Chapter 419 - 418: It’s good to have you by my side

"It’s so late, why hasn’t she come back yet?"

It was already past dinner time, and Durandal was still nowhere to be seen. Usually, she would come back early, so why hadn’t she appeared by now?

Could it be that the recent cold shoulder hurt her, and she ran off to drown her sorrows in wine? Or perhaps she thought she would be angry if she saw her, so she went to stay somewhere else?

As soon as this possibility came to mind, Durandal felt that she might have gone a bit too far. She was a little angry that Venti had left her aside for the sake of good wine, but it wasn’t enough to give her the cold shoulder for so many days.

Next time... next time she comes to me and apologizes, then I’ll forgive her.

This thought appeared in her mind, and then she secretly sent a clone to infiltrate the shadows, searching for Venti’s whereabouts throughout Mondstadt.

By the time it was bedtime, the clone had almost searched all of Mondstadt’s territory, but still hadn’t found Venti’s trace.

That person... could she have run off to Liyue Harbor to find Zhongli? Given their relationship, it wasn’t impossible for Venti to seek refuge with him.

Plus, with Guizhong’s recent resurrection, she could also go watch the excitement between Zhongli and Guizhong, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.

With a complex mood, Durandal returned to her room. As soon as she entered, she saw a particularly large gift box placed in the corner of the room, about half of Durandal’s height.

Who placed this in her room? Could it be that Venti prepared it, with the purpose of apologizing and asking for forgiveness?

This possibility was quite high. Lumine said she left with money during the day, probably to prepare a gift for herself.

But what exactly could be in such a large box? With Venti’s meager assets, what kind of gift would she prepare?

"It shouldn’t be some prank prop, otherwise she’ll know what I’m capable of."

Durandal opened the gift box and leaned over, wanting to see what was inside. Her expression was priceless as soon as she saw it.

Why? Because what was inside the gift box was Venti, whom Durandal had been looking for all night. He was wrapped in red ribbons, seemingly having packaged himself as a gift.

These things weren’t much; it was very much like something Venti would do, wasn’t it?

The key was that he had actually fallen asleep inside this gift box! That’s right, he was asleep, this thoughtless fellow.

Seeing him sound asleep, Durandal couldn’t resist picking up the nearby lid, intending to let Venti continue his peaceful sleep inside.

"Hm? What time is it? Ah, you’re back, Durandal. You made me wait so long, I thought..."

Durandal put the lid back on, blocking Venti’s view and making him swallow all the words he was about to say.

Not only that, Durandal also took out a rope, preparing to tie up the gift box and keep Venti trapped inside.

"Wait a minute, this is completely different from what I planned!"

Venti burst out of the box, excitedly grabbing Durandal’s shoulders and saying, "I wasn’t playing a prank, I really wanted to give you a surprise. You have to believe me, you have to believe me!"

"..."

There was no "joy," but there was certainly "surprise." Who falls asleep inside a box when preparing a surprise for someone? This was too unprofessional.

Apparently, Venti understood what Durandal’s expression was trying to convey. He pouted and said, "What could I do? I waited in the box for so long and you didn’t come. I was out all day preparing this, and while waiting, I couldn’t help but fall asleep. Can you blame me for that?"

Could she really blame him? Durandal reached out and pinched Venti’s cheek as punishment.

Now she had time to properly observe Venti’s appearance. She had to admit, he was truly... bold. He was only covered in ribbons, which were strategically wrapped around various important areas.

They were meant to cover him, but it somehow felt even more stimulating. She had to admit, he was really getting more playful.

Remembering that Durandal had come to apologize to her, Durandal turned and sat on the bed, turning her head away from him.

"What are you looking for me for? Don’t you like to drink? Go to Angels Share, that’s your favorite place. With your status as the Anemo Archon, Diluc will give you free dandelion wine. If not, you can also send the bill to me, and I’ll pay for you."

Wow~ That’s truly a resentful statement. Even though she had dressed up like this, Durandal recovered so quickly. It seems her immune system was getting stronger against him.

"Oh dear~ What’s ’like’? I admit I like to drink, but I like you even more. With you by my side, how could I possibly do anything else?"

Venti immediately stepped forward and hugged Durandal’s wrist, speaking in a gentle, coaxing tone, like comforting a pouting child.

"Easy for you to say, but in reality, when you’re actually sitting at the bar, your eyes are only on the fine wine, and I’m completely forgotten."

Venti scratched his head a little sheepishly. At the time, he was still a bit drunk, and in that tipsy state, hearing that he could drink freely, he couldn’t resist.

Normally, he would never do such a thing, but since it had already happened, making excuses was useless. It was better to think about how to compensate Durandal.

"Alright, it was my fault this time. I truly understand my mistake. Will you give me one more chance, okay? Look, I’ve even packaged myself as a gift for you. Isn’t that enough?"

"...Not enough."

"Eh? This... this isn’t enough?"

Venti thought he had shown enough sincerity, so why was Durandal acting so insatiably greedy? This wasn’t the kind of answer he should be getting at a time like this.

"Hmph, you were already mine to begin with. Giving me something that already belongs to me, what kind of sincerity is that? Or are you saying... you didn’t belong to me before?"

As she spoke, a dangerous red light flashed in Durandal’s eyes. Even though it hadn’t been said before, in her opinion, Venti belonged to her. Since he was hers, how could there be any talk of giving someone else’s property to them? That was just thoughtless.

This slightly domineering statement brought a smile to Venti’s face. To have already considered him her property, she really was a domineering person.

"What are you talking about? Since when have I been yours? How come I don’t know about this?"

"Ever since you made that choice. Did you think you could escape after doing something like that? Since you actively approached me, you can only become mine."

"Now... you’ve made me angry. As your owner, I must give you a little punishment to let you know what I’m capable of."

"...Huh?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Venti felt his vision shift. He was pushed onto the bed by Durandal.

Usually, he was the one doing such things. This time, for some reason, Durandal’s aggressiveness was unusually strong. Even though she wasn’t in her Queen state, she was acting as if she were.

"Th-that, are you alright, Durandal?"

"I’m perfectly fine. I know exactly what you’re thinking. Isn’t it that you want me to turn into an adult? Since you want to see, I’ll let you see."

This was good. Durandal also understood how passive she would be in her current state when things got serious. At that point, it wouldn’t be her punishing Durandal, but Durandal punishing her.

This time, she had decided to punish this guy, and she absolutely couldn’t let him get the upper hand again. To achieve this goal, Durandal went all out, directly transforming into her adult state, successfully suppressing all of Venti’s advances.

That night, Venti experienced a completely different feeling than usual. How to describe it? It was quite stimulating, and it even made him somewhat nostalgic.

But such things were truly too stimulating. Experiencing it occasionally was fine, but experiencing it frequently would be too much for his body.

Durandal successfully carried out her punishment as desired. This was the first time Durandal had truly suppressed Venti, which made her a little proud.

In the future, if he dared to bully her again, she could just bring out this form, and the situation would instantly reverse, turning into her tormenting Venti.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot something. Recently, Albedo brought someone who looks exactly like him back to Mondstadt. Do you know about this?"

"Yes, I know. What about it? Do you know his story?"

"I don’t know, I’m just a little worried that if Albedo’s situation also happens to him, then he would be a very dangerous existence."

Calx and Chalk. Venti certainly didn’t want another hidden bomb like Albedo. If Abe Shao’s situation was similar to Albedo’s, then things would be serious.

Venti sincerely hoped that Abe Shao’s situation was different from Albedo’s, but reality always liked to deliver a slap to the face. Durandal woke him from his fantasy.

"They do seem to be related. Albedo refers to him as ’brother.’ Although they aren’t blood relatives, they are indeed family in some sense, aren’t they? What’s wrong? Are you worried that Albedo’s situation will happen to him? Didn’t I already absorb the ’poison’ from his body? Even if Abe Shao’s situation is similar to Albedo’s, as long as I’m here, they won’t go berserk."

"...You’re right."

Venti, who had been a bit flustered, thought about it after hearing this and realized it made sense. He then lay back on the bed, snuggling into Durandal, who hadn’t reverted to her original form yet.

"Tonight, can you stay like this until I fall asleep?"

"You prefer me as I am now, compared to my original appearance?"

"No, it’s not that. I just want to experience what it feels like to rely on someone else. I finally have someone I can rely on, so just let me experience it."

"...Alright."

Venti smiled and said thank you, then leaned on Miss Delezie, closing his eyes in peace.

"Durandal..."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to tell you, it’s really good to have you by my side."

"...Me too."

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