𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

You didn't know when it started.

…

Okay, maybe you did.

And it probably started when your grandma's house exploded and you had thought Caleb and your grandma died. You were distraught over it, cried for nights, hugging your blankets, unable to process it for several weeks that your loved ones were gone.

It only started getting slightly better till you found out Caleb was alive, along with the little hope that extinguished when he also confirmed your grandma was dead from the explosion.

It didn't help that it felt like… an utter betrayal, like your whole grief process over him was mocked at. But still, you accepted it.

Well, you thought you did.

Maybe it was the constant long trips he was away from home due to his work.

Understandable, being a Colonel is no easy feat.

Sure, sometimes he didn't text you or call you during those weeks long disappearances. And even if you did call him, it would just go straight to voicemail.

Of course, to give him credit, there were times where he texted you and called you up constantly to check on your wellbeing.

And there was even a talk between you and him about this, how it always can't be you, how he wants to stay but he can't and he can't explain why, and how there's always a chance he can't come back.

There wasn't a per se last breaking point. It just slowly built up. From frantic worrying throughout the nights he was gone, to calm acceptance. From the anxiety that gnawed at you, to the calmness that soon followed by. From the countless messages or calls that used to fill the chat box or his call history, to only a few messages every few days or so to check on him.

You felt guilty, for losing your feelings for Caleb when all he had ever done was always try to be there for you and support you.

But, was it enough for you? To you, Caleb was equivalent to a superhero. Someone who was always there for you. Someone who so called worked behind a ‘disguise’. Someone who's always out saving others or seeing his co-workers more than he sees his own lover, someone who's always in danger, someone who could come back from one of his trips as a coffin, no ashes, no body- simply because they couldn't retrieve it from the Deepspace tunnel.

So was it really your fault when your feelings towards him faded away?

Were you… selfish?

...

And Caleb only noticed it too late.

When did he start to notice it?

Maybe it was when your text and call frequency decreased.

Maybe it was the loss of that look in your eyes when you came to fetch him from the airport.

Maybe it was when you stopped greeting him with a hug whenever he came back home.

And maybe… it was when he caught you smiling and laughing at the phone with a blush dusting your cheeks.

He knew. But how could he let you go? He could stay ignorant, as long as you stayed by his side.

Thud.

“Caleb, I know you just got back from work but we need to talk.”

Ah. The dreaded ‘talk’ Caleb had prayed so desperately to never hear come out from your lips.

“Yes, pipsqueak?” Yet, he feigned ignorance.

As long as he remained oblivious, as long as he remained dumb, as long as he stayed in his own little bubble with you next to him.

“Caleb, I know… this is sudden. But… I'm sorry, I want to break up.”

.

.

.

“Sorry, say that again, pipsqueak? Hopefully, I'm hearing this wrong.”

“I want to break up. I'm sorry, I've lost feelings for you.”

.

..

…

Ahahahahahahah

Ahahahahahahahah

Ahahahahahahahahaha

Caleb felt like the world around him was collapsing, a splitting headache, a painful feeling in his stomach, his vision blurring out.

Before he was even conscious of his actions, he already found himself at your feet, holding tightly onto your leg, tears swarming in his eyes as he begged. And begged. Shaking.

Even after everything he has done, couldn't you just turn a blind eye once and maintain the fragility of this relationship?

Couldn't you let him live in a delusion?

Why were you so cruel to him? Couldn't you have let him have this one thing?

He should have just chained you up by his side, never let you be away from him, maybe, just maybe, this could have prevented this situation happening in the first place.

Why? Why couldn't you see his devotion towards you? Why were you treating him like this? Why were you looking at another believing they could provide the same care as he does for you?

Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?

"..."

Ah… But he could never truly resent you, it's you, after all.

And so, he watched you as you walked away, his vision darkening-

As he wished he never woke up again till you were back by his side.

Perhaps, that shall happen. And this time, you shall never leave him.

WillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehimWillneverleavehim- ERROR!

You thought you struck gold when you met Phainon in college.

After all, Phainon fulfilled your requirements for a boyfriend. Rich, handsome and… foolish. Or so you think

Are you a gold digger? Well… is there anything wrong with being one?

You're just taking advantage of a capitalist’s son! After all, one shouldn't have too much money right? If he's not gonna use it all, why not do some charity and spend it on you?

Just a little begging here and there, batting your eyes at him and cuddling with him while gushing about a bag you have your eyes on…

And boom. You have it in your hands the very next day. Phainon holding a bouquet of your favourite flowers in his hands, his cheeks bright red as he bashfully gifts you the bag while he mutters some excuse of seeing it yesterday online for a good discounted price which is why he decided to buy it. After all, you're his wonderful partner who deserves everything in the world, right? As long as you don't leave him

You're not an idiot, what kind of newly released luxury bag would go on sale so fast? But you just act shy- appreciative. Hugging the bag to your chest, blushing cheeks, a soft smile on your face and you press a fast kiss to his cheek before turning away with a look of embarrassment.

And Phainon’s cheeks get redder as he laughs and calls you adorable and cute, clasping your hand in his and swinging it back and forth, exclaiming how he has the most amazing partner in the world.

Did you ever feel an ounce of guilt while you were deceiving Phainon?

Maybe you did eventually. You aren't totally inhumane, after all. In your last year of college, you were starting to feel bored of Phainon, he was… getting annoying. His voice and actions grating your nerves. How is it fair someone this silly-hearted gets to be born in such wealth? In such a privileged position? Living such a light-hearted life?

Is it fair? How is it fair? This world is never fair. Why were you dumped with ı̶̤̳̜͇̳̲͔̪̖̰̞͙̈͒̈́̎̃͆̅͜͝µ̸̛̥̲̣͊̿̎̓̈́̃̋̊͒̍̅͐ͅ°̵̢̩̻̠͈̗̗͙̘͕̺̟͔̤̏̽̉͌̓͋͒̇̀̕̕͝͠͝ϐ̴̢̛̙̝̭̯̥̯͎̦̯̠̮̣͂̊ͅ and ı̸̨̛̦̲̟̲̱̣̠̖̖̮̠̓͊̈͂̎̈́̒̋̃̌̊ͅͅµ̶̦̮̺͍͖̓͒̃̑̇͊̂̚͠Ә̶̡̝̦̥̠̞͙͇͍̮͕̝͑̒̈́͂̍̃̈̄̈ı̴͖̪̦̦̩̳̤̟̉̄̓̔̾̅̓͂̚͝? Struggling to live while someone like him, who did nothing but was just fortunate and lucky enough to be born in the position you desired so bad.

Okay, maybe you were inhumane, you weren't feeling guilty of deceiving him. The only thing you were guilty of is your evergrowing envy and jealousy towards him. And maybe when it came to that, it was time to let him go.

…

Phainon fell in love with you at first sight when he sighted you sitting in the corner of a library, a book in your hands, the sunlight somehow falling perfectly on you, highlighting your features so beautifully to him.

That was the first time he felt like a cupid arrow was shot directly in his heart as he gazed upon you.

Phainon wasn't stupid or naive as you thought, after all, he's the heir to the famous CHRYOS multi-national corporation. He was raised to be someone suitable to be an heir. Thus, he could easily see through your intentions when you guys were introduced at a match-making hosted by one of your friends. Obviously, at first he didn't want to go even though he was getting begged by his friend to go, until he eavesdropped on you- finding out you were going in order to see if you could find any guy to your liking.

Hurriedly, he messaged his friend, letting him know that he wanted to go and that he was going to show up.

Thus, the day came and when he stood in front of you face to face, he felt like he fell in love with you again, and as you shook his hand and smiled at him, asking for his name, it felt like his heart was going to burst out from his chest. And on the spot, he asked you out on a date, eliciting gasps from everyone around. This was probably the fastest they saw someone ask someone out on the dot!

You blinked and laughed, oh you laughed. It felt like music in his ears, a laugh he hoped to hear on the day the wedding bells rang.

On the day of the anticipated date, he eagerly introduced himself to you and the wonderful prospects of himself. And he didn't even feel a sense of disappointment when your eyes lit up hearing about his wealth, after all, if there's even one thing you like about him, he can take advantage of that and c̸̝̠̜̝͇̝̺͓͗̐ḧ̴̫͇̠͇͓̞̘̺̹͉͙̩̙̖̹́͑͋̓͒̈́͌̌̂̕͠á̷̖̭̬͕͚̮̰̦̫̪̻̬͒̍̋͝ī̴̙̮̐̑̄̋͌́̀̚̕n̶̢̹̫̞̫̑̓ hold you down with him.

And just within a few weeks of giving hints and flirting playfully, he confessed to you and you accepted, successfully becoming his partner.

Throughout the 3 years of your relationship in college, he gave in to every one of your whims and demands. It was painfully cute to him, how you think you successfully manipulated him into giving you what you want. When in fact, he was willing to give you everything as long as you stayed by his side.

Contrary to everyone’s thoughts around you (even you), and Phainon's friends trying to convince him to break up with you, only for him to shut them down so fast, as he glared at them. Phainon didn't lose one bit of interest in you or strayed any further away from you, staying eagerly and faithfully by your side.

He foolishly thought, as long as he enables this behaviour of yours, as long as he was the only one who could put up with your whims and demands, as long as he was the only one…

From rejecting his mother's sudden match-making dates without his knowledge, to politely rejecting people of similar or equal social classes expressing interest in him, and he even brought you along shamelessly to VIPs exclusive business banquets.

He never once entertained a stray thought that led to anything being away from you.

You could never find someone else.

…

Unfortunately, for once in his life, he was wrong.

Ah, the love of his life will always surpass his expectations.

You sat in a secluded corner of a cafe located on campus, donning a baseball camp to hide your facial features as you swung your legs, waiting for Phainon to show up as you scrolled through social media.

Phainon soon appears, a happy expression on his face as he spots you immediately upon entering the café and makes a beeline towards you.

“(Y/N)! Have you ordered your favourite drink yet? Let me pay for it!” He asks as he takes a seat across from you, taking out his phone, ready to transfer money to you.

Your eyebrow twitched in annoyance. These days, you really can't stand him, especially with how easily Phainon now pays for every single little expense, and when you try to refuse or reject, he would get so dejected like a downtrodden puppy that was abandoned.

Whatever, you don't need his money anymore, especially when you sold all the luxury gifts he got for you under an anonymous account on a second-hand marketplace.

You placed a hand on his phone, stopping him from fiddling with his phone any longer. He looks up at you confused and worried. “(Y/N)? Are you okay? What's wrong?”

You smiled, “Phainon, let's have a talk.”

It felt like a pit dropped in his stomach when he heard that sentence. At this point of time, Phainon wished he was stupid, wished he was dumb, wished he couldn't predict what the next sentence that'll come out of your mouth next.

“Let's break up.”

… ... ... ... ...

You take back your words, Phainon wasn't as naive or innocent as you thought. He was never silly-hearted. He was… terrifying. As fitting for a CHRYSOS heir, you thought.

You swung your legs back and forth as you sat on the edge of the king-sized bed. You heard a meow and turned your head to the side to see your beloved pet cat, Khaos, his white fur and blue eyes reminding you of Phainon.

Standing up from the bed, you pick up Khaos, cradling him in your arms as you kiss him on the forehead, cooing at him, “Is my baby hungry?”

He meows in response, as if agreeing with your question. You giggled and made your way down the marble staircase, sitting on the sofa in your pajamas as a lick mat was placed on the floor by a maid. Your cat jumps down from your arms to start eating and you lean against the sofa to look up at the chandelier on the ceiling.

Suddenly, Phainon's handsome face enters your view, donned in a tailored suit with his hair slicked back, as he smiles sweetly and presses two kisses beneath your eyes. “Breakfast is ready dear, let's eat together and you can go change and accompany me to work, won't you?”

With that look in his eyes, you knew a refusal was for naught. You beamed in return and nodded, hooking onto his arm as both of you walked to the dining room.

Like how your relationship fell apart back then when Phainon kidnapped and imprisoned you in his apartment after you broke up with him?

You wondered.

This... Marriage. One with a fragile balance, will it perhaps one day fall apart?

Leaving you unable to graduate with a degree, and dependent on him?

And when everytime you try to run or escape, he would immediately find you like some kind of police or military dog within an hour???

Again, you thought, what will happen when you eventually stop dancing to his tune?

In the end, you gave up resisting after being imprisoned for multiple years and numerous failed escape attempts.

Finally, you decided to step up on his stage. To start performing. To start acting. To start... Deceiving once again.

Will he perhaps follow you through death?

“…”

You turned to glance at him, and he immediately caught your eye and tilted his head, quickly smiling with pink dusting his cheeks.

Yea. He definitely would, you almost wanted to scoff at yourself for questioning his… devotion towards you.

Indeed, maybe you were the foolish one in the end after all.

Phainon used to be your sun when the both of you were just little kids running and playing in the park.

But now, he felt like your kryptonite.

…

Phainon was an example of an exemplary kid growing up.

A social butterfly, gifted at his academics and sports, and good-looking to top it all off.

As for you, well, you were just normal. And that would have been fine, that is if you had been placed next to a ‘normal’ kid growing up.

A fortune or a misfortune, you were placed next to Phainon maybe as some sort of cruel joke fate played on you.

You were tired, you’d never hear the end of the comparisons, the lack of praise for your efforts, and your self-esteem and confidence crashing down as you grew older side by side with Phainon. You were tired of Phainon.

At one point, you seemed obsessed with being at Phainon’s side, a desperate attempt to try to reach his heights. But you never did succeed, and so, you stopped and you sank down slowly to where you felt safe, where you felt like you belonged, a place where you could be comfortable in your own skin.

You stopped looking up, and started to look at things from your eye-level.

Phainon was destined for success, as for you? Well, you're destined to be wherever fate guides you. Just not by his side.

And that's okay, because the lines you set between Phainon and you will never be crossed.

…

At school, you always noticed the crowd that surrounded Phainon, it seemed like he was never alone, always with someone smiling and laughing. From kindergarten to middle school till highschool, he seemed popular with everyone; peers and teachers alike.

Although funnily enough, even with so many people around him, he could always spot you in a crowd, his blue eyes flitting over to you, stars forming in his eyes, as a wider smile graces his face, pushing through people to go over to you and grasp your hand in his.

Some people around weren't stupid, they could clearly see Phainon’s feelings towards you, although… they didn't seem reciprocated as you slowly peel his hand off yours, clearly uncomfortable with all the sudden attention on you from Phainon dashing to you like a golden retriever.

Even when you tried to distance yourself from him by rejecting his offers to hang out (it didn't matter as he suddenly appeared in your room over the weekends), tried to make other friends (he also became friends with them and it turned into a group hangout instead with the attention mostly on Phainon due to his extroverted nature), and tried to avoid him at school at all cost (he manages to find you even when you're hiding in an obscure corner).

He was… like a huge cockroach that you couldn't kill or fight off.

And frankly, your exhaustion grew dealing with him.

…

You look left and right, behind, back to the front, behind again.

Alright, you breathe out a sigh of relief, no tuft of white hair in sight. You snuck onto the school rooftop, wanting to get away from Phainon. Eating lunch with him was tiring because at least 5 other people would join the both of you when eating, and you're not that keen to have lunch with Phainon and a bunch of acquaintances you barely know.

You find a nice corner to settle yourself in, leaning against the green wired barricade as you look down to admire the view.

With the sound of nothing but student chatters down below and birds occasionally chirping accompanying you, it truly felt like a moment of peace away from the suffocating presence of Phainon haunting you.

…

“(Y/N), where were you? I couldn't find you during lunch!” The moment you take one step into the classroom, Phainon pounces on you, hugging and lifting you up in the air as he looks up at you, pouting.

Used to his antics, you tap his arm, signalling for him to let you down. You didn't answer his question, making your way to your desk. He follows you behind like a kicked puppy, yearning for a second of attention from you.

“You didn't find a new lunch partner, did you?” Phainon asks jokingly as if he didn't mind you disappearing on him during lunchtime, yet his arms wrap around you tightly, like a baby koala clinging onto its mother.

Once again, you didn't answer his question, swatting his arms off you like he was a fly. A darkened expression on your face as your classmates around looked at you and Phainon, gossiping arise.

“Go back to your class, Phainon.” You simply said. Your patience was wearing thin.

The bell rung just in time, forcing Phainon to trudge back to his class, albeit a little moody.

You heard the whispers about him and you in class, berating you for being so cold and negligent towards him and all you could do was bury your head in your arms, wishing to make your presence fade into nothing.

…

Again, you were on the rooftop. It's been about 2 weeks since you've been here.

Ever since the day you came up here, Phainon has been waiting for you in front of your class as soon as the bell rang, rendering you helpless, unable to avoid him as he dragged you to have lunch with him.

You find a suitable corner to have your lunch in, once again admiring the view from above. Your eyes shine brightly seeing the clouds pass by slowly.

If only this peace could last forever.

So, why couldn't it?

-

You were in your third year. It was the day of your graduation.

Your plan failed in trying to distance yourself from Phainon, despite trying every method to avoid him, only running away to the rooftop every once in a while worked unfortunately.

So today, today was the day you were going to end this friendship with Phainon. After this, you (hopefully) wouldn't see him anymore often as you chose a different college from him, even to the point of studying overseas just to get away from him. You had lied to him about your examination results, saying you were going to some prestigious school in the area, and no doubt Phainon applied to the same school and got accepted. It almost made you feel touched that Phainon thought you could get the same grades as he got.

Unfortunately, that's not how this world works.

Honestly, you think you're a pretty decent person for at least ending the friendship in-person and not over text as you initially planned, after all, you've been ‘friends’ for so long. The least you could do is give him some face.

Nearing the end of the graduation ceremony, you watch as Phainon gets on stage, receiving his awards for his contributions to the school. A sense of relief welling up within you, it looks like you wouldn't have to worry about him much when you'll be overseas.

You turn around and walk out, making your way to the park where you first met Phainon.

As you stand under the shade of the tree, you lean against the trunk and look up at the cloudless blue sky.

You send him a text, saying you would be waiting for him under the tree where you guys first met, emphasizing for him to finish greeting and chatting with everyone before finding you as you had all day.

Regardless, you didn't wait a long time before Phainon appeared out of nowhere, hands on his knees panting, his face red as droplets of sweat dots his forehead.

Yet the moment he saw you, his eyes lit up once again, like he was facing the sun of his very life. It made you slightly uncomfortable. A huge grin paints his face as he eagerly comes over to you to hold your hand to cup his cheek.

You look blankly at his actions, trying to manage your look of uneasiness.

Nevertheless, Phainon, perceptive as ever, glances at you with questioning eyes, “What's wrong? You seem tense…” His voice trails off.

You gently remove his palm from your hand once again, smiling gently. The unease in Phainon grew and he started feeling a pit of dread in his stomach.

“What's- What's wrong? Whatever it is, I can fix it.” He says, his hands going back to clasp both of yours.

“Did you not get into the same college as me? It's okay! Tell me which one you got into, there's still time for applications now. I can just withdraw my acceptance from the other college.” He rambles on, his hands slightly shaking.

This problem, this silence, and the smile and slight relief on your face. (From what? Where?)

He couldn't fix it. He couldn't fix this problem like the others. He instinctively knows.

He stops shaking, feeling you once again remove his hands away from you, positioning his hands back to his side.

“Phainon. Let's end this friendship. I'm tired of being friends with you.”

-

Phainon couldn't ever remember a moment when you weren't by his side. As a kid growing up, he was hopelessly attached to you (as he liked to see it). It may have been hard to notice when you were younger but Phainon always seemed to prioritise you and give you slightly more attention than others around him.

Always trying to scamper to your side like some puppy, holding onto your hands all the time, dragging you around with him everywhere, and picking up hobbies you seem like you would have interest in so you could talk to him more- hang out with him more, play with him more. Whenever he played with other kids, he immediately felt your absence and would quickly run back to your side to sit down next to you and gaze at you as you read the book in your hands. (He was slightly jealous of the book.) He even wakes up early just to go over to your house to make you breakfast and practice his cooking as preparation when he marries you in the future and becomes your husband, and occasionally cleans up your room either when you're asleep or not around for whatever reason; steals some of your trinkets on the side for his collection too but he won't tell you that.

Even when he wasn't always by your side when both of you grew older, he often had fleeting thoughts about you when you weren't around, ‘What were you doing?’, ‘How is your day today?’, ‘Are you doing well today?’

Daydreaming about you was a daily activity for him to do.

He was ridiculously lovesick, attached to your side like glue.

And that,

That was his first mistake.

A consequence he suffered for his head being in the clouds. For the attention he laid upon you, all the things he ever did for you, wasn't enough to keep you by his side.

In the end, what was he without you?

. . .

You woke up, the door to the balcony was open, allowing you to see and hear the ever so familiar sound of birds chirping and the bright blue sky.

The clanking of chains snaps you out from your daze, it echoes cruelly in your ear.

“Darling! I bought you breakfast!”

A bittersweet love. The ambivalence of your feelings towards him and maybe so to the others.

That's what Caleb realised after a year by your side.

Sure, he couldn't feel you, he couldn't touch you, and he certainly could not hear you unless you sang a birthday song to him through the game's microphone. (He learned to read your lips when he sees you talk.)

But, he certainly could see you, gaze upon your features and adore you to bits and pieces, and at the same time, he wished desperately to feel your warmth.

He also wished that sometimes you wouldn't look at him with bitterness.

He wasn't your favourite. He was aware you (thankfully) did seem to favour or like him more than the others, by pulling his cards more or always having an expression of yearning and excitement when you play through his event stories.

And he was so, so incredibly grateful for that.

Nevertheless, you never set your home screen to always be him but everyone, played kitty cards with everyone, played the claw machine with everyone, took pictures with everyone, and used the ‘remind me’ feature with everyone.

He always felt bitter whenever he wasn't picked by the game's system to be on your home screen for the day. He always felt bitter when he saw you pick others instead of just picking him. He always felt bitter when you chose to take photos with others instead of him for the ‘weekly tasks’. He always.. felt bitter when you used the ‘introduce me’ feature with everyone and show it to your friends and family for fun and giggles.

Why? Why wasn't it just him?

A green monster clawed within, from his heart, to his lungs, to his stomach, to his intestines.

He wished desperately sometimes he could get rid of the others, but alas he can't touch them. Not even in the main storyline. He was aware of them, as they were with him. And they probably love you as much as he does.

It was really only luck that he could have your favour. Simply because, he reminded you of another fictional man that you admired, you loved, you adored, you squealed to pieces everytime you saw him. He saw how you always stuck solely to him, how he was always on your home screen, how you only pulled his cards, how you always prioritise his cards over others, how you only used the game features with only him, how you only bought outfits for him, how your room is filled with things that reminds you of him, how you have accessories, clothes and bags that are of him.

He could see. He could never compare to that man. Sometimes when you open the game, you would always have a look of annoyance and disdain in your eyes as you sped through the tasks to fulfill the game's daily tasks and leave as fast as the wind blowing by. He didn't understand why. You never looked at any of the other guys on your phone like that. So why him? Why couldn't he gain your minuscule affection as well? He wished he could find out. Maybe he can fix it, if he fixes it, maybe he can always see a pure-hearted fondness and love in your eyes when you open the game, not one with a hint of boredom or disdain, or any negative emotion he sometimes sees in your eyes.

But, even as he saw all that, he always wished desperately you would never quit the game. Because being abandoned by you would be far worse than anything else. It would leave him crippled, it would leave him spiralling down in despair, it would leave him being unable to breathe. You were like air to him, the very thing he breathes.

If he could be the substitute of the man you love, he would gladly do it as long as he could. As long as he can, until he dies, until he morphs into that man himself, until his entire identity is gone and he himself has adopted that man's identity to gain your love and affection.

One day, one day, he'll cross over to that game, kill that man and take over his identity.

So he can feel your gaze upon him full of love and desire.

It doesn't matter if he won't be himself.

Because in the end, your love is all he needs.

Raiden: Slashes the orange with her katana, accidentally cutting through the floor, you had to call a carpenter that day.

Kaveh: puts away his paper and pens, and is quite enthusiastic about peeling the orange because he likes the feeling of you depending on him even for menial tasks.

Alhaitham: would NOT be willing to put down the book in his hands, would NOT peel, questions your physical abilities and intellect.

Tighnari: Stops writing notes on his little poisonous plants and gives you the side eye but still peels and tries to ask if anything is wrong.

Cyno: deadpanned look, no emotion presented. But he takes the orange and starts peeling it, and makes jokes at the same time, and you're not one to miss out laughing in glee just to see his expression brighten up.

Zhongli: He widens his eyes a bit, this is the first time anyone has asked him to peel an orange. He was one of the strongest archons after all, who would dare to delegate or ask him of such a menial task? With inquiring eyes, he takes off his gloves to take the orange and would smile while peeling it, hands you back the orange, and proceeds to ask, “Is anything up, my dear?”

Childe: Eager, like a puppy. “Why of course comrade!!” Enthusiastically peels for you and feeds you as well, definitely does, “Here comes the airplane! Aaaaaaaa.” And you just stared at him.

Neuvillette: He would be confused but he has the spirit and would try to peel the orange for you! Has never peeled an orange before and it ends up looking messy and he gets embarrassed and starts practicing peeling oranges just in case…

Wriothesley: Confusion turns to amusement because he knows something is definitely up, but peels the orange for you anyway, ruffles up your hair and tries to interrogate you playfully.

Ayato: Tries to peel, fails miserably, orange looks mangled, he throws it away and orders Thoma to bring in freshly peeled ones. At least you tried, Ayato.

Ayaka: Like Ayato, has NO experience whatsoever, but at least she peeled better than his sorry ass. Blushes and feels cute afterwards though doing such a domestic(??) activity.

Thoma: More than happy to assist you! He peels the orange and even arranges it into a flower on a plate so it looks all pretty. You felt burdened to eat the pretty orange display, but facing his eager sparkling eyes, you quickly chomp everything down.

Pantalone: No. Time is money. And capitalism conquers all. Calls in a fatui agent to bring freshly peeled expensive oranges.

Dottore: He takes the orange and you widen your eyes in disbelief, has your efforts finally reformed him?? Has he changed? Has someone possess- BOOM! No, he tried using one of his tools to peel the orange, and the juice accidentally got into it and it exploded. Now you and Dottore are covered in black soot and your hair is sticking out all over the place! At least for the first time, both of you are wearing couple matching outfits <3

Capitano: You decided to disturb him during his sparring session with his soldiers, but he didn't mind. Abiding by your simple request and silently takes the orange from you to peel it oh so gently, before placing the nicely peeled orange in your palms.

Scaramouche/Wanderer: Denial is a river in Egypt, gives you the stink eye, you stare at him longer, he sighs and gives in. He holds out his hand and looks away, all flustered. Hands you back some shitty peeled oranges. He tried his best, you like it and you gave him a kiss on the cheek as a reward.

Kazuha: ✨ Why of course, my muse ✨ peels the orange and even offers to feed you, proceeds to write a poem on him feeding you oranges, reads it aloud and you start to feel regret for your actions.

Dainsleif: he's confused, why are YOU asking him to peel an orange for you? Are you having some kind of pain that's hindering you from peeling an orange? He peels it anyway, not before checking the condition of your hand mobility.

Diluc: He was busy doing paperwork, but he nods, takes off his glasses, gestures for you to come closer, takes the orange from you, peels it and passes it back to you. You lounge in his office after that, peeling oranges for you to feed him.

Kaeya: “Why, if you want my attention, just say so!* ✨ peels the orange gracefully that you suspect he was a swan with how much elegance he was giving off doing such an activity. He proceeds to have you sit down on his lap and hand feeds you afterwards.

Itto: AH↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA↗️HA↘️HA!Asking him? The bevelont oh so amazing Arataki ITTO! Glad to be of service. Peels the orange a bit too enthusiastically, the orange peels flies everywhere, eats HALF of your orange TOO dawg 😭😭

Xianyun: peels it once and she builds a machine afterwards, named the orange peelinator to help you peel for your future oranges.

Lyney: takes your orange, peels it, only to play party tricks with the orange by making it disappear, or teasing you with it like a Turkish vendor selling ice cream. Safe to say, you lunged at him like a rabid dog.

Lynette: Was snacking on something, turns to look at you and quickly takes the orange to peel it and hand it back to you so she can resume eating.

Freminet: looks honoured to peel an orange for you 😭 carefully and delicately peels it and even takes a slice to try to feed his penguin, Pers.

Baizhu: *cough* *cough* Changsha gives you the death stare. Asking a feeble doctor to peel an orange for you? Don't you have hands? Baizhu quickly pats her head down to shut her down, wipes his hands and takes the orange from you to peel it. You felt guilty afterwards and appeared later in the afternoon with a plate of sliced fruits good for his health.

Albedo: He peeled the orange in the midst of conducting an experiment and your peeled orange got cross contamination so you sadly turned into a mint green plant for the rest of the day. Albedo put you in a little pot and watered you. Thankfully you turned back.

Arlecchino: She's a father and has masterful orange peeling skills, you blink and suddenly the oranges are all peeled and sliced in your hands.

Chasca: Gives up and proceeds to blast the orange into pieces with her gun without a second thought, only to realise what she has done, apologises, and takes you to a fruit vendor, bargains and you end up with a basket of oranges at a cheap price.

Chiori: Huh?? Peel oranges for you??? Don't you have hands… Fine, give it here. Peels it nicely and gives it back.

Citali: No, she's too busy indulging in her light novels. YOU'LL have to feed her instead lest she goes hungry from binge-reading. You also found out beer and oranges were an interesting taste combo.

Clorinde: With a serious expression, she peels it seriously and hands the peeled orange to you with a serious… proud look. You praised her and you could see a sparkle lit up in her eye. She now takes the fruits in your hands to peel them for you even if you don't ask for it.

Dehya: Laughs boisterously and peels it for you, takes some for herself and feeds you them as well. Note mentally to buy oranges for you to eat in the future.

Emilie: Peels the orange with a gentle smile, you got it back but your oranges taste… somewhat alcoholic somehow… like she was handling her perfumes…

Eula: She crosses her arms and hmphs at first, wondering why you couldn't accomplish a simple task, but the moment she saw a downtrodden look on your face. She immediately becomes flustered, takes the orange and hurriedly peels it, feeds and failingly coaxes you. She always peels your fruits afterwards without question now.

Furina: Reluctant to do it, but she couldn't reject you straight up so she puts up a whole AHHH acting performance on why she doesn't feel like peeling an orange, only to give in and peel it when you bribed to take her out to that latest cafe.

Ganyu: She's sleep-deprived and overworked and you still make her peel an orange? What a monster! Jokes aside, she's more than happy to peel an orange for you sleepingly, even munches on it afterwards, only to realise it, abruptly woke up with an expression of horror and apologies to you for stealing your orange. You reassured her it was totally fine and dandy but still had to wrestle with her later on to let YOU peel the oranges.

Hu Tao: “Oya?” A blink of confusion but she cheerfully peels it, not minding one bit whatsoever! Steals a slice later when you're not looking and jokingly tries to feed her little ghost.

Jean: Overworked no.2 but she's used to Klee’s antics and requests so honestly, peeling an orange was no trouble to her at all and it gave her a little break from work.

Keqing: Overworked no.3, she gives you a silent stare but doesn't say anything and simply peels it. “I want golden shrimp balls after work.” She requests. You giggled, “Alright, love.”

Kinich: About to have a romantic moment with him only to have Ajaw ruining the moment going, “YOU DARE ASK THE CARETAKER OF THE ALMIGHTY DRAGON LORD PEEL AN ORANGE FOR YOU? SCRAM, YOU PEASANT!” Needless to say, Ajaw was locked away for 3 days.

Kokomi: Overworked no.4, buried under papers, her only solace could honestly have been you coming over to ask her to peel an orange. She simply lounges on you afterwards like a fish after peeling the orange, falling asleep in your lap.

Mavuika: Smiles brightly and peels the orange, reminiscing and talks to you about her family and friends from the past, saying how peeling the orange made her remember how everyone used to come to her for help with menial and small tasks. You simply kept quiet and watched her joyfully.

Mona: Mona, the great Megistus, has simply no time to peel an orange for yo- What? You're offering mora? Why, consider it done! Peels the orange with little hydro tricks. I don't think that's how you're supposed to use your gifted powers for, Mona…

Mualani: Yahoo! Let's eat oranges together, she says. Well, that was what she declared at first. Peels it for you and feeds you a slice, her eyes sparkle and she asks you where you got such a wonderful tasty orange from! You name the Vendor and she immediately rushes over to buy out their whole stock to share it with the rest of the clan. Well, it looks like you secured the bright future of a vendor.

Navia: Plans a whole orange themed tea party with her friends instead. Sipping orange juice in a teacup, eating orange flavoured and coloured desserts, on the orange patterned napkin, under the orange patterned umbrella… “I HAD ENOUGH OF ORANGES!” Furina flips out.

Nilou: You brought oranges during her dance practice, and she was more than happy to peel an orange for you and feed you. She was even happier to see you there, to be honest. Shares the oranges with her colleagues.

Shenhe: Stabs it with a spear and hands you a pierced orange. Well, the spirit is there, the effort is there. It's good enough, you silently thought as you took the orange with a big hole in it.

Venti: “Oh?~ What's this? Some sort of test?” Oh wow, he's sharp. With nothing to hide, you nodded. He laughs and peels an orange for you and feeds you and himself. He proceeds to send a strong gust of wind to an orange tree later in order to knock off all the oranges and eat with you later.

Mika: “Hm? Oh!” Doesn't get it because why are you handing an orange to him?? But you asked if he can peel the orange for you. Gets the job done really fast. No questions asked because it's just easier to not rack his brain to know what or why you did. Peels the orange swiftly, and gives it back to you.

Xiao: Even coaxing with almond tofu didn't work! Only when he saw you sulking, he furrowed his eyebrows, snatches the orange, quickly peels it and hands it back to you. He relaxed once he sees your expression fade into one of glee and satisfaction. “Hmph.”

Xilonen: No 😔 She's busy snoozing away up in her little tree and nothing could wake her or pull her away from her peaceful nap. You signed defeatingly and just rested at the foot of her tree, the orange left forgotten, some bird later snatched it while you were asleep. Screw you, bird.

Yae Miko: Yea no, tough luck. She asks a priest maiden to peel it for you instead, and hands you the orange with a smug expression like she peeled it herself.

Yelan: With how elusive her work was, it was tough to find her during the day, and you could only give up your pursuit. You woke up from a nap later in your shared home, and on the table were some peeled oranges. It seemed like she heard from others you were wandering around looking for her with an orange in your hand.

Yoimiya: Mistaken your intention when you handed the orange without IMMEDIATELY (that was your first mistake) stating your purpose and proceeded to STICK the orange in a firework and launch it into the air. 😭 You weep for your orange but no worries, she apologised and gave you a brand new one!

Bennett: Somehow he tripped and fell while peeling the orange and it landed in a ditch. You tried to give him another orange but when he peeled it, there was suddenly mold in the orange! You gave him another orange and suddenly, a boar knocked into him, chopping the orange out from his hand and scampering away on its four little feet. Well, you fed an embarrassed Bennett a sliced orange, it's alright really. He did and tried his best and that was all it mattered.

Razor: He ate your whole orange in one bite. 👍

Lisa: Honestly, she didn't do it and only took you out to have lunch with her. She didn't wanna get her gloves dirty 😔 She fed you later with a slice of cake and batted her pretty eyes at you so it's all forgiven.

Gaming: “Oh hell yeah!! Let's make orange flavoured char siu!!” “ABSOLUTELY NOT!!” You screamed in horror.

Amber: Uses your orange as a target practice 😭 Your orange perfectly split into pieces when she shot a bullseye so… all’s well that ends well…?

Barbara: Smiles brightly and peels diligently, passing you a normally peeled orange, seeing the bright smile on your face brought a feeling of happiness in her.

Ningguang: Gets a servant to peel it for you instead. And then decides to buy better oranges later on because the orange you got her honestly…doesn't taste that good.. but she won't tell you that.

Beidou: Peels it only to dip the orange into beer and you have a pained expression on your face. Which thought in your brain thought it was a good idea to hand her an orange while she was drinking??

Lan Yan: She doesn't get it at first till you ask her to peel an orange for you. Is this some custom or tradition she doesn't know? Nevertheless, she does it and hands you a nice peeled orange, the slices forming a flower.

Candace: Puts down her shield to peel the orange for you, and gives you a nicely peeled orange! Though she asked if you had any more oranges so she could peel them and hand them out to some of the elderly and kids. You felt a bit jealous but kept it to yourself as you nodded. Her expression was bright as she smiled gently, letting out a small chuckle, “Don't worry dear, I'll cook you a meal just for you later.”

Charlotte: No time to peel! She's busy catching headlines and you have trouble catching up with her. She's always in one place and another. You almost caught up to her in the wild, only for her to get jumpscares by you and freeze your orange with her camera shutter and it fell to the ground. You look at it with frustrated tears in the corner of your eyes and suddenly wail, sending Charlotte into panic as she hurriedly picks up the orange, peels it and tries to feed you while reassuring and apologising to you. “Oh, stop crying! Here, here, I peeled the orange for you!”

Chevresue: Thankfully, Chevresue is a certified food connossieur and doesn't try to shoot your orange with a gun.. (*cough* Chasca *cough*) and peels it like a normal person, taking a few slices to munch on for herself.

Chongyun: A GHOST KEEPS STEALING THE ORANGES BEFORE YOU COULD GIVE IT TO HIM. 😭😭 Do they hold some grudges against Chongyun peeling oranges for you?! In fact, one ghost does. It's just your bad luck you caught the attention of some thief-stealing ghost. Don't worry though, you complained to Chongyun and with the biggest determined expression you've ever seen, he hunted down that ghost (somehow?? Did someone help him?) with gusto and found your hidden oranges! Looks like his yin-yang composition is useful after all!

Xiangling: Takes your orange and whips up a dish for you, and suddenly you're sitting in front of Wangmin restaurant sitting across from Xiangling and several plates of food on the table, including your orange.

Collei: “Peel an orange? Okay!” She takes the oranges to peel it for you and hands it back and gets back to her business.

Faruzan: Blah blah blah, respect your elders! Or something along the line… Her endless nagging ended up with you peeling the oranges instead for her…

Fischl: *long text* “I believe my lady is more than delighted to peel an orange for you.” 🐦‍⬛Thank you, Oz. And you hand her the orange and she peels it elegantly too and arranges it to look like Oz, somewhat.

Gorou: Eagerly ontake the orange peeling duty! He finds it fun and stress-relieving and you guys slowly walk along the beach with multiple peeled oranges in your hands and another orange in his hands getting peeled.

Heizou: He figured out the orange peel theory before you could even open your mouth, laughing as he takes the orange from you to peel it, feeding you a slice and walks away before turning his head to wink at you with an orange slice between his teeth.

Kirara: It's a lucky thing her hands aren't paws or it would have been an awkward moment. But like Charlotte, she's constantly on the run for her deliveries, so you can only wait for her to finish her work to ask her to peel an orange. You sit on the stairs, watching the sunset. Suddenly you hear a mrah, and you turn to see Kirara plopping down to sit next to you, her smile glistening under the sun, “Delivery is all done! One of my customers gave me an orange! Want it?” You look at the orange in her hands, quickly hiding your orange and grinning, “Yea! Can you peel it for me?” “Sure!”

Xingqiu: He gives you a 🙂 and takes the challenge to peel an orange for you. He struggles at first, wondering how to even peel the skin off when it’s so thick. In the end, you had to assist him and teach him how to peel the orange. By the end of it, it's you with an exhausted expression and him with a bright, fulfillingly one as he holds the peeled orange in both of his hands like it's some relic, looking at it with a hint of proudness and joy.

Kuki: Used and tired of Itto's unpredictable behaviour and tactics, without a second glance, she peels the orange at the speed of light before handing it to you. Of course, not before taking a slice of herself, allowing you to see the rare occurrence of her taking off her mask to consume the orange. You stare at her blankly, thankful that your ears were hidden behind your hair as you were sure they were bright red.

Layla: She's too tired and incoherent to peel it for you in the morning, so you have to wait at night and have her other persona energetically peel it for you, and then proceed to conduct a thorough research and history of oranges even though agricultural isn't exactly what she's studying…

Noelle: There's two ways this can do, she peels the oranges like a normal person, or uses her Claymore to perform some archon-defying action and thinly slices the orange into pieces with her blunt blade. And guess which way it went? That's right!! The second way!! She wanted to impress and show off to you, and now you're left in disbelief. 😪

Rosaria: Peel an orange? Can't you peel it yourself? You have two functioning hands. Needless to say, she doesn't peel the orange for you because she thinks you're fully capable of doing it yourself, RIP.

Ororon: Boy is so happy to peel oranges for you, he even steals the seeds of the oranges so he can plant them in his backyard and grow oranges for you to eat like his other vegetables. Looks like you have a farmer boyfriend for life.

Kujou Sara: Gives you that stern look and she almost scares you till too remember it's her default expression. She's just wondering why you turned up at your workplace with an orange in your hands. You asked if she could peel an orange for you, and she gives you a strange look and signals the guards to look away before taking the orange and slowly peeling it, her eyebrows furrowing. She struggles a bit but manages to give you back a successful peeled orange!

Sethos: Raises an eyebrow at your request and stares at you while peeling it waiting for you to tell him your intentions. Pressured under his stare, you spilled it out and he looks at you with an expression of disbelief, sighs and gives you the orange all peeled. “There you go, come to me if you want any other fruits peeled for my proof of love for you.”

Sucrose: Disappears with your orange and appears magically with now modified orange that's more sweet and less sour. You silently peel it yourself to eat it because really, she did allat… You couldn't let her peel it. You also fed her the orange and her ears fluttered(?) a bit up and down, as she cupped her cheeks happily.

Xinyan: “Peeling an orange? Sure!” No questions asked person and peels an orange for you, albeit a little unneat but it's the thought that counts! You happily eat the orange.

Yanfei: You scared her while she was reading a client's case and she shot a flame beam at your orange, disintegrating it. You look at the ashes in your hands and you look up to see her guilty expression. “It's my fault, don’t worry about it.” It really is on you for deciding to walk up to her from behind quietly. “Sorry, I'll buy you a whole crate of oranges on the way home.” You laugh, “Alright, I'll accept your offer. Just peel some oranges for me, okay?” Yanfei nodded, albeit confused at such a request but you didn't elaborate.

Yun Jin: You waited patiently for Yun Jin to finish her opera performance, swinging your legs, you hummed along with Yun Jin’s performance. You finally near the applause from the audience and you excitedly hop off your chair. Yun Jin enters backstage, a smile appearing on her face as she spots you. She walks over to you, “Thanks for waiting for me!” You were about to assure her it was no trouble at all, before you remembered the orange. “Yun Jin!” You call her name. She tilts her name in response. You hold up the orange in your hand, “Peel an orange for me please?” She blinks and nods, “Okay.” She takes the orange in your hands and peels it delicately. “Here you go. Isn't my proof of love delicious?” She laughs softly, the sunlight embracing her softly.

Indeed, isn't the taste of love delicious?

Zhongli

Your boyfriend composed as usual, as he hums softly, wiping your lips gently with a makeup wipe. "Its alright, dear. We can keep continuing, I really hope you find that stainproof lipstick."

Unbeknownst to you, he already knew which lipstick was your stainproof one. It just... Doesn't seem to be amomg the pile of lipsticks you currently have. But that's okay, isn't it? Keep testing on him and maybe when he feels like it, he'll sneak back the stainproof lipstick on to your desk.

Childe

"It's okay honeybear! It's not boring at all!" Childe replies happily despite the countless of lipstick marks all over his face. In fact, he seems to be on cloud 9 even.

But how could he not? Not when you hold his face so gently in your warm hands as you gently press your lips to his face once again to leave a mark on him.

Unfortunately, it seems like your only stainproof lipstick has gone missing. But that's only something you will find out at the end of your experiment. It's alright though, he'll take you out after this to buy as much stainproof lipsticks after! Proudly with his kiss-marked face of course.

Diluc

Your boyfriend didn't reply, his hands curled up in his lap, frozen as a statue. His face littered with kiss marks, it seems like he was even more red than the marks itself..

"Diluc?" You called out again.

Ah, it seems like he came back from heaven, he fakes a cough as he replies back. "No.. worries, dear. We can take as long as you need to find it."

You found it a few kiss marks later, and you almost saw a trace of reluctance appear on his face as you gently wipe his face clean from your kiss marks.

Kaeya

"Dear, at this point, I'm starting to suspect you threw away your stainproof lipstick and just want an excuse to kiss me countless times!" He declared with a dramatic ounce to his tone.

You flush bright red. He... Did guess right. You wanted to see Kaeya flustered for once so you thought up of this experiment while hiding away your stainproof lipstick away.

Amused, he lifts his thumb to gently rub your lips, the colour slightly coming off. He leans his face closer to yours as he brushes his lips against yours. "My dear, you're so adorable, aren't you?"

A kiss mark left horizontally on your lips, as a flush covers your cheeks.

Alhaitham

He didn't reply back to you, his posture upright and a book held open in one hand as he heavily focused on reading in order to prevent himself from melting into a puddle at your light kisses all over his face.

You furrow your eyebrows, worrying that you're bothering him. "I'm not bothering you, am I? If you like, we can stop." You were about to put down your lipstick but suddenly he puts down his book to give you a stare.

You giggle as you understood that it meant he didn't mind and that you can continue whatever you were doing.

At the end of the day, if you had looked closer, you would have realised his ears were bright red throughout the entire process.

A god.

That's what you were.

No, you weren't an archon, after all, it's not like you claimed any lands or anything. But..

You are a god from the remnants of the Archon War.

And you might ask, why weren't you killed during the Archon war by the other gods?

Well. It's a bit of a funny situation really…

Who knew after completing your 1000 years no sleep challenge (a challenge between you and another god), the day you decided to seal yourself off in your cave for a good hibernation rest (sure, you may not need sleep, but to you, sleep is a celestia sent activity) is the day the war started.

And that puts you in a very awkward position when you wake up to find out that all of your god friends are dead and that the most 7 powerful gods have become ‘Archons’, some other weaker gods decided to cooperate with these gods and become sub-rulers under their lands. And the rest have fled to the Dark Sea and they became known as ‘evil gods’.

When did fleeing consider you to be an ‘evil god’?

On an unrelated note, waking up to ALSO find out your cave has been taken over by some floor lizard isn't exactly a pleasant experience especially when it stank and tried to attack you the moment you stepped in their view.

(You gave them one punch and they toppled over immediately, you considered cutting and cooking them up for a meal but you didn't really feel like scraping off all the rocks on their body so you abandoned the idea.)

Frankly, what are you even supposed to do now??

___

Fast forwarded, you explored the unfamiliar yet familiar land around and discovered a lot of new buildings have popped up (looks a lot better than those scrawny straw houses for sure), some ancient nation appeared and got their ass wiped by Celestia, and some more confusing things you have no clue about. Like apparently this nation called Fontaine has …a court? Legal system?? What even are laws?

And Liyue has something called Mora? A Res-tau-rant? And a phar-ma-cy?

And there's these things called… ‘jobs’ that exist?

Maybe you should go back to sleep? Maybe civilization will regress and they'll go back to customs that you're familiar with?

…

Yea maybe not, you don't miss sleep that much. Give it maybe 500 years and you'll start considering going back to hibernation.

You sighed and kicked back your feet to sit up on the ground. Damn… How the heck do you earn mora? Why can't it be simple like spontaneously offering someone protection services so you can get some food?

You were hungry…

Although as a god, you don't need to eat and sleep as they're human life necessities doesn't mean you don't want to participate in them. In fact, you were probably one of the few gods that actively participated in sleeping, eating and many human activities in the past.

That caused you to be looked down on by some other gods, but it's not like having pride would keep you from being bored, would it?

Anyway they're dead now lol

You felt your stomach grumble again and you sighed heavily.

Well no point in sitting here and moaning and groaning. Doing nothing will get you well, nothing after all.

Maybe it's time you start harassing some people and ask them to give you a job.

Like… Ohhh! That group of people over there dress up in some coats and white fur… in this hot weather?? Yikes.

You study them more and quickly spy a lit fire with a grey pot hanging over it.

That! Clearly! Must! Be! Food!

With no hesitation whatsoever, you put one foot forward and dash towards them.

“Hey! Hi! Oh my god, you have food! Can I have some?” You eagerly appear in front of them within a split second and start talking your mouth off, startling all of them.

“Wha! What? No! Back off! Where the heck did you come from? Do you even know who we are?” The young man cries out, some kind of orange-red contraption in his hands.

You tilt your head, “No?”

“...”

“Do you live under a rock?” He asks sincerely.

“Well, I just came out from one. Does that count?” You replied back with the exact same sincerity.

He gives you a raised eyebrow, looking you up and down.

And right on comedic timing, your stomach growls loudly again.

Suddenly, you clasp your hands together, blinking your eyes, your eyelashes fluttering as you give him a pout. “Please?”

“...”

And that's how you got a meal, and a job at this organisation called ‘Fatui’ and currently assigned as a Fatui Guard under the First Harbinger, Il Capitano.

That was a pretty successful first run!

…

“Sorry what? Say it again???”

“You've been assigned to accompany Lord Harbinger Il Capitano on his mission to Natlan.” The Fatui supervisor repeated to you.

Your mind went blank.

“I'm- I'm sorry, may I ask why?”

“He says your fighting skills are commendable and will be useful during the mission.”

Huh???

What fighting skills is he talking about? All you did occasionally was beat up people on your assigned missions but he wasn't even there?

You gave the Fatui Supervisor a strange look.

He gives you back an equal look.

You look at his concave dark circles under his eyes.

“Understood Sir.” You shall offer your grace to this poor, overworked worker here.

“Thank you, the mission briefing will be sent to your room in 2 days. Make sure to read up on it. Bye.” And he quickly power walked away, probably to his bedroom to get some well-needed rest.

…

Natlan was a HOT country. And you were starting to regret your choices on accepting the mission for the sake of that poor gyy. Positively, you were dying under this fur coat and you were practically 10 seconds away from ripping it off you. But you can't, because your boss is just right! There!

You groaned silently, how long more do you have to walk under the hot sun? You're going to be a puddle of sweat by the time you reach the destination.

As if someone answered your wishes, you finally reached the location, the Stadium of Sacred Flames, and you almost cried tears of joy.

Immediately, you were tasked to ambush this guy who conveniently ran into the stadium to inform the Archon, Mavuika that the Fatui have arrived.

What a dramatic entrance.

“You two, walk in first.”

What?

??? Aren't you the one that is supposed to walk in first?

Well…Haha. He's your boss, so who are you to question anything!

And so you and another guy walked in with your weapons on-guard.

As you step into the arena, you look up to spot a prominent figure, you observe his appearance, with what seemingly used to be a bodysuit, it became a two black piece with the shirt having a zipper running down the middle, and pants with cutouts. The end of his sleeves were coated in gold colour patterns and spikes running across his shoulders accompanied with ornaments. An elaborate gold choker cuffing his neck. Multiple buckles and a thick gold cuff adorn his wrists along with patterned black gloves, a sun shaped ring on his left thumb and a gold band ring on his middle finger.

As a god, it is rather easy to tell who's an archon with the amount of elemental energy they radiate.

Capitano follows in with a slow walk.

“A force to be reckoned with.”

He pauses in his footsteps, “The secret of the leylines is no secret to me.”

A young man standing behind the Archon summons his weapon, positioning himself into a fighting stance.

“Long have they destined to be ruin.”

This has to be the most number of lines you ever seen Capitano said in the entire duration you've accompanied him.

The Archon stops the young man, stretching out his hand signaling for the man to pass the weapon to him instead.

Confused, the young man passes his claymore over to the Archon.

The Archon grips it in his hand, swings it forward, his hair lights up as if it was caught on fire and shoots up in the sky.

“And since the oath made five centuries ago remains unfulfilled."

He lands on the ground, the ground shaking as if an earthquake has hit, the dust particles and hot air hitting you at full power.

Instantly, your armpits and back become soaked with sweat.

“...”

Capitano continues, “What use is the gnosis in your hands?”

The smoke blows away to reveal Mavuika, the claymore buried in the ground, as he casually pulls it out, “I don't know what you mean,” rotating it as the hilt lands on his shoulder.

“But it sounds like this is more than the Tsaritsa.” Mavuika brings out his sunglasses out of nowhere, rendering you speechless.

‘Where did he even pull that out from? His ass cheeks? His garter belt?’

Capitano continues his long-winded speech, “In times of crisis, someone must pick up the mantle of salvation,” He walks to the side, his boots hitting the floor, “Your plan has reached an impasse.” He turns to face Mavuika, “And now it falls to me to create new “rules” for Natlan.”

“But before the dawn of a new age…” He hauls his coat to the side, “The old must be destroyed.” He reaches his hand out and ice begins to form, it quickly forms into a sword as he swings it and performs a slash.

Mavuika smirks, “I assume that's the end of your speech.” He points the claymore at Capitano, the blade on fire. “Good. People like us…”

His foot pushes against the ground and he launches himself at Capitano, “Let our blades do the talking!”

And they… started fighting.

You let out a sigh and fall to the ground and take a seat, gesturing for your co-worker to join you.

In response, the Fatui agent looks at you with alarm and confusion and urges you to get up. “But-! What if we need to protect Lord Capitano…” He says.

You gave him a look. And pointed towards the loud clanging noises, puff of smokes and rapid increase and decrease in the surrounding temperatures, ‘Do we really need to help?’ You shrug as you look at the two fighting above.

The Fatui agent looks back and forth and gains epiphany, yea, you're right. If Capitano gets his ass beat, his ass and yours would naturally get beaten anyway.

And so, he plops down on the ground next to you.

Acting so casual definitely attracted the attention of the archon's retainers as they became wary and alert at the fact that the Fatui people that were accompanying Capitano were lying in such a lazy position.

One of them was even digging their nose like some kind of hobo… (That was you)

Only after observing the two of you for a few more long seconds and the fact that no movements were made, they both unconsciously lowered their guard and focused on the fight between Mavuika and Capitano instead.

Unbeknownst to you, your little disgusting actions of boredom seemingly caught the eye of Mavuika during the fight out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help the small smile forming on his face as an interest in you sparked within him.

As a battle veteran, he could tell.

You were very much an experienced warrior as well.

But that's a tale you would never share.

...

After the fight, Capitano finally allowed you to wander off and do whatever you wanted.

And there was exactly one thing that you wanted to try out in Natlan before being forced back to Snezhnya.

Hot springs.

Within your knowledge, there was a clan that specialises in Hot Springs, but considering your ‘wanted’ status here. You're pretty darn sure you can't waltz in and go for a dip…

So what should you do exactly?

Well it's quite simple, build a hot spring, of course!

Although your knowledge of hot springs isn't too good… From what you know, digging a hole near a volcano, there sure to be a water vein somewhere that should be classified as a hot spring!

And it should be easy to find a water vein too if you harness your elemental energy to look through under the ground, and after finding the vein, all you have to do is just dig out a big hole, wait for the water to fill in and bada bing bada boom, your very own personal premium exclusive hot spring has been found!

You quickly change out of your work uniform and donned a swimming attire you bought at a tourist shop in Natlan before the fight with Mavuika. Taking a deep breather, you relax your muscles in the warm water and close your eyes. You have plenty of time… it wouldn't hurt to take a nap…

Actually it was an incredibly bad idea to take a nap because the very moment you opened your eyes, you're faced with a pair of striking red eyes with bright yellow-sun shaped forms around his pupils.

You curse yourself internally, have your senses dulled to the point you couldn't tell someone approaches you while you were taking a nap?

He smiles at you, “I didn't expect to see… a criminal here, much less, in the middle of nowhere. Should I capture you?” He asks with amusement, his confidence eradiating from his very being.

You give a polite smile back, “I prefer not if you could. I'm currently off the clock and I do not identify as a Fatui agent at the moment. Please get back to me later during my working hours.” Refusing to budge from the hot spring you created from your very two hands, you decided to just ignore him. What's he going to do? Kill you? If he does try, you wouldn't go down without a fight.

Your response made Mavuika shake with amusement till he burst out into laughter, tears springing up in the corner of his eyes. “Is that so?” He wipes a tear with his finger, he crouches down next to you, “Well, since you're off the clock then I won't apprehend you, I guess.”

You give him a distrustful look, “Really?”

A grin so bright that he practically blinded you with his face, he nodded. “You're not the threat anyway, your boss is. So I have no use in apprehending you, moreso when you're enjoying yourself here very much.”

“...Thank you.” He's a nicer person than you expected to be and reasonable to the boot.

“What's your name?” He asks.

“Y/N.” You answer back.

“Can we spar, Ms Y/N?”

You raise your eyebrow at the odd request, *Spar? What even for? I'm not as strong as Capitano.”

That was a blatant lie.

Mavuika suddenly scares you when you raise your head to see his face so close to yours his sun shaped forms around his pupils glowing. “No, you're stronger. I can feel it.”

“Your delusions are strong, maybe you should go get it checked out.” You declined.

The glow in his eyes dimmed as he raises and looks far into the distance, disappointed.

“Don’t you have things to do?” You ask, trying to change the subject.

“I do, keeping watch over something nearby just as a precaution.” He answers, squatting down to start making ripples in the water.

“...If the wait is still a while, why don't you join me in the hot spring?” You offer, still feeling bad for rejecting him.

“Really?” Luckily his face lights up as you nod. And then of nowhere, he suddenly starts stripping-

“Woah, woah buddy, let me get a towel!” You almost screeched, hurriedly getting up to reach for your bag when Mavuika lets out a boisterous laughter. “HAHAHA! You don't have to worry, I have a pair of swimming shorts underneath my pants!”

You breathe a sigh of relief as you sit back down, as much as you appreciate a striptease… receiving it in a private setting would be much better.

You raise your head only to come eye to chest contact with Mavuika’s… pectoral muscles.

Wow, they're huge. Got some fat in them too…

Finally, reason seem to catch up with you as you blink and hurriedly turn your eyes away.

All for Mavuika to catch every action you made in the process… including the way your eyes widened when they saw his chest.

He almost wanted to burst into laughter again, your actions are quite endearing to him after all.

It doesn't seem like you're loyal to Fatui, so maybe he can bring you over to his side perhaps?

If he just knows what you like… Then it would definitely be in a realm of possibility.

Hence, while you were lost in thought and panicking over the fact that there was actually a very attractive man in front of you, the man himself was figuring out how to bribe you over to his side because he wanted to see you more.

And that concluded the very first meeting between you and Mavuika.

A few months would pass before you try to meet each other again, but that's for a future story to be written.

A dark, cold place. The hearing of rats fills your ears. Your eyes dart around as you spot the rats running around, bathe in the moonlight.

"..."

You look up at the small window in the prison, your body bounded by ropes.

"What a fitting end for a villainess."

Suddenly, you hear footsteps echo and the sound of a creaky old wooden door swinging open.

You raise your head to see your fiance- No, Ex-fiance.

Your eyes curved as you ask in a sickeningly sweet voice, "What has my dear Philip visited me for?"

He gave you a disgusted look, "I'm here to inform you that you have been exiled from these lands and shall be deported tomorrow."

A look of surprise flits over your face. "Wow, that girl still didn't choose to execute me? She really does have a heart of gold…" You send him a look of pity and concern, "Are you sure she can run the Duke estate like this…?" Someone so kind and forgiving wouldn't be suited at all…

Anger marks his features as he unsheathes his sword and points it at you, "HOW DARE YOU! After such compassion she shows you! A little unforgiving wench…"

You scoff, eyes staring defiantly at him. "What are you going to do? Kill me?"

He lifts your chin with the tip of his blade, a cold look passes by in his eyes, "Why…" He utters slowly, "I think I will. Face your death, (Y/N) (L/N). This is the end of your misdeeds today."

And you grin, feeling the cold metal against your throat. As soon as you close your eyes, you feel a sharp pain.

Your body hits the floor and your vision blurs.

Indeed, a fitting end of a villainess.

But it's finally the end of this endless and tasteless boring world.

You close your eyes.

So, thank you. My dear fiance.

♡

Well, it seems like you can't escape the cycle of life after all.

You woke up in another world, and it seems vastly different from your old world.

Isn't that great? It's not so boring anymore.

So, let's see what you can do in this new world now.

ZHONGLI (Your Old Butler -> Childhood Friend)

Surprise, surprise. You never expected to see people from your world to be in this world with you. But that's not really that important.

Same like you, it seems like Zhongli has retained his old appearance from the other world, and his memories too. Oh how, he fell to his knees when he first saw you, in tears and all.

It was a rather awkward situation for both you and his parents. Regardless, it looks like the two of you are stuck together again. (One-sided)

With Zhongli clinging to your side every second, begged his parents to send him to the same schools as you, kept his grades on par with yours in order to continue being by your side, and is actually the more popular one among people.

Back then, due to his looks and mannerisms, whenever you went out while he accompanied you, he used to get approach by noble ladies or men interested in getting him to work for them, or even worse, try to buy him off you. It was an amusing experience to say the least, some of them sighed and thanked you, some tried to threaten you (Though they usually suddenly disappear off the face of earth when that happens?) or some got angry, and tried throwing a public tantrum in which Zhongli just escorted you to your carriage and drove off, leaving them in the dust.

Well, in this life, it's just that those noblewomen or men have been changed to giggling teenagers who have a crush on him, or idol scouts…

In the end, Zhongli rejected all of them and continuously stayed by your side.

And… he was glad, he was overjoyed. Finally, there weren't any pesky bugs surrounding you anymore. He chased them off successfully in this life after all. All those admirers you had in elementary, middle and high school? Gone. Crushed. And he make sure they never see the day of light again if they were to try anything.

In your last life though? No matter what he did, it was downright impossible to get rid of them. They were persistent, deranged, obsessed, just like he was. He can only hope… that none of them would appear in this life.

But alas, life always likes to play a joke, don't they?

"It will only be safe if I keep you by my side at all times. So I'll accompany you as long as my soul lives.”

✎

AJAX, TARTAGLIA, CHILDE, whatever you want to call him. He goes by many names. (Assassin -> Heir to the most popular toy manufacturing company in the world)

Childe meets you in university. 18 years have passed and you have never met anyone else from your previous life till now.

Imagine the surprise on both of your faces when Yoimiya, a fellow student, first introduces you to Childe.

The infamous assassin back in your old world.

Someone whom you had saved when he fell on your balcony, heavily injured from an attack when he was escaping from the guards.

You found him useful so you saved him so he would owe you a favour and help you, well, if you ever needed his help.

Zhongli wasn't by your side when you first met Childe, he was off and helping out organise another on-campus event related to his course.

Childe's eyes had widened in shock, before a big grin soon replaces the expression and he threw himself at you, wrapping you in a bone-crushing hug. Chittering and chattering on in excitement, how he misses you so much, how he yearned for your presence, how he thought of you nearly everyday for the past 18 years of his life here.

He let out tears of joy, seeing you alive again.

Needless to say, Zhongli was not pleased and grinding his teeth as he saw Childe clung on to you, like he had been glued to you, skin to skin.

Childe only gave him a provocative smirk, as he rested his chin on top of your head.

It used to be only you and Zhongli, but Childe joined and now it's three of you.

Like Zhongli, Childe was popular among people. With his outgoing nature, good looks and a good background, he was practically a S-grade fish in the fish market. You lost count how many times Childe has been pulled away by someone to get confessed and then rejected...

At some point, you had asked him curiously, “Are you not interested in dating? You seem like you would, but that would be rude to assume. Is there maybe someone you're interested in? Or are you waiting for the right one?”

Childe only gave you a smile, and held your hand, swinging it around. He didn't answer your question and switched to another topic.

Noticing this, you naturally didn't pry any further. It wasn't any of your business anyway.

...

If he had saved you, if he had prevented you from that bastard, if only, if only he got there in time.

Alas, they were all ifs.

He killed himself right next to your dead body.

Alive.

It feels like he's alive again, he's been trudging through this life oh so dreadfully. Why is he alive? How could he be alive without you by his side? Without seeing you? Why? Why is he alive? Whywhywhwywhywhywhy? Why couldn't God leave him dead? Or better yet, erase his memories of his past life when he was reborn so he wouldn't suffer in agony like this.

But you're alive! YOU ARE ALIVE. YOU ARE NOT DEAD. YOU'RE ALIVE.

What a joyous occasion for him! He practically marked this day as an anniversary.

Now, he would never leave your side.

"Comrade, you can't leave me without warning this time, you know? I'll chase you wherever you go!~”

✎

WRIOTHESLEY (Mercenary -> Ex-convict, Bar Owner, Mafia Position: Spécialiste [The “Brain”])

You met Wriothesley at a bar. His bar to be exact.

Why were you there?

Well, you were at a party organised by seniors of your course. And although you weren't very fond of parties, you decided to attend this one for the purpose of networking.

Childe and Zhongli weren't with you because they were unfortunately preoccupied with other things (enacted by you, you were sick of them following you around everywhere.)

Now there's rumours saying all three of you were in a polygamous relationship! Or either there's a love triangle and that Zhongli and Childe are fighting for your love, or that you're the third person, and Zhongli and Childe like each other instead! Your headache magnified thinking of those rumours.

After conversing with a few people at the party, your throat felt parched so you made your way to the bar to order a drink.

You took a seat at one of the bar seats, and heard someone call you by a rather.. familiar name from your past life.

Caught off guard, you raise your head to meet greyish-blue eyes and a winning smile.

“Wriothesley?” You sounded incredulous. Out of all the people you expected to meet, Wriothesley? A mercenary you had hired very few times to.. do some things, and occasionally you did spar with him for the fun of it. But both of you met each other maybe a total of less than 10 times in a span of 5 years.

“My, my, what's that reaction? Not glad to see me?” He joked, a cocktail shaker in his hands as the distracting sound of ice clinking against each other brought you back to your senses.

You shake your head and apologise, “My apologies, I just didn't expect to see you… here.”

“Neither did I.” He turns to grab a wine glass from the top cabinets. “What are you doing here?”

“Just here for.. a networking party.” You answered, taking the bar menu from under the bar counter.

Wriothesley chuckles, “Still the same as ever are you? Always so serious and no fun.” He cracks an egg.

Rolling your eyes, you ignore him and order a drink, “I like to order a Bloody Mary.”

Wriothesley raises an eyebrow, “A resolute victory, is it? Very much like you.” He took out another cocktail shaker, spinning it around in his hands as he started preparing your drink.

“Oh? I didn't expect you to know the meaning of that drink. It's only a thing in Japan, after all. Though I admit, it's difficult finding the meanings for them.”

“I am a bartender after all. Put some more expectations on me, won't you, missy?” Wriothesley chuckles as he pours your drink in a wine glass and serves it to you.

He toasts you. “Nice meeting you again, Duchess (Y/N) (L/N).”

You frowned as you took a sip, “I was never a duchess in the first place, I died before I could inherit the position.”

He smiles woefully, “I certainly know that all too well. Get on drinking, miss. I got some other customers to serve so I'll leave you alone now.”

-̶T̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶a̶m̶p̶a̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶e̶m̶o̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶-̶

That marked your first meeting with Wriothesley. You always knew Wriothesley wasn't exactly a lawful person in regards to your last life. Still, you thought he would have fit the position of a police officer or firefighter very well. But still, you weren't very surprised when you found out that he was actually a convict and the fact that punching people and getting into fights was not very acceptable here as it was in your old world.

Although he wasn't in prison for very long as it was rather minor crimes, it still affected him heavily in this society. You had a feeling he was… something else besides just a bar owner, but you never dug further, you don't want to get yourself in danger, now do you?

You came to his bar every so often, usually to blow off some steam with alcohol from either stress, work, or just to hang out with friends.

...

“Hm? Sorry, I have to take a call.”

Wriothesley exits his bar counter to walk over to the security room, stepping in, he locks the door behind him and accepts the call.

“What is it? It better be urgent, I specifically told you to only call me during work hours. And it certainly isn't my work hour now.”

“Sire, the smuggling operation plan has been leaked to the authority forces, we'll need to delay the shipment and draft up a new plan.”

Wriothesley dons a frustrated look and runs his hand through his locks, “Are you serious? Have you started looking for the mole?”

“Yes sire, we're currently still investigating but results have not been fruitful so far and we certainly could use your help. We'll pay you handsomely as usual, of course.”

“Alright, I'll do some investigating on my end. Bye.”

He swiftly hung up.

How irritating, a call interrupting his time with [Y/N] could practically re-enact a death sentence from him.

Sure, he may have killed a few people in his old line of business for trying to interact with her. But he simply can't let them take away his sole position as a hired mercenary belonging to dear (Y/N), could he?

No. He couldn't.

So he won't ever again, not in the past, not in the present and ever in the future.

If death were to take her, he would force death to take him to follow her.

"Would I commit violence against the one I love? Not to (Y/N), but to the people surrounding her, however, that's for dire situations and I'll do it if I have no choice.”

ALHAITHAM (Wandering Scholar -> Next-door Neighbour)

Ah, the wonders of adulthood.

You just graduated university and finally rented your very first apartment, with Zhongli and Childe renting an apartment each in the same building as you of course.

Although Childe didn't really need a rental apartment as he was rich and he already had numerous apartments given to him as gifts which he tried gifting to you, only to be sadly turned away by you and imitate the look of a sad kicked puppy for a while.

As an upstanding citizen that follows the law and society's norms, you decided to go greet your neighbour with a fruit basket.

And so the door opens, once again, revealing a rather familiar face.

"..."

"..."

He stares at you, and at the fruit basket in your hands.

The silence continues.

“...Nice to see you again, Alhaitham.” You decided to break it first.

He nods, “Nice to see you. I didn't know you would be here as well.”

You weren't even surprised anymore at this point, just sighing, “Yea, I didn't expect to meet people I know from my past life here either.” You handed him the fruit basket and bid him goodbye, “Let's talk soon.”

“If I have free time.”

Unlike the others, you've only met and known Alhaitham for roughly a week when you were travelling in another country out of boredom.

Alhaitham was as emotional as a rock and a pragmatic individual. Your EQ level almost being on the same level as him, added on with neutral views on the world allowed the two of you to get along well.

During your little trip, you would go out and find him every morning. As you moan and bemoan about how boring life is in the tavern, Alhaitham would simply just sit there and read whatever intellectual book he got in his hands, and nodded every so and then to show that he was somewhat listening.

Alhaitham was an interesting individual to you, compared to nobles or the people around who seemed to be more emotionally tuned and short-fused.

Alhaitham has always been calm around you, too calm, in fact. But you guess that was just how he's like.

But a journey always has an end, you revealed your true identity to him and told him to find you if he ever bothers to. And so, both of you parted ways, and that was the last Alhaitham has ever seen you ever again.

The next time he hears about you, is your death and supposedly the immoral things you have done, earning you the title of a villainess.

Something stirs in him, but he simply shuts it down as he continues on his day, he never really knew you for that long.

But you're never forgotten once, and remain in his thoughts occasionally till the day he dies.

...

The both of you continue life on as normal. Sometimes you would hear a loud voice next door and check out who it was, most if not all the times, it would be a long-haired blonde guy who appears to get emotionally worked up by Alhaitham everytime he comes over.

At this point, you're wondering why he keeps coming over if he gets pissed off by Alhaitham… Maybe he likes Alhaitham?

Indeed, who knows?

…

Alhaitham drinks a cup of coffee, as he flips open his favourite book. If you're here again, surely, his nightmares and desires will come to an end. Because, well, you're here. And he couldn't wish for anything more.

As long as you're not dead.

He tucks the drawings and writings of you hidden away in a folder.

Yea, he won't… need these anymore since you're in front of him. The real you, not some hallucination or dream concocted by his less than sane mind and desires.

“What do I think of (Y/N)? Well, I think she's an intelligent individual. I certainly enjoy spending time with her and hope to continue doing so in the future. That's my only desired wish.”

KAEYA (Second Prince -> Famous Model)

You met Kaeya by accident when you bumped toppled into him on the streets, he was donning a disguise at that time.

He wore a long-sleeved ruffled shirt, long skinny black pants with a silver belt and a denim coloured beret paired with sunglasses and a black mask to hide his face.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn't watch where I was goin…” He bent down to hurriedly pick up his sunglasses, only to raise his eyes to freeze in shock as his eyes drank in your familiar, drug-like appearance.

“(Y/N)?” He whispered shakily under his breath. Hearing your name called, you raise your head and realise the person you bumped into is once again, a companion from your old world.

“Ah, your highness…” You called him out of instinct.

Kaeya instantly covers your mouth as he puts his sunglasses back on, “Shhh, don't call me that. I'm not a prince anymore, remember?”

You nodded and removed his hand from your mouth, “Sorry, force of habit.”

Kaeya grins cheerfully, “Haha, no worries, habits die hard.” He stands up to his knees, offering you a hand.

You take it and pull yourself up. “How are you, Kaeya?”

“I'm doing good! Want to grab a coffee and catch up?”

You took a look at your watch, you roughly… have 45 minutes to spare. “Sure.”

You and Kaeya soon found a coffee shop nearby to have a quick chat.

As you catched up with him, you learned that he and Diluc have both reincarnated and born to a rather influential and rich family in this world.

At the moment, Diluc has started his own wine company and its steadily making its way into the rankings of other well-known wine companies.

Whileas Kaeya decided to debut as a model after he graduated university. He got popular fast due to his charming demeanour and talents, excelling in both modelling and acting. He has starred in a few shows and modelled for numerous popular or widely known brands.

You supposed he needed the attention as he was the second adopted prince in your old life.

“An off-topic question, but you're the only two who are rather involved in politics and the noble society. I'm curious, what happened after my death?”

Ah, your death. A most horrifying memory he ever has the honour of holding.

What happened after your death?

Kaeya smiles, “Nothing much, there was an uproar for a while and while it was discovered that your ex-fiance had murdered you, he was given a light penalty due to your deeds when you were alive. After that, Diluc ascended to become King and I became the Grand Duke.”

No, it's not the fact that the fiancé was not discovered to have killed you, but more of the fact that Diluc and him had framed him, locked him up in prison and tortured him personally till his death while executing the mistress that instigated this foul behaviour.

So what if you committed a few immortal deeds? It certainly didn't matter. Diluc and him have loved you far too much, and have continue loving you now, for they never found a wife or spouse to procreate a child to continue the royal bloodline, but passed the throne to an adopted child when they both died of old age.

Afterall, you were never once forgotten in his thoughts.

Kaeya, although good brothers with Diluc, didn't want to share the discovery of you.

Sure, they were brothers, hands in hands, arms in arms.

But, you were the only thing he couldn't bear to share.

It was futile, for in the end, you too met Diluc at his company.

DILUC (Crown Prince -> CEO of a wine company)

You never asked Kaeya the name of Diluc’s company, and neither did he care to elaborate when you two met up.

And so, you applied for a job opening at the so-called company and got accepted.

It was an unsuspecting day, a week after you've been working, you come across Diluc coming out of a meeting room with an earpiece in his ear, and a tablet in his hands as an assistant strut by next to him.

Diluc slowly looks up from the tablet and catches the sight of your face and suddenly pauses in his footsteps.

He blinked owlishly.

“Sir?” His assistant whispered, a worried expression on his face. This was the first time he saw Diluc in a daze or shock.

Diluc blinks, “Ah-Ah yes. Yes. Sorry, where were we?” He stutters.

(Y/N)? Was it really you?

That couldn't have been his hallucinations again, right?

He turns to his assistant, "Get me the list of all the new employees hired recently and have it ready by noon."

The assistant, albeit confused, nodded. "Yes sir."

He received your portfolio that very day.

...

Ah, this refreshing feeling.

Nervous, happy, thrilled.

How long has it been since he felt this?

It seemed like life lost all meaning when he found out you died at the hands of your fiance.

Even toturing your fiancé did nothing to evoke any emotions from him or meaning in life.

He just continued his duty listlessly till his death.

Because nothing could make him feel anything except for you. And when you died, his world lost colour permanently.

Oh, he was so in love with you to the point he could recognise and distinguish the sound of your footsteps.

Diluc was an exceptional child, showing the smarts and wisdom suitable for a king and he was naturally named as the crown prince.

(Y/N), being the second daughter of the most powerful dukedom, and closest in age to Diluc and Kaeya. She was assigned to be their playmate.

Diluc was cold to her when they first met, on guard towards her. After all, many people have approached him in order to use him for their personal gains which makes him, more the less, irritated.

He would observe (Y/N)’s behaviour for several weeks before deciding that she was not interested in him or his position at all. And most likely, that she was chosen against her will to be their playmate considering she didn't seem to be very sincere in her smile and tone of voice.

(Y/N) would have been very much his fiancé if it wasn't for the promise between her father and the Duke in the West to engage their children.

He was planning to break them apart, but that fiancé of hers did it first. And only if he had resorted to breaking… But no. He had to kill her. And that was truly the day he lost his mind.

Because now? Now that he has gotten her back?

Oh death, death shall never do them apart.

"(Y/N)? What? What do you want to ask about her? It's nothing? Alright then, go back and do your work."

P.S. In all contrast, Kaeya was actually the colder one. Under his friendly demeanour, he had kept (Y/N) at an arm's length and took a much longer time than Diluc to eventually warm up to her.

✎

Extra:

For the first time, someone has caught your eye. A simple theatre performance, you cast your eye on the main performer dancing across the platform. Furina. That was her name.

You have… never seen such an emotional but simple dance.

Furina was a kind girl, although at first, upon meeting you, she acted haughty. But you thought it was cute, adorable even. And you couldn't help but blurt that out 15 minutes into your first meeting, and you see Furina’s cheeks dusted pink as she got flustered.

You introduced her to Yoimiya, and Furina instantly got overwhelmed by Yoimiya’s sunny disposition.

Through Furina, you met her older brother, Neuvillette. A few years older than Furina and a Michelin Inspector.

You observed him. And you realised.

At first, you thought Neuvillette was rather cold-natured but soon found out, he was actually just very much introverted and liked to keep to himself most of the time.

Caring. That is what Neuvillette is. He's ridiculously caring. Always putting a blanket over Furina whenever she falls asleep on the sofa when she invites you over to her house for a gaming session. Constantly offers you food, drinks and snacks whenever you come over. Always checking on you if he needed to turn on the air-con, do you need anything from the supermarket? What do you want to eat? He can cook. Anything you want to drink? He can also make some drinks.

Neuvillette is a man of few words. But he shows care for others deeply.

But… is that care only extended towards you and his sister? Or others as well?

"Me? Like (Y/N)? Ah… What are you talking about? I see her as my little sister… What? How do you know my heart pounds when I'm near her? Nothing? Okay. Would you like a cup of water?”