He changed Tiwat

Han Fulai made a last-ditch effort: "Um... Miss Amber, please listen to me, there's actually some hidden story here. I don't know if Captain Kaiya has told you, but Yura and I pretended to be a couple to deceive the Fatui. Actually, we're not in a relationship, so..."

Amber nodded vigorously, "That's why I wanted to use this opportunity to confess, right? I understand!"

You don't understand!

Han Fulai explained to Amber very seriously: "...No, I wanted Yura to become the 'Badminton Festival Princess' simply because I felt guilty towards her. In order to complete our plan, I had to do some things that caused Miss Yura to be misunderstood and hurt. And in order to change the people of Mondstadt's opinion of Yura...it's my compensation to her, and it's definitely not about romantic feelings."

After hearing his words, Amber tilted her head, then suddenly laughed, a laugh that was exceptionally bright.

“Mr. Han, do you know? Besides me, you are the first person to say that you don’t want Yura to be misunderstood and hurt, and that you want to help her turn her reputation around.”

Chapter 232 She Said She Was a Little Envious of Your Fiancée

Han Fulai remained silent.

Because what Amber said was true.

Yura has been living under the misunderstanding of others all these years... and even she herself was no different from anyone else just a day ago.

If he hadn't witnessed the argument at the gates of Mondstadt that night, he might never have realized that he was also hurting Yura.

Amber fiddled with the teaspoon in her hand.

"Mr. Han, please let me tell you a story from the past."

If we're talking about who spent the most time with Yola in Mondstadt, it's definitely Amber.

She was the only one who had actually seen that bewildered and helpless fifteen-year-old girl who had just arrived in Mondstadt. Yes, although Amber was a year younger than Yura, she always felt that she should take care of Yura—after all, it was she who introduced Yura to her grandfather, and it was she who encouraged Yura to join the Knights of Favonius.

She treats Yura like a sister; in Amber's words, Yura is... a slightly older sister.

Amber knew best that Yura, surrounded by prejudice, was actually the weaker party.

Despite successfully joining the Knights of Favonius, Yura's life in Mondstadt did not improve at all.

At first, department stores refused to sell her goods, restaurants made shoddy work on her orders, and the people in her assigned area were uncooperative... Yura's work was always fraught with trouble. If a dispute arose, Yura would respond with harsh words, claiming that she had remembered the grudge and would seek revenge one day.

Amber saw all of this.

She knew that Yura's so-called "holding a grudge" was not about taking revenge on anyone; it was just about stopping the conflict before it exploded.

Unfortunately, not everyone can appreciate Yura's good intentions; most people will only become more wary and fearful of her.

So Amber often accompanied Yura when she went out, and even helped run errands to deliver the supplies Yura needed directly to her dormitory.

When she's around, shopkeepers in Mondstadt will sell goods to Yura out of consideration for her, and if they're in a good mood, they might even chat with her and Yura.

Amber still remembers that after Sarah had a good talk with Yora, she privately gave Yora an extra "satisfaction salad".

At that time, Yura stopped Sarah, the owner, in a strange way and asked her why she would serve a dish that she hadn't ordered. Sarah told her that because the two of them had ordered a lot of fried meat dishes, they would be very greasy, so she specially gave them a side dish to cut through the greasiness.

Yura's reaction was: "You didn't order it, but you still insisted on sending it. Humph, I'll remember this grudge."

Amber was shocked: "Is this something you have to hold a grudge about?!"

Sarah, on the other hand, smiled and said, "Go ahead and hold a grudge. I am that kind of villain."

Yura responded to Sarah's boss's "grudge" by pressing Mora under her plate after the meal and then leaving.

When Amber asked Yura why she didn't just ask Sarah for the bill, Yura replied, "If I just went to pay, Sarah definitely wouldn't accept money for that small dish. Don't underestimate my revenge skills; Sarah won't let me find this loophole, hmph."

Yura is a very cute girl, and a girl who is very lovable—Amber knows this better than anyone.

Unfortunately, it seems that she was the only one in the vast Mondstadt who discovered this.

“Fortunately… I’m not the only one who’s discovered this now.” Amber looked at Han Fulai.

Han Fulai remained silent.

“Well, I haven’t finished what I wanted to say yet.” Amber gently stirred the black tea in her cup. “Do you remember that night you saw Yura dancing by the lake? Yura told me about you that day too.”

"You mean I shouldn't have been spying on you..." Han Fulai gave a wry smile.

As for what happened that day—during the day they rescued Bennett from the disaster, and then at night he and Abedo secretly plotted how to write a "script" to deceive Yora in order to hide Abedo's situation from her.

In fact, this secret is still being kept by him and Aberdo to this day.

That's when they stumbled upon Yura and Amber bathing in the frozen lake.

Then he was caught peeping at Yura dancing and was ridiculed by her... It's unlikely that Yura would say anything nice about him.

“No,” Amber shook her head. “She told me that you are a rare good person. You are kind and willing to lend a helping hand to those in need, the kind of friend worth making.”

“She said that you heard her mention on the way that she was looking for ‘that person’—that is, my missing grandfather—and that you offered to help her.”

"She also said that she was escorting you to the snow mountain to find Abedo as your bodyguard, and that she shouldn't have been involved in helping Joel find his father, but she was worried about me being alone and afraid that I would be in danger. And you were willing to change your plans and come into the mountains with me to take care of her feelings, and you were even willing to help Joel find Joseph... She said that people who like children are good people."

Han Fulai felt a little embarrassed as he listened. At that time, he was consciously doing a favor to try and get closer to Yura and find out the secrets of the Lawrence family. Although he did protect Amber and genuinely wanted to help Joel find his father, his motives were not entirely pure.

Amber then continued speaking.

“Do you remember? That day, to encourage Bennett, you told him, ‘Fate is determined by heaven, but destiny is written by man.’ You also said that nothing in this world is predetermined, and even if there are gods in heaven who want to manipulate people’s fate, people can change it through their own efforts. — Yura said it so many times that I’ve memorized it.”

So it turns out that his unintentional words could have such a big impact on others... The so-called praise behind someone's back is the real praise. Even Han Fulai, who is usually quite thick-skinned, scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly.

"Hmm... what follows is something you shouldn't know."

Amber said she shouldn't let him know, but she clearly had no intention of stopping.

"She said... she's a little envious of your fiancée who's known as 'The Lone Star'? Being feared, rejected, and destined to be alone... her treatment in Mondstadt wasn't much different. But because of you, even 'The Lone Star' has been accepted by the people of Liyue Harbor and is no longer lonely. That's wonderful."

Han Fulai was momentarily stunned, his lips trembling slightly as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

He never imagined that Yura saw him this way.

"Finally... well, you just said that your relationship with Yura was fake, but..."

Amber suddenly tapped the teacup with her teaspoon, making a "ding" sound.

Her voice became heavier.

“I can tell you with absolute certainty that in the past four years, she has never had any interaction with any man in Mondstadt or the Knights of Favonius outside of work. The fact that she chose you to be her ‘fake couple’ shows that she truly considers you a very, very trustworthy person, Mr. Han. Do you understand what that means?”

Han Fulai lowered his head, avoiding Amber's eyes.

"I see."

"Hmm, that's good." Amber nodded in satisfaction, picked up the black tea on the table, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Therefore, we must win all the matches at the 'Badminton Festival'!"

Chapter 233 Moved but Rejected

Amber's words did indeed make Han Fulai understand many things.

Before this, he didn't know that his good intentions in helping Yura become the "Badminton Festival Princess" would lead to such a misunderstanding. But if he put himself in the shoes of bystanders like Amber, Kaeya, and Jean, it was indeed the same thing—he and Yura pretended to be a couple and their relationship became real, and he participated in the competition specifically to win Yura's heart.

To this end, he even used the favor he had done for the Knights of Fatui to persuade Kaiya and the others to help him secure the championship of the "Badminton Festival" tournament.

Well, even he himself couldn't help but start to doubt whether he really had anything for Yura...

More importantly, according to Amber, Yura might, possibly, probably... have a little bit of affection for her?

But the more this is the case, the less Han Fulai can afford to "take the act for real".

He can judge other matters by their actions, not their intentions, but when it comes to feelings, he judges only by their intentions.

He lied to Yura about too many things.

His background, his purpose in coming to Mondstadt, his conspiracy with Schubert, and even his true feelings... Yura knew none of these.

The person Yura knows is not the real him.

If Yura truly developed feelings for him, those feelings were based on deception.

Just like when he rejected Ningguang by the Luhua Pond, he couldn't accept deception in relationships. Even if this time he was the one deceiving himself.

He may indeed have feelings for Yura, but these feelings stem more from their shared past experiences and his guilt over forcing Yura to leave her family. It is for these reasons that he decides to help Yura become the "Badminton Festival Princess" and change the stereotypes that the people of Mondstadt have about her.

He simply felt that since Yura had lost the Lawrence family as her place of refuge, he should help her gain Mondstadt as her new place of refuge.

This is the principle he wants to uphold: that good people should be rewarded.

Just like he told Amber—this could be considered compensation, but it didn't involve romantic feelings.

It was goodwill, it was kindness, but it wasn't love.

So now he is caught in a dilemma.

With Amber, the "Mondstadt Flying Champion," Kaia, the "fifth of the four kings of drinking," and himself, the self-proclaimed "King of Kings," this lineup is practically guaranteed to win the three major tournaments of the "Badminton Festival."

But even if Yura becomes the "Badminton Festival Princess," he can't actually propose to her, can he?

If they want to quit, now is the time, since they haven't officially registered yet and it's not too late to give up the competition.

The problem is... making Yura the "Badminton Festival Princess" is indeed the best way to reverse the stereotypes of Mondstadt people, and he really doesn't want to give up this good opportunity.

Not only did he not want to, but Amber, Kaeya, and even Jean, the leader, all hoped to help Yura in this matter.

This is not just his personal kindness, but also everyone's sentiment towards Yura.

On the other hand, his decision to stop after hearing Amber's words seems to make him appear like a scumbag who "starts something and then abandons it" and "why flirt if you're not going to marry her"...

So it seems he can't stop now; he's truly caught in a dilemma.

Just as he was silently pondering a solution, Kaiya walked into the restaurant.

"I was wondering why you hadn't come back after all this time, Amber. Turns out you were hiding from me and secretly enjoying your meal."

Kaiya gave the small cake that the waiter had just brought to the table with exaggerated acting.

Amber quickly ate the strawberries on the cake.

"I'll finish eating very soon!"

Seeing Amber's cheeks puffed out, Kaia chuckled. "Amber, take your time eating. I have some good news for you. I ran into Captain Herta from the logistics team on my way here. Captain Herta is in charge of registration for this year's 'Badminton Festival,' so..."

He pulled out three qualification certificates with the participants' names written on them from his pocket.

"I've already registered all three of us, and even drawn the matchups. Heh heh, so you two don't need to line up in the square anymore. You should thank me, right?"

"Wow, thank you!" Amber was overjoyed to hear that she didn't have to go to the square to queue for registration, and quickly took her participant qualification certificate.

Although it was clearly a backdoor deal that Kaiya used his authority as cavalry captain to gain an advantage, which was not in accordance with the rules, it was just a small privilege to save time during the registration process, and even Commander Qin wouldn't pursue it.

"...Thank you so much." Han Fulai read the message expressionlessly. Kaiya is usually so lazy and prone to slacking off, why is he so diligent when he shouldn't be?

"My preliminary round match is the third one tomorrow morning, Kaiya, what about you?"

"Hehe, the last show is the day after tomorrow afternoon. After we finish drinking, we can go to the bar for another night."

Han Fulai overheard their conversation and opened his qualification certificate.

The name written on the certificate is "Sir. Humphrey"... Well, anyway, he is now truly an "honorary knight" on par with Yingmei.

And the match that Kaiya drew for him was—

"Huh? The first session this afternoon? What kind of luck is this!"

Because the participants came from all the countries of Teyvat and there were so many of them, the competition could not be completed in one day. Therefore, it was divided into preliminary rounds and final rounds. Participants participated in the corresponding preliminary rounds according to the numbers drawn on their qualification certificates. Those who passed the preliminary rounds would receive new qualification certificates for the final rounds.

As is customary, registration for the competition will begin at the opening of the "Badminton Festival" and end at noon today, June 19th.

The preliminary rounds begin at 2 PM today and will last for three days, ending on the evening of June 22nd. The finals will begin on the morning of June 24th, after a one-day break.

After selecting the champions of the three major competitions, the next step is to choose the "Badminton Festival Princess" and prepare for the all-night shuttlecock tossing event.

Generally speaking, in the preliminary rounds of such competitions, the later the order of appearance, the longer the preparation time, which is more advantageous for the participants.

After all, the later contestants can observe the earlier rounds to familiarize themselves with the venue, adjust their form, and learn from the failures of others. The earlier contestants, on the other hand, are generally considered experience points for the later ones.

As it turned out, the draw that Kaia gave him was the very first match of the tournament?

Why is it that after he transmigrated, he always failed all his exams without any preparation? This happened when he took the Liyue Civil Service Exam, and now it's the same when he participates in the Badminton Festival?

Kaiya, however, appeared confident: "Deputy Minister Han, please be patient. I've already found out the theme of this 'Poetry Recitation' for you—it's 'Love Poems.' The task is to compose a love poem that can move the judges within the competition time. There are no restrictions on the theme or genre; you can be free to express yourself. For example…"

He cleared his throat and read aloud:

“mi muhe ye,

In the language of the Hilichurls,

It's because I love you.

"Hey, Kaeya, you actually know Hilichurls?" Amber asked curiously.

Kaiya blinked. "Don't underestimate the knowledge of a cavalry captain, you know?"