Chapter 421 - 420: The Reason for the Kingdom’s Demise

Kaeya is a very mysterious person. He is the Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt, a highly trusted subordinate of Jean, and the tasks assigned to him are always perfectly completed.

He’s just a bit prone to slacking off; occasionally, you can see him drinking at Angels Share during work hours, sometimes even with Rosaria, leading to Jean punishing him with mining duty.

Putting aside these points that make one want to complain, his popularity in Mondstadt is quite good. He is kind to people and good at making friends.

However, this person is very mysterious; even his sworn brother, Diluc, knows very little about him, and he has no intention of revealing his background.

It wasn’t until he saw Miss Delezie transform a Khaenri’ah survivor back to his original appearance that he displayed very strong emotional fluctuations. This led Miss Delezie to guess if he might be a descendant of the destroyed Kingdom of Khaenri’ah.

Kaeya didn’t answer Miss Delezie’s question immediately. His expression quickly returned to normal, and he waved his hand as usual, looking like he was saying, "You must be joking," trying to change the subject as he usually would.

But how could Miss Delezie let go of such a good opportunity? She wasn’t going to give this guy any quarter.

"Even if you try to deny it, it’s useless. I can directly read your memories and get what I want from your mind. If you want to experience that feeling, you can keep up this act."

"...Must you make things this way, Miss Delezie? Can’t we just let this matter rest? Haven’t we been getting along quite well so far?"

Kaeya was helpless. He really wasn’t good at dealing with someone like Miss Delezie.

His proud eloquence was useless against her, and in terms of strength, he was no match for her at all.

Even silence was useless; she wouldn’t be friendly to him just because he was a member of the Knights of Favonius. She would really read his memories, Kaeya understood this deeply.

"Pleasant? Not at all pleasant. You’re the one I least want to see in the Knights of Favonius. Not only because of your hypocritical behavior, but also because during the ’Doctor’ incident, when you tried to morally blackmail me into handing over the ’Doctor,’ I disliked you even more."

During the "Doctor" incident, when the members of the Knights of Favonius arrived, Kaeya wanted to take the "Doctor" away and use his special identity to gain some benefits for Mondstadt from the Fatui.

There was nothing wrong with doing that, but Miss Delezie disliked it greatly. She had no intention of letting the "Doctor" go and warned him to leave immediately, but Kaeya still wanted to say something to argue for it.

In the end, if it hadn’t been for Jean’s intervention, Miss Delezie might have clashed with the Knights of Favonius.

Given such a situation, Kaeya still said their interactions were pleasant? Yes, pleasant enough to want to erase him from this world, you tell me if it’s pleasant!

"..."

Alright, it seems there really is no chance at all. He had fully felt Miss Delezie’s aversion to him.

At this point, if he didn’t obediently reveal the information, Miss Delezie would 100% not let him off.

He scratched his head, not expecting that the secret he had been hiding all this time was about to be exposed here.

"Alright, you win, Miss Delezie. I admit, just as you suspected, I am indeed a descendant of the Kingdom of Khaenri’ah, the legitimate kind."

At this point, Kaeya’s expression became exceptionally serious, completely devoid of his previous joking demeanor.

"No wonder you had such a big emotional fluctuation when you saw me turn him back into a human. So that’s the reason."

Miss Delezie sized up Kaeya for a while, then waved her hand. The scenery before Kaeya changed, and he was sent out of the flower field by Miss Delezie.

The subsequent topic was not suitable for discussion in the flower field. She didn’t think the upcoming conversation would be friendly, so to avoid the flower field being affected, it was better to talk outside.

"I won’t ask you what your purpose was in secretly following me for now. As a descendant of Khaenri’ah, you don’t have any plans to restore the kingdom, do you?"

A red light flashed in Miss Delezie’s eyes. If he was a descendant of Khaenri’ah, then his relationship with Aether would be unusual.

If he really had such an idea, then Kaeya might become Aether’s mole, retaliating against Mondstadt at an opportune moment, which would be detrimental to Mondstadt.

Facing such a question, Kaeya smiled easily, a very natural smile.

"Why would I do such a thing? I am a descendant, that’s true, but I’m not a descendant of the royal family. Why would I do something so troublesome? Besides, do you think I have the ability to do something like that?"

Kaeya shook his head. He didn’t have the capital needed to restore a kingdom. He was just a Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.

Besides completing his work, his daily routine involves maintaining the security of Mondstadt. Any extra time is spent drinking at Angels Share. Where would he find the time to do something so troublesome?

He wasn’t lying; what he said was true.

"If that’s the case, then why were you so agitated when you saw him return to his original human form?"

"...I don’t know either. Perhaps a little fantasy emerged in my heart. But I understand that it’s ultimately just a fantasy, an unrealistic empty dream."

He could still distinguish between ideals and reality. Kaeya had seen many things in his years of living and was no longer the ignorant youth he once was.

Besides, this was Miss Delezie’s ability. Although Miss Delezie was kind-hearted, she had no reason to help with such a big favor. Even if he tried to morally blackmail her, all he would gain in the end was Miss Delezie’s disgust.

"I think my current life is quite good. I’ve been very comfortable in Mondstadt these past years. Although the Fatui always come to cause trouble, since your appearance, these troubles have basically become rare. With less time spent dealing with those people, I have more time to do what I want to do."

"...running off to Angels Share to drink?"

"As a Mondstadter, there’s no reason not to drink. You’ve been to Angels Share too, so I don’t need to tell you how many drunks go there every day. This is how Mondstadters relax; you can’t expect me to drink tea at home like Liyue people."

Actually, you could drink black tea, just like Jean and Lisa, but this possibility is very low. Just as Rosaria said that drinking was his only way to relax, depriving him of the right to drink would be no different from killing him.

Kaeya was the same; although he wasn’t addicted yet, he needed to drink every day.

"Since that’s the case, if I want to punish you in the future, I’ll give you a kind of poison, one that makes you allergic to alcohol. That way, you won’t even be able to eat dishes related to alcohol, let alone drink."

Kaeya’s expression instantly turned to horror. Making him sensitive to alcohol? What a terrifying punishment this was for a drunkard.

Kaeya wanted to comfort himself that Durandal couldn’t possibly do such a thing, but recalling the Fatui’s collective stomach upset incident, he had no illusions of luck.

Durandal wasn’t harming him, was she? She was simply preventing him from drinking, and not drinking brought many benefits.

If the allergy was too severe, she could even change her strategy, making the poison alter Kaeya’s perception of alcohol, so that every time he drank, he would feel like he was drinking something unspeakable.

"If you don’t want that future, then don’t do this again. Once I find any sign of you secretly following me, I will administer this poison to you. I mean what I say; don’t test my patience."

Before, he had to go easy on Kaeya for Jean’s sake, but now he didn’t need to. He had found a suitable way to punish him and make him obedient.

Kaeya nodded resignedly. He had no choice but to accept his fate, didn’t he? He didn’t want that terrifying future.

"Alright, we’ve talked enough. It’s about time you left. This isn’t a place where ordinary people can come. If you come to the flower field without my permission, you will be punished."

After speaking, Durandal didn’t bother with Kaeya anymore and turned to return to the flower field.

"Please wait, Miss Delezie."

Kaeya suddenly called out to Durandal, thought for a moment, and asked, "Since you know about the Khaenri’ah Kingdom, you must know some inside information. Can you tell me if you think this is a problem of the Seven Archons and the Heavenly Principles, or a problem of the Khaenri’ah Kingdom?"

"Was it really because the Khaenri’ah Kingdom didn’t worship any gods and only relied on itself to become powerful, angering the Heavenly Principles and ultimately bringing about its destruction?"

Kaeya had heard everything about the Khaenri’ah Kingdom from his father. Although his father spoke with conviction, Kaeya always harbored doubts.

He felt there must be some hidden truth, otherwise, the Heavenly Principles should have attacked Khaenri’ah with the other Seven Archons much earlier, instead of waiting until Khaenri’ah had developed. Wouldn’t that have been easier?

Kaeya felt that Durandal should know some hidden truth and wanted to ask if she could provide any inside information.

Durandal remained silent for a long time, then turned to look at Kaeya and said, "Whether one believes in gods or not is irrelevant. The Geo Archon of Liyue Harbor is also gone. By your logic, are the Heavenly Principles also preparing to act against Liyue Harbor after the residents’ faith in gods wanes?"

"You mean..."

"They touched a forbidden taboo, a taboo that could threaten this world. Look into the history of five hundred years ago. Many of the disasters up to now were caused by the Khaenri’ah Kingdom touching these taboos."

After speaking, Durandal transformed into black mist and disappeared before Kaeya, leaving him alone to ponder Durandal’s words.

"Touched a forbidden...taboo?"

"What could this taboo be?"

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