Genshin Impact | "The Last Night in Aaru Village" | Alhaitham x Lumine

The Calm Before the Storm, Part 2

After engaging on a small skirmish with the fungi in an obscure clearing in the Avidya forest, the couple decided to have supper at Lambad's Tavern. The sun started to set from the distance, painting the sky a red-orange hue. People filed through the entrance of the Tavern, a mix of tourists and scholars from the Akademiya.

As they entered, Lumine's ears filled with buzz from groups seated in different tables, all engaged in lively conversations, some of them even argumentative. The occasional boisterous laughter of some diners rang through the halls of the tavern. The mouth-watering aroma of cooking meat filled her nostrils and her stomach rumbled. She looked around for an empty table and spotted one close to Lambad himself.

The crowd fell silent when the Acting Grand Sage emerged from behind her, looming over the Traveler. The strumming of an oud and someone's singing from the second floor stopped. Everyone turned to them and Lumine felt the hair on her nape stood up. Sure, being the center of attention wasn't a foreign feeling for her. She was, after all, The Traveler, the Honorary Knight, the Swordfish II Captain, the First Sage of Buer. But none of the attention she had previously received was because she was dating the second most powerful person of the nation next to the Archon.

She felt his warm hand enclose on hers protectively. He gripped it firmly and pulled her to the direction of the empty table she had spotted. "Don't mind them," he said in a low voice that only she could hear. Their gazes followed the couple and once they settled on their seats, Lambad signaled the musicians upstairs, who were also gawking, to resume their playing. Music filled the tavern once again and the tension eased. People resumed conversing as if nothing happened.

Alhaitham relaxed in his seat. "I can't wait to go back to being a Scribe," he said.

Lumine studied his face. She knew how much he disliked such a position of power. "I know someone from Mondstadt who also got stuck in a position of power which was supposed to be temporary, but it's been over two years, and she's still stuck in that job. Incidentally, she is also good at it."

"You're implying that I'm going to end up like that person," he said wryly.

"I'm saying not everything we plan in our lives always go the way we want them to. Some things happen contrary to our expectations, and they do for a reason. You, ending up as the actual Grand Sage... might not be such a bad thing."

"Except I would find it a bad thing. You of all people should know this." He was visibly upset.

She placed her hand over his, trying to comfort him, and didn't say more. Lumine knew better than to pursue a subject he didn't like to discuss.

Lambad walked in on them to get their orders.

"I'll take one delicious Lambad Fish Roll," Lumine said with a smile and Alhaitham asked for the same.

"So, two Lambad Fish rolls and some watered wine to wash it down?" Lambad confirmed.

"Yes, please. Thank you," Lumine said.

"Pleasure is mine." The burly Tavern owner, who used to be a sailor, grinned pleasantly at the couple then gave Lumine a silly look before walking away.

It had been a while since the people of Sumeru started gossiping that the Acting Grand Sage and the Traveler were seeing each other. The couple weren't exactly hiding it and Lumine frequently found herself on the receiving end of such silly looks from different people ever since. She just found it amusing, like people were making it a bigger deal than it ought to be.

"How is your back?" she asked him.

"It's healing just fine. Though I won't mind if the marks stay there for a while." He seemed to have recovered his mood after she brought up the scratches on his back. He gazed at her with mischief in his eyes.