By this point, almost everyone was searching for Noelle's whereabouts.
Yet Noelle seemed to have vanished into thin air; no matter who looked, no one could find her.
People could not even find a record of Noelle leaving the City of Mondstadt, and not a single witness had seen her depart.
When Lin Feng took Noelle away, he naturally used spatial teleportation to arrive directly at the Abyss.
Therefore, no eyewitnesses could possibly exist.
The fervor surrounding Noelle's disappearance in the City of Mondstadt continued to escalate, even surpassing the occasional recent sightings of the dragon.
The Knights of Favonius had already issued several clarifying statements and arrested a few individuals spreading rumors.
Yet the incident regarding Noelle only grew more intense, as if some invisible hand were manipulating public opinion in Mondstadt behind the scenes.
Just then, another shocking piece of news suddenly broke out.
As soon as this news dropped, the whole of Mondstadt instantly erupted into chaos.
According to an anonymous citizen of Mondstadt, they had seen Eula entering Noelle's home the day before Noelle went missing.
This citizen stated that they had nothing against Eula or the Lawrence Clan, but were merely describing the scene they had witnessed, with no other intentions whatsoever.
Suddenly, all sorts of conspiracy theories emerged, and people chatted about nothing else after their meals.
Some said that Eula had murdered Noelle.
Others claimed that the Lawrence Clan and the Knights of Favonius had conspired to kill Noelle.
Overnight, Eula became a public enemy in Mondstadt, with everyone crying out for her punishment.
There were also those who said that Eula had gone to Noelle's house together with Amber, but such voices were quickly drowned out by public condemnation.
Who went to Noelle's house with Eula did not matter.
What mattered was that Eula had been to Noelle's house, giving the people of Mondstadt a wonderful reason and excuse to attack her.
Although Eula had previously joined the Knights of Favonius, she had never made any mistakes and instead worked diligently, leaving people with no excuse to berate her.
Now that an excuse had conveniently presented itself, allowing everyone to openly curse Eula, how could the people of Mondstadt let it slip by?
...
Inside Acting Grand Master Jean's office at the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius.
At that moment, Acting Grand Master Jean was supporting her forehead, frowning deeply as she looked over report after report.
Although Acting Grand Master Jean knew that Eula was innocent, at this particular juncture, the Knights did not help Eula clear her name; instead, they remained silent and let the matter ferment.
Precisely because Eula was drawing the fire, the Knights were able to distance themselves from the Noelle incident.
"Noelle, help me find Eula, I have something to tell—"
Acting Grand Master Jean was about to call out to Noelle out of habit to help her with work when she suddenly froze.
Ah, that's right. Noelle was no longer here, driven away by her own hands.
Acting Grand Master Jean sighed softly.
The tip of her pen kept tapping against the desk as she seemed quite conflicted.
On one side was Eula, while on the other was the Knights of Favonius.
Should she abandon Eula to protect the Knights, or let the Knights help Eula bear the abuse?
If the Knights were to help Eula right now, they would inevitably face public distrust and accusation.
Their already declining public credibility would drop even further, potentially threatening the legitimacy of the Knights' governance over Mondstadt.
And in the shadows of Mondstadt, quite a few people were waiting to replace the Knights!
Meanwhile, the main force of the Knights was not even in the City of Mondstadt, having departed on an expedition with the Grand Master.
"Sally, please help me fetch Eula." Acting Grand Master Jean called out the name of the maid on duty that day.
...
Eula had not left the City of Mondstadt for missions recently, but Amber happened to be away from the city at the moment.
This was because many people had suddenly spotted Abyss Mages appearing in the wilds around Mondstadt. However, these Abyss Mages did not actively attack humans; they merely appeared frequently.
Amber had been dispatched to scout these Abyss Mages and could not return to the City of Mondstadt for the time being. At this moment, Amber still did not know that her close friend had been targeted by public opinion in Mondstadt.
Upon learning that Acting Grand Master Jean wanted to see her, Eula hurried straight to Acting Grand Master Jean's office.
"Acting Grand Master Jean, I heard you were looking for me."
A stubborn expression lingered on Eula's face. Recently, the attitude of Mondstadt toward her had suddenly grown worse and worse.
After hesitating for a long time, Acting Grand Master Jean finally spoke.
"Recently, the outside world has been suspecting that you murdered Noelle. Both I and the Knights believe you, but the public pressure outside is very high right now, so I hope you can accept my upcoming decision."
"What decision?" Eula already had a bad premonition.
"I will temporarily relieve you of your position as captain and publicly announce that a thorough investigation of this matter will be conducted.
Later, after the storm blows over, I will announce your innocence to the public."
Acting Grand Master Jean could easily have shifted all the blame onto Eula and punished her for murdering Noelle.
That way, the Knights could completely wash their hands of Noelle's "death" incident and establish an image of fairness, justice, and zero tolerance for evil.
However, doing so did not align with Acting Grand Master Jean's convictions. Yet, she could not ignore the public opinion of Mondstadt's citizens—this was the best solution she could possibly devise.
"I understand. Fine, I'll mark this vengeance down." Leaving those words behind, Eula threw her badge as the captain of the Reconnaissance Company onto Acting Grand Master Jean's desk.
With that, Eula turned and left, her figure appearing somewhat desolate.
Acting Grand Master Jean merely sighed and instructed Kaeya to prepare the announcement.
...
With no work to do, Eula was berated even within the City of Mondstadt, with people pointing fingers at her back wherever she went.
Those people did not even bother to hide their malice, choosing instead to curse her to her face.
Depressed, Eula decided to take a walk outside the city.
Near the Whispering Woods, there was a small stream that eventually emptied into Cider Lake.
Eula followed the stream, intending to head toward Cider Lake.
She kicked pebbles along the ground, walking forward out of boredom.
The occasional chirping of birds drifted from the forest, gradually calming her down a little.
Just then, she noticed a bottle floating on the surface of the stream.
She walked over, and the Cryo Vision on her body emitted a faint glow.
A patch of the stream instantly froze over.
Moving with the grace of a young maiden, Eula brought her feet together, leaped onto the ice, and picked up the bottle, which appeared to be a drift bottle.
Opening the cap, she discovered a letter inside.
Unfolding the letter, she read its contents:
Hello, I am a bored foreigner currently living in the countryside of Mondstadt.
I threw this drift bottle out, hoping that one day someone might find it and become my pen pal.
The letter was very short, but the name written in the sender's field was the Abyss Prince.
A smile touched the corners of Eula's lips when she saw the name in the sender's field.
To think someone would write their pen name as the Abyss Prince.
What kind of abysmal dad joke was this?
Eula did not take it seriously and simply tucked the letter into her pocket.
...
That night, Eula lay in her bed.
Staring up at the ice-blue ceiling, unable to sleep, she suddenly sat up and took out the letter she had picked up during the day.