For the next few hours, Childe and I conversed not as Harbingers, but as friends.
I learned that Childe missed his home in the countryside of Snezhnaya, not far from where I had been stationed. But though his loved ones remained a few days away from the palace, my family, my precious family . . . they seemed to be lifetimes out of reach.
"Oh, before I forget, Lord Childe," I remembered. "Will you tell me about Lord Scaramouche?"
His smile faded.
Keen to strike the iron while it was hot, I inquired, "Is something wrong, Lord Childe?"
Childe paused, sighing, and looked straight into my eyes.
"Scaramouche doesn't give two shits about 'partnership' or 'cooperation', and he doesn't have a shred of respect for anyone, not even Her Imperial Majesty," Childe explained. "You have no idea how many of his servants he executed. All his men are terrified of him."
A puppet will be a puppet until the day he dies, I thought to myself, smirking. Masterless marionettes are perpetually vile-tempered.
"Scaramouche is just rude," Childe exclaimed. "He just does whatever he wants to do. None of his group missions have gone without some poor soul dying. All the people he's been partnered with go begging to Celestia after a single day,"
"Lord Childe . . ."
"What happened between you and Scaramouche, Rin?"
Inhaling sharply, I replied.
"Lord Childe, Her Imperial Majesty partnered me with Scaramouche," I responded.
Childe slammed his palms onto the table with a bam, startling me.
"Rin, listen to me. YOU. CANNOT. BE. PARTNERS. WITH. SCARAMOUCHE."
"Lord Childe, it's really not a big deal--"
He laughed scornfully. "Oh no, Lady Rin, it's a huge deal! Rin, pull yourself together and listen to me! That guy is a psychopath and a freak and a lunatic! And Rin, you're a girl!"
I listened intently.
"That Scaramouche doesn't know his damned limitations," he scowled, infuriated. "Don't look at him, don't speak to him, and by all means don't let him touch you. Just stay away from him."
We were silent, and the lingering echo of rustling leaves was all that remained.
"This is for your own good, Lady Rin," Childe whispered.
"I trust you, Lord Childe."
He cupped my cheek, and I instinctively leaned into his rough palm.
Cold.
"You're an angel, you know? You don't deserve to be hurt. You don't deserve to be in harm's way," he assured me.
I nodded.
"It's getting late," he noted. "You have a long day ahead of you. Get an hour or two of sleep before dawn. I'll see you after sunrise, my lady."
"Thank you for all you have shared with me, Lord Childe. I will take your words to heart," I curtsied, glancing at the fading moonlight.
Childe held his arms out, and I leapt towards him, burying my face in his chest happily.
Pleased, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, planting a kiss on my forehead.
Childe sighed, "Go on now, Lady Rin. Get to bed. Have a good rest of your night."
"Yes," I responded, nodding. "May your dreams be as sweet as acacia honey."
YOU ARE READING
𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙬 // scaramouche x oc
Fanfic--DISCONTINUED-- As the former heiress of the Yashiro Commission, Rin's past in Inazuma is . . . complex, to say the least. She was the true Shirasagi Himegimi, before her sister, Ayaka, took over that role in her stead. But when she left the nation...
