Anastasya has sat through plenty of state banquets but has never been to a ladies’ tea party. That gap drives the fifth weekly quest in Genshin Impact’s Secret Tsarist Assignment, called “A Winter’s Night, Proper Ladies, Tea Party.” The Traveler and Paimon arrange a casual afternoon at Zapolyarny Palace, and the guest list fills the room with Harbingers, palace officials, and two performers who are hiding a secret.
Quick answer: “A Winter’s Night, Proper Ladies, Tea Party” is the week 5 Consultant to the Tsaritsa quest. When it ends, the Secret Tsarist Assignment menu shows Quest Progress 5/6.
Week 5 setup: the Tsaritsa asks about tea parties
The quest opens at Zapolyarny Palace. Anastasya and her Confidential Secretary, Chayka, explain the problem. Every social event the Tsaritsa has attended was an official state banquet, so she has no idea what a relaxed gathering among friends looks like. The Traveler suggests a fix. Invite the Traveler’s own acquaintances, so Anastasya can come as a friend rather than as a ruler.
Paimon suggests limiting the invitations to ladies currently living in Snezhnaya. Chayka takes the list and handles the invitations. The quest then asks you to wait two days before anyone arrives, and the footage moves time forward with the in-game clock. A transition card announces that the guests have arrived one after another.
Tea party guest list and who brings what
Ten parties end up at the table, counting the host and the Traveler with Paimon. Several guests show up under their Fatui titles in the dialogue boxes, so the table below gives both names.
| Guest | Role | Part in the party |
|---|---|---|
| Anastasya | The Tsaritsa | Host at the head of the table |
| Traveler and Paimon | Consultant to the Tsaritsa | Organizers |
| Chayka | Confidential Secretary to the Tsaritsa | Sends invitations, sets the table |
| Arlecchino | The Knave | Serves Chenyu Vale tea |
| Sandrone | Marionette | Brings homemade pastries |
| Columbina | Columbina Hyposelenia | Talks about her new home |
| Vesna | Palace regular | Jokes and gossip |
| Danica | Commander of the Druzhna | Keeps Vesna in line |
| Odette | Fatui trainee and dancer | Greets guests, defuses gossip |
| Vodyanitsa | Korolevskiy Troupe singer | Talks theater with the Tsaritsa |
Before the party begins, there’s a short free-roam section in the palace hall. In this footage, control switches to Odette, who walks between three small groups to say hello. Each conversation sets up one of the tensions that come back at the table.
Sandrone, Columbina, and Arlecchino
The three Harbingers sit together on the couch. They talk about Columbina coming along and clear up some past misunderstandings, and they look forward to seeing the Tsaritsa again in a setting that has nothing to do with work.
Vesna and Danica
Vesna and Danica stand by the fireplace and argue about royal etiquette. Danica points to Vesna’s long history of disrupting banquets. Vesna says she is only curing everyone’s boredom. Their argument sets up the party’s comic beat later on.
Vodyanitsa
Vodyanitsa is the nervous one. She and Odette are both tied to the Rokot, and being in the same room as palace commanders, especially Danica, makes her worry that someone will find out. Odette reassures her, and once the tea is poured Vodyanitsa holds herself together.
What happens at the Tsaritsa’s tea table
After Chayka confirms the desserts are ready, Paimon briefly gets nervous before agreeing to fetch the Tsaritsa. Anastasya takes the head of the banquet table, and the rest of the quest is one long seated conversation.
Paimon is the one who breaks the silence by asking whether there are rules about when everyone can eat. Anastasya tells the guests to eat and drink however they like. That small exchange is the point of the whole quest, since it’s the first time the Tsaritsa gets to skip protocol.
The conversation goes around the table in a few beats.
- Sandrone offers her homemade pastries, and Arlecchino pours tea from Chenyu Vale that came through Fontainian merchants.
- Columbina asks whether she is even allowed to eat. Anastasya says she is an honored guest, not a subject.
- Columbina says she has left the Harbingers behind and now calls Nod-Krai and the Frost Moon home.
- Anastasya knows Vodyanitsa sings with the Korolevskiy Troupe, and Vodyanitsa offers to sing for her in the theater.
- Anastasya asks Odette how she balances Fatui training with ballet, and Arlecchino praises her dancing.
Vesna then takes over. She pesters Odette for theater gossip and makes a pun about Sumeru being a “dessert.” Danica chokes on her tea and scolds her for nearly making her laugh in front of the Tsaritsa. Vesna then starts gossiping about The Rooster and Regrator until Odette steers the conversation somewhere safer. The scene ends with Columbina still eating and Anastasya saying she would like to host more tea parties like this one.
Secret Tsarist Assignment progress after week 5
Secret Tsarist Assignment is Snezhnaya’s reputation-style quest chain, added in version 7.1. The chain is shown in-game as Consultant to the Tsaritsa. Access to the week 5 quest depends on these conditions:
- Archon Quest Chapter VII: Act III, White Night, Like a Dream Upon Waking, is completed.
- The earlier weekly assignments in Part 1 are finished.
- A new quest becomes available with each weekly server reset, the same reset that refreshes weekly bosses.
- The quest starts inside Zapolyarny Palace and does not appear in the quest list menu.
| Week | Assignment | Progress after |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Letter from Zapolyarny Palace | 1/6 |
| 2 | The Tsaritsa’s New Portrait | 2/6 |
| 3 | Court assembly and the Rankova Zorya railway | 3/6 |
| 5 | A Winter’s Night, Proper Ladies, Tea Party | 5/6 |
| 6 | Final Part 1 quest | 6/6 |
You can confirm the tea party counted once the closing dialogue ends. The Secret Tsarist Assignment screen opens with Anastasya’s artwork and the Consultant to the Tsaritsa entry, and Quest Progress reads 5/6. One more weekly quest remains in Part 1, and no specific date for it has been confirmed beyond the weekly reset cycle.
Completing all six Part 1 quests unlocks two furnishings, Pure Intention and A Gift in Celebration. Later parts of the chain unlock a glider, a recipe, a sword skin, and a namecard. For now, the tea party is mostly a character-driven break from the court politics of earlier weeks, and it shows a Tsaritsa who wants to be a guest instead of a ruler.
