Before Henry left the Crux Fleet, Beidou pulled him into a rough kiss to tell him that this wasn't going to be the last time they saw each other.
"You better not disappear on me," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she held onto his collar for a second longer than necessary.
Henry let out a short breath, half amused, half caught off guard by how direct she was. "Not planning to," he replied, though he didn't really try to move away either.
She studied him for a moment like she was deciding whether to believe that, then finally let go, giving him one last look before stepping back. "Good. This won't be the last time."
Bidding her goodbye, Henry made his way toward Wanmin Restaurant, figuring he might as well try more of Liyue's food while he had the chance. By the time he got there, most of the tables were already full, the place buzzing with conversation and movement, the kind of lively atmosphere that made it clear this wasn't somewhere people came just to eat quickly and leave.
His eyes moved across the room for a second before landing on the only empty seat left, and without thinking too much about it, he walked over and took it.
On the opposite side of the table, a girl sat quietly with a newspaper held up in front of her face, covering most of her features. She didn't react to him sitting down, didn't even lower it, like she either hadn't noticed him or simply didn't care enough to acknowledge it.
Henry didn't say anything either, letting the moment sit as the dishes arrived, the smell of food filling the space between them.
The moment the dishes were placed on the table, the girl lowered the newspaper, and Henry finally got a proper look at her.
Dark blue hair framed her face, her sharp eyes calm but observant, like she was taking in more than she let on. She sat in a relaxed posture, yet there was a kind of control in it, and the way her gaze lingered for just a second too long made it clear she had already sized him up the moment he sat down.
Her figure didn't exactly go unnoticed either, she was slim yet curvy in the right places, Henry tried to take his eyes off her perky breasts which had captured his attention as he forced himself to focus back on the situation.
"Wait. Isn't this..! Didn't expect to meet her this early!"
"I'm Henry," he said casually, like it was just normal conversation between strangers sharing a table, not giving away anything about what he already knew.
The girl looked at him for a brief moment before replying, "Elena," the answer coming a little too smoothly to be natural.
"Elena? He he he ! Look at you hiding your identity. Too bad I already know who you are."
"Nice to meet you, Elena," he said, picking up his chopsticks.
"I'm a merchant," he said taking a bite of his food, "thinking of opening a shop here in Liyue."
Her eyes shifted slightly at that, the first real sign of interest showing itself despite how controlled she was.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," he continued, "I have something that might sell well here."
"So, do you live here in Liyue?" he asked, glancing at her..
"Yes."
"I see you are not elaborating. Let's mess with you a little."
"So," he said after a moment, like it just came to him naturally, "what about you? What do you do?"
"I work at the Ministry of Civil Affairs," her tone steady, expression unchanged, delivering it like a perfectly normal answer.
If Henry hadn't known who she was, she might have fooled anyone. The straight face, the delivery-it all lined up too well.
Henry almost laughed, but he kept it to himself, just nodding like it made complete sense.
"Sounds busy."
"It is."
She kept her answers short, giving him nothing more than necessary.
"You don't look like the type to sit behind a desk all day, you look quite pretty for it," he said, letting his gaze linger just enough to make it obvious.
Her gaze stayed on him for a moment longer than before, side-eyeing him for the attempt, clearly aware of what he was doing.
"Appearances can be misleading."
"Yeah," Henry replied, taking another bite like it didn't matter, "they usually are."
Elena, now slightly amused by his attempts at engaging her, decided to take the lead this time instead of just responding.
"The things you sell," she said, "what are they?"
Henry smiled slightly, glad she finally started the conversation.
"Two-wheeled vehicles," he said. "Faster than a carriage."
"Faster than a carriage?" Elena looked at him properly now, clearly intrigued.
"Way faster," Henry replied, "and easier to handle."
She studied him for a second, clearly deciding whether he was exaggerating or not.
"Sounds unrealistic."
Henry shrugged slightly. "You can come see it yourself when I set up shop."
"We'll see."
Henry finished first, setting his chopsticks down as he leaned back slightly before standing up, stretching just a bit as he glanced at her again.
"Well," he said, "this was enjoyable."
"What was enjoyable?" she asked, her eyebrows raised slightly.
Henry grinned.
"Good company, pretty lady, good food, hard to complain," he said, not even trying to hide the flirt this time.
Elena seemed somewhere between impressed and annoyed at the same time by the bold audacity of the man daring to flirt with her like this.
Henry, though, stood up from the table casually, as if he hadn't just spent the entire meal chatting and flirting with her.
"And you should smile more," he added, "it'd suit you."
"See you around, Elena."
Elena-or Yelan was slightly dumbfounded at the comment as Henry gave a small wave and turned to leave. Her gaze followed him, her expression settling back under control, before a faint smirk slipped through.
"Interesting."
---
I was actually considering doing what some authors do and splitting chapters into smaller 700-900 word parts so readers would get 4 chapters a week instead of two larger ones and I'd get more chances at Power Stones.
But as a reader myself, I always preferred getting a larger chapter instead of multiple short ones.
Because of that, I've gone the opposite route and increased the chapter length. From Chapter 47 onwards, all chapters strictly follow the new 1500+ word count rule. (the last 4 released chapters on Patreon already follow it)
Since the fic updates only twice a week now (Monday/Thursday), I'd really appreciate it if you could try to save some Power Stones for those release days. It helps the fic a lot, and you still have the rest of the week to support other stories you enjoy.
P.S. My reader base is extremely loving and supportive when it comes to Power Stones. Sometimes you all just need a little reminder lol. Thank you for giving me stones❤️
Read Advanced Chapters on Patreon- we are ahead by 11 chapters
https://patreon.com/A_Peverel