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

"Look at this one, it's a new product from our Naganohara Fireworks Shop. The stronger the wind at night, the more dazzling the fireworks. It was specially developed for the harsh weather of late winter and is called 'Raiseyuki' (Thunder Snow), which symbolizes the deep friendship between the thunder and lightning of Inazuma and the snowy country of late winter."

Besides being a master of fireworks, Xiaogong is also a marketing master. Deciding to add fuel to the fire, he said:

"If you don't like any of these, there's another type of firework. It was used at the welcome banquet hosted by His Highness's head of the shrine, Ayato Kamisato, and his sister, Ayako Kamisato, on the day His Highness visited Inazuma. It was very popular with His Highness and the Winter Mission."

Columbia, a young girl who had been passing by unintentionally, finally couldn't help but speak up:

"Were you there that night? If so, could you tell me what happened that night? Especially the details of the interaction between that 'White Heron Princess' Ayaka Kamisato and His Highness the Prince. Well, as payment, I'll cover all the fireworks at the shop today."

……

Ps:

It's a long chapter, two chapters combined and published together.

Have a great weekend!

Chapter 177 When You Need Him Most

Naganohara Fireworks opened its first branch in Shifuku Province. Outside, the wind was biting cold, but inside, four stoves made it warm and cozy.

The shop's staff were all veteran employees that Xiaogong had brought from the Inazuma main store. On the one hand, with the opening of the new store, it was essential to give the first batch of customers a wonderful impression of being at home. Reputation was important, and it would be valued by the clever shopkeeper no matter where they went. On the other hand, since His Highness the Prince had invited Xiaogong to open the store in winter, Xiaogong dared not be careless in the slightest and even personally took on the role of receptionist.

Upon hearing someone say they wanted to "buy all the fireworks in the store," not only the store staff but also the customers surrounding Xiaogong who were asking questions fell silent, all curiously eyeing the person behind them.

[Girl] Columbia rarely appears in public. Although the local people of Winter Kingdom do not know her, they see that the woman in front of them has a silk blindfold covering her eyes, making her look deep and mysterious. Her clothes are not the mink fur that the daughters of high-ranking officials and noble families like.

A confident smile appeared on her slightly upturned lips, and her delicate bangs paired with her oval face made it impossible for anyone to deny that once her eyes were open, she was an absolutely stunning beauty.

The way she stood there made it seem as if she had a thousand troops behind her; this was not the kind of temperament that a girl from a humble family or a pampered young lady from a noble family could possess.

What's most unique about her is her voice, which is ethereal, clear, and elegant, like the chirping of birds that suddenly come from outside the window after a blizzard has stopped, or the silvery laughter of a little girl walking home from school on a sunlit forest path in the afternoon.

The combination of her commanding presence and youthful energy created a breathtakingly beautiful atmosphere, as if spring itself had just broken through the walls.

Xiaogong's assistant was about to step forward with a smile when Xiaogong herself beat her to it, saying, "Miss, please come to the inner room to discuss this further."

[Girl] Columbia followed Yomiya to the reception room, where small tea tables, tatami mats, and cherry blossom patterns were decorated in the style of Inazuma.

Xiao Gong personally brewed tea for her, presented it to her with both hands, and explained, "His Highness's whereabouts are public knowledge, but the details and events of the banquet are to be kept confidential. I was one of the parties involved that day, and there are many things that cannot be revealed to outsiders. Please forgive me, young lady."

Even if you bought the entire fireworks shop, let alone booked all the fireworks in the store, you must never tell outsiders about Prince Shifu's activities in Inazuma.

In fact, many people in Inatsuma were eager to know the details of the banquet held at the Kamisato family that day, but all parties involved tacitly chose to keep it a secret, out of respect for Prince Shifuyu's privacy.

[The young girl] Columbia finished her tea, returned the greeting, and then stood up, saying, "Then I've disturbed you."

"Wait a minute." Xiao Gong thought carefully for a moment, then decided to ask one more question: "Are you an acquaintance of His Highness the Prince?"

The other party was particularly interested in the details of the interaction between Ayaka Kamisato and His Highness the Prince. The person who asked such a question was very likely someone close to His Highness the Prince. Furthermore, Yoi-miya had been observing this person's demeanor and behavior, which further confirmed that this person was no ordinary individual. This person was very likely a "big fish" who had come to the shop.

[The young girl] Columbia smiled faintly, "I want to see every place Your Highness has been to."

Xiao Gong's heart tightened as she hesitated whether to speak, but in the end she held back. "I'm sorry, young lady, you should ask His Highness yourself. It should be more interesting than my dry and boring narration."

[The girl] Columbia smiled and said:

"Thank you for your suggestion. I will ask him. I understand why His Highness gave you the exclusive agency rights for black powder in Inazuma. In this era of following the crowd, sticking to principles is a rare and valuable quality."

Watching the other person leave the store, Xiaogong's assistant rubbed her hands together and hurriedly asked, "Who is this person? Is she here to cause trouble? Hmph, I've heard that opening a store in Zhidong Kingdom requires paying protection money to the local tyrants, and it's said that some executives participate in the profit sharing behind the scenes. I guess she's a confidante of one of the executives."

Xiaogong gently pinched his assistant's slightly red nose, "Don't listen to people's nonsense, that's all in the past. After His Highness the Prince's reforms, the Fools dismissed a large number of scum and scoundrels, and the eleven executives are all doing their jobs properly. You asked me who she is, and I actually have some guesses. If she takes off her cotton hat, we will see a six-winged hair ornament."

"Huh?" The assistant was utterly astonished, her mouth agape as if she could fit an egg in it. "His Highness commissioned us to put on the fireworks display just for her?"

"Shh, don't tell anyone about this."

……

[Girl] Columbia was walking through a bustling street when she met a little boy who was much shorter than the straw frame on which the candied hawthorns were stuck, so she asked for a skewer of candied hawthorns.

She now particularly likes this sweet and sour taste.

The first time she ate it was on a stormy, snowy night. That day, she sat alone on the top of the highest snow-capped mountain nearby, singing ancient, weathered songs to the sky and the earth.

Homesickness made her feel down when suddenly a pair of warm hands were placed on her shoulders.

She turned her head and was delighted to see His Highness, wearing a cloak, walking through the snow.

His Highness sat beside her, gesturing for her to finish singing the entire song. He rested his chin on his hand, listening quietly, contemplating the vastness of the universe, and wept bitterly.

As the song ended, His Highness the Prince took out a string of bright red candies from his pocket. "I bought these candied hawthorns on the way here today. I remember you've never had them before, so I brought them here for you to try."

Columbia ate one, but the wild hawthorn was so sour that she grimaced and spat it out with a "whoosh".

His Highness laughed heartily and said, "Fool, how can you eat it like that? You're just swallowing it whole. Eat it slowly, first eat the outer layer of sugar coating so that your taste buds can fully experience the sweetness, then eat the sour fruit inside, and finally chew them all together to taste the soul of the candied hawthorn."

Following His Highness's method, Columbia immediately experienced the joy of eating candied hawthorns.

His Highness picked up a piece of ice crystal, shaved it into a smooth mirror surface with his fingertips, and said while barely suppressing a laugh, "Doesn't it look like a cat with a big, dirty face?"

In the ice mirror, Columbia's lips were smeared with red syrup. She scolded, "Hmph, Your Highness is bullying me! I'll go down the mountain and complain to His Majesty!"

His Highness the Prince laughed and said, "The Empress doesn't concern herself with these matters; you must listen to me."

"Why should I listen to you?"

The prince took out a handkerchief and gently and carefully wiped the corners of her mouth, saying softly:

"Before I came to Winterland and Teyvat, you sang songs here alone for a long time. You said last time that you did this to fulfill your promise to Her Majesty the Queen, and also to realize the value and meaning of life. But the first time I heard your song, I knew that you were waiting for someone, waiting for someone to sit with you on the mountaintop and watch the sunrise."

But Columbia, do you know? In this country, there lives a self-important prince who has long wanted to go up the mountain and watch the sunrise with the singers, but he's always bogged down in mundane affairs and can't get away for a moment. Often, he finishes his official duties in his office and finds it's already dawn outside, and he's always filled with self-reproach. Would you be willing to watch the sunrise with that scoundrel of a prince?

[The girl] Columbia began to sob, and hot tears flowed from her eyes, but they were not tears, but rather one after another, dazzling pearls.

His Highness gazed at the eastern horizon, his eyes distant. "The sun is about to rise."

"Yes, the sunrise is beautiful."

She leaned gently on the prince's shoulder.

Instead of watching the magnificent sunrise, I was looking at his profile.

Even though the light there is dazzling, only you in this world can melt the frost in my heart.

……

[Girl] Columbia was eating candied hawthorns while lost in fond memories. When she came to her senses, she found the little boy selling candied hawthorns looking at her angrily, "I don't care who you are, you have to pay for what you eat!"

[The girl] Columbia asked, "Did people ever eat without paying before?"

The little boy was clearly unwilling to say more, and stretched out his small hand, waiting to take the money: "If you don't give me money today, I'll call for help!"

Clearly, the strange woman before him made him more wary, yet her gentle and kind demeanor emboldened him. Compared to the duke's daughter who had refused to pay her debts last time, at least this woman didn't have any wicked servants with hunting dogs, so he could speak more forcefully.

Under the boy's astonished gaze, Columbia paid a large sum of Mora, enough to treat everyone on the street to a skewer of candied hawthorns and still have some left over.

“Starting today, you will deliver candied hawthorns to ‘Hotheart House’ every day. What you just paid is for a year’s fee, and if you do well, you can renew it next year.”

Remembering some unpleasant rumors, the little boy hesitated, "'The House of Hearths'? I'm afraid to go there. I heard the kids there are really fierce. Someone did an experiment: they threw a piece of fatty meat in front of the door, and even the stray dogs on the street wouldn't dare to eat it."

"Come with me, I'll introduce you."

On the streets of Winter City, a young girl followed by a little boy selling candied hawthorns formed a strange duo that attracted a lot of attention. Some adults who knew the boy even approached him to ask if he needed help, forcing the boy to explain for a long time each time. The short distance of a few hundred meters took him more than half an hour to cover.

The House of Hearths, the largest children's welfare home in Winter's End, is essentially a semi-military intelligence academy. All ten of the most famous intelligence officers in Winter's End's End's history came from here.

However, such a brilliant achievement has not inspired much awe among the local people of Zhidong. On the contrary, in recent years, there have been continuous protests from some people against the cancellation of the college.

The reason for this situation is that after His Highness the Prince's reforms, the Fireplace House is required to disclose the number of children injured and killed that year in its annual report at the end of each year, and to specify the cause of death in detail. This is done firstly to promote public attention and supervision of the Fireplace House, secondly to improve the management level of the welfare home's training staff, and thirdly to let parents who blindly send their children to the welfare home know the seriousness of the consequences.

The House of Hearths has a long history, and every graduate is highly sought after in society, even more so than graduates from the Empire's most prestigious academies. This has aroused strong interest from some noble families, who frequently pressure the servant Arecino in hopes of getting their children in through connections.

Overwhelmed with worry, Arecino complained to the Prince many times, and even wrote a resignation letter on one occasion. The Prince then came up with the idea of ​​publicizing the casualty rate.

The effect is, of course, immediate.

Once the casualty rate was announced, the wealthy and powerful families who wanted to "gild" their children's resumes immediately abandoned the idea.

This is exactly what Arecino wanted to see. From now on, she would no longer have to rack her brains to deal with those powerful and wealthy people. As for the common people choosing to keep their distance, that was their business. In any case, the orphanage's students mainly came from abroad, not from China.

Faced with accusations of being "cold-blooded and heartless," the servant Arecino responded with the quote "How the Steel Was Tempered." In fact, the Prince had told her this, saying, "Train them the way the steel was tempered. If you want them to live, train them cruelly."

The person on duty at the gate today is an older student. He entered the orphanage when he was a little over one year old, and he is eighteen years old this year. He is a student council member.

Having seen the [girl] Columbia and His Highness the Prince many times, he immediately stood up straight and bowed respectfully, saying, "Executor, it's been a long time since you gave a lecture. Everyone wants to hear your story of killing that Abyss Emperor."

All eleven executives of the Fools' Clan are considered mentors of the Hearth House, but for the past three years, the other executives have frequently missed giving lectures for various reasons, the reasons of which need not be investigated too deeply. Ever since His Highness the Prince started giving open lectures at the orphanage every few days, the children have been comparing their lectures with His Highness's, and the result is self-evident: the children always feel that His Highness's lectures are not as engaging.

The officials privately complained, with a hint of grievance, that even if Her Majesty the Queen herself came, she might not possess the Prince's profound knowledge. The children's horizons and perspectives had been infinitely elevated by the Prince, so they figured it was better to skip the class and simply enjoy some peace and quiet.

Among them, Captain Capitano and Rooster Puchinella were the happiest.

A brave warrior who could take on a hundred men on the battlefield, but when he stood on the three-foot-high platform, he dared not say a word, and was often complained by the children that Mr. Capitano was lazy in class.

The other one was quite eloquent, but his long nose and pointed ears always caused laughter. Although the children later learned to respect their teachers at the prince's request, the two of them were determined to avoid attending classes whenever possible.

"When His Highness returns, I'll teach you all together, okay?"

"Great, great. Your Excellency, when will His Highness the Prince return? Everyone misses him very much."

[The girl] Columbia replied, "When you needed him most."

……

P.S.: This is a large chapter, combining two chapters into one.

Chapter 178 The Secret of the Hearth House

The eighteen-year-old "veteran student" asked respectfully again: "[Young lady], I am about to graduate and would like to be assigned to your command and follow your orders."

[Girl] Columbia said kindly, "You should ask Arecino. I don't care about student assignments."

The expectant senior student replied, "My lord said I am a student council officer, and once I officially join the Fools, I will have the right to choose."

Looking down slightly at the little boy behind her who was stunned upon learning of her identity as an executive officer, Columbia said, "Give him a string of candied hawthorns."

The little boy seemed to be in a daze and exclaimed "Oh!" He hurriedly picked a string of candied hawthorns, but accidentally dropped one. Just as he was about to replace it, he heard her laugh and say, "The imperfect candied hawthorns are just right. Take this string. You two come and try some. From now on, he will bring you candied hawthorns every day. Remember not to make things difficult for him."

The "veteran student" said in a slightly authoritative tone, "You're really lucky. With the [Young Lady's] guarantee, you're the first vendor to be allowed into the Hearth House to sell things. Once inside, keep a low profile, don't cause trouble, and don't tarnish the [Young Lady's] reputation."

Holding the little boy's hand, Columbia smiled slightly and said, "Alright, don't scare him. I'll take him inside."

"[Young lady], are you really not accepting anyone anymore?" The "veteran student," still unwilling to give up, tried to ask.