Kill Me Slowly || Tartaglia/Childe

Chapter 11

Indeed, today is a busy day for the emperor. In the middle of his desk lays the map of the two countries with several blocks of box-shaped clay on top of it. Around it, the scrolls from the past records of war took the remaining space. His eyes were somewhat droopy. He had stayed up for two days straight, only relying on the herbal tea to keep him awake and thinking. In a span of 6 months, you could see the streaks of white on his hair, and whether it was from stress or aging, he didn't care at all. All he thought of was how to end it as soon as possible and for you to return home.

He looks over his shoulders, dragging his eyes over the portrait of you to his right. It was a painting made by one of Mondstadt's artists, Albedo as a welcoming gift when the emperor had visited Mondstadt three years ago. He sighs and gets up from his seat, looking for a certain box he had stored safely and secretly. After a while of searching, he manages to find the box. He dusts the dirt that accumulated over the years and carefully opens the lid.

Knock knock. The sudden knock at the door made the emperor jump. The door pushes open and in came Noelle. "Emperor." She bows. The emperor breathes in a sigh of relief when he sees that it's just Noelle. You may be wondering why Noelle enters the emperor's room so casually in the presence of the emperor. It's because he allowed her to. Being one of the people that had helped not only him but his daughter as well, Noelle had proved herself to be trustworthy. Through her hard work and dedication, you could say she deserved it.

"A letter from King Crepus of Mondstadt." She places the letter on the desk and steps a few steps back. "Is there anything else I could assist you with, Emperor?"

"No, no. You may leave. Do not bother me in the next few days." He said in a hurry, hiding the box behind his back. Noelle found his behavior suspicious but did not question him. "If so, may I ask for a leave? Three days will suffice."

"Yes, you may." He answers and Noelle bows. "Thank you, Emperor. I will take my leave now. Please do take care of your health or Princess (First Name) will worry." She says before exiting the room. The emperor quickly opens the box, taking out the contents inside it. It's a small notebook that had several tattered pages. A few were ripped out yet the information it contained was still intact and somehow readable.

He opens it and skims through the pages until he finds the specific page. He gets up from his position and grabs a few pieces of paper from his drawers. He then takes a brush and dips it into the black ink and starts to write down characters in hopes of sending it to an old acquaintance for help.

Meanwhile, at the camp, you have come down with a high fever and were instructed to stay in bed and recover. Ganyu was not able to take care of you as she was tasked to assist Ningguang regarding the next rite of descension.

At first, Chongyun was tasked to take care of you but when Ganyu checked up on you both, Chongyun was about to feed you a popsicle until Ganyu stopped him. Ganyu sent him out to do another errand and went to look for Xingqiu. Ganyu instructed him to teach Chongyun the basics on how to treat a sick person and hopes in the future that he'll know what to do when that time comes again.

Now that Chongyun and Xingqiu were out of the list, Ganyu went to find Xiangling but she was nowhere to be found. Instead of finding for her, she had no choice but to turn to Childe for help. She knocked on his door and waited for his reply. After hearing a "come in" from the other side, she enters the room and asks for a favor.

"You came at the right time." Childe says, "I was just finishing up on the detailed plan for... never mind. Sorry for rambling. What is that you require my assistance for?"

"The princess is sick."

"Ah..." He ponders, remembering the events that had happened yesterday, and at the memory of Xiao, he frowns.

"She needs to take her medicine three times today. One after each meal."

"Has she had her breakfast?"

"Yes— oh my, I'm late for the meeting! May I leave the task to you?"

"Yes. You may leave now for your meeting. I'll take care of her."

Ganyu bows and quickly takes her leave. Childe follows soon after, walking in the direction of your room. He knocks thrice on your door but didn't receive a reply. He excuses himself and enters the room, closing the door behind him. He walks over to your sleeping form, glancing over your serene expression, and lets out a huge sigh. "So vulnerable... it must be nice to be not on guard always."

Having a lot of feats as a warrior, he made his name, whether it's Childe or Tartaglia, highly feared on the battlefield. Not only is he feared by many, but a lot do want him dead, especially the treasure hoarders. Though the camp was difficult to intrude, some managed to slip in and tried to assassinate him during his sleep. Being trained at such a young age, Childe, with his fast reflexes, had knocked all the men to their feet although he suffered a few cuts here and there, especially on his hands. They were captured and brought to Beidou for their punishment.

Childe presses his calloused hand over your head. "Hot." He mutters then checks the room for anything that could help. He walks over to the restroom and finds a towel before dipping them into the cold water. He returns to you and gently wipes your face. When he was done, he cleans the towel and dips the towel once more in the cold water before leaving it on your forehead.

Your eyes slowly flutter open to the feeling of something heavy on your forehead. You blink a few times, eyes adjusting to the morning light. "C-Childe?"

"Morning prin— (First Name). How are you feeling?"

"T-Thirsty." You cough out, eyeing the glass on the bedside table. He grabs the glass of water on the table and hands it to you. Though when you were drinking water, you were physically shaking, water visibly shaking. Childe took notice of this and aids your hands, supporting you. "Oh, hold on. Don't forget this."

He picks up a small pill on the table and hands it over. You take it and swallow the pill. After finishing the glass of water, you mutter a thank you before adjusting your position to a comfortable one. "W-What are you doing here? Don't you have duties?"

"Yes and that's to stay here and take care of you."

"B-But Ganyu—"

"She's not here right now."

"Oh..."

Silence fills the air and you start to play with your fingers, not knowing what to do nor what to say. You bite your lip, contemplating whether you should start the conversation but Childe has beaten you to it. "You should have not gone out to meet with Xiao yesterday. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in this state right now."

"I-It's not his fault..."

"I know. Just giving you a little advice."

"Why are you so against him? Did he hurt you or someone close to you?"

Childe's shoulders stiffen but soon relaxes. Speechless only for a moment, he opens his mouth and tells you to stop asking questions and just follow. You shake your head, disagreeing with him. "Xiao did nothing wrong to me so I won't stop meeting him. Why do you care?"

Your reply only made Childe's blood boil. He was upset but he couldn't understand why he was upset. With nothing more to say, Childe got up from the chair and walk towards the door. He stops in front of it before turning his head around and said, "I simply don't care about you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He exits your room, the door closing loudly behind him. You stare at the door, confused as to why he'd react like that. You had several questions to ask him about his dislike towards Xiao but you knew better not to ask anymore, keeping those questions at the bottom of your mind. You were upset and beginning to feel tired so you decided to sleep it off.

Childe, on the other hand, was leaning against your door, staring at nothing but the wall. He hadn't meant to go too far and didn't mean his words. He spat them out and he realized it was too late to take them back. He could only exit the room before he could say anything worse. He could only hope you wouldn't take his words to the heart. He sighs before leaving to do more of his work in hopes to get rid of the earlier event.