Yuehai Pavilion
"Huixin, I'm back. Thank you for your hard work today."
When Ganyu entered Yuehai Pavilion, the first place she passed was Huixin's office.
At that moment, Huixin was busy dealing with the large number of tasks that had piled up because Ganyu had taken leave.
When she heard Ganyu's voice, Huixin replied with a tired tone.
"Welcome back, Lady Ga… Ganyu! What happened to you?!"
When Huixin looked up and saw the scrapes on Ganyu's body, she was immediately shocked.
She hurriedly stood up from her desk and walked over in a panic.
"H-How did you end up like this just from going out for a while?"
"Should we apply some medicine first?"
Ganyu forced a small smile.
"It's nothing serious. Just a few small scrapes. They'll heal very quickly."
"But…"
Huixin still looked worried.
Ganyu shook her head.
"It's really fine. While I was away, nothing happened with Ze, right?"
Since Ganyu insisted, Huixin could not press further.
She glanced toward Ganyu's room and thought of little Junze, smiling slightly.
"That child has been very well-behaved. No crying, no fussing. He stayed in the room reading and drawing."
"He just eats a bit too much. How can a child eat that much? Can his body handle it?"
Huixin could not help worrying about Junze's health.
Hearing Huixin's description, Ganyu finally showed a relieved smile.
However, after smiling for a short moment, she looked somewhat lonely again.
"A child this age usually cries when their guardian isn't around. But Ze didn't react at all."
Ganyu quietly muttered to herself.
"It seems that even without me, that child can still live just fine."
Girls could be like this sometimes.
When they were in a bad mood, even good things could be twisted into something negative.
And unless they managed to pull themselves out of that mindset, no amount of comforting would work.
"I'll head inside first."
As she spoke, Ganyu quickly walked toward her room.
Huixin watched her departing figure and scratched her cheek.
"Lady Ganyu seems really off today. Did something happen?"
Ganyu soon arrived in front of her room.
Before pushing the door open, she took a deep breath.
"Ganyu, you can't show such an ugly expression in front of the child!"
"Being so dejected in front of your disciple is not what a qualified master should do."
Ganyu knew that her current state was not good.
She tried her best to lift her spirits.
"Come on. Come on. Come on."
The timid little Qilin clenched her small fists and encouraged herself.
"Alright!"
A smile returned to Ganyu's face.
Then she pushed open the door.
"Ze, Master is ba—"
Before she could finish speaking, her smile froze.
The room was completely empty.
There was no sign of Junze.
The room felt cold and quiet.
There was no one there.
"Ze…?"
A terrifying thought appeared in Ganyu's mind.
Could it be that the Ink Shadow Adeptus had taken Junze away while she was gone?
After all, if it was that Adeptus, bypassing the protective Adeptus arts she had placed outside would be effortless.
Ganyu forced a smile.
"Ze, are you here? Don't scare your master."
Her voice began to tremble.
She hoped the child was simply playing hide and seek.
She hoped her guess was wrong.
But reality remained silent.
No one answered her.
Her body slowly grew cold.
Ganyu walked stiffly into the room.
Her eyes scanned every corner carefully.
"Ze, are you here?"
"Master is back. Stop hiding."
She prayed that Junze would suddenly appear from some corner.
But the room was small.
One glance was enough to see everything.
If he was not there, then he was not there.
Even after turning the entire room upside down, Ganyu found nothing.
"Ze… if you don't come out… Master will get… angry…"
Ganyu leaned weakly against the wall.
The little Qilin's eyes looked helpless.
She gave a bitter smile.
"So the child really left?"
"Well… if that really was Ze's family member, then it's natural for him to leave with them."
"It's just… he didn't even tell me?"
Tears slowly began forming in the corners of Ganyu's eyes.
At that moment, Junze, who was outside tinkering with Qingxin seeds, heard movement from inside the house.
He quickly tidied up his things and ran toward the room.
Seeing the door wide open, Junze shouted,
"Master!"
Ganyu's body trembled.
The Ganyu who had been on the verge of heartbreak suddenly raised her head in disbelief.
"Ze!"
She rushed forward in a single step and tightly hugged the little child in her arms.
It was the joy of recovering something that had almost been lost.
"Huh?!"
Junze had just stepped through the door and had not even seen what was going on before being startled by Ganyu's sudden move.
"Where did you go?!"
Ganyu buried her face against him and shouted in a muffled voice.
"Uh… I was just planting flowers in the courtyard."
Junze raised both hands high in the air.
Ganyu's sudden emotional outburst left him completely at a loss.
What just happened?
What had triggered his master like this?
Could it be because of the rock he threw earlier?
"Planting flowers?"
Ganyu lifted her head and looked at Junze.
For the first time, she spoke to him with a slightly exasperated tone.
"Who told you to plant flowers? Master couldn't find you! You scared me to death!"
"Ah… I…"
Although he did not fully understand why Ganyu was reacting like this, Junze did realize one thing.
His master had entered the room, failed to see him, and panicked.
"I'm sorry, Master."
Junze knew that at a moment like this, it was best not to explain too much.
Whether it was his fault or not, apologizing first was the safest choice.
As for Ganyu, she quickly realized that her emotions had gotten out of control.
"Ze didn't do anything wrong. Master was just too emotional."
"Master shouldn't have raised her voice at you."
"Planting flowers is good. Planting flowers is good. Ze is such a good child…"
Ganyu knelt down on one knee and leaned weakly against Junze.
She hugged the small boy tightly.
He was planting flowers.
He did not leave.
That was good.
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