EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

35 - Trust broken into a million pieces

"Explain it to me then."

The growing nervousness that Lumine felt rising in her threatened to render her mute as it had been in the bedroom when Childe had sat on the chair in front of the desk. But now that she had stated that she was going to explain her reasons, the young woman could hardly keep quiet, forcing her to swallow her anxiety in order to untie her tongue.

Warned of the unwanted eyes and ears of Childe's parents and sister, Lumine had to be careful about what she was about to say.

"As you can imagine, I had intended to go there by the place you entered to find him, but what happened during the night was not planned... I would most likely be forced to ki— to fight him, so I don't want you to be my weak point. I refuse to take you there with me if I'm not sure you'll stay alive."

"And how do I know you'll come back? You don't think I'm going to let you go alone when he wants to manipulate you? What will you do if the same thing happens to you like last time or even this morning? How are you going to stop him if you're not yourself anymore?"

Strangely, Childe's voice was calm and his intensity controlled. However, all these questions he was asking showed that he didn't understand the situation in which Lumine found herself.

The Traveler took a deep breath before answering.

"That's why I don't want you to come! If it's to repeat what I did to you last time, I'd rather die. I don't want anything to happen to you again because of me!"

To leave no ambiguity, Lumine lowered her gaze slightly and clenched her fists, then screamed the thought that had haunted her since waking up in the Cathedral.

"I am terrified of killing you with my own hands!"

Too obsessed with the confession she had to make, the young woman had completely forgotten the presence of his parents and Tonia. She heard them react with shock and fear, but she hoped that they wouldn't consider her a bloodthirsty killer from now on...

Gradually raising her head towards the one facing her, Lumine met his gaze, still hard and severe, but which nevertheless seemed to have softened slightly. However, was it the truth or only what she was hoping for inside? Only Childe knew the answer...

"And don't bother telling me that if I had told you about it in the first place, you would have understood and let me go because I know it's not true!" she hurried to add before the young man answered her.

Lumine didn't look away from Childe's figure for a moment, trying to detect his thoughts by the gestures he was making. Strangely, the latter lowered his eyes to stare at his own feet for a moment. He seemed to be struggling to sort out all the information Lumine had just given him.

Finally, he slowly lifted his head to plunge his oceanic eyes into the Traveler's ones as bright as the sun beyond the clouds.

"I just have one question then."

His voice was calm, too calm for the young woman's taste. She had a bad feeling that the answer she was going to have to give would only make things worse, but she had already reached the point of no return. Thus, she could only nod her head as a sign of total listening. He seemed to be as apprehensive about asking the question, as she was about answering it...

"That day, when I invited you to come to Snezhnaya to meet my family... when you answered me, had you already thought of your plan?"

And it was still a bad impression that turned out to be true in the end! If she had to bet every time, she would have become rich by now!

Not knowing how to answer his question without hurting him even more, Lumine opted for silence. She saw that Childe understood what that deafening silence meant because he began rubbing his forehead with his fingers, obviously torn between getting angry and letting it go.