Bed and Silken Chains | Hiatus

Einundzwanzig

"We will start with basic cleaning. Something simple, like dusting or sweeping the floors. Though simple, one must do it properly to make this Manor as clean as possible."

(Y/n) stares almost doe-eyed at the woman before her. She understands that there needs to be proper order in everything. An incorrect sequence will lead to nothing but trouble. The thing was, she can't quite remember where she learned this.

"(Y/n)? Are you there? You're spacing out."

The young woman gasps and flinches back before quickly apologizing.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking. Please, continue with what you were saying."

Adelinde purses her lips before grabbing a feather duster and placing it in the woman's hands. She proceeds to grab another one and turns to find a spot to clean up.

"Ah, here, something simple," Adelinde says, "Windowsills often collect far more dust than you might think. Here, I will show you the best way to dust this location."

Adelinde demonstrates the proper technique, the young woman watching carefully, eyes wide with wonder.

Diluc, sitting at his table, pile of papers lining the rich tabletop, can't help but watch the girl. His mind is still spiraling with words of endearment with flushed cheeks. She's so cute to him. Her mannerisms are childlike, innocent.

But there's something going on deep within the inner cracks and corners of her mind. Something so dark that she won't tell him what's going on. The fact she was so fearful of her sleep paralysis proves it. He had encountered it himself, but he didn't react that badly compared to her.

"What is going on inside that head of hers?" he mumbles.

"Master Diluc?" a deeper voice calls.

Diluc's attention is snapped away from (Y/n) to the man approaching him.

"Yes, Elzer?"

"I understand that you did ask to take this day off, we have received an unexpected letter from the Wine Guild that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. I do apologize."

Diluc lets out a sigh from his lips, fingers pressing against the bridge of his nose.

"Alright. Give me the letters... I'll tend to them immediately."

"Of course, Master Diluc."

Elzer then perfectly spins on his heel and returns to his desk to retrieve the letters. While he does that, Diluc's wandering eyes return to the girl now sweeping to floors with Adelinde. Her lips are pressed together and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He notices how her hands slightly fumble with the broom as the sleeves of his shirt keep slipping over her hands. A smile. A smile is all he can show when looking at her.

"She really is so cute."

"Your letters, Master Diluc."

With his attention once again drawn away, he notices quite the handful of letters sent from different members of the Wine Guild. With a heavy sigh, Diluc opens the first letter, trying to focus his mind on his work.

* * *

"Well, you're at least decent at basic cleaning," Adelinde says.

Though it wasn't much, (Y/n) was happy that she did a good job for her first time cleaning like this. When was the last time she cleaned something? Her mind starts to reel back like old film, but her mind starts to burn the film, forcing it to melt away and forget.

Or was she purposely forcing herself to forget? She can't remember anymore.

She only remembers the colour. The rich colour that plagues her everywhere she looks, even tattooed to the back of her eyelids.

Her fingers suddenly feel ridged, unable to move them with a tight strain. Her body shakes trying to move from her memory.

"(Y/n)? (Y/n)?! Are you alright?!" a voice calls out to her from the void of noise.

She turns her head slowly to the source of the sound, a neutral expression on her face. She simply turns her eyes away.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," she says, almost mechanically, practiced.

Adelinde pouts her lips slightly. Something doesn't sit right within her stomach. Something is going on with this girl, something deep within.

"If there's anything wrong, you can always tell us, you know. I can tell you're lying, but I won't force you to speak."

"Alright," she says in a monotone note, "Thank you for your concern."

Adelinde lets out a small sigh escape her nose. Something is definitely wrong. She's sure Diluc has noticed it too. It's almost like she's shut down all of her emotions at once.

"A-Anyway, let's get ready for night duties."

"Night duties?" (Y/n) says, her normal tone returning back as if nothing was wrong in the first place, "Why those? It's only... the afternoon?" she says, looking at the grandfather clock.

"Yes. That is true, but we still need to prepare. The faster we get them done, the more time we have to take breaks. If we manage to get the normally later activities done now, we won't have to do them later. It also helps that you're here to help. Having another set of hands around always manages to help things go much faster."

"I think I get it..." (Y/n) says brows furrowing in thought, trying her best to piece together the information.

It's simple information, but sometimes it takes time to understand such concepts.

"Alright, let's get started with the courtyard."

"O-Okay."

Adelinde is followed by the younger woman as they head outside, ready to clean up fallen leaves around the estate.

As (Y/n) is about to leave outside, she looks behind her, looking at Diluc. To her surprise, he's looking at her with half lidded eyes, almost lost in his own mind.

What was he thinking about? she wondered.

But Diluc's mind was a mystery to her. Surely he knows far more than she does. It looks like he has papers before him, so he must be thinking of what they're saying.

Father would-

She quickly slaps herself, before rushing outside, catching up with the waiting Adelinde.

Despite her thoughts, his are very simple.

(Y/n).

That was all the contents of his mind. His brain was flooded with nothing but wonderful thoughts of her. He finished his work more quickly than he thought he would, so there was no need to pay attention to such trivial matter anymore. He can focus his attention on what really matter to him.

"But why did she hit herself? Why would she do anything to hurt herself?" he mumbles, his worry very prominent in his tone. "My dear... what's going on? Why won't you tell me?"