Omniscius [Genshin Impact]

23: A Day in the Life of a Playful Scholar

Soleil heaved a big sigh, on the brink of dozing off like she did for the past two hours.

Silence was calm and peaceful. But the silence of Keqing's office was almost nerve-wrecking and could make anyone go crazy.

"If you were just gonna do things on your own, what use is asking me to come here?" Soleil grumbled at Keqing.

The Yuheng in purple glanced at Soleil amusingly before dipping her brush in ink, "I'm serving you your punishment. What else?"

"Punishment for what?!" Soleil asked, dumbfounded. She hasn't even proceeded with exposing Keqing's plush collection to the newswriters yet!

"For letting me do all the work," Keqing shrugged, "You want to stay idle, then stay idle. You should suffer the consequences of your own inactivity."

Soleil's jaw dropped, "What is wrong with you? You haven't even given me anything to do and just kept that humungous pile of books to yourself!"

"Which I have already completed no thanks to you," Keqing humphed as she closed the book before her.

"Is it that time of the month already?" Soleil deadpanned, unsure of why her mood was the way it is.

Keqing giggled and placed her ink brush away. "I'm joking. I can manage myself just fine," she said.

Soleil shrugged. Keqing is the only one who can do things to perfection without an assistant or secretary.

"I'm just here for moral support, then. Here," Soleil handed over a hairpin. Keqing's eyes widened.

"That's mine," she said. Then, she smiled smugly, "The hairpin's long overdue. How do you plan to compensate me for the delayed return?"

"Jeez, I fixed it for free. Shouldn't that count?" Soleil grumbled. "Pfft," Keqing covered her mouth and giggled, "I'm kidding! Why so tense?"

"Because you're the Yuheng! Even I know how scary you can get when it comes to work," Soleil said. Keqing giggled.

"Ah, nevermind that. Come on, hand it over," she said. Soleil gave the hairpin back, which Keqing held delicately with a smile.

"It's as good as new! Thank you," Keqing said and wore it. Once she clicked the golden ornament to her hair, she looked to Soleil.

"I sent over some documents to you the other day," she said, "I asked you to come over so I can hear what you think about it."

"Oh, you mean the proposals for the Moonchase Festival?" Soleil asked. Keqing nodded shyly, "I rarely take care of cultural events so I'm not too confident about my judgment... So I asked you."

"Aww, that's okay. I got you," Soleil grinned and patted Keqing's cheek a few times. "H-Hey!" Keqing exclaimed, startled, "I did not give you permission to touch my cheeks!"

She was slightly red from the taps and her own embarrassment. Soleil giggled and stuck her tongue out at her before sitting back on a chair.

"I don't know much about planning cultural festivals since that is not something I'm good at," Soleil said and tapped her lips, "What I think may not be fitting for such a...sentimental event."

"Oh, no. That's something I can take care of," Keqing waved her hands in dismissal. "So what do you need me for?" Soleil asked.

"Well... It's hard to put into words properly," Keqing smiled wryly and fiddled with her fingers, "The festival is very traditional and existed for as long as we know. From what I know, it's roots are mainly intertwined with the humans, adepti, and Rex Lapis."

"And?" Soleil asked. Keqing sighed, "I don't know. The festival is a legacy of both Rex Lapis and the adepti, two entities that we no longer need as the age of humanity is established. How do we hold something so precious to the Lord of Geo in a sense that still honors our promise to make Liyue a city of humans?"