Outside Yanshang Teahouse, Severin observed everything with calm detachment.
The Mirror Maiden stood behind him, her head slightly bowed.
Everything that happened inside the casino was crystal clear to Severin.
Every roll of the dice—every outcome—was the result of his divine power forcibly altering fate.
With someone who rivaled the gods quietly "cheating" for her, as long as Yelan wanted to win, she would keep winning.
There was only one purpose behind this—
To make Yelan believe that her ancestor had truly manifested.
Of course, Severin never believed that a single night of gambling would convince her completely.
And sure enough, the next morning, Yelan woke early and rolled the Fortune Die again, intending to verify its effects a second time.
Under Severin's control, the die landed on one.
An odd number.
A sign of great misfortune.
Yelan scratched her head, utterly baffled as to why she had rolled the worst possible number.
She decided not to go out, not to meet anyone—choosing to hide indoors and avoid bad luck altogether.
Returning to her room, she immediately locked the door.
Not long after, an urgent report arrived from her subordinates.
The moment she finished reading it, her vision went dark, and she nearly fainted.
Yelan's true identity was a mystery to many—even several members of the Liyue Qixing were unaware of her background.
In truth, she was Ningguang's special intelligence officer.
Not a subordinate—but a partner.
In recent years, Yelan had disguised herself as a Sumeru mercenary, a Fontaine adventurer, a Mondstadt fisherman—assuming countless identities as she risked her life traveling through the Six Nations to gather intelligence.
All of this information was compiled into two of Liyue's most critical classified documents—
The Special Attention Registry
and
The Classified Intelligence Registry.
The first cataloged unusual figures across nations, including certain adepti of Liyue—and even information related to fallen gods.
The second recorded individuals capable of threatening Liyue: Fatui Harbingers, Abyss forces, and even deities.
These two documents were the crystallization of Yelan's life's work—her medals of honor earned in the shadows.
Because of their extreme sensitivity, only Liyue's highest authorities were permitted to view them. Copying was strictly forbidden.
They existed as single originals.
And yet—
The original manuscripts had become damp and moldy. The ink had completely blurred, rendering the contents illegible.
The damage wasn't discovered until that very morning.
Years of effort—destroyed overnight.
Anger and grief surged together.
Yelan rushed to the site immediately.
All the staff present kept their heads lowered, terrified by the ferocity in her gaze.
"Documents of this importance became moldy?"
"Are you all useless?"
"Lady Yelan," one staff member said nervously,
"this truly isn't our fault. In the past two months, only you entered the archive to consult the documents."
"That day, you left your Vision inside. We believe the Hydro element it released may have caused this incident."
Yelan froze.
That day—after reviewing the intelligence—she had suddenly conceived a method to infiltrate the Fatui.
She had disguised herself inside the archive and casually removed her Vision.
If that was the case…
The culprit was herself.
Visions did, on rare occasions, autonomously release elemental energy when left unattended.
Something similar had happened in Liyue the year before—someone left a Pyro Vision at home and burned the place down.
She never expected such misfortune to strike her.
Anger was pointless.
All she could do was accept her bad luck.
Her mood sank to rock bottom.
She went to a tavern, ordered a full table of food and wine, and drank heavily.
But when she returned to Yanshang Teahouse—
Her jade bangle was gone.
Her mind shattered.
One bangle had already been taken by the Fatui, causing her grief and rage for a long time.
Now—
The second one was gone too.
Suddenly, torrential rain poured from the sky.
Without bothering with an umbrella, Yelan rushed back to the tavern in a frenzy.
The tavern owner swore he hadn't seen any jade bangle.
She returned to the streets, searching every inch of the road.
But before the rain, the streets had been crowded.
The likelihood that someone else had picked it up was high.
Recovering it was almost impossible.
At last, Yelan collapsed into a crouch beneath the storm, sobbing helplessly in the rain.
Not far away stood a tall wine tower.
On its highest floor stood two figures—
Severin and the Mirror Maiden.
In Severin's hand were two jade bangles.
The one Yelan had lost had, in fact, been quietly transferred by him while she was drinking in the tavern.
"Your Highness," the Mirror Maiden asked softly as she held a black umbrella over him,
"Lady Yelan has been gathering intelligence abroad for years. Her mental fortitude should be exceptional. She shouldn't be this fragile, should she?"
"Yelan's family is one of Liyue's oldest mystic lineages," Severin replied quietly.
"These jade bangles are the only relic left behind by her ancestor, Boyang."
"They carry the glory of her family's golden age—as well as remembrance and longing for her forebear."
"In her eyes, even her Vision is less important than these bangles."
Yelan might be Ningguang's intelligence partner, but while assisting Liyue, she was also searching for the truth behind her ancestor's death.
Five hundred years ago, during that great war, only the adepti and Rex Lapis knew what truly happened.
The adepti secluded themselves in the mountains, remaining silent.
As for Rex Lapis—Yelan had never even seen him.
Thus, she could only seek the truth herself.
In this regard, she was remarkably similar to the Traveler, Aether—
Both were searching for answers buried in the past.
Hearing the sobbing carried by the wind and rain, the Mirror Maiden felt sympathy.
"Will Your Highness return the bangle to her?"
"Tomorrow."
Severin gave an exact answer.
The next morning.
The rain stopped. The sky cleared.
After a night of sorrow, Yelan once again rolled the Fortune Die.
Four.
An even number.
Good fortune.
"Ha… what use is good luck?" she muttered.
"The bangle is already gone."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
She opened it.
Brilliant sunlight flooded in, dazzling her eyes.
Her subordinate stood outside, his smile as bright as the sun.
"Lady Yelan—good news!"
"Last night, a passerby found a jade bangle and handed it to the Millelith. They heard you lost one and came to confirm whether it belongs to you."
Yelan stared at the bangle in his hand.
Joy exploded in her chest.
That familiar elemental aura—
It was hers.
The Fortune Die…
It was incredible.
From that moment on, Yelan fully believed that the Fortune Die was the opportunity her ancestor had left behind.
As long as she used it wisely—
She could avoid disaster, turn danger into safety, and bend fate itself.
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