Chapter Text
“The Acting Grand Master of Mondstadt, a strict and impeccable woman. Her flawless etiquette knows no fault, even her letters are meticulously written and creased according to the prescribed rules. It is such easily overlooked details that offer a glimpse into the true qualities of one's character.”
«About Jean», Ningguang voice line, friendship level 4.
.-.-.-.
“I think this woman is pulling my leg.”
She crosses out a piece of the answer. Wouldn’t be convenient for her susceptibility to be noticed. International correspondence wins when both parties ignore the subtext (in case they misread it).
She has several stacks of letters on her desk that shake precariously on the heavy wooden desk. There're four open folders at her feet, which she uses to sort missives and retrieve old arguments.
But there's no escaping on technicalities with this recipient. Lisa finds her buried in papers and tearing at her hair.
“Letter from Liyue?” But she doesn't even stop to comfort her. This is already a familiar sight.
“I never know if she's giving me lessons or laughing at me.”
“If she’s as old as it says in the files, maybe both.”
Liyue is an easy neighbour, by comparison. They're so scrupulous they fit perfectly with Jean's modus operandi. A thousand times better than Shneznaya's veiled threats or Sumeru's pompous verbosity.
«If it has passed the Stone Gate» she writes, after a strong cross out. Thanks to Barbatos she always starts her answers on a draft. «It is necessary that the Knights of Favonius take care of it»
Even with the current good relations, the letters she finds hardest to answer come from Liyue.
“This time she praises my folding aptitude.” She presses her hands on the paper, as if to remove any wrinkles. "Is this a way of telling me I'm a slob?"
Jean is anything but a slob.
“I think you're overthinking it. Have you thought that the Tianquan could really be praising you?”
“Why would the Quixin praise me so much? Every letter of the Tianquan's full of commendations. At this rate it has to be sarcasm.”
“You're too distrusting.”
But Jean remembers one joint mission, at the beginning of her exercise, where she screwed up badly and how the Tianquan letter was both a slap and a caress about the whole ordeal. She’s never forgotten that one.
She can picture her, wrinkled like a raisin and complaining to her assistants about the Mondstadt rookie who won't stop giving her trouble. It's an image she can't get out of her head, despite herself, as much as Ningguang's letters are always impeccable.
They’ve never met and Jean tries every day not to give the Quixin a reason to introduce them in person.
I wouldn't make it out of the encounter alive, the Gunnhildr clan is very clear about how to treat your elders: The highest respect. She’d have to shut up and receive sarcasm-laden praise and a lot of condescending advice.
«Mondstadt will take care of all the damages in order to facilitate...» she continues, earnestly, feeling cornered. This time the problem at the border is a tad more complicated than sending a team of adventurers to clean up.
When that happens, the next step is to send the Order to deal with it. If that doesn't work either, that's when they need to coordinate a joint expedition with the Milileth. Liyue doesn't quite like that policy, they prefer to be informed instantly and collaborate from the beginning. But that takes precious time away from Jean that she can't always offer.
And aren't the Knights of Favonius the elite among Teyvat's military elites?
"Better don’t write that," she murmurs, a little amused. She tries very hard every day to run the nation but she's not so alienated from her own inexperience she doesn't see her failures.
In truth, Jean 's only able to see her faults.
Maybe that's why the Tianquan letters bother her so much. How dare a stranger remind her that not only can she do things well, but that she does them habitually?
.-.-.-.
«The contingent prepared will be ten cavalry troops accompanied by another ten from the scouting squadron and... »
Too long. She pushes away the third sheet of the lengthy letter and takes a puff of her pipe. Summer's in full swing and cicadas disturb the peace of a gentle breeze blowing through the windows. There're mornings that call for a bit of tobacco, especially those that come with a letter from Mondstadt.
“If the Tianquan wants to, I’d be delighted to…” Baixiao knows her well enough to stop immediately.
“It'd be very inconsiderate of me not to read the letters of our neighbours”
“But the ten o'clock appointment…” And glances at the tight handwriting Ningguang’s been amusing herself with.
“Still standing” the same as all the others. “I’ll reply to the letter in the evening”
Her secretary isn't happy with the decision but doesn't insist any more. At night she’ll have to reread the four pages of extremely exact data that Jean Gunnhildr has sent. Because she still doesn't understand Ningguang isn't asking for explanations.
And why is she still so formal? I'm not that old!
If her reports don't fail her, Jean is only four years younger. Even if she were to say that Ningguang has been in the position for ten years, there's no reason for the exaggerated scrupulousness with which she always writes to her. Justifying herself continuously.
If I don't have time to read all this to myself, she doesn't have time to write it. But even so, she always leaves more time than usual to answer her letters.
She likes Jean Gunnhildr in a fuzzy way. Despite her eagerness to prove herself, she always goes to the point, is practical, and saves her time by getting discussions to the point in as few words as possible. She imagines Jean as a nervous and small kid (Twenty-seven, they say? In her head she looks like a teenager) and the idea of such a timid person trying to shoulder all those responsibilities on her own awakens a mild tenderness.
«The Knights of Favonius always have the security of both nations in mind and will give priority to issues affecting their borders...»
Ningguang sucks on her pipe and sighs. Already knows that song by heart. Apart from tenderness, it also awakens a lot of frustration. How many times has she reminded Jean not to act on her own? If an elemental as dangerous as Rhodeia is acting up, it's not something she wants to sweep under the rug.
«...with such an excellent lead in charge, which will ensure the success of this endeavour...» she writes, on a separate sheet. She makes notes for after, when she’ll insist on collaborating with Liyue for the investigation. She has to hurry, it’s not the first time the Acting Grand Master writes her a respectful note informing of a situation that has already been solved.
“Let's send a squad too, then,” Uncle Tian replies, from his vantage point atop the Yanshang Teahouse. He listens to Ningguang's reports carefully even though the chess game is in full swing.
For any other issue, he’s a relentless hunting dog. He sent back the Inazuman diplomat with a scolding for pretending to take the trade agreements they signed before the country closed down as expired.
Expired! They still rage back at the Yuheng Pavilion about it.
But Jean Gunnhildr is an exception to the rule, and the interested look Tian gives her reminds her he's not the only one who’s noticed. Why does she hesitate when Mondtsadt has repeatedly ignored agreements and acted on their own?
We’ve all been beginners at some point, says her conscience, down there in the underground floor of her mind. It lives next door to her scruples and tries to ignore them both as much as she can.
It’s not a good idea to attract the attention of her colleagues. She moves in, looking for a leisurely win that doesn't betray her newfound nerves. The Quixin works because they don't give each other work. If Liyue doesn't react to danger in time, Uncle Tian would have to intervene.
That, and not the ridiculous idea that only she should take care of Mondtsadt's rookie, is what makes her spring into action.
.-.-.-.