EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

36 - A rebel climbing trees

"Tartaglia, back from Liyue."

Childe was at this very moment before the Tsaritsa in the Throne room. He had left at dawn, leaving Lumine still peacefully asleep in his bedroom. When he woke up that morning, Childe was still holding her hand tightly, and she was unconsciously doing the same. He would have liked to keep her hand close to him, to be able to hold her back if she hoped to take advantage of his absence to run away, but he had unfortunately been forced to leave against his will.

The room he was in was the largest and most imposing in the entire Zapolyarny Palace: ceilings so high that it was difficult to make out, ornaments on every wall and beam, but above all, a uniform color throughout the room.

Being the place where the Tsaritsa sat permanently, it was consequently the coldest place in the whole palace, and the most frozen. Absolutely everything in the room was covered with a thick layer of unbreakable translucent blue frost. Whether it was the walls, the ceilings, or even the floor, everything was monochrome. In some places, there were even stalagmites and stalactites, as well as horizontal ice peaks, remnants of Her Majesty's wrath against poor fools who had dared to defy her authority.

In the center of the room, raised by a few steps, was a kind of dais on which the throne, also made of ice, was situated. Every inch of this imposing seat breathing power was covered with engravings forged in ice, signifying every battle, every enemy, and even every difficulty the Tsaritsa had had to overcome as an Archon. And soon, she hoped to be able to carve the name of every god she would exterminate so that she could save Teyvat from the dire fate those deities living in Celestia had in store for them.

"My child, I suppose you know the reason for your presence here."

The Tsaritsa's voice was surprisingly deep for her stature. Her physique reflected the mood of her country: cold yet elegant. She was dressed in a long sleeveless dress, reaching to her shins, white with touches of blue of an extreme paleness. She never wore a jacket or anything else to protect herself because the cold emanated from her, so she didn't feel it, unlike anyone who deigned to approach her. Her long hair was immaculately white, pulled up into a neat bun on top of her head. The features of her face were delicate, touches of makeup exacerbating the extremely pale blue and almost white of her eyes.

Her entire being exuded the Cryo Archon that she was. Childe didn't know if she had become this way with her transformation into an Archon, or if she had always been this splendid woman in the image of the ice nation. It didn't matter, now she ruled this nation with an iron fist, governed by the military organization of the Fatui.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Childe replied, kneeling with his gaze down, one hand on the icy ground, the other on his knee that wasn't against the ground.

He knew exactly what he was there for, which is why he was somewhat apprehensive.

"Your actions in Liyue have resulted in tarnishing the image of the Fatui. You acted hastily and recklessly. You will be punished accordingly."

Childe clenched his fist, awaiting his sentence like the cleaver of a guillotine. With the Tsaritsa, the punishments she inflicted were mostly physical. He had already suffered twice, which had left him some scars, proof that it wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"You'll have to...," began the Tsaritsa in an authoritative voice, making it very clear that she wouldn't accept any negotiation.

"Wait, Your Majesty!"

La Signora, who had just made her theatrical entrance into the room, interrupted her queen. The young man had always wondered how she always made a grand entrance wherever she went, but above all, with the right timing every time. He liked to think that she would stick her ear to the door to spy on the conversation and find the exact moment when her entrance would be the most fabulous. However, even knowing his colleague's character, he would never have imagined that she would have the affront of entering the Throne room in such a way while Her Majesty was in session.