(meanwhile)in Rosarias mind

As they finally left the mansion and stepped into the bright Liyue sunlight, Rosaria walked beside Aether in unusually calm silence.

She kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye, a strange, contemplative look on her face.

...What the hell is wrong with me?

She had just watched Aether absolutely destroy Ningguang on that bed — the proud Tianquan reduced to a drooling, cum-bloated mess right in front of her — and she felt… nothing.

No sting.

No jealousy.

No bitter little voice in the back of her head whispering that she was being replaced.

It was gone.

Rosaria flexed her fingers, almost testing herself. Even the memory of Ningguang’s broken moans and the way she had begged for more didn’t spark any of the old irritation she used to feel when he fucked other women.

Since this morning… it’s just disappeared.

She remembered how she used to feel — that small, annoying pang whenever he took another girl. She had never asked for exclusivity. She never wanted to be his only one. But it still hurt a little. Like a thorn she couldn’t quite pull out.

Now that thorn was simply… missing.

Rosaria looked up at Aether’s profile as they walked, and something warm settled in her chest.

Maybe that’s why Ningguang can act so unbothered.

The Tianquan didn’t get jealous because she didn’t see the other women as competition. They were just… pretty toys. Resources. Holes to be used.

And now Rosaria realized she felt the same way.

She no longer saw herself on the same level as them.

She wasn’t just another girl he fucked.

She was the one who traveled with him. The one who slept tangled up with him after slow, stupidly intimate sex. The one who cried because she wanted to stay by his side.

The others could have his cock. They could get bred, used, and discarded.

But she was his.

Rosaria slipped her hand into his without thinking, lacing their fingers together. When he glanced at her in surprise, she looked away, ears slightly red.

“Tch. Don’t read into it,” she muttered, even as her grip tightened.

Inside, she was quietly stunned at how natural it felt.

So this is what it’s like…

She didn’t have to compete.

She didn’t have to worry.

She was simply above all of them now.

And strangely enough… that realization made her feel lighter than she had in years.

Rosaria leaned her head against his shoulder for a moment as they walked through the lively harbor streets.

“…Let’s go find those adepti,” she said casually. “The sooner we’re done with all that, the sooner I can have you back in bed.”

She didn’t say the rest out loud.

But she thought it anyway:

Where I belong.

The two of them continued their walk through Liyue Harbor, Rosaria surprisingly content at his side.