stranger [C. TARTAGLIA]

21

you furrowed your brows, "what was that about?"

"i wanted..." he paused, suddenly realizing what he had done. his gaze averted somewhere else, "i wanted to be the one that danced with you."

you could see the tip of his ears going red, one that you noticed would appear if he was embarrassed or flustered about something. "you could've danced with me after i was done with him."

"it's not the same if i was your first." he took your hand again, holding it in his. "so, mind if i danced with you?"

you chuckled at this, "that was a bit childish, wouldn't you say?"

he couldn't help but to smile when he saw you laughing, "you still haven't answered my question."

"fine." you placed your hand on his shoulders. "it's my pleasure."

you had just noticed that his hair was style differently this time. a part of it was slicked back, while his mask still remained on the same side.

he caught you staring and said, "you look really good."

"you're not so bad yourself."

you swayed to the rhythm of the tune, wondering how he was able to keep up with you. you learnt how to dance when you were still living in the palace, it was a necessary thing to do since balls like these were held often. perhaps childe had practiced for this event? or maybe he had a talent you didn't know about.

you smiled at the thought of it, but then the words of the tsaritsa echoed in your mind.

"in fact, you came to the person who works for me. did you forget?"

childe looks down at you, noticing how you looked away from him. "is there something wrong?"

"it's... nothing." you replied.

"say it, i'm all ears." he says.

"you... don't happen to be the one reporting the tsaritsa about my whereabouts did you?"

he suddenly stops his steps, his hand that was holding yours began to loosen. from this, you knew the answer right away. "so she was telling the truth." you scoffed. "i should've known."

"[Y/N]..." he looks at you, but you couldn't stare back.

the pain inside your chest that you have been keeping for days had worsen. "i should've expected that from day one you were only here because of an order."

childe couldn't reply. he simply stared as you while you let go of his hand. "all of the things we did, it revolved around some stupid order you would've never dared to do if you weren't asked to." your voice shook, tears starting to blur your vision but you didn't let it drip down your face.

you didn't want him to see how much this hurted you.

he wasn't stupid to not notice your glossy eyes even though you weren't looking at him. he knew you were still keeping it all in.

"did she tell you to ask me out to the ball as well?" you asked, this time finally meeting his eyes.

it lasted for a brief second, before he himself tore away from your gaze. "...i'm sorry."

"right. as expected." you look down again. "what else did you report to her? did you tell her how i actually failed at the last mission, did you tell her that i wasn't actually trying to help you before?"

"[Y/N]–"

"was everything you did just an order? was any of it not against your will?" you thought of the short time you spent with him at liyue. from the constant sparring that turned out to be pretty fun, to the times where he brought back your favorite dish for dinner because you asked for it. perhaps he was all against it to begin with, and had just stuck around because it was part of his job.

"please don't think of it like that." his hand tried to approach you, but you moved back away from him. he frowns, continuing what he was saying. "it's not–"

"then can you give me one scenario where it wasn't part of her orders?"

he was silent. he could only be silent because he couldn't think of any.

you gulped, a lump forming on your throat as you tried your best to keep it together. "i'll... i'll need some time alone."

you turn and walked away from childe, who had his head down the whole time. he couldn't reply because there was only one thing in his mind at that very moment, yet he couldn't find the guts to actually say it.

"liking you wasn't an order i was given to."

°

you didn't know where your feet led you as you walked around the inside of the dark hallways of the palace, away from the cheery people and the loud music from the ballroom.

you didn't know why you had to cause a scene and snapped like that, but you couldn't help but to get it out of your chest. it pained you that you just realized all this when you admitted to yourself the attraction you felt towards the harbinger.

"hmm? and what might you be doing in a secluded place like this, princess?"

a voice startled you, it was a man wearing a white mask that covered parts of his face. though, you could see his red eyes staring at you.  he looked very familiar, the more you thought about it the more your head started to hurt.

"do i know you?" you asked, walking closer to him.

he was leaning against the wall, a pipe of cigarette dangling from his mouth. he takes it away and said, "my apologies, how rude of me."

he pulls out his hand, offering a handshake. "i'm dottore, one of the harbingers like you are."

you accept it and lightly shook it with yours. "my name's [Y/N]."

"it's a pleasure to be finally meeting you." he grins, taking back his hand. "it appears that you have... some sort of issue. mind if we have a chat?"

he must've noticed your teary eyes from before. "uh... sure." you agreed, a bit suspicious of the man. he was another harbinger after all, you didn't know what to expect from him. besides that, you were curious as to where you've met the man before.

"follow me." he starts to walk.

you said nothing else and followed him from behind, still wondering where you might've heard the name dottore from.

he led you to a guest room, which you assumed to be where he was staying at. it was at a deeper part of the castle, no one really went here since the guests who usually stayed were the higher ups.

"what did you want to talk about?" you asked when you entered with him.

he sat on a chair as he poured wine on a glass that was atop the table. he gestured for you to sit, but you refused and simply stood in front of him with your arms crossed.

"i wanted to tell you a tale about a young girl that goes by the name," he pauses to take a sip of his wine, "[Y/N]."