Bab 11: Chapter 11 Eula's Depression (Part 2)
That night, Eula sat alone in a corner of the Cat's Tail Tavern, quietly sipping wine.
Her fair cheeks were flushed from the drink, and her eyes were a bit blurry—she was clearly half-drunk.
As she stared at the transparent dandelion wine in her glass, Eula found herself lost in memories.
When she was a child, Eula's father had kept her confined at home. To pass the time, she began reading novels.
She was captivated by the tales of fair, selfless, kind, and righteous knights, and it inspired her to become a knight herself. So, despite the strict aristocratic etiquette her father enforced, Eula gritted her teeth and endured, hoping to become the elegant and powerful knight she had read about.
After years of aristocratic training, it was finally time for Eula to learn swordsmanship.
Her father hired a retired Knight of Favonius to teach her. This knight had been the captain of the reconnaissance team but retired due to age. Under his guidance, Eula developed survival skills and her swordsmanship improved significantly.
But the old knight taught her more than just combat skills. He instilled in her a belief in eliminating bullying and promoting fairness. Eula's admiration for the Knights of Favonius grew.
At the age of eight, Eula, now confident from her training, told her father of her dream.
"I want to join the Knights of Favonius and protect the civilians and freedom of Mondstadt!"
As expected, her father was furious. He expelled the old knight and gave Eula a severe reprimand. Their relationship soured from that point on.
If I hadn't heard about Tsumugi, I might have cut ties with my father long ago, Eula thought.
At that time, Eula learned of a new genius from the Lawrence branch—Tsumugi Lawrence.
Despite her disdain for the noble honors her father prized, Eula was deeply proud. The notion that someone could match her talent was hard to accept.
What a joke! To survive my father's harsh training, I endured so much hardship. How could I be outdone?
So Eula began to investigate Tsumugi. She discovered that Tsumugi was not only skilled in etiquette and swordsmanship but also well-behaved and highly admired. Over time, Tsumugi's popularity began to eclipse Eula's.
When her father learned of this, he increased Eula's training to nearly fourteen hours a day. Apart from basic needs, she had no personal time. Yet, Eula persevered.
Eula was proud. Though she resented the Lawrence family, she took some pride in being called "the genius girl of the Lawrence family." The idea of her status being challenged pushed her to train even harder.
I won't let Tsumugi surpass me, Eula resolved.
A year later, at a banquet, Eula met Tsumugi for the first time. A deep sense of loss overwhelmed her.
Eula had always looked down on the Lawrence family's empty nobility. Though they understood her arrogance, seeing Tsumugi's gentle demeanor made Eula realize the true gap between them.
I will never match her warmth, Eula thought.
When Tsumugi approached and greeted her with a warm smile, Eula felt an impulse to respond. But her pride got the better of her. She merely looked at Tsumugi and left without a word.
In the following days, though Eula never met Tsumugi again, she tried to learn about her from various sources. After hearing that Tsumugi's parents had passed away, Eula suggested to her father that Tsumugi move in with them.
Her intention was to improve their relationship, but as a tsundere, Eula struggled to show kindness directly. Consequently, their relationship grew even more distant.
Eventually, feeling disillusioned with herself, Eula decided to declare her intentions at her coming-of-age ceremony.
"I've decided... I want to join the Knights of Favonius!"
...
These memories faded as Eula drank the last of her wine, paid the bartender, and prepared to leave. She planned to return to her dormitory for a restful sleep to shake off her fatigue.
"Hahahahahaha!"
As she was about to leave the Cat's Tail Tavern, a burst of laughter caught her attention. A group of Knights of Favonius was gathered around a table near the entrance, their conversation clearly enjoyable.
Seeing this, Eula frowned. It wasn't time for the garrison knights to change shifts. These Knights of Favonius were clearly shirking their duties.
Eula approached them, intending to remind them of their responsibilities. As she got closer, she overheard their conversation.
"Hahaha, Kaili, you actually dared to sneak back to Mondstadt. Aren't you supposed to be patrolling the Windrise area this week? Grandmaster Jean might find out and expel you from the Knights."
"Yes, I remember someone died a few years ago because of your negligence." Another Knight of Favonius, with a square face, frowned disapprovingly at Kaili. "It's one thing for patrols in Mondstadt to be lax, but negligence in the wild can lead to monsters attacking civilians."
"Don't worry, don't worry. Nothing will happen," Kaili, clearly drunk, responded with a red face. "The person who died a few years ago was from the Lawrence family. Just because of that, Grandmaster Jean will give me a hero's commendation."
"Hahahaha…" Kaili's comments elicited loud laughter from the group, even from the square-faced knight.
"Whatever, let's keep drinking!"
Kaili raised his glass, but suddenly felt a chill down his spine. The temperature around him dropped several degrees, making him shiver. He turned around to see a girl in knight's attire standing behind him.
Her face was cold, her expression frosty, and her eyes burned with a fierce intensity that seemed to freeze the air around her.
Before Kaili could react, Eula kicked him in the abdomen with a powerful force, sending him crashing to the ground. Before he could recover, Eula lifted him into the air with ease.
"Do you have the guts to say what you just said again?" Eula's voice was icy, and the temperature around her had dropped dramatically, making the atmosphere bitterly cold.
"What do you want to do, you guy?!" Several surrounding Knights of Favonius drew their weapons and surrounded Eula.
Eula scoffed, and the ice elements around her exploded. Ice mist spread out in all directions, freezing everything within a few meters, including the surrounding knights.
Once they were immobilized, Eula turned back to Kaili, still suspended in the air, and demanded, "Do you have the guts to say what you just said again?"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone