Genshin Impact: I, the Winter Prince, reign supreme.

After the grand fireworks display ended, the city returned to silence, and the sound of footsteps became exceptionally clear.

"I've finally found you. It wasn't easy!"

Columbia frowned and asked, "Arechino, what do you want with me?"

[Servant] Arecino licked the snowflakes that had fallen on her lips: "You saw the fireworks His Highness prepared, didn't you? I wonder, if I hurt you, will he hate me for the rest of his life?"

Despite Arecino's provocation, Colombia did not back down in the slightest.

"You lunatic, you want to fight? I'll fight you!"

Chapter 163 Wish

A blizzard struck again that night, leaving the city in ruins by winter.

But outside the city, two agile figures were locked in a fierce struggle.

Fortunately, neither of the two executives used elemental powers; they only fought with physical techniques. Otherwise, the violent commotion would have triggered an avalanche in the distance and attracted the attention of the city's patrol teams.

At their level, it's difficult to determine a winner unless elemental combat techniques are used.

They stopped fighting when they were exhausted and found a pine tree that had been flattened by the heavy snow to rest.

"and many more."

[Servant] Arecino took out her weapon, trimmed the branches off the pine trunk, and then the two of them sat cross-legged on it.

Columbia asked, "Did you enjoy it?"

"It's not satisfying until a winner is decided."

"Shall we continue?"

This time it was Arecino's turn to back down. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, I'm no match for you. In terms of elemental power, even if D'Artagnan and I combined, we still couldn't beat you. His Highness is so good to you. The fireworks display at the Night Palace was practically performed just for you."

"You like His Highness?"

Arecino confessed, "No one dislikes His Highness. Alas, but from today onwards, I must put away these thoughts. Since His Highness dotes on you so much, I should no longer harbor any improper ideas."

Columbia smiled and said, "He's not just my prince, we can compete fairly. Alright, let's not talk about that anymore, let's talk about the children. You've been letting them go winter swimming in the wild lately, aren't you worried about them getting frostbite? At this time of year, without elemental protection, it's easy to get frostbite in the river. If His Highness knew about this, he would ask you to explain your reasoning."

In the land of winter, there are no distinct seasons, and swimming in any month can be called winter swimming.

“Columbia, you know I grew up following His Majesty. Do you know how His Majesty trained us back then?”

"She ordered us to take off our clothes and train barefoot in the freezing cold. We braved the biting wind and, to avoid freezing to death, kept our hands and feet moving constantly, practicing chopping motions. In just half a day, the few who had been slacking off were all frozen solid, so the rest of us trained desperately just to keep warm."

Columbia was very interested when she first heard her mention this: "How long did you train like that?"

"Three months later, only three people remained in the fifty-person team. Later, two of them competed with me for the position of [Servant] and I killed them. Neither my dead teammates nor I complained about Her Majesty's cruel training methods. She was fighting to overthrow the laws of nature, and without strict training, it would be difficult to achieve her goal."

Columbia remarked, "In comparison, it's quite kind of you to let the children swim in the winter; at least their lives aren't in danger. There's something you need to do for me."

Columbia told Arecino about the old man and the little girl's situation.

"This is the old man's house deed. Please keep it for his granddaughter. Give it to her when she grows up."

Arecino was somewhat dissatisfied: "You can't just hand those children over to me every time. The Hearth House has limited resources and can't accommodate so many people. We can only accommodate the second batch after the older ones graduate."

"Consider it a favor I owe you."

Arecino replied, "Alright then, this is the last time. Columbia, don't blame me for being heartless. There are just too many poor people. Can you help them one by one? Instead, think about how to help them escape poverty and become wealthy."

Columbia chuckled, "Your words have the air of His Highness the Prince."

"That's right, that's how His Highness disciplined me back then."

Arecino recalled that experience but wasn't angry at all. On the contrary, she liked His Highness's reprimands, which always benefited her greatly.

Columbia looked up at the gray clouds: "What brings you here?"

"It was Your Majesty who asked me to remind you that when you are observing the lives of ordinary people, you should not forget to sing songs at night. This is your main job."

"Okay, I'm keeping track of the time."

Arecino took out a jug of strong liquor, took a sip to moisten her throat, and then asked, "Columbia, do you think His Highness can win?"

"what?"

"I'm asking you, can he win a Go match against the Liyue Master?"

Columbia laughed at her: "What do you think? I bet a hundred million Mora on His Highness to win. You don't even have that much confidence in His Highness, how dare you compete fairly with me?"

Where did you get so much money?

"The executive officer's position allowance and salary, and... bonuses."

Arecino said enviously, "My salary and bonuses combined don't even amount to half of yours. His Majesty favors you, and His Highness dotes on you; life is unbearable. Sometimes, I feel that His Highness is unreal, all-knowing and all-powerful. Take Go, for example. Even Her Majesty the Empress can't beat the Liyue Immortals, but His Highness insists on challenging them. He even collaborated with the gambling industry, turning a Go match into an event that the entire Teyvat population watched and participated in. His Highness's grand gestures, according to intelligence, are to end the business war as soon as possible, but I don't understand the connection between a Go match and a business war."

Columbia laughed, "I think no one in the world, except His Highness himself, can understand it. Regarding the inflation principle His Highness proposed, Pantarone said in his work report to the Queen that he had painstakingly studied it for over half a month, but only grasped the basics. It's even harder for laymen like us who don't understand business to comprehend it. All we need to know is that His Highness waged a commercial war against the 'Liyue Septackeys' in order to force the Geo Archon to hand over the Heart of the Geo Archon. By winning against the 'Liyue Septackeys,' he can smoothly obtain the Heart of the Geo Archon."

Arecino nodded: "We can only watch."

"Why don't you consider betting on His Highness to win at the casino?"

Arecino took another swig of strong liquor: "I'm poor, I can't compare to you. I spent all my salary last month on the kids."

"Is that so? But I heard that you lost a bet with the children on the day the prince led his delegation on his mission. You said that it would take His Highness a month to obtain the Heart of the Wind God and two months to obtain the Heart of the Thunder God. According to the bet, you treated the children to a week of delicacies."

"Columbia, why do you always like to reopen my wounds?"

"Who told you to lack confidence in His Highness?"

Arecino defended herself, “I have absolute faith in His Highness! But he’s too amazing; he always surprises us. Think about it, Rosalind and Doughtore went to Mondstadt several times in vain for a Heart of the Wind God. And the Thunder General of Inazuma is so engrossed in pursuing the Path of Eternity that Tartaglia, Scaramucci, and Pantarone have been plotting for years without success, and they haven’t even seen the Thunder General’s face.”

"Yes, Your Highness's progress is far exceeding expectations. His Majesty's wish is about to be fulfilled."

As she spoke, Columbia looked toward the Winter Palace in the city.

Chapter 164 The Empress's Attitude

To Columbia's surprise, the fireworks display at the palace tonight, besides Alegino, also caused a change in Her Majesty the Queen's attitude.

Before this, Her Majesty the Empress relied heavily on Su Yu. Although there were many ambiguous behaviors, such as frequently summoning Su Yu to the palace in the middle of the night, asking about Su Yu's recent activities as soon as she came out of seclusion, or asking Su Yu to accompany her when she went out to travel, she always believed that these were all Her Majesty's favor towards Su Yu.

Her Majesty the Empress repeatedly selected suitable women from among the seven kingdoms to be Su Yu's consorts, which undoubtedly shows that their relationship was merely that of ruler and subject.

But after the fireworks display, Her Majesty the Queen sent Arecino to remind her not to forget to sing at night, which was quite unusual.

In fact, Her Majesty never reminds anyone to do anything. Once the work is assigned, anyone who fails to complete it will face the wrath of the monarch. Her Majesty is someone who doesn't care about the process but only about the result. As a result, almost every one of these eleven executives has been severely reprimanded by her.

There was only one exception: His Highness the Prince. However, in the past three years, His Highness had never made a mistake, and even when he did, His Majesty, with his favor towards him, could not bear to reprimand him.

This time, the Queen not only sent someone to deliver a message, but Columbia also remembered that she had been in seclusion. Was it really necessary for her to come out of seclusion for such a trivial matter?

Her Majesty's actions only prove one thing: she, like Arecino, is probably jealous.

Having figured this out, Columbia felt a sense of urgency again, but then she thought about how Su Yu's charm was unparalleled, and how it was perfectly normal for any woman to be attracted to him, and she felt relieved.

What matters is not Arecino's or His Majesty's attitude towards Su Yu, but Su Yu's own attitude. As long as he has me in his heart, that's enough. I just hope that he won't attract too much attention from those beautiful women during his mission to the six kingdoms.

The problem is with His Majesty. What should I do if His Majesty tries to take Su Yu from me?

Thinking about this, Columbia had a headache. It was absolutely impossible for her to voluntarily withdraw and give Su Yu away. Therefore, her future interactions with His Majesty would not be as easy as before. She might be given a hard time by the Empress, or she might be used to settle personal scores, or even be sent to a very far place to carry out a mission.

She didn't know what methods His Majesty would use to deal with her, but she needed to be mentally prepared in advance.

Columbia's speculation about the Queen's thoughts was not without basis.

The current Ice Queen, though one of the seven rulers of the mortal realm, is the only human among the seven gods. The previous Ice Queen was killed by the forces of Heaven during the Great War of Kanria five hundred years ago. Before her death, she passed on her divine status and power to the most trusted, purest, and wisest Ice Saintess in Winter's Kingdom—

This is undoubtedly a transgression against the laws of nature and a challenge to order, because no deity has ever passed on divinity to humankind before.

The Holy Church of Ice and Snow is the sect with the most followers in the Winter's End region. Its headquarters, the Holy Temple of Ice and Snow, is also known as the Winter's End Palace. The honorary leader of the Holy Church of Ice and Snow is the Ice Queen.

The Ice and Snow Saintess is in charge of the daily affairs of the Ice and Snow Holy Church and oversees the affairs of the believers within the country. The Ice Queen is in seclusion year-round, and the Ice and Snow Saintess is the actual person in charge of the daily management of the Ice and Snow Holy Church.

The Ice and Snow Saintess naturally wielded immense power. In the eyes of countless believers in the Winter Kingdom, her status surpassed that of the eleven executive officers. She commanded widespread respect among the people, and her prestige was second only to the Ice Queen.

The Ice Queen granted the Ice Saintess extremely generous terms: her family would be promoted to the highest nobility of winter, and her father or brother would be granted the title of Duke, with the privilege of hereditary succession.

This special position wields immense power, so the selection criteria are naturally extremely stringent.

First, only baby girls born at the exact moment the previous Ice and Snow Saintess died are eligible to run for Ice and Snow Saintess, signifying the inheritance of destiny.

Secondly, the baby girl must be healthy and free from serious illnesses. The position of Ice and Snow Saintess is for life, so health is extremely important; the longer an Ice and Snow Saintess lives, the more stable the Winter Kingdom will be.

Finally, the baby girl's elemental affinity must reach a genius level.

What is considered genius level? It means that after birth, the body automatically absorbs elemental energy.

These geniuses can also be called prodigies. When they grow up, they learn any elemental combat techniques countless times faster than others. Elemental combat techniques that others need ten years to master, the Ice and Snow Saintess only needs a year, and might even have an epiphany in one night.

If no one within the territory of Zhidong meets this condition, they can be sought from the other six kingdoms. This is highly coveted by ordinary families, as becoming a noble family in Zhidong is equivalent to directly leaping through social classes, allowing their descendants to avoid generations of struggle.

In short, the current Ice Queen is first and foremost human, and only secondly one of the Seven Regents.

First and foremost, she is a woman; only secondly, she is the Ice Queen.

In addition, the previous Ice Queen was known as the "Goddess of Love." For thousands of years before the destruction of the ancient kingdom of Kanria, she was not only benevolent and loving towards her people, but also "philanthropic" towards men.

During the thousand-year reign of the former Ice Queen, she had ten husbands and hundreds of lovers, all of whom were the most outstanding men in Winterfall and the other six kingdoms.

Columbia also remembered that the Geo Archon of Liyue had once hosted a gathering of the seven ruling powers.

One summer, she invited six other people to gather in Liyue. At that gathering, the former Ice Queen and the Geo King had a very unpleasant argument and ended up parting on bad terms.

She later learned that it was the former Ice Queen who proposed a marriage alliance with the Rock King to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, which directly angered Morax.

When it comes to pursuing men, the former Ice Queen was absolutely unambiguous, and her successor may also carry on this style. Although she has been in seclusion for the past few centuries to cultivate in order to defy the laws of nature and has remained single, it does not mean that she will never marry.

Therefore, Columbia couldn't help but suspect that the Queen might be a threat to her.

However, she had a very proper mindset. Su Yu was not just her prince; many other people needed him. Before their official marital relationship was announced to the public, Su Yu had the right to choose the woman he loved most.

She wouldn't interfere too much with Su Yu's freedom, but she would definitely strive to pursue her own happiness.

Therefore, just as she said to Arecino, if anyone wants to pursue Su Yu, they can compete fairly to avoid hurting feelings.

However, if the current Ice Queen does something that crosses the line, she will stop at nothing to stop it.

Her cooperation with the former Ice Queen for a common goal does not mean she has to be loyal to her successor. She doesn't mind going against Su Yu if they break off relations.

Su Yu was everything in her life, more important than her own.