Genshin Impact: A Guide to the Unofficial History of Teyvat — Chapter 59

Chapter 59: This is Her Home!

Days slipped away in a blur of scratching pen nibs and the steady crunch of snacks. Lovia had been entirely consumed by her work lately, doing little else but eating and writing. She had not even bothered to schedule her usual afternoon swims in the sea.

When inspiration struck, it was an unstoppable tide. Once her fingers curled around the pen, prying it away became an impossible task.

The manuscript stack for The Secret History of Wanmin Restaurant: Is Guoba the True God of Cookery?? grew steadily taller on her desk. Beside it lay a chaotic spread of scattered drafts for the highly anticipated sequel to Secret Tales of Feiyun. These pages were filled with scandalous, blurry silhouettes of two familiar figures lingering under the moonlight by a lake, their clothes thoroughly soaked. Lovia wrote with total abandon, lost in her own fictional worlds, until one evening she finally set the pen down. She stretched her stiff back, her gaze sweeping across the dim, drafty interior of her seaside shack.

A sudden thought crystallized in her mind.

It was time to have a real home.

She no longer wanted a temporary rental where a lingering anxiety always whispered that the landlord might suddenly take it back. She wanted a stable little nest that belonged entirely to her. A place she could decorate, renovate, and expand however she pleased without asking for permission.

Once the thought took root, it blossomed rapidly.

Influenced by memories of a previous life, Lovia harbored a deep-seated, almost obsessive desire to own property. No matter how cheap the monthly rent was, a rented house was still someone else’s house. Only when her own name was written in fresh ink on a bright red Property Deed would she truly feel at home.

She had wanted to fix up this dilapidated little shack for a long time, holding back only because it felt like throwing Mora away on another person’s land.

Now, operating under her infamous pen name Li Xin, her income from manuscript fees had stabilized into a very comfortable stream. Combined with the Mora she had hoarded through strict, frugal living, she was by no means wealthy, but buying this remote, abandoned shack outright should not be a problem.

She had lived here long enough to grow attached. It was run-down, yes, but she loved it. She could see the ocean and hear the crashing waves just by pushing open her window. More, the location was secluded enough to perfectly satisfy her need to remain entirely off the grid.

There was no time like the present.

Lovia carefully counted her savings. The heavy clinking of Mora was the most reassuring sound in the world. She had over a hundred thousand saved up in high-denomination coins, neatly stacked and ready to move.

It was definitely enough.

She tucked her heavy money pouch away, pulled her versatile hooded cloak over her head to hide her features, took a deep breath, and marched out to find the landlord.

The landlord lived in the affluent coastal residential area of Liyue Harbor. He was a middle-aged man with a comfortable, well-fed appearance. When Lovia tracked him down, he was sitting leisurely under a sprawling grape trellis in his private courtyard, sipping premium tea.

Hearing Lovia’s intention to buy the rented shack, the man paused, clearly taken aback. He set his teacup down and sized up the tenant standing before him. She was wrapped up tightly in a thick cloak, and her muffled voice sounded very much like a young child’s.

He smacked his lips and leaned forward. “Little girl, you want to buy that place?”

Lovia nodded vigorously, her voice echoing softly from beneath the heavy hood. “Yes. Sir, I am entirely sure I want to buy it.”

She almost blurted out how much she loved the sound of the waves, but a sudden memory of home-buying strategies from her past life stopped her. You never show too much interest before closing a deal. She immediately changed her tune, lowering her voice. “Although it is quite run-down, I really just want a stable place to live. How much Mora would it cost?”

The landlord stroked his chin, his eyes narrowing as he calculated the margins.

That seaside shack was completely dilapidated. The location was terrible for commerce, and thanks to the persistent rumors of it being haunted, no one ever inquired about it. Managing to rent it out to this strange girl had already been a stroke of luck; he never expected someone to actually want to buy the cursed thing. The shack itself was worthless. Only the small plot of land held any minor value.

He finally quoted a price. It was slightly higher than Lovia had estimated, but still comfortably within her budget.

A small wave of relief washed over her, but she refused to agree immediately.

She began her counter-attack. “Sir, look at the state of that house. The roof is completely unstable. It leaked terribly during the last rainstorm. The door hinges are so rusted they shriek every time I open them, and the window frames are completely rotted through. I am going to have to spend a fortune on renovations just to make it livable after I buy it.” She paused, letting her voice drop into a timid whisper. “And… that place… it is a bit strange at night. Sir, could the price perhaps be…”

Lovia listed every flaw she could remember, keeping her tone hesitant but her arguments razor-sharp.

The landlord looked genuinely surprised. He studied the small, cloaked figure for a long moment before finally waving a dismissive hand. “Alright, alright. I can see it has not been easy for a little girl like you living out there. If you are sincere about taking it off my hands, let us go with this amount.”

He quoted a new price, exactly half of his original offer. If he did not sell it now, the rotting wood and cursed land might just sit in his portfolio forever. Selling it cheap was better than nothing, and he would still turn a minor profit on the land value.

Lovia quickly ran the numbers in her head. The price was absolutely perfect. She almost nodded instantly but forced herself to suppress her excitement, pretending to hesitate for a few agonizing seconds before slowly nodding. “…Alright. Thank you, sir.”

The rest of the bureaucratic process went smoother than Lovia could have ever imagined. The landlord was a straightforward businessman, likely just relieved to finally be rid of the haunted property, and he escorted her directly to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to handle the paperwork.

Paying the heavy bags of Mora. Signing the binding contract. Pressing her ink-stained thumbprint onto the parchment. When that thin but weightier-than-gold Property Deed was finally placed into her hands, Lovia felt her fingertips tremble.

The name written elegantly on the deed was Lovia.

This was the very first thing in this vast world that truly, legally belonged to her.

By the time she stepped back outside, the afterglow of the setting sun was dyeing the bustling streets of Liyue Harbor a brilliant, warm gold. In the distance, a flock of seabirds drifted toward the horizon.

She had just spent a massive chunk of her life savings, yet her chest swelled with an unmatched sense of absolute stability and fulfillment.

Lovia gripped the Property Deed tightly, carefully tucking it into the safest inner pocket of her clothes, right against her chest.

From this moment on, that little shack by the sea belonged entirely to her.

She practically skipped the entire way back along the coastal road. Her steps were so light she felt as though she might float away on the evening breeze.

Standing before the shack, Lovia looked at the familiar, slightly mottled wooden door. It looked completely different now.

This was her door. Her house. Her home.

Even the simple act of pushing the door open sent a thrill of excitement down her spine.

“I’m back!” Lovia shouted cheerfully into the empty room, her voice echoing warmly off her very own walls.

She threw off her heavy hooded cloak, her Melusine antennae swaying happily in the air. After bouncing on her toes for a good while, she immediately began pacing the floor, mapping out her grand renovation plans.

‘I can nail some sturdy shelves right here for all my reference books and manuscripts. I will find a carpenter in the city tomorrow to custom-make them. And I need a thicker, softer carpet right by the window. That way I can lie down, soak up the afternoon sun, and listen to the sea while I read.’She looked at the drab, peeling wood.’Maybe I can paint the walls a warmer color. No, I like blue. I will paint them the exact same shade of blue as the fur on my tail! Oh, and I will hang a wooden sign on the front door. I can draw a little Melusine head on it, with big letters saying Do Not Disturb!’She paused, her swaying antennae freezing in place.’Wait. No. That would immediately let everyone know a Melusine lives here. Absolutely not.’

She scrapped the sign idea but continued planning with boundless energy, her heart full of anticipation for the future. Now that she had a space entirely her own, the deep sense of security was incomparable to anything she had ever felt.

She even mapped out the backyard. She could clear a small patch of dirt behind the house to try cultivating some glowing plants from Fontaine. She could also dig a small, hidden cellar specifically to hoard her special snacks, drastically reducing the number of times she had to venture into the crowded city.

After all, beneath the guise of a bestselling author, she was still a socially anxious shut-in at heart.

A beautiful, cozy blueprint unfolded in her mind. Suddenly, the wallet that had been violently emptied by the purchase did not hurt quite so much anymore.

Humming a cheerful Liyue folk tune, Lovia categorized her newly bought snacks into neat piles. Finally, she sat back down at her wooden desk. She looked at the half-finished manuscript for Guoba the God of Cookery, and then at the scandalous inspiration fragments for Xingqiu and Chongyun resting nearby.

A massive surge of inspiration hit her like a tidal wave.

When a writer was in a good mood, even causing trouble—no, even creating high art—was infinitely more motivating.

A stable home, total freedom of creation, and a few harmless pranks on the local elites. This transmigrated life was getting more and more flavorful by the day.

As for the looming threat of the Feiyun Commerce Guild’s second young master eventually figuring out who Li Xin really was?

Well, since the house was already bought and paid for, the cost of running away had just skyrocketed. Besides, she probably—no, definitely—would not be found out anyway.

There was no need to scare herself on such a perfect day.