Undercover in Snezhnaya, My Teyvat Spy Life [10]

“Eula, what’s wrong?”

“Did that Snezhnayan envoy say something to upset you?”

Once Artem walked away, Jean hurried over to Eula, worry written all over her face.

Even while dealing with foreign merchants just now, she’d noticed Artem and Eula talking. Especially after Artem left, Eula’s expression had suddenly grown tense and troubled.

Jean couldn’t help but wonder if Eula had once again been bullied by that insufferable Snezhnayan envoy.

To this day, no one in Mondstadt really understood one thing—

Why would Jean, heir of the Gunnhildr clan, always stand up for the descendant of Mondstadt’s greatest “sinners,” Eula?

After all, it was the Gunnhildrs who’d been first to answer the Anemo Archon’s call and help overthrow the Lawrence nobility.

By rights, these two families should be lifelong enemies.

Yet reality was stranger than fiction.

Time after time, Jean would speak up for Eula whenever the city gossiped about her, a fact that baffled everyone.

“Jean… that guy just told me a story.”

Eula looked pained, her hand trembling slightly around her wine glass.

“A story?”

“He came over just to tell you a story?”

Jean blinked in surprise, then frowned. “What kind of story did he tell you?”

Eula, troubled, recounted every detail of Artem’s story.

On the surface, it seemed simple enough, and anyone who knew Eula at all could see the “friend” in the tale was her.

Nothing about the middle of the story stood out.

But the ending was something else entirely.

It was a not-so-subtle metaphor for Eula and her relationship with the Lawrence clan.

What was that Snezhnayan envoy trying to say?

That the Lawrences would betray Mondstadt?

That Eula herself would have to turn on her own family and help the Knights crush their plot?

The more Jean thought about the ending, the more sinister Artem seemed.

He was clearly trying to push Eula into severing all ties with her family.

Eula’s bond with the Lawrences was already paper-thin. When she’d first joined the Knights, the Lawrence clan had thrown a public fit, demanding she explain herself. Only Varka’s intervention and the firm support of the rest of the Knights had silenced the protests.

After that, her relationship with her family hit rock bottom.

And now, after hearing Artem’s story, even the last traces of belonging Eula felt for her clan were starting to crumble.

Especially since the story openly implied the Lawrences would conspire with outsiders and commit the ultimate betrayal. Even Jean felt a chill at the idea.

This was clearly an attempt to force Eula to choose exile from her own blood.

But Eula was a Lawrence, bearer of the [Glacial Seal]—the symbol of her family’s strength.

To ask her to cut all ties with her clan, her parents, her siblings… That was a truly cruel demand.

“Too cruel…”

“Are all Snezhnayans so twisted?” Jean muttered, her opinion of Artem dropping even further.

Seeing Eula still lost in thought, Jean tried to comfort her.

But before she could say a word, she noticed Crepus and Diluc suddenly leaving their place of honor and slipping away.

Ever vigilant about her mission, Jean called to Eula: “Forget it for now. Master Crepus and Captain Diluc are on the move—let’s follow them.”

After several calls, Eula finally snapped out of her daze and hurried after Jean.

---

Deep below Dawn Winery, in the underground cellars.

Diluc followed after Crepus, puzzled. “Father, why are we down here?”

Just a moment ago, he’d been laughing and chatting with some Liyue merchants when Crepus summoned him.

No matter how many times Diluc asked, his father kept silent, only telling him to stay close.

At the deepest part of the cellars, Diluc was still turning over his father’s words when he suddenly spotted a masked figure in black.

The instant they entered, the man let out a harsh, mocking laugh.

“Master Crepus, right on time.”

Crepus’s expression didn’t change. He pulled out a box, revealing a pair of gloves. “How did you find out about this?”

“Father, what is that?” Diluc frowned at the strange crimson gem set in the glove. He’d never seen anything like it before—and something about it filled him with dread.

“Let me explain,” the masked man sneered. “Your father received a [Delusion] from the Fatui.”

“Young Captain, did you know your beloved father has been working with the Fatui?”

“A man who devoted his life to joining the Knights of Favonius—secretly colluding with the Fatui? Isn’t that just hilarious?”

He hefted a [Favonius Sword], stepping forward with manic laughter.

Crepus’s face only grew darker, but he didn’t deny it.

“Enough lies.”

Diluc unsheathed his [Favonius Greatsword], elemental energy flaring as he leveled the blade at the intruder.

As one of Mondstadt’s most gifted prodigies, he had plenty of confidence in his own strength.

Then Crepus spoke, voice low but steady.

“Diluc. In a moment, I’ll trap him. Don’t hesitate—kill him immediately.”

“You’ll trap him?”

Diluc stared at his father in disbelief.

Unlike his prodigious son, who’d received the [Vision’s] blessing at ten, Crepus was just an ordinary man, neither gifted nor strong.

He couldn’t imagine how his father intended to “trap” anyone.

As father and son spoke, the masked man’s body sparked with lightning and shot forward like a bolt.

Without a second thought, Diluc stepped between him and Crepus, blocking the attack.

CLANG—

The jarring ring of metal echoed through the closed cellar.

The masked man darted away, trying to circle past Diluc and strike at Crepus from another angle.

Diluc refused to let him through, matching him step for step, swinging his greatsword in sweeping arcs that smashed barrels left and right. Scarlet wine spilled everywhere, pooling on the floor.

“Favonius swordwork…” Diluc muttered, brow furrowed.

But there was no time to dwell on it—the masked man’s mastery of Electro made him almost too fast to follow.

At first, Diluc could just keep up, but soon the masked man’s speed left him scrambling.

Desperate, Diluc finally abandoned caution and flooded his blade with Pyro, no matter the risk of an [Overloaded] reaction with Electro.

Seeing this, the masked man immediately reined in his own elemental power, switching to pure swordplay.

Wary of Diluc’s fire, his attacks became more measured. The fight balanced out again.

But just when Diluc thought he’d gotten the rhythm, the masked man let out a wild laugh.

“Keheheh—”

“Kid, you’re still not there yet.”

Suddenly, he split into six streaks of lightning, attacking Crepus from all directions.

Diluc only managed to scatter two, and when he realized he’d missed the real attacker, he spun around in panic.

“Father, look out!”

CLATTER—

Chains rattled through the air.

In that instant, the ordinary man known as Crepus revealed terrifying power.

The crimson orb on his glove blazed with hellish light. A dark, flaming magic circle formed around his left hand, from which twisted, menacing chains erupted.

In an instant, the masked man—so troublesome just moments before—was bound in midair by those sinister chains.

“What is this power…?” Diluc stood frozen in shock, watching his father unleash something wholly unfamiliar, something that felt utterly foul and unnatural.

This wasn’t elemental energy.

It was something else. Something far more ominous and unclean.

“Diluc—!”

As Diluc struggled to process what he was seeing, Crepus, shaking all over, shouted,

“Kill him! Hurry!”

The masked man’s strength was monstrous—Crepus was already at his limit, barely holding him back.

---

This is a fan translation of 提瓦特之我在至冬做臥底 by 曉風殘月聽荷 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!