Goddess of Luck

Before completely recovering from his stupor, Paul remarked, "I think I'm going to have another aneurysm..."

Surprised by Paul's words, Ningguang's eyes briefly widened before the smile on her face revealed a hint of amusement.

"I see our presence here hasn't provided you the satisfaction and peace of mind it was intended to. Please forgive me if my question was a little too forward..."

After blinking in surprise, a wry smile developed across Paul's face as he asked, "Peace of mind? Satisfaction? You're kidding me, right...?"

"Hmm..."

Rising to her feet, Ningguang briefly cast a glance towards Zhongli before turning her wine-red eyes to Paul and saying, "With your consent, I would like to confer with Lady Zhongli. I feel I am lacking too much context and do not wish to offend you further."

Confused by Ningguang's words, Paul parroted, "Offend me...?" before promptly shaking his head and saying, "You're mistaken. I'm just a little shaken by your sudden appearance. As for my opinion on marriage...I'm not entirely sure what you mean?"

Though he had an idea, Xinyan's behavior left Paul unwilling to jump to conclusions. Trying to figure out women was like trying to solve a Rubix Cube without colored vision. You could eventually work it out, but it took a combination of luck, perseverance, and, more often than not, external assistance.

"I see..."

Adopting her characteristic cross-armed stance, Ningguang brought the back of her left index finger to her lips, a pensive expression on her face as she considered the simplest way to explain things. When she believed she had, a faint smile developed across her face as she said, "Simply put, I wish to become the Lady of House Notos. According to the knowledge I have received, the Lady and Chamberlain of the House are the ones who manage the affairs of the Estate. While I am fairly confident I could work something out if granted autonomy, a union with you would save decades of effort."

Seeing Paul's helplessly dumbfounded expression, Ningguang couldn't help squinting her eyes as the smile on her face became marginally more prominent. She was half tempted to reach forward and caress Paul's chin. Instead, she placed her hand over her chest and said, "To put it another way, I desire everything you possess...in exchange, I offer you my heart, not just my body..."

With Ningguang confirming his suspicions, Paul momentarily deflated. If the mature form of Ningguang had asked him such a question, he might not have hesitated in the slightest. However, because she and everyone currently resembled children, Paul couldn't help feeling a combination of exasperation and anger...

Feeling something 'snap' within his mind, Paul's expression morphed into an angry yet resolute expression as he threw up his hands and said, "You know what? Fuck it. You want to get married? Sure, why not? I genuinely don't care at this point."

"Paul...?"

Worried that Paul may have 'broken', Jean tentatively approached with a concerned expression on her face. The anger in Paul's briefly waned, but only for a brief moment before he furrowed his brows and asked, "What? Did you want to get married as well?"

Instead of immediately responding to Paul's words, Jean sat down next to him, a deeply concerned look on her face as she gently grasped his hand and whispered, "It's going to be okay..."

"..."

Averting his eyes from Jean's, a profound wave of guilt washed over Paul. Unfortunately, while it caused his anger to wane, it did little to counteract the frustration that seemed to permeate his entire being. He couldn't help feeling as though the Intersection of Fate and the Gods that governed the boundaries were fucking with him...

Worried that Paul might do something he would regret, Jean suggested, "Maybe we should end things here for today? It's getting late, and we just returned from a long journey. You need to rest..."

Shaking his head, a touch of resolution returned to Paul's face as he said, "No. I need to obtain someone that can heal or at least help take care of my mother. I'm also only seven rolls away from Pity. Each 5-Star summon is a powerful weapon, ally, or Archon. For you and everyone to be able to use your Visions, we need to obtain each of the Seven..."

Before he had finished speaking, Paul began slotting gold coins into the groove above the oversized handprints. Jean still had a worried look on her face, but instead of trying to convince him to rest, she joined him in sacrificing gold to the summoning circle.

Realizing she may be in the way, Ningguang gave Jean a calculative look before stepping out of the summoning circle, kneeling on the other side of Paul, and saying, "Pardon me..." as she grabbed a stack of gold coins and began feeding them into the platform. This caused Paul's brows to furrow, but he was honestly too fed up to care, much less complain. He was tired of being the only one that seemed to give a shit...

With ten Acquaint Fates appearing around the summoning platform, Paul surprised Xinyan by looking back and asking, "Round two?" in a level tone.

"Uh...sure?"

Though it felt incredibly awkward with Jean and Ningguang flanking him, Xinyan made her way over and planted a kiss on Paul's cheek. When she pulled away, even the tips of her ears were glowing a faint shade of red as she forced a smile and asked, rather than saying, "Good luck...?"

Chuckling dryly, Paul placed his palms on the summoning dais and said, "Confirm..." in a calmer than usual tone. He wasn't really feeling it at the moment, but that changed pretty quickly when he saw the meteor gain a vibrant shade of purple.

"Holy shit, Xinyan. You really might be my lucky goddess..."

With Ningguang directing a curious look towards her, an awkward laugh emanated from Xinyan's throat. She had never been good at accepting compliments, so it made her feel all kinds of discombobulated hearing Paul continually referring to her as a goddess.

Observing the meteor split and crash into the summoning platform, Paul's eyes widened as the illusory and very naked figure of Xiangling appeared from within the purple light. Then, before anyone could make sense of the situation, she locked eyes with her far more corporeal counterpart. At that exact moment, her body burst into motes of ruby-red light that sped past Paul and the others before sinking into the original Xiangling's body.

Though she was more than a little surprised by the strange phenomenon, Xiangling's panic dissipated almost immediately as she placed her hand over her heart and said, "I just got a lot stronger...I can feel it..."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Zhongli explained, "That was the Stella Fortuna, the Manifested Essence of a Constellation. Each time you obtain one, your physical parameters, mana capacity, and inherent talents will strengthen by around 15%. Congratulations on being the first to obtain a Constellation, Xiangling."

Feeling a little sheepish, a self-deprecating smile marred Xiangling's face as she rubbed the back of her head and said, "Too bad it wasn't someone with more power...hahaha..."

"Xiangling..."

Worried about her friend and 'senior', Yaoyao gave Xiangling's shoulder a gentle squeeze as she added, "You deserve it..."

Before Xiangling could refute the chestnut-haired girl's words, Paul spoke out, asserting, "Yaoyao's right, Xiangling. You've been working hard since the moment we first met. Now that you've obtained a Constellation, I've no doubt you'll work even harder."

Though she still felt the Constellation was wasted on someone who spent most of the day cooking or lost in their own thoughts, Xiangling managed a sincere smile as she replied, "Thank you, Paul. That means a lot coming from you..."

Raising his brows, Paul was tempted to ask what she meant but quickly decided against it. Instead, he adopted a smile of his own before turning his attention back to the summoning circle and loudly saying, "Right. Let's get on with the next summon." in a marginally more enthused tone.

With the help of Ningguang and Jean, it took less than a minute for Paul to fill each of the hemispherical slots reserved for Fates. Then, without him needing to ask, Xinyan subsequently grabbed his hand and planted a wet kiss on his cheek, saying, "Good luck..." with an awkward smile on her face.

Feeling his own cheeks beginning to tinge, Paul replied with a subdued, "Right..." before placing his hands on the summoning dais and shouting, "Confirm...!" with renewed enthusiasm.

Shifting his gaze skyward, an enthused yet mildly incredulous laugh emanated from Paul's throat as the meteor shifted from blue to purple. When Xinyan witnessed this, even she couldn't quite believe Paul's luck, muttering, "Are you serious...?" to no one in particular.

Hearing Xinyan's utterance, Paul was briefly tempted to respond with a teasing remark. Instead, he followed the meteor until it split into a series of nine blue, one purple, comets. He was curious to see what would come out, never in his wildest dreams expecting it to be another illusory version of Xiangling.

"Seriously...?"

Without responding to Paul's words, the illusory Xiangling zeroed in on her corporeal counterpart before repeating the same actions as her previous incarnation.

Though she felt even more powerful, so much so that she was seized by a sudden and intense urge to move around, Xiangling lowered her head and muttered, "Sorry..." before following it with an even softer, "And thanks..."

Voicing the thought that had just crossed Paul's mind, Xinyan humorously replied, "Are you sure Xiangling isn't your lucky star? There are were like a hundred of us in the Intersection of Fate, yet you've summoned her three times? If that isn't luck, I don't know what is..."

Raising his brows, Paul was tempted to ask for the identities of everyone in the Intersection of Fate but ultimately decided against it. Some things were better off not knowing.

"Right. Let's speed things along a bit. There are a lot of things we need to talk about, and I don't want to be here all night."

Making things much easier for Paul, Jean and Ningguang had already started slotting in gold coins immediately following the second illusory Xiangling's appearance. By the time his interplay with Xiangling and Xinyan had ended, they had already managed to manifest nine Fates.

Instead of thanking the two girls, Paul just smiled awkwardly before turning to face Xinyan. In response, she adopted a smile of her own, but instead of planting a kiss on his cheek, she grabbed the sides of his face and gave him a chaste yet lingering kiss on the lips before pulling away, averting her eyes, and muttering, "For extra luck..."

"..."

Without saying anything, Paul mechanically shifted his attention to the stone dais before placing his palms against its surface and muttering, "Confirm..."

Leaving Paul even more muddleheaded, the meteor in the sky shifted from blue to purple for the fourth consecutive time in a row. He didn't know what the actual odds of this were, but it wasn't an exaggeration to say he had been abnormally fortunate since Xinyan started kissing him...

Breaking Paul from his reverie, the purple comet impacted the center of the platform before dissipating to reveal an adorable girl with pink hair, teardrop eyebrows, and luminous aquamarine eyes. However, her most notable features were undoubtedly her calico-like tail and ears.

"Diona...?"

Hearing Paul say her name, a fretful expression developed across Diona's face as she asked, "Are you the person who's supposed to be my Master? But you're just a little kid..."

Furrowing his brows, Paul was about to point out the fact that Diona was much younger than him, but she beat him to the punch, exhaling a sigh as she touched her fingers to her large forehead and muttered, "Whatever...I just need to do my job, and you'll help restore our world, right? Just don't go getting handsy if you get drunk. It's one thing if your sober, but I hate, hate, hate people who treat alcohol as if it gives them a license to act like perverted idiots!"

Though he was a little annoyed by Diona's insinuation, Paul did his best not to let it bother him. Even Diona's original self was only around 12-13 years old, so he wasn't going to let her fluster him. Instead, he adopted what he hoped to be a friendly smile as he replied, "Sure thing." before gesturing toward Xiangling and Yaoyo, adding, "Mind waiting over there for a bit? We're in the middle of performing a mass summoning."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Diona briefly exchanged glances with Jean before 'prancing' over to Xiangling and Yaoyao. She had a lot more bounce to her step than the average person; a point made all the clearer by her long and surprisingly thick cat tail. It curled upwards in a snaking manner, but it bobbed each time she took a springy step forward.

"Where are you looking...?"

Tilting her head to obscure Paul's vision, Xinyan had a curious and slightly 'threatening' look on her face. In response, Paul lightly furrowed his brows before plainly stating, "I was just staring at her tail. It's different from the Beast People in this world, so I was worried she might stand out. Why...?"

Raising her brows, Xinyan adopted her characteristically playful smile as she asked, "Remember what I said about taking everything seriously? If it wasn't obvious, I was messing with you. Man, you really are helpless, you know that...?"

Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Paul resisted the almost overwhelming urge to tell Xinyan to fuck off. Instead, he tiredly replied, "There is a time and a place for everything..." before shaking his head and adding, "Forget it. I'm just a little stressed out."

Seemingly empathizing with Paul's words, Xinyan gave him a support pat on the back. Paul smiled in response to this, but it quickly cramped when Xinyan suddenly asked, "Want another kiss? Or maybe a hug...?"

Exhaling a sigh, Paul hung his head for a moment. Xinyan immediately felt regret upon seeing this, but before she could find the words to apologize, Paul surprised her by answering, "A hug would be nice..."

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