Genshin Impact, I, a mere mortal, cannot accompany you to the very end.

But clearly, the Fools were dissatisfied with his current progress—quite dissatisfied.

Otherwise... they wouldn't have sent Rosalyn again.

This is about accountability.

Rosalyn Cruzshika Loefat, the eighth seat of the Fools, codenamed Lady, successfully retrieved the heart of the Wind God several months ago.

"Hello."

The woman spoke indifferently. She seemed no different from usual, elegant and beautiful. Her long black and white dress trailed on the ground, and a black veil covered half of her face, leaving only her cyan eyes and delicate, elegant profile visible. There was no extra emotion in her eyes.

"Your mission... is not complete."

The woman watched as the kingdom crumbled. “The fools have no need for useless people—you should know that. That’s why I’ve come.”

"No need for you to worry."

The temperament of a fallen nation is inherited; under the influence of a certain individual, they criticize everyone, even resorting to insidious and malicious words.

"I don't care about the view of a pile of ashes. Nor do I need someone who has burned away the past to guide my future."

ash...

ash.

She thought of the ashes, the raging fire, the bodies that had turned to ashes twice before her eyes, and the letter buried beneath the idol, buried for five hundred years, but long since turned to ashes.

This is her past... and her present.

This statement seemed to have touched a raw nerve.

The woman's face darkened, her pale blue eyes gleaming with a sinister light, and a chilling aura slowly spread through her. She stared coldly at Guo Beng, "...You can say it again."

With an imposing presence.

An ancient, oppressive aura spread outwards.

Guo Pang hadn't expected the lady to be so angry, but as for him... so what?

Even he, with his naturally terrible nature, found...it quite interesting.

Guo Pang and the lady looked at each other calmly.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

He needs to get rid of the lady; Inazuma Castle cannot have two executives. No one can stop his plans, not even his colleagues... The heartless doll so desperately desires a heart that no one can stop it.

The sky over Inazuma was terrible; the leaden sky hung low, and a gloomy wind raged through the attic. They were on the dock, where the cold waves crashed against the jagged rocks, shattering into pieces of broken fragments.

I heard—

Finally, the silence was broken by the collapse of the kingdom. He didn't want to waste any more time on this trivial matter, and he also had things he wanted to ask the lady.

"You executed a knight in Mondstadt... I think his name was Kiyono Kazeyane?"

Do you know his background?

Qingye Fengyin... That boy was the last person to see that old man. Guo Beng even met him once, at the Fallen Star Lake in Mondstadt, where he delivered information about the Abyss and the Fatui to that guy.

What connection, what secret, lies between Kiyono Fuue and Kiyono Raimei? This was the conclusion he reached with the priest, but before he could begin his investigation, the boy had already died.

He was killed by the woman.

That's why he naturally asked the lady.

But to his surprise, the woman, who was originally aloof and dignified, seemed to waver slightly when she heard that name... but perhaps it was just a misperception caused by the collapse of the nation.

Who is that?

She averted her gaze from Guo Pang, her face expressionless, and said in a completely indifferent tone:

"I can't remember—I've long forgotten."

Unbeknownst to anyone, her delicate, white hands gripped the hem of her dress with great force, revealing faint blue veins on her almost translucent, white skin.

Guo Pang believed the lady's words. For a lady who was already an executive officer, the lives of the weak were like ants. Naturally, she would not remember the origin of the ants, nor would she forget their names.

She said she had forgotten, which was reasonable—but the collapse of the country required her to remember, and he needed information about that boy.

He tried to help the woman recall, speaking calmly:

"His name was Kiyono Kazein, around twenty years old, a newly recruited knight of the Knights of Favonius. Four months ago, on the beach of the Windrise, at dawn in early spring, you ripped out his heart and killed him... Do you remember now?"

Qingye Fengyin... Four months... The wind rose... His heart was dug out... and he died.

She had clearly forgotten, she had clearly let go of those things, she clearly...

Guo Beng's voice was calm, and his words were ordinary, but they burrowed into the woman's heart like twisted maggots, dwelling in the scabbed wounds and twisting them into new wounds, causing some pain.

The most painful thing is to be in pain inside, yet have to put on a calm and indifferent facade, letting others pierce your heart while saying things that hurt you in return, to show others that you're alright.

"I already said that."

She said calmly and indifferently, her voice as cold as if she had just been pulled out of an ice cave: "I will not remember the name of a weakling. The pure white new world has no name of a weakling, and the Fools will not keep a place for the weak."

Only when she immersed herself in her work, only when she was immersed in that pure white dream, could she stop thinking about the past, about those ashes. She spoke to Guo Beng in a tone of superiority:

"Do what you're supposed to do, Inazuma's [Doll]."

Inazuma's dolls...

This is also an insult to the collapse of the country. The collapse of the country does not belong to Inazuma, nor to that woman on the castle tower!

"Rosalyn, you can repeat what you just said."

Guo Pang stared coldly and lifelessly into the woman's eyes, and said in a gloomy tone, "I will eventually obtain [the heart]."

No one can save the country from collapse; only he himself can save himself. The puppet must obtain a heart.

He will rip out that woman's heart.

The color in his eyes was so gloomy that it bordered on obsession, a deep obsession, a frenzied obsession, an obsession that would stop at nothing.

Want a heart...?

Yes, someone left him a heart.

But the lady would never give it away. She would never tell Guo Beng about the existence of that heart, because her past was already ashes, nothing was left. She only had that heart left. If that heart also disappeared, then she would only have ashes left.

Therefore... the woman's obsession runs deeper than the collapse of the nation.

She will bury this secret deep in her heart.

Not just 'heart'

—And everything about Kiyono Fuuka.

"Then go and give it a try. Go to the castle tower."

She stared coldly at the collapsing country. Summer weather was so changeable; lightning flashed across the gloomy sky, and a wandering snake set Inazuma ablaze—this was the first meeting between the two executives in Inazuma.

-

Summer weather is so changeable.

When the last rain of late spring stops, and the warm morning sun gently falls on the clouds, with the light of dawn peeking through the gaps in the night sky, summer has arrived.

Summer Solstice is the first solar term of summer, and in Liyue, it is also known as the 'End of Spring'.

The air was fresh and clean after the rain, the bricks and tiles of the ancient city were dripping with water, the ivy on the outer walls spread out in shades of green, and the puddles on the bluestone alley reflected the clear sky, as if a piece of the blue sky had fallen onto this city that had been reborn from the ruins. This city, even the puddles on the ground, was beautiful.

Lia is watering the flowers.

Sunlight danced lightly in the crystal-clear water, splashing onto the rose petals along with the water. Besides roses, the garden also had crabapple blossoms, roses... and the fragrance of flowers filled the air.

Her movements were gentle and earnest, her white skirt trailing at her ankles, and her long, silvery hair reflecting soft light like mercury.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is water the flowers.

Lia watered each bouquet of flowers, and then ate breakfast... Perhaps gods don't need to eat breakfast.

After taking care of each flower, Lia had nothing left to do.

So he leaned on the steps, gazing at the city, chin in hand, and sat there for the whole day.

This city is beautiful. It has everything: streets, well-built bridges, all kinds of shops... It has everything, except for one thing: there is not a single person on the streets or on the bridges.

This is a city without residents.

There was no one left. They were all gone. They had vowed never to betray each other, but in the end, they still left.

That person said something similar.

So no matter how beautiful it is, it is just a dead city, like the seawater on the beach, which has evaporated and left only dead salt grains.

Summer is here.

She looked up at the slightly scorching sun in the sky. Early spring had just faded away, and summer was already showing its power. The earth's energy was beginning to rise in the city, giving people a feeling of oppression and restlessness. Cicadas had also begun to chirp noisily in the sycamore trees.

Lia rested her chin on her hand, thinking of the sea.

Yes, the sea, summer is for going to the sea. Walking barefoot on the sand, under the shimmering light of the sea, feeling the warmth of summer slowly seeping into your skin.

But she never went to the sea, even though she had nothing to do all day.

Lia couldn't find him again.

Just like two thousand years ago.

She picked up the two fragments; the crystalline heart fragments shimmered in the sunlight, reflecting layers of light. Leah was the only one who had ever possessed both fragments... Inscribed on them was the promise they had made:

[The fifth agreement is to go to the 'Salt in the Earth,' find the salt jar and the salt ruler, and awaken her.]

[The sixth agreement was to cook sardines with salt as a seasoning and dine with her.]

That person engraved the promise in their heart.

"Idiot," Leah muttered softly, resting her chin on her hand. "Where did you hide?"

It seemed that everyone thought Qing Nuoyan was already dead, his heart pierced and his whole body contaminated by karma—under such circumstances, there was no way he could survive.

But Heureia didn't think so.

Qingnuoyan has gone into hiding.

But she couldn't find it.

She leaned against the stone pillar, gazing at the sunlight as clear as water, and softly hummed a tune. Her cool and melodious voice was like sea salt in summer, the taste of which had never changed.