[Genshin Impact] A world where only travelers are alone.

Chapter 59 Unexpected Changes

As it turns out, sometimes you shouldn't make promises you can't keep.

After successfully evading the Lawrence family's patrolmen and secretly attracting many people with her adorable picture books, her actions still drew the patrolmen's attention.

It was almost morning, and Cecilia, who always set up her stall at night, was tidying up the remaining picture books in preparation for going home when she suddenly heard footsteps.

She didn't look up.

The calm of the past few days had made her less likely to jump at the slightest sound of footsteps, unlike at the beginning. Besides, as arranged, Gunnhildr and Legnford were watching the situation from a restaurant not far away.

Both were nobles. Although Gunnhildr's situation was more complicated, at least their status was intimidating enough that ordinary patrolmen wouldn't dare to confront them head-on.

They had an agreement with Cecilia that if any patrolmen became suspicious, they would pretend to have noticed something amiss and question her first to dispel the patrolmen's suspicions.

Although this was somewhat overstepping their bounds, as long as it wasn't a few special members of the Lawrence family who stepped in, no one else would dare to question their actions to their face, which was enough for them to safely evacuate Cecilia.

That's how it is right now. When he noticed several soldiers dressed in Lawrence's uniforms walking towards Cecilia, Legnford immediately stood up to meet their comrades, but he was stopped by Gunnhill as soon as he took a step.

Legnford looked at her in confusion, only to find that Gunnhildr's expression was incredibly serious.

"We've gone too far." Gunnhild stared intently at the corner where the patrol had just come from, and after a long while, he finally uttered these words.

Legenfinde looked in the direction she was looking, completely bewildered, and his expression froze when he saw the woman who was a step behind the patrolmen.

Over there, Cecilia, noticing nothing unusual about Legnford and Gunnhildr, assumed they were just ordinary people looking for a picture book.

Therefore, when she noticed a hand on the catalog at her stall, she continued tidying up her things and simply replied, "Sorry, it's very late, I'm about to close up shop. If you really like this catalog, you can take it home; consider it a gift from me."

"Oh? Are all business people this generous?"

It was a very young female voice.

Cecilia finally stopped what she was doing and looked up.

The woman's hair appeared to be very light in color, but as the sun rose, it took on a golden hue under the light.

Cecilia was momentarily dazzled by the reflected sunlight, quickly pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, but not forgetting to reply, "I couldn't help it, I was in a hurry to get home. Besides, what you have is the first book in the series. If you like it, you can buy the others, and then you'll have made your money back, right?"

"I see—" The woman raised an eyebrow. "You sound like a pretty shrewd businessman. But why would someone with a business mind choose to set up a stall at night? Don't you think that's strange?"

Their choice to set up a stall at night is certainly based on their own considerations.

Although there were fewer people at night, the darkness concealed her movements, making it a decision made after careful consideration.

Cecilia finally realized, belatedly, that the other party was coming at her with a fierce attitude, and her expression turned serious.

Her mind raced, and recalling the promises made by Gunnhildr and Legnfinde, she immediately guessed that the person in front of her was probably no ordinary individual.

Cecilia couldn't guess who this "not simple" referred to.

She stood up.

Due to the angle, the hair and eye colors that were previously unclear have finally become clear.

Light blue hair, golden eyes—exactly the same as hers.

This is how the boys described the appearance of Vanilla, the matriarch of the Lawrence family.

At the same time, her appearance also came into view of Vanilla.

Cecilia noticed the woman smile.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she remained calm and even put on a polite smile: "Excuse me, miss, I didn't understand what you meant."

"You're a smart person, I know you understood." Vanilla's smile widened.

Cecilia tried to argue, but Vanillari clearly wasn't going to listen to her anymore. Instead, she raised her hand to shut her up and casually picked up a book to flip through.

Cecilia's heart sank.

However, when they were compiling the picture book, they had already considered the current situation, so what they wanted to convey was expressed very subtly. The main content of the picture book is a rather melodramatic but very addictive story.

However, Vanilla seemed uninterested in this, and after flipping through it without finding anything, she put the book down.

But she trusted her intuition.

This story may seem insignificant on the surface, but the person selling the picture book certainly had ulterior motives.

Vanilla said, "Do you know how strict the censorship of this kind of literary work is now? All literary works have to be sent to the Lawrence family for inspection before they can be sold. If I remember correctly, I have never seen your picture book."

The boys hadn't mentioned this to her.

Cecilia paused for a moment, then quickly added, "I don't know. I haven't been here long, and no one told me about this policy."

"Just arrived?" Vanillari's disbelief was practically written all over his face. "Where did you live before? This policy was issued a long time ago; there's no way anyone here wouldn't know about it."

Cecilia named a place.

This was a decision she made after discussing it with the boy and the others. It was located in the most remote part of the entire territory, so it was not an exaggeration to say that there would be a lack of information. Apart from the fact that it was within the territory of the Lawrence family, it had almost no disadvantages.

"Like I said, no matter how capable she is, she can't possibly know everyone's face, can she?"

That's what the boy said.

Unfortunately, Vanilla's perverse sense of humor far exceeded their expectations.

Or rather, this doesn't count as having a bad sense of humor.

[Cold and noble, unafraid of raging flames; resilient and composed, unshakable.]

This is the code of conduct of Vanillari, and also the family motto of the Lawrence family.

The Lawrence family takes it upon themselves to protect the civilians within their territory. For Vanilla, civilians in remote areas are especially important to them because their distance from the center and proximity to the border greatly increases the level of danger. She frequently sends people to check on them, and she herself has gone many times as well.

There weren't many people there, so she remembered everyone's faces.

Clearly, Cecilia is not included in this list.

Vanilla didn't speak, but it was this very behavior that made Cecilia realize that she might have said something wrong.

But at this moment, any further explanation would only increase her suspicion, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

And Vanilla didn't want to listen anymore.

She raised her hand: "Take them away."

The patrolmen behind her responded and pinned Cecilia down on her limbs.

However, Vanilla seemed quite dissatisfied with their handling of the situation, frowning slightly: "Be gentle."

The patrolmen were completely baffled, but they still followed her orders and moved a little lighter.

Before being taken away, Cecilia subconsciously looked in the direction where Legonfind and Gunnhildr were.

When their eyes met, Cecilia could tell that this meant to wait and see.

She took a deep breath and decided to do as they said.

Although they hadn't spent much time together, she could tell that the group wasn't the type to stand idly by and watch; they would definitely come to her rescue. She just hoped that Vanilla wouldn't go too far before they arrived.

Cecilia is still unsure whether dying in the family trial will leave her unscathed.

*

Surprisingly, Vanilla was unexpectedly gentle with her.

This guy dismissed the extra patrolmen and led her alone through the corridors of the Lawrence mansion. Cecilia couldn't quite figure out what he was thinking.

It wasn't until Vanilla stopped and spoke up that she asked, "Are your hair and eye colors natural?"

Cecilia had already guessed that she would ask this, and immediately put on a fawning expression: "Of course! My lord, look at me, I look exactly like you, maybe we're from the same family? How about we let today's matter go, consider it an act of charity—"

She knew that Vanila Rui would definitely dislike such a person, and perhaps by acting this way, Vanila Rui would stop investigating the matter and her origins would not be exposed.

However, she had never done anything like this before, and she didn't seem to have any talent for it. Her expression was very fake, and Vanilla could tell at a glance that she was acting.

She smiled, and instead of doing what Cecilia wanted, she said, "Well, maybe we really are family."

"Come, look here, Cecilia."

She called out the name Cecilia had used when she revealed her identity not long ago.

Following her directions, Cecilia finally noticed that they had stopped in front of a huge portrait, in which the lady had a similar appearance to her.

"You don't resemble me, but you look a lot like my mother. If it weren't for this face, I wouldn't have come to test you in person." Vanillai stroked the frame of the painting and sighed, "If I weren't so sure that my mother only had me as her daughter, I would have thought you were my sister or something."

She chuckled softly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice: "I guess it's because she died so young that almost no one remembers her now, so you—well, or maybe your accomplices—haven't realized you should do something to your face, to change it a bit."

Cecilia never expected that this would be the biggest blunder in the whole affair.

She subconsciously touched her face, her expression freezing.

"Don't worry, Cecilia. I won't harm you until I find out your background. Protecting every member of the family has been a virtue of the Lawrence family since ancient times. If you really are a member of the Lawrence family, not only can the past be wiped clean, but I can even let you live here in peace." Vanilla's tone was gentle, but her actions were quite the opposite, pushing her into the room next to the picture frame with an irresistible force.

"Now, darling, you can start praying that you really are a member of the Lawrence family."

She spoke softly, the threat in her words unmistakable.

Then the wooden door closed—and Cecilia was locked up here.

As always, in the present-day Lawrence mansion.

This time, however, there was no boy named "Wendy" to take her away from the cage.

(End of this chapter)

The author says: Happy New Year! Hehe, trying my best to write and post this New Year's greeting on time (?˙▽˙?)

I've started a giveaway, consider it a New Year's red envelope for everyone. It's just a small token of my appreciation, but I hope you all like it!