Kiss Me More || Childe x Reader

Chapter 16

"Dad, I'm home!" The little girl came rushing inside the authentic house, which lived by both an orphan and her guardian who was old (more than enough) to find a new lover, yet he despised the idea. Ended up filling only a quarter of the house, as it was too enormous for the two.

She stopped in her tracks when she was in front of a tall grown man. If people looked closely at the man, they would notice that he had a glowing yellow pupils in the shape of diamonds. He also customarily wears a dark brown coat, much to his liking.

"I want to ask something." Rather than taking a rest after studying for hours, she decided it would be best to let the curiousity extinguish as it developed to an inquiry.

"Hm? What is it?" He answered as he stay seated in his favorite place while sipping his dearest tea.

The girl's eyes darted on him, dithering whether she should speak up or not.

"Go on, tell me what you want to ask."

"Well, my friend asked me today about my mother. She asked me why she never saw her, instead if it isn't big sis who picked me up after school, it's probably going to be you. And of course, I can't answer her..."

"So, what I'm trying to ask is... where is my mother?"

Zhongli looked a bit stunned by the child's question, how was he supposed to answer it? Lying would do no good, thus he didn't have any other alternative than telling the truth to a seven years old kid, retorting such a question with 'your mother died in a ruthless war.'

A period of quietness set in, the heavy tension outcome was surely something the child didn't expect to.

The kid scratched her neck in nervous behaviour, "Uhh, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to..."

It took a while before the silence finally gone. "Your mother... she's gone far away." He heaved a sigh, eyes emitted a longing and remorse.

"Does that mean she will come back?"

"Unfortunately, she won't."

"Don't you feel sad?" Zhongli asked, to be honest, he didn't know how to comfort kids if the little girl in front of him ended up crying.

Nonetheless, the girl has a special way of using rational judgment, an eerie one precisely.

"I don't know...?" She frowned, her answer was obviously based on puzzlement.

"Am I supposed to be sad because of that?"

The man let a chuckle escaped from his mouth as he carried and placed the young girl to his lap.

"Kiddo, anyone would be sad when they lost someone who's important for them. Especially if a child loses someone with the role of a mother, a woman who should cherish her child with affection since they were still a baby."

"It is a normal reaction to be sad if you don't have one, don't you think?"

"Yes, but... I have you..?" She tilted her head out of confusion.

"And you also gave me affection! You're both a mother and father for me, I think."

Zhongli pulled his lips into a decent smile. "As a matter of fact, I'm capable of being your mother if I want to. I can do some adjustment to my vessel and reform the body into a shape of a woman."

"What, really?!"

He didn't answer you with words, instead he still put a smile on his face. Somehow you grew suspicious to his expression. "You're not lying right? I want to see you in a woman version!"