EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

21 - Explanations

/!\ DISCLAIMER /!\ Everything that is going to be said is taken from information which can be found in the game, from theories and from my imagination. This is NOT the exact story of the game. Those who don't want to get spoilers (especially the historical aspect of Teyvat) are asked to pass by. 

EDIT: Some things are false in there but it doesn't matter.

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"So be it. I'll let it go. But at the first slip-up, I'll kill him."

"For that, you won't be invited to the wedding ~ ", the Harbinger boasted.

"TO THE WEDDING?!" exclaimed everyone present in unison, including Lumine, who wasn't in the least aware of her own eventual wedding.

In front of their bewildered expressions, Childe couldn't help but laugh.

"Nobody knows what humor is in this room?"

"Childe."

Lumine had her head in her hands in shame at the absurdity of the joke he had just made. For some strange reason, her heart was also racing, but that, she hoped no one would notice.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Don't ever say anything like that again," she said while looking him straight in the eye to make him understand she didn't want all her friends, she included, to go under cardiac arrest simultaneously because of his jokes.

"Whatever you say, princess," he replied without an ounce of hesitation.

"And stop calling me weird nicknames," she said, offended, while rolling her eyes.

"Hmm. Not until I find the right one ~," Childe retorted, a smile displayed on his face.

Lumine sighed because of his behavior and went back to drinking her grape juice. After all, he had already given her a nickname since the first day they met, so why would he want to change it now? But as she thought she had rebuked him enough so that he could change the subject, Childe came up and stood behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. Slowly, he brought his head close to her ear to whisper, "Unless you prefer 'Lumi'?"

A split second after that word left his mouth, the glass in Lumine's hands exploded into a thousand pieces with a deafening noise.

Beside herself, she hissed through her teeth while hastily turning to face him, "Don't EVER call me that again!"

Perhaps her reaction was excessive, but the use of this specific nickname only made her think back to her brother, hence, the anger she was feeling towards him because of what happened during her fight with Childe, when she had lost control. She didn't remember much of what happened, but she clearly recalled her brother's voice which drove her to kill Childe. Needless to say, it stuck in her throat. She, who wanted to save her kind brother, gentle, calm and staid, now she had ended up manipulated by him. She refused to doubt him, but she needed time to sort everything in her mind.

Dazed, all her friends in the room stared at her with astonishment as they were putting together what had just happened.

Childe's gaze lingered on the young woman's hands which were previously holding the glass, watching each part of the container on the table as if he were trying to understand how she could have broken it. But as his eyes widened perceptibly, Lumine understood that he had discovered the cause, which made him strangely silent, as if he were realizing he had said something inappropriate or that he had struck a chord. Still without a single word, he nodded, not daring to contradict her at the risk of ending up like the bowl and the beverage.