Duchess of Crime | Genshin Impact

4. remember? ♥

I drop the glass I'm holding, it smashing into a million pieces.

Water spills out onto my lap and suddenly a thousand visions and voices squeeze themselves into my skull.

"Murderer!"

"Rot in Meropide!"

"We will get revenge!"

I find myself screaming myself hoarse, but nothing comes out. I'm transported back to the same memory, facing the Chief of Justice once more. However, this time, I see the old me. I hold my hand out, hitting an invisible force which stops me from merging with my past self.

The other me laughs, she laughs despite her predicament. Her mouth moves but it's silent to me.

In a twist of fate, she then directly looks at me, mouthing "to your right".

My eyes flick towards the direction, hidden behind the curtains of the audience stands a familiar man with familiar blonde hair.

Louis?

♥

With a violent gasp, I sit up, clutching my throat as if I'd been suffocating. I nearly smack my head into Wriothesley, who reflexively jumps back. The scent of intense chemicals returns as I realise I'm back in the infirmary.

"...Wriothesley?" I mumble, my thoughts still scrambled from the intense dream.

He crosses his arms, his black hair tousled like he'd been messing with it, "Sigewinne kindly asked if I could watch over you for a second..." he trails off before continuing, "but, then you started making strange, strangled noises."

My cheeks heat up a little, cursing my unconscious body to embarrass me in front of the Duke.

I rub my head, "I had the weirdest dream or memory..."

Wriothesley tilts his head, seemingly intrigued. I recall the events, but I leave out the discovery of Louis. Who even is he? I thought he was a kind guard, but, if he's linked to my past-it can't be a good thing.

Before he can respond with his thoughts, Sigewinne comes rushing in with a pile of papers, "My hypothesis was right!"

She attempts to hide her excitement as she notices that I'm conscious, "Ahem-I believe our prisoner here has a sensitivity to the hydro element."

"Do you have a vision?" Wriothesley asks, watching me carefully.

I shake my head, surely he would have known from the beginning if I had. It's not like I have a vision stashed away anywhere.

Sigewinne coughs, directing the attention back onto her, "This may be linked to your past, or more importantly, why you can't remember it."

The infirmary falls silent for a brief moment, the distant whirring of motors becoming apparent.

Wriothesley makes a surprised noise, "You mean-"

"Yes! If you come in contact with primordial seawater with a hydro sensitivity, it can cause amnesia-like effects." Sigewinne interrupts with her pondering thoughts.

"...But, wouldn't you have to drown in it?" He replies, still thinking.

The fact I can't offer any information disappoints me, I should be the one making my own self-discoveries. When would I have 'drowned' in primordial seawater? If anything, my crimes are the complete opposite. Wriothesley comes to this conclusion too, he locks his cold, icy-blue eyes with mine. We both know it doesn't make sense, it doesn't fit the narrative. Could I have been set up? Am I actually a murderer?

Suddenly, a thought springs to mind, "How did I even get a sensitivity to hydro?"

Sigewinne is quick to answer, "I believe the medicine I prescribed you can enhance the sensitivity, but, the condition itself is highly unusual to have."

"In fact, you must have come in contact with primordial seawater again to even trigger a reaction."

It dawns on me faster than the speed of light. Gracie.

Gracie dosed my glass of water with primordial seawater.

She knows I'm not from Fontaine, so, why bother? Does she know something I don't?

♥

After receiving the all-clear from Sigewinne and Wriothesley, I dashed out of the infirmary in hopes I would bump into Louis. Luckily, he always seems to be in my proximity.

I wave at him, smiling. It's not a real smile, of course. Internally, a foreign feeling of hate and mistrust threatens to bubble over. In a split second, I grab him by his collar, "Why were you at my trial?" I hiss.

Leading him until his back hits the wall, he holds his hands up, "I don't know what you mean."

His reaction fascinates me, why hasn't he called for backup?

"You're not a real guard, are you? You know me, now tell me how!" I raise my voice, becoming suspicious of his past actions towards me.

I continue to ramble, "You've let me act friendly with you when you could have been my enemy all along!"

"Lower your voice, and let me go." Louis' eyes darken and he grabs my hand, ripping it off his collar.

Straightening himself up, "Do you understand how hard it's been for me? To watch you prancing around with Wriothesley as if he wasn't your target all along?" he finally reveals the key information.

Louis quickly realises this, "We've been waiting months for you to get sent down, you can quit faking your memory loss now."

We? There's more than one?

"By 'we' you mean Gracie, right?" I feel more confident in my accusations, spitting my words at him like fireballs.

It makes sense, her drugging me with the primordial seawater in hopes it might make me change back to my old self. Except, it backfired on her.

I scoff in disgust, "I can assure you my amnesia is real, whoever I was to you-whoever I was before-is dead."

Angrily, I spin around and storm off. I can't trust anyone here, god knows how many others are a part of some apparent secret plot of mine to overthrow Wriothesley. I want to scream out of frustration, I desperately need to know what organisation I was leading and why I wanted to be sent to the fortress in the first place.

If anything, it strengthens my previous theory-maybe my crimes are fake after all.

♥