I reincarnated as an NPC Millelith Guard? [COTE x Genshin]

Epilogue - Aftermath

The ending notes are pretty long, like 1/3rd the whole chapter. Keep that in mind.

3rd Person POV

It's not like Lumine hadn't gone through loss before. Hell, even being separated from her brother was a form of loss. However, it never felt as intense as now. She's had friends before in other worlds, ones who died, ones who disappeared, hell, even some who betrayed her.

This case was significantly different. It's weird how quickly Kiyotaka became a part of her life. He meant a lot to her, he truly did. Even from the beginning, Lumine thought he was a strange person.

He was ever so mysterious, and she barely even knew anything about him. Kiyotaka had told her about his life, how he was an orphan and became a Millelith guard, but that was it. It took a while before he had started to open up a bit more to her.

He told her about his childhood experiences, what he did, what he felt about the most random of things. Lumine listened intently to his every word. At first, it was just out of curiosity. The more she listened, the more she wanted to know about this weird individual. He was weird, but she felt like he was special.

Then came the conversation between the two. Not the one while they were talking about death in the grasses of the Serenitea Pot, but the one where they talked about regrets. Lumine felt like Kiyotaka was similar to her, not just in personality.

She knew they were pretty similar, sarcastic to a fault, occasionally mocking, but honest. However, it was there she learned about his regrets. Kiyotaka didn't go into detail on specifically what he regretted, but she knew it was sincere. He genuinely wanted her opinion.

Lumine had regrets of her own. That day when she was separated from her brother, the day when Signora took Venti's gnosis, even smaller things like trusting Childe or Ningguang. She felt like she could do things differently had she known, but it taught her important lessons.

After that... they were obviously pretty drunk, but Lumine was kind of interested in Kiyotaka. Even when Lumine had a policy of not getting romantically involved with people of another world, she felt like he was unique.

So when he wanted to take things a step further, she made the decision without much thought. A lot of it was the alcohol, but some hints of truth was still involved.

Afterwards, Lumine resented Kiyotaka a little bit for not making things clear. Were they truly a couple or was that just a one off thing? It was worse when she noticed that he had some internal troubles, but never told her. She didn't like it, since it felt like he didn't trust her.

However, Kiyotaka promised that he'll tell her after everything was over, and Lumine agreed. Before she left, she told him how she felt, that she loved him. He only nodded, which created some doubts in her mind, but she waved it off. It was too soon to come to a conclusion, so Lumine decided to put it off.

Then, when Lumine found out about the Exuvia and Childe's fight at the Golden House, she became worried. Could Kiyotaka get hurt? It seemed a little unlikely for him to lose, even if its against a Fatui Harbinger. Even then, she rushed over there.

As expected, Kiyotaka won. And while Lumine wanted Kiyotaka to say that he loved her, she couldn't really ask him. After all, they kind of did have a duty to try and save Liyue. It could come later. Ironically enough, she got her wish, but only as his dying words. She hated Signora, the Fatui, and even the Millelith. Even worse, Lumine regretted not being able to help him in the end.

Long ago, Lumine and Kiyotaka had a discussion about regrets. Whether or not they'd fix their mistakes. At first, Lumine resolutely said no, but now? She'd pick yes in a heartbeat if it could save him. Strange how love changes a person. Perhaps she'd even choose him over the entire nation of Liyue.