"𝙈𝙤𝙞𝙧𝙖" ● 𝙋𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙤!𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞 𝙓 𝙇𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 ● 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙐

• 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 5 • (𝙏𝙒: 𝙈𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙,)

There's a limit to how many words I can type in the title so I'm gonna say that this chapter might also include abuse. Enjoy the chapter! <33
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Lumine POV:

The next morning, Lumine awoke to Venti asleep on her shoulder. Smiling, she gently moved him so his head was now on the couch. She headed to her room to get ready for the day ahead, unaware of the events that followed...

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Lumine decided to go to Diluc's tavern. After all, she hadn't paid him a visit after Venti broke his arm. She rounded the corner, only to see multiple guards and a few familiar faces crowding the door.

She jogged over to Rosaria, who was a nun at the Church of Favonius. She had her arms crossed and was muttering curses under her breath.

"Rosaria? What happened?" Lumine tapped her on the shoulder, causing Rosaria to jolt out of her trance.

"Ah. Traveler. Hello." Rosaria looked over to her friend, Kaeya, and then at the door to the inside of the tavern. What was strange was that Kaeya...was actually crying. Hot tears streamed down his face and the flow couldn't seem to stop.

"Kaeya..." Lumine gasped. She had never seen Kaeya cry before. Correction: no one had seen Kaeya cry before. He was always very smug with his words.

"Well, I don't wanna speak of it in front of Kaeya, so you can head inside and see for yourself." Rosaria gestured towards the door. Lumine stepped forward, hands shaky on the doorknob. With a nervous feeling and her heart beating fast, she turned the knob and opened the door.

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Inside the tavern, she repressed the urge to throw up.

Diluc was lying on the floor, lifeless and empty. His hands were high above his head and his face looked as if he were trying to scream for help in his final moments. Dried up blood was on his neck. And his wounds...

There were so many wounds that the autopsy for Diluc was put as question marks. Lumine read a few paragraphs. It is as followed:

Time of death: 10:00pm

Victim was stabbed in the throat and chest ??? times due to there being a heavy amount of blood pouring out of said victim.

The death was not instant, but the victim bled until dead.

The weapon used is nowhere to be found.

The more Lumine read the autopsy, the more sick to her stomach she felt. Who would do this? Why? It pained her to stay any longer, so she put the report down and dashed outside.

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Venti POV:

Venti ran outside, hearing the news that Diluc was officially dead. Of course, he couldn't just proclaim he killed him. It would ruin his status as a bard and get him thrown into jail. Plus, everyone would despise him and his very existence.

He dashed to the tavern to see Lumine sobbing heavily. He wrapped his arms around her, to which she hugged him tight.

"Who would do this to Diluc...?" She heaved. Venti felt his heart break into two. He wasn't upset he killed him, but the fact it pained Lumine to the point of crying. He rubbed her back soothingly.

"There there...it's ok. We'll find the murderer." He whispered. Oh, the irony. Lumine had no idea that she was hugging the murderer for comfort. She looked up at him and placed a platonic kiss on his cheek, making him blush madly. "I hope so.."