"Noelle, where are you going!?" Barbara asked, following her close friend out of the Knights of Favonius headquarters.

"The others are trapped there. Someone has to help."

"And going there alone? I don't know what happened during your course with the Honorary Knight, but going on a one-man mission like this is like that situation on what happened in Dragonspine!"

"Dragonspine is already a thing in the past, Barbara. Now I had to do what I must, or the knights will face a decline."

Amber then appears from behind Barbara, and held her shoulders to stop her.

"Noelle's right, Barbara. All we can do right now is take care of the headquarters until Noelle brings the others back."

"...Alright, alright! Do what you must, but don't you... don't you die on me... OK, Noelle?"

"I won't be, Barbara. I promise."

Noelle then walked over to the plaza where the fountain is, and ran to one of the backalleys of the many townhouses in the city. She closes her eyes, and when she opened them she finds herself in Stormterror's Lair, the place that she originally wanted to go during the Stormterror Crisis. A windstorm is occurring, and Noelle walks over slowly to the southeast part of the ancient ruins, to see the senior knights lying unconscious on the ground. She ran over, and checked on Jean first.

"Grandmaster... Grandmaster! Please get yourself together...!"

Jean slowly opened her eyes, and when she sees Noelle she smiled weakly.

"Ah, it is really you... How I miss you so, Noelle..."

"What happened? Who sent that letter to you when I was still at Inazuma?"

"When we fought her, Albedo said that she is... An artificial human, built to look like you."

"An artificial human? Is this something that the Abyss Order has been doing during my task?"

"I... Guess so. Wait, if you're here where's the Honorary Knight? I thought that you are accompanying him."

"I did. I just wanted to go home and report my progress to you and talk about something."

"Talk? Maybe we can talk about this back in the city..."

"No, Grandmaster... I think it's better to tell you immediately. Remember that tremor that shook from all the way in Inazuma?"

"Yes, indeed I felt it. I got interrupted in my work late at night as a result."

"It was me... My vision, I think it's changing me. It gave me powers more than any other normal vision holders can imagine... It's... It's as if I'm becoming as strong as an archon myself... And that's not the worst part."

"Worst? How can it be worse, Noelle? You're basically like Lady Vennessa--"

"And that is the problem, Grandmaster. If I use that power one more time, then I'll really become like her... Remember the tale, what happened to her in the end...?"

Jean widened her eyes, and shook her head in disbelief.

"No, it can't be... If you use that power one more time... You will leave as well...?"

Noelle nodded.

"There can't be an immortal person that can become even the grandmaster. If that ever happens, I... Will be with him for the rest of time."

"N...Noelle, you don't have to. Remember, it's your biggest dream, wanting to be a knight! Let's go back to the city together, and I'll schedule a ceremony tomorrow! You are promoted!"

Noelle frowns at what Jean said, even if it sounds too good to be true.

"If I return with you and attend that ceremony... What will it cost? I protected the Honorary Knight with my life almost every time... And if he faces an opponent that looks a lot like me, he'll never be able to beat her. Additionally he will mistook that artificial human as me having been corrupted by the Abyss, like the Blood Tainted Knight. I must be there before any misunderstandings can be made."

"I'll send Kaeya... No, Eula there instead! You can go home, Noelle. Think about your home... Think about your friends as well... Barbara, Amber, Bennett, Fischl... all of them! Even us!"

Noelle looked at the unconscious Kaeya and Eula, before looking down to the ground, barely able to take this any longer. Jean then sobbed, as she then uttered out another word.

"This isn't what your mother wanted..."

"Pardon me?"

"Your mother... The Knight that hailed from Inazuma... The Silver Knight... She told me to look after you after she left... She had high expectations for you. She left her new home and back to her own homeland out of vengeance, not wanting you to grow up being parented by a vengeful person like her... I regret not following her wish, and kept on failing you intentionally until now..."

"Intentionally...? So I failed all those tests... Because you failed me intentionally?"

"I'm sorry, Noelle. You just reminded me of her a lot that I don't want the outside of Mondstadt to be your end! I thought that having the Honorary Knight with you will protect you from all the torture of being a continuous servant in Mondstadt and the dangers outside it as well, only to find out that you bested all of them... I don't want to lose someone who has the striking resemblance to the figure that I see as my older sister, ever again. But now this...? Please, Noelle... for Barbatos' sake... Come home, and I'll officially induct you into the knights."

Noelle's bangs covered her eyes, as she processed the whole confession to her mind. She remembers what Aether told her, that she is already a knight in his book. And finally, the words 'home' came to her mind which makes her speak up.

"Home...?"

"Noelle...?"

"Home isn't where I am born, Grandmaster... It's like when I first talked to Sister Rosaria... When I asked her what she thinks of her home in Mondstadt... She said that it's not always her home. That came to me just now... Where was I born? If my mother was from Inazuma, then maybe I was born there, or maybe in Liyue, or wherever else she travelled before she found Mondstadt to be her home."

"You were already there when she first arrived at the city... You can't even talk back then."

And that confirms it. Noelle then went to the other seniors to wake them up from their unconscious states, and told Jean,

"I have made my choice, Grandmaster. Farewell, and may we meet again sometime in the future."