In the cold mountains of Dragonspine resides a certain alchemist best known by the people of Mondstadt as Albedo. Most think of him as distant and independent, only focusing on his studies when he isn't exploring the vast landscape, but there is muc...
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Realistically, her walk was to the nearest tree and back. Her true intention of leaving was to eavesdrop on them to uncover the real reason for Sucrose's appearance. Nothing lined up with the other alchemist showing up out of the blue. Nobody walked that quietly, and her stuttering seemed more apparent than normal. Something was off.
Melanie crept through the snow with her body low to the ground, trying to keep the snow from crunching under her feet. Even with the extra precaution, there was no avoiding it. Lucky enough for her, Albedo and Sucrose were talking freely, deaf to her footsteps.
"Kaeya wanted me to bring this letter to Melanie, but I'm not sure what's inside... He was returning to headquarters as drunk as a skunk when he passed it over to me," Sucrose was saying.
"Why didn't you bring it up while she was here? If it is from the Captain, then it's important." Albedo didn't sound too pleased with Sucrose's explanation.
Sucrose mumbled something she couldn't make out, but the rest of her sentence was clear. "... not the most approachable. Especially since she was so close to you..."
The listening woman clenched her teeth, resisting the urge to speak out of turn. While she certainly has a lot to say about being close to Albedo, she had the slightest bit of curiosity leading her toward wondering why it mattered to the other alchemist. Sucrose knew Albedo was in a relationship with Melanie, so why did their sudden closeness bother her?
Albedo voiced those thoughts for her, it seemed. "Melanie and I have gotten closer than before, I must admit. I neglected her beforehand, but now I feel I have redeemed myself. Our feelings are stronger than ever."
"Oh, I apologize if you felt I was... attacking your relationship, Master Albedo! It wasn't anything like that!"
Melanie scoffed to herself. Sucrose's apology felt forced, maybe extending into a quick coverup to avoid offending Albedo. She wouldn't fall for it though. She wasn't blind to the other woman's tricks.
Without a second thought, she turned the corner and sashayed into the cave, pretending to not have heard anything. A bright smile was on her face. She cast a knowing look at Albedo, who instantly nodded slowly, but Sucrose was left blushing strongly.
"Now that I've cleared my head, is there anything else needed here?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes as she took a seat on the ground.
Albedo offered out a sealed envelope to her. The wax stamp was of the Knights of Favonia's emblem, to no surprise. The red seal was broken already when she accepted it from him. Inside the envelope was a thin piece of paper with dried black ink slightly bleeding through.
"I'll be going now," Sucrose excused herself quietly, dashing off at her usual trotting pace.
Melanie looked over the letter, a frown quickly replacing her previous smile. The Captain's handwriting was a bit sloppy, but she had to give him a pass because of his drunken state. All she needed to see was the name 'Lumine' and 'apology' in the same sentence to know what it was about.
The letter dropped, her hand being pressed to her temples to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. Albedo sat beside her quickly, taking the letter and reading it over while rubbing her back soothingly. Soon enough, a frown had also settled on his pale face.
"I should've seen this coming," she whispered, shaking her head in denial. "He couldn't give it up in the end, even after everything."
Albedo kissed her forehead. "It's not like that, Melanie. This can be resolved quickly if you allow it to be. How about we set the date, then not think about it until tomorrow when someone checks in on us?"
Melanie wiped her eyes with her arm, taking in a shaky breath. She nodded in agreement, taking the pencil offered to her to write on the back of the letter with.
"Set it for the visit after this upcoming one," she said as she wrote the words down quickly. Immediately after, she slammed the pencil down and tucked the letter back in its envelope, leaning into Albedo with no strength left in her.
"It'll be okay, Melanie. It'll be okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Short chapter! I apologize, but it's just been a really long night. I at least wanted to make sure to get the three updates in this week before I take a break from writing-
Question of the chapter:
Is Melanie overreacting?!
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