"What? There are no new commissions for me today?" Aether asked.

"My apologies, Traveler, but this is a rare occurrence. All of the available commissions were already taken by the local adventurers. Please return the next day or so." Katheryne explained.

"Alright."

Aether then turned around, and walked to Noelle who is waiting for him near one of the street vendors.

"So, what kind of commissions are we doing today?"

"Actually, there's none. So, I think we should call it a day off for today."

"I see..."

"Aether!" A voice called out.

Both Aether and Noelle looked at the source, which is coming from a running Thoma.

"Thoma? What is it?"

"Ojou-Sama sent me to give you this."

A letter.

"Dear Traveller. I would like to invite you today for a moon viewing session... Kamisato Ayaka."

"It's from her?" Noelle asked, remembering their first encounter.

"Yeah? And moon viewing? Better than nothing, I guess." Aether scratches the back of his head.

"Will there be any food?" Paimon asked.

"It's a moon viewing session, Paimon. Don't worry, we'll have dinner before that."

Paimon then cheered up. Noelle smiled a little at the both of them.

Later that evening they headed over to the Kamisato Estate, and were about to be let in before the gate guards pointed their spears at Noelle.

"It's the walking dead, Shirogane!"

"What do you want from us this time, murderer!?"

Aether stood in front of Noelle, and shoved the spears away.

"I'm not the commissioner, but if I see you trying to lay a spear on her again, you leave me no choice." Aether told them.

They grit their teeth, wondering how Ayaka is attracted to this blonde traveler.

"It is alright, men! Let them in."

From behind, Ayaka ordered. She walks down from the passageway, and the guards walked back to their posts.

"My apologies for the sudden disturbance. It's just that, some of the Yashiro Commission didn't want to forget about the past."

"It's alright, Ayaka. I mean, this is the first time she's here, right?"

Ayaka smiled in relief, but then that smile disappears as soon as she lays her eyes on Noelle.

The group went inside the estate, and Ayaka tells Aether to go ahead and take a seat on one of the floor cushions at the main room as both her and Noelle walked to the kitchen.

"So, Lady Ayaka... What is it that do you require my assistance of?"

"You are from Mondstadt, aren't you? Aether told me that you're a good cook... Can you cook a dish from your nation for something to enjoy during the moon viewing session?"

"It will be my pleasure. I can bake us some pancakes to go along with the tea for moon viewing."

"Oh, that's lovely. Can you show me how to cook it?"

"Alright. The ingredients are simple, some berries, an egg, and two sacks of flour..."

As soon as Noelle headed over to get the ingredients, Ayaka slowly approaches her from behind with a small smile on her face, her hand gripping the hilt of her tachi, and is about to pull the blade away from the scabbard just as Noelle turned around.

"And that's about it. Let's cook."

"A-alright..."

They cooked the pancakes without incident. Afterwards they brewed tea, which Noelle insists on brewing them herself. Noelle didn't see Ayaka's right eye twitching as soon as the words "insist" came out of her lips.

After everything is ready, they headed out after calling Aether, and sat down on a cliff overlooking the open sea bathed in moonlight and starlight.

"Noelle baked my piece... You can try mine, Aether."

"Oh, thank you, Ayaka."

Meanwhile Noelle is silently eating, not wanting to interrupt their moon viewing.

"It's good, but not as sweet as Noelle's."

"I-I see." Ayaka shook when she heard that. Her hands are now balled into fists on her knees as her eyes rolled over to glance at Noelle.

"Ayaka?"

"It's nothing. Let's have the tea, should we? Noelle brewed them as well."

"Oh, that's nice. You brewed nice tea as well, Ayaka. I can still remember the taste."

"It's nothing big, Aether..."

Ayaka tried to look away, but she then looked at the tea Noelle made.

"The tea is kind of thicker than mine, but we can't have a moon viewing session without them..." Ayaka then took a sip, and her eyes pop wide open.

It was even better than hers. In her mind, she concludes why would Aether spend more time with Noelle. That maid is better than her in many aspects, but there is something that the Frostflake Heron has yet to know.

After the pancakes and tea ran out, and Paimon sleeping in her dimension, they went back to the estate to sleep for the night. Aether went into the guest room and instantly fell asleep on the futon. However right before Noelle entered, Ayaka puts her hand on the back of her shoulder.

"We need to talk, Noelle."

"Ah, as you wish, Lady Ayaka."

The both of them went outside again, this time at a secluded place within the gardens of the estate.

"So, what is it that you want to talk about?"

"It's about the Traveler."

"Aether? What is it about?"

"I'm... I think I had something towards him... Like, affection... Love.... If you can mention it like that."

Noelle raised a brow.

"Love?"

"Correct. I just wanted to ask you, in all your travels, have you both spoke often?"

"We did."

"And do you have the same kind of feeling towards him at some point?"

Noelle then recalls the time when Aether told her that the rose has a different meaning back at Windrise where they fell asleep together in the dead of night beneath the great tree. That smile Aether gave her when he said those words touched Noelle's heart. Not just that, it's that the training sessions with him were different as well. Whilst Jean and the others would stop her, Aether wouldn't as he wanted to see her full potential. He only told her to stop when she felt her limits.

"I do. I think we are both the same, Lady Ayaka."

"The same? Us?"

Noelle nodded. She then walked past Ayaka, whose bangs are covering her eyes and a frown is seen on her face.

A few footsteps afterwards, Noelle heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed, and her reflex made her summon Whiteblind, and parried the attack that came from behind her just in time.

The attacker is none other than Ayaka herself.

"What are you trying to do?"

"What you said is true, however..."

Ayaka then fixed her stance, before attacking again with a swing of her tachi, which is parried by Whiteblind's blade.

"I don't accept it!"