(Canceled.) Osmanthus (TWST X F!Zhongli Mc)

04. The Campus

Having left Ramshackle, Xiao, Grim, and I had since made our way to a place called Main Street.

It was close to the library, and apparently, there was a shop not too far from here.

Currently, we stood on the stone path, looking around while I held my arms inside of my cloak. It was a bit chilly here compared to the temperatures in Liyue.

"Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible!" Grim said as I nodded.

It was elaborately decorated for being just a street.

"Do you happen to know anything about those statues, Grim?" I asked as he looked at them.

"I didn't get to see much of this place yesterday. They look pretty scary, but that's all I know." He said as I nodded with a hum.

"Oh, but this lady here looks like she's got some real anger management issues." Grim said as I tilted my head

The lady looked rather peaceful in her current depiction. Eyes closed, holding out a rose with a smile.

Perhaps some reading on the subject would be beneficial. They had inscriptions on their bases, after all.

That said, one statue in particular caught my interest, as it seemed to have horns, not unlike my brother and I's archon forms.

"You don't know the Queen of hearts?" Asked a voice from behind us.

"Queen of hearts? Is she some kind of big deal?" Grim asked.

"She was a queen who lived in a maze-like garden of roses long, long ago. She was a strict woman who prized order above all. She wouldn'ttolerate a rose being off-color or her playing card soldiers being out of step." The boy explained.

I shook my head. She seemed a bit too tyrannical for my liking.

"She basically ruled over a kingdom of madness. But not one of her subjects dared to defy her. Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!" He said as I frowned.

That sounded awful, and it seemed that Grim shared my sentiment.

"Wah, that's seriously messed up!" Grim said with wide eyes.

"Pretty cool, right? I'm a big fan. I mean, who would bother to obey a queen who was kind all the time?" The boy asked as I frowned.

"Yeah, a true leader needs to be strong!" Grim said as a certain Airheaded Drunkard came to mind as a prime example of what not to do as a leader.

"Putting that topic aside for now, who might you be exactly?" I asked.

"The name's Ace. I'm a first-year student here as of today! Pleased to meetcha!" He said as I nodded.

"I'm the Great Grim! A prodigy who's plannin' to be the greatest mage who ever lived! And this is my buddy Hana and her henchman Xiao!"

I sighed.

"Grim, he's not my henchman. He's my son." I said, causing Ace some major confusion.

"He's your what?" He asked, unsure if he had heard correctly.

"My son. I adopted him about ten years ago." I said as he seemed to finally register what that meant.

"Oh, so you're older than you look!" He said.

I nodded, not fond of being called old, but unable to refute his words.

"Yeah, Hana's pretty strong, too!" Grim said.

Ace then looked to Grim and snickered.

"Whose familiar is that?" He asked, causing Grim to look up at him in confusion.