42 Plunged into Panic and Madness

Page (1/3)

The fake couple’s first domestic conversation ended with Pei Nana coming out on top, and she could not help feeling rather pleased with herself.

(I really am pretty good with words!)

She liked the feeling of gaining even the slightest advantage. It made her feel secure.

But she was not allowed to bask in her triumph for long. In reminding Aether, she had also reminded herself: Professor Albedo was coming.

Her smile gradually faded as panic began to spread.

Professor Albedo was an extraordinarily gifted alchemist. Pei Nana had initially greeted the news of his arrival with wholehearted optimism.

Who would not want to see a miraculous alchemist? Most students were fascinated by the wondrous little experiments performed by their chemistry teachers.

Because she had always considered herself unintelligent, Pei Nana instinctively revered and admired people with high intelligence.

There was no doubt that Professor Albedo was one of the truly gifted.

Sneaking a little reflected glory from a genius had become a subconscious habit she had cultivated over many years.

It was like an unlucky player who refused to admit he was unlucky, became angry whenever anyone pointed it out, yet still secretly wanted to bask in the good fortune of a genuinely lucky player.

So Pei Nana had genuinely been looking forward to meeting Professor Albedo.

But after exchanging only a few words with Paimon, all her anticipation was completely replaced by suspicion and mounting dread.

“Albedo is amazing!”

“Do you know what they call him in Mondstadt? Master Albedo, the all-capable!

“I’m not exaggerating. That guy really can do almost anything! He can make anything! He’s super—amazing!”

“He once drew a butterfly, then tapped the picture with his finger, and whoosh—!

“It was just like magic. The butterfly came to life!”

Little Paimon was clearly one of Master Albedo’s devoted admirers. Whenever she spoke of the amazing Albedo, her eyes sparkled and the words poured out without end.

She completely failed to notice that Pei Nana’s expression of eager anticipation had gradually turned to terror.

From nothing to something, from death to life, from inorganic matter to carbon-based life, from illusion to reality—

What kind of godlike technique was that?

Was he a chemistry teacher or a biology teacher?

Page (2/3)

Pei Nana could not understand it and dared not believe it, but she knew that he must possess an extraordinarily profound understanding of the laws of life.

Then… if she stood before such a great biologist, would she really not be seen through at a glance?

Pei Nana had played in Cthulhu tabletop campaigns. At that moment, the approaching Professor Albedo seemed like a scholar with more than eighty points in Teyvat anthropology. What chance did an outsider like her have of fooling him?

As long as Professor Albedo did not roll an absurdly unlucky critical failure, would he not see through her at a single glance?!

What would happen to her then?

Her little cousin’s “information bundle” had mentioned that this world contained such things as “mad scientists” and “destroyer doctors”!

…Could the mad scientist who had “burned the World Tree” be Professor Albedo? Perhaps he had already lost interest in ordinary life-forms and wanted to investigate the origin of life or something…

The more Pei Nana thought about it, the more frightened she became. Lying in bed in the middle of the night, she was nearly scared to tears by her own imagination.

The following morning, Aether went out to handle his daily commissions. Paimon and Pei Nana stayed home, anxiously discussing the final menu, when a message suddenly arrived from the Angel’s Share: Professor Albedo had returned to the city.

(Oh, no, he’s really back!)

The little person inside Pei Nana’s mind covered her face and screamed.

With a fake smile, she saw the messenger off, then took several deep breaths and hurriedly fetched the invitations she had written two days earlier. With trembling hands, she filled in the date. Once Aether returned, she personally delivered them to everyone.

After finishing, she rubbed her disobedient fingers and discovered that both her hands were cold.

Pei Nana remained terribly nervous until the day of the gathering.

The Knights of Favonius! Mondstadt’s actual governing body—in other words, the government of an entire nation.

The ordeal had not even begun, yet she was already filled with dread and trepidation. Aether and Paimon both tried to comfort her, but it was completely useless. Pei Nana continued to plunge uncontrollably into panic.

How could she not panic?

One Albedo was already difficult enough. Add a whole group of high-ranking government officials to the mix…

What kind of hell mode was this?!

If a mad scientist might allow her to scrape by for the sake of being a “rare specimen,” then eliminating potential threats and ensuring the prosperity and stability of the nation were precisely the duty and sacred responsibility of government officials.

If the Knights of Favonius discovered that she was an invasive species from another world—

Aaaah! She did not even dare imagine it!

“People who play politics all have filthy hearts.”

That was a universally acknowledged truth back home.

Pei Nana herself might have been useless, but her parents held high social positions, and she had occasionally dined with various government officials. Everyone had laughed and chatted, raising their glasses and exchanging pleasantries. Not once had anyone argued or lost their temper. The atmosphere had been harmonious and lively.

Page (3/3)

Even she, the child who had been brought along, had been treated with great care. They had asked about her health and schoolwork, and one of the ladies had even kindly placed food in her bowl.

She had entered in a daze and left in a daze. Apart from a whole lot of gossip, she had understood nothing. Every now and then, one of her childish remarks had made the entire table laugh. It had seemed just like an ordinary workplace dinner.

To put it bluntly, she had come away with only one impression:

All the uncles and aunties there were good people! It was so much fun! I want to come again next time!

But on the journey home, after listening to her parents’ detailed analyses and speechless complaints the entire way, she learned that the scene had been harmonious my foot!

It had been a maelstrom of hidden currents and vicious intrigue. One wrong sentence, and every card in your hand would be exposed!

Every one of them was a thousand-year-old fox, each with at least eight hundred hidden motives! Someone could say a single sentence to you and conceal five, six, seven, or even eight traps inside it!

And those “uncles and aunties” of hers had only been ordinary officials. The Knights of Favonius were a national-level organization!

Could a shut-in as transparent and foolish as her really keep her secret in front of those people?

Aether said they were upright and simple. Who was going to believe that?!

Could an upright gentleman really play politics? Rather than believing that they were genuinely honest and forthright, Pei Nana would much rather believe that Aether had been deceived just as thoroughly as she had!

She agonized over it again and again, with nowhere to vent her panic. So frustrated that she wanted to tear her hair out, she even wrote two scripts overnight and dragged Aether and Paimon into rehearsing them with her again and again.

Aether and Paimon comforted her over and over, but she could not take in a word of it. Even Aether, normally the most patient of people, was beginning to lose his temper.

He was even starting to be brainwashed by Pei Nana in reverse.

Could the Knights of Favonius really be the sort who appeared loyal on the outside but harbored traitors within?

The instant the thought emerged, he shook his head violently and banished it from his mind.

After all these years, what kind of ruler had he not encountered? Could he really fail to tell genuine innocence from an act?

Clearly, she was simply overthinking everything and demonizing them in her imagination, right?

Aether could see that Pei Nana was truly terrified. Before even meeting them, she had already been crushed beneath the overwhelming strength of the enemies she had imagined.

She was helpless and pitiful.

Seeing her like that, even his frustration melted into pity and exasperation. There was nothing Aether and Paimon could do but rehearse with her again and again, helping her feel more secure.

Again and again and again…

At last, Aether realized that expecting Pei Nana to come to her senses on her own was pointless.

The frightening thing was not the Knights of Favonius.

It was her imagination!

The more she imagined, the more terrifying everything became. Then she would frighten herself into an even deeper panic, greater despair, and increasing hysteria!

She had backed herself into a corner, trapped by her own emotions.

Once he understood this, Aether finally reached the limits of his patience and struck her unconscious with a chop to the back of the neck.