Interpose

Waking early the following morning, just after 1 AM, the first thing Paul noticed was the top of Ganyu's head. Even without him asking, she had reverted to being his squishy and fragrant hug pillow of her own accord.

Unfortunately, the inevitable had finally happened as Paul's little brother had awoken before him. Ganyu didn't seem to notice or care, but Ei was currently poking at it with a curious look on her face.

"Don't even think about asking if I need help with it..."

Hearing Paul's words, Ei briefly startled before quickly regaining her calm and asking, "Are you sure? Even if this form prevents me from serving you properly, there are other-"

"Ei..."

Cutting Ei off, Paul made a come hither gesture before spreading his arm so that she could nestle against him. When she did, Paul surprised her by asking, "Do you want to kiss...?"

"Eh...?"

Not expecting Paul to make such a request, Ei's mouth and eyes widened as a surprisingly prominent blush spread through her cheeks. If it was for the sake of her duty, she was willing and prepared to provide virtually any service. However, when it came to intimate acts such as kissing or holding hands, she was wholly unprepared...

Taking advantage of Ei's surprisingly adorable stupor, Paul relaxed, closed his eyes, and muttered, "There is an order to everything..." before trying to fall back asleep. This wasn't the first time he had awoken in this particular predicament, so he no longer reacted as if he had done something wrong. It was still pretty embarrassing, but it wasn't like he could will himself not to have morning wood.

Seeing Paul lay back his head and try to sleep, Ei couldn't help feeling as though she had somehow failed him. However, instead of saying anything to try and redeem herself, she exchanged glances with Ganyu. Neither of them actually required sleep, so the two of them had been awake most of the night.

Returning a faint smile, Ganyu demonstrated what Ei should be doing by simply closing her eyes. When Ei saw this, a scant pout developed across her face as she thought Ganyu was ignoring her. Fortunately for the latter, Ei didn't want to disturb her Master, so, after staring at Ganyu for several seconds, the petite Archon just nestled closer to Paul before closing her eyes...

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After waking up at 2-3 AM every morning for the better part of a year, Barbara was up and out her door by 2:28 AM. She immediately made for Paul's room but found the path blocked by her elder sister, Xinyan, and Xiangling.

"Good morning, Barbara. It seems you're the last to arrive."

Though Jean didn't mean anything by her words, Barbara couldn't help furrowing her brows as she asked, "The last to arrive for what? Are we not going to train today...?"

Both surprising and upsetting Barbara, Jean shook her head and said, "We have spent the past 323 days at our Master's side. Unless he approaches us, we should let him enjoy his holiday and spend some time with the rest of our companions."

Believing she knew Paul better than her sister, Barbara asserted, "That is for Master Paul to decide. If we suddenly distance ourselves from him, he might misunderstand and feel hurt. Move out of the way."

Brandishing her wooden, rapier-like sword, Barbara was fully prepared to try and force her way through if Jean attempted to block her path. Before she could, a raspy yet girlish voice startled her, loudly inquiring, "What do you think you're doing!?"

Spinning around, Barbara pointed the tip of her sword at the comparably petite girl with pink hair, cat ears, and a tail standing behind her. Despite this, the girl didn't so much as flinch as she placed her hands on her hips and sternly advised, "This isn't a training hall or a sword dojo. If you want to swing your sword around, do it outside. A lot of people work their butts off to keep this place clean. Don't you go messing it up...!"

"Diona...?"

Feeling a combination of embarrassment and shame, Barbara promptly returned her sword to her hip before bowing apologetically and stating, "Sorry, Diona...I should have been more considerate..."

Crossing her arms, Diona nodded her head and said, "You're right; you should have. Now, what's got the two of you squabbling so early in the morning? Don't you know that people are trying to sleep...?"

"Uh..."

Despite drawing her sword on her moments prior, Barbara looked to Jean for a way out of her present predicament. Her previous actions aside, she wasn't very good at dealing with confrontation.

Restraining a sigh, Jean closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and saying, "We typically wake up around this time to start training with our Master. What about you, Diona? What has you out and about at this hour...?"

Losing much of her bravado, a faint blush developed across Diona's face as she averted her eyes and said, "That's...that's none of your business..."

Unable to resist, Xinyan jokingly remarked, "She probably had to poop."

Reacting like a cat that had its tail stepped on, Diona seemed to forget how early it was as she loudly hissed and shouted, "Your face is made of poop!"

Since racism wasn't really a thing back in Liyue and Mondstadt, Xinyan just raised her brows in response to Diona's words, smiling as she asked, "Did you get it out of your system~?"

"Gnuuuuuuu....!"

Annoyed by Xinyan's remark, Diona stomped her foot on the ground a few times before storming off in the direction of her room. She only made it a few steps, however, before Paul opened his door, poked his head out, and asked, "What's going on out here...?"

As Diona froze in place, Barbara seized the opportunity to slip past Paul and ask, "Did you want to take a rest today, or do you want to continue practicing our swordsmanship...together?"

Noticing Paul was topless despite the frigid temperatures, Barbara's eyes wandered from his face to his torso. He lacked the charm of an older boy, but Paul's body was already showing the tell-tale signs of developing into a veritable palace of muscle.

In an attempt to justify her roving eyes, Barbara asked, "Aren't you cold?" before raising her head to meet Paul's gaze.

Offering a wry smile, Paul replied, "I wasn't. Now that I'm out of bed, it is starting to feel a bit nippy."

Interpreting Paul's words to mean they had woken him up, Barbara hung her head in shame. However, before she could apologize, Paul extended his hand to gently raise her chin, asking, "What's the matter, pipit...?" in a tender, ostensibly concerned tone.

Regaining her smile, Barbara answered, "It's nothing. I just didn't know whether or not we would continue our training. I'm also...well, it's been a long time since I had to sleep alone..."

"Ah..."

Opening his door a bit wider, Paul left everyone in the hallway feeling at a momentary loss for words as he said, "Feel free to come inside and make yourselves at home. As for training...let's talk about that in the afternoon. Right now, I just want to relax and cut loose for a bit."

Though she waited for Paul to finish speaking, Barbara wasted no time before slipping into his room. Besides training and spending time with Paul, she didn't have much else to do. Since that was bound to change in the relatively near future, so she intended to spend as much time together as possible.

Seeing Barbara enter into Paul's room, Xinyan met Jean's gaze and gave a dismissive shrug, saying, "I mean...he did invite us..." before hurrying over. Before entering the room, however, she stood on the tips of her toes and gave Paul a quick peck on the cheek.

Exhaling a sigh, Jean turned to Xiangling to find the petite blunette staring at her with a wry smile on her face. Jean could tell she was about to offer an apology, so, before that, she softly muttered, "It's not like I was trying to force everyone apart..."

Offering a marginally more sincere smile, Xiangling made things a little easier for Jean by grabbing her wrist and whispering, "Let's go together." before promptly pulling her along. This left Diona as the only person left in the hall, her back still turned as she clutched the fabric of her dark blue, three-layered skirt.

Noticing the petite cat girl, Paul tarried for a moment before calling out, "You coming inside...?"

As if liberated from a spell of petrification, Diona turned around and said, "Hmph! I suppose if you're this desperate to have me enter your room, it would be rude of me to refuse."

Scurrying over to the entrance to Paul's room, Diona kept a close on his hands as she slipped past him and into the interior. Paul had tried to pet her without permission the previous day, so she ended up biting his hand. She had been feeling a little guilty since then, so the actual reason for her being up so early was because she wanted to wake him up and apologize before slipping into his bed. After all, she didn't actually mind him petting her; she just didn't like people touching her without asking...

Noticing the 'predatory' look Diona was giving his hand, Paul raised both to make it clear he wasn't going to try and touch her. Diona's tear-shaped brows furrowed in response, but as she would never request someone to pet her, she just poutily skimmed past him with another cute, "Hmph...!"

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Though he had intended to arrive a few days before his son's return to the Estate, Amarant had been delayed for various reasons. Inclimate weather was one, but the other was the red-headed woman seated silently across from him.

"While this was unexpected, you should regard it as an opportunity. My original intent was to source a wet nurse from the neighboring cities. Now that you are pregnant, you will share my wife's burden. In exchange, I will ensure both you and your child are properly cared for..."

Without so much as a single change in her expression, Flute respectfully lowered her head, answering, "I am honored by my Lord's consideration." in a calm, almost emotionless tone. In truth, she wanted to correct him by pointing out it was 'their' child, but such a faux pas could end disastrously for both her and her unborn child.

Exhaling a sigh, Amarant pinched the bridge of his nose as he muttered, "I have told you three times you need not bow to me in private quarters..."

Before Flute could attempt to apologize, Amarant dismissively waved his hand, saying, "No matter." before following it up by asking, "Do you feel ill right this instant...?"

Though she was tempted to lie and say yes, Flute's face began to heat up as she shook her head and softly replied, "No, my Lord...I am presently in good health..."

"Mmm..."

Opening the metal slot that allowed him to peer outside, Amarant did his best to estimate the time remaining until their arrival based on the familiar geography. He hated riding in carriages. Not only was it boring, but due to the rugged terrain, his lower back and bottom ached. Fortunately, he had discovered a 'life hack' several years prior...

Unfastening his belt, Amarant's expression and tone became severe yet impassioned as he said, "Come..."

Exhaling a hot sigh, Flute used the walls of the carriage to keep herself steady as she moved closer and turned her back to Amarant. In response, he hiked up her ankle-length dress to reveal a pair of expensive, cream-colored silk panties. They were something Flute would never be able to acquire under normal circumstances, but Amarant had her wear them as his model for Ningguang's product line.

Seeing the rather large stain on Flute's panties, Amarant offered a gruff but approving, "Excellent..." before pulling at the strings keeping them in place. When Flute's rear was exposed to him, he stopped to knead it for a few moments before opening his trousers to reveal his pride as a member of the Notos Greyrat family.

Feeling a familiar heat pressing against her, Flute's jaw began to tremble as Amarant guided her to sit on his thick, nearly 28cm long penis. The life hack he had discovered was using the bumpy road to passively increase the stimulation he and his partner experienced during intercourse. It was impractical during the Spring and Summer months, but with a thick layer of snow outside, it was an excellent way to stay warm and pass the time...

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