[He's silent for a minute. He can't disagree, really. His own thought process had plodded along this trajectory before. The nature of freedom was an ever elusive thing for him, difficult to quantify, like feelings of friendship in a contract. It just doesn't work. It's the opposite of his very nature.]

... I accepted that position not for want of power or resources, but for the sake of my people. Liyue had a very lengthy past; most of it was turbulent and untenable, even in brief moments of peace. Gods and abominations allied and attacked each other on a whim. They tore the battlefield apart and killed countless people in the process, heedless and uncaring of the suffering they inflicted to humanity.

Those desperate souls looked to me for protection. Though I was far from the divinity they deserved, I knew that no one else would be able to help them if I faltered. I couldn't disappoint them, and I couldn't let that era of gods and monsters continue unabated.

I walked alongside the people of Liyue for thousands of years. The fondness I felt for them then—for humanity—is not so easily ignored.

[He may be the one who parts the chaos and brings order, but the root of all he has ever done in service of others... is love.]

I was born and raised as a human in this life. It feels so distant now, but you've reminded me that duty to protect would have applied to myself as well.