this, it meant being sent to clean up the mess Dottore had left behind—so startled that she nearly spat out the bit of cake she’d just put in her mouth.
“What’s with that look?
Relax, it’s nothing especially troublesome, and you won’t have to go yourself.
I want to borrow someone from you.” Hearing the Cryo Tsaritsa say this, Sandrone relaxed a little.
“Whom does Your Majesty wish to borrow?” “I’ve heard you have one under your command called Piers—weak in strength, yet quite capable with words and in handling affairs.
Because of the Tartaglia incident, Liyue has all but unilaterally severed every economic tie with Snezhnaya.” Liyue has the most overseas trade among the seven nations.
In purely economic terms, without Liyue’s import and export trade, Snezhnaya would absolutely lose a huge chunk of revenue.
“You know that seizing the Gnoses requires economic backing from Pantalone’s Northland Bank, and now he’s asking me whether we can find someone to do some diplomatic damage control.” “It’s doable, sure, but…
why Piers?” Liyue, in essence, had Dottore’s involvement behind it—it was still a mess he’d left behind—and Liyue’s current attitude toward the Fatui was far from merely bad.
Still, Sandrone understood that Liyue’s imports and exports mattered greatly to the Fatui, and since it was the Cryo Tsaritsa telling her personally, she really couldn’t refuse—but she didn’t understand why it had to be Piers.
“Look around and tell me which other Harbinger could go to Liyue…” The Cryo Tsaritsa pressed a hand to her forehead and, looking helpless, lifted the tea before her and took a sip.
“The Captain can’t even show his face to sue for peace; the Doctor…; the Damselette hardly seems the diplomatic type either; Arlecchino is gathering intelligence in Fontaine; the Regrator and the Rooster have to stay in Snezhnaya—there are approval documents requiring their signatures at all hours; as for the latter few…” The more the Cryo Tsaritsa spoke, the worse her headache grew.
Setting aside that Scaramouche was about to head to Inazuma with the Lady—even if he really could go to Liyue, forget diplomacy; it’d count as restraint on his part if Liyue didn’t declare war on Snezhnaya.
And Childe goes without saying—he’s the very Fatui Harbinger that Liyue is openly boycotting.
As for Sandrone, she herself had said she wouldn’t go clean up the mess the Doctor had left behind.
In the entire Fatui, with so many Harbingers, not a single one could go to Liyue for diplomacy.
“I’ve also heard that this subordinate of yours is not only eloquent but also rather good-looking.
For diplomacy, he’s simply the perfect candidate.
Give him the title of Acting Harbinger on top of that—it’ll look good on the surface, and Liyue won’t be able to say we’re being disrespectful.” “This…” “Sandrone, you wouldn’t be reluctant to part with him, would you?
In fact, I’ve heard quite a few rumors about you and this Piers…” Before the Cryo Tsaritsa could finish, Sandrone shot to her feet at once.
“No problem at all!
It would be Piers’s honor to serve Your Majesty the Tsaritsa!”