crown [C. TARTAGLIA]

16

countless carriages arrived at the palace gate, many nobles dressed in elite clothing hopped off with personal guards escorting them on their way inside the ballroom.

the palace was bright, decorated with all sorts of luxurious designs that you wouldn't see on a regular party. the inside was full of gourmet food on silver platters, every corner was filled with drinks and desserts.

you stood at a corner with eula who was watching over teucer eating some cake on a table, some noble women gushed over the little boy.

"prince teucer! my, how adorable!" they chuckled.

teucer seemed to not mind and even entertained the ladies by talking cheerfully to them, telling them all about the cake he was eating and how tasty it was.

"i'm glad master teucer is very sociable." you comment.

eula agreed, "that is true. he has saved me countless of times from awkward situations. as you know, i'm not the best at conversing with others myself..."

"i think you're fine just the way you are, eula." you smile.

you saw eula getting flustered, her cheeks tainted with red as she failed to reply to your words of praise. "o-oh... thank you."

"eula! eula!" teucer pulls the sleeves of eula's shirt to call her attention.

"yes, master teucer?"

"look! over there!" he points at the top of the staircase. "there's brother!"

the three of you looked towards where he was pointing and sure enough, there stood childe at the top with part of his hair slicked back. his clothes looked fancier than usual, though the expression looked disinterested at what was going on.

you couldn't look away either even if your mind was telling you to do so. how could you? it really was a sight to see. after all, it's not everyday that childe would actually put in effort into dressing extravagantly.

"is that..." eula adds.

you then saw someone walking from behind him, the said woman then placed her hand on his arm. she had long white hair with red pins on top that clipped her hair into half buns, she seemed to be someone from another region given by her clothing.

"is that brother's fian...fancy?" teucer asked.

"fiancé, master teucer." his guard corrects him.

"she looks so... expensive!"

you couldn't help but to snicker at his comment. "expensive?"

"i think he meant to say was that she looks really elegant." eula said. "she does seem the part of a rich noble. i heard she's from liyue."

meanwhile, childe clicked his tongue as soon as he felt ningguang's hand on his arm and grips it tightly. "hey, cut it out."

"behave now will you? remember our agreement." the woman smiles innocently at the crowd below.

"fine." he groans.

he scans the crowd, obviously trying to find you amongst them. he knew you were with his brother's guard, so he searched where teucer was. there right beside the exit near the dessert aisle was teucer frantically waving his hand to catch his attention.

he smiles at his brother before meeting your eyes. your eyes widen and immediately tore your gaze away, looking somewhere else.

"so that's her?" ningguang smirks.

"let's go, i want to get this over with." he ignored her remarks.

"don't think you're the only one who hates the situation you're in, childe." she scoffs. "let's head down."