paradoxical | genshin impact

04 : ease.

"It's been a while."

The grape juice you'd been sipping nearly went down the wrong hole once Diluc graced you with those few choice words. Thank Archons for your ability to remain composed under duress.

"What do you mean?" you asked, swallowing thickly. "You're my boss. I just saw you last week."

Diluc sighed and set down his glass on the table you'd claimed for yourselves. "Well, Charles does tell me I'm gone for too long sometimes." A soft chuckle rumbled in his chest as he flickered his gaze to meet yours. "What I'm trying to say is that it's been a while since we've sat down for a drink like this."

You simpered, raising the glass to your lips once more. "I wonder why."

The buzz of cicadas rang in your ears like white noise as you decided to gaze around. Ernest and Connor were nose-deep in some important matter by the balcony—tossing a few...interesting curses every now and again. The new maids, Moco and Hillie, seemed to be loafing around with their chores as they gossiped by the benches. (You knew because you'd done the exact same thing several times in the past.) Out in the vineyard, the servants' children chased shimmering crystalflies across the vicinity, and despite their unbridled enthusiasm, they evaded the stakes and vines their parents had worked meticulously to plot with practiced ease...

Oh, one of them just knocked over a bucket of fertilizer.

You breathed out a laugh through your nose. Back then, that had been you and the Ragnvindr boys—competing for who gets the most crystal cores before nightfall. You didn't remember anything being at stake at the time. It was just harmless competition between kids, but one you'd taken seriously, all the same.

"I hope it's alright."

Startling a little in your seat, you turned to Diluc with one brow arched. The lantern sitting in the middle of the table glowed in the late afternoon light, and you couldn't help but let your eyes linger on the way his face was tinged gold by the sunset.

"What is?" Oh, dear. You sounded way too distracted.

But one trait that you'd always been grateful that Diluc harbored was his complete obliviousness. Unlike Kaeya, who made it his life's purpose to capitalize on each opening you'd given him to tease you, your boss was a bit...slower on the uptake. Not that you'd ever minded, though.

He drummed a gloved hand across the wooden surface of the table as eyes like rubies landed on yours. "My abrupt invitation to be my date—what else?"

Oh, you thought distantly—the sweet aftertaste of the juice turning sour in your mouth.

Although the shock from the week prior had faded into nothing more than vague curiosity, that didn't exactly mean that his proposal started to make sense to you. Diluc was one of the most sought-after bachelors in Mondstadt. You knew a handful of noble houses who'd wanted him to marry into their families. And surely his vast connections from the underground could provide him with an equally esteemed date—someone who wouldn't be a catalyst for controversy.

But out of all the people you parsed through in your catalogue of rich, beautiful faces, there was but one woman who stood above all else.

"...Why didn't you ask Lady Jean instead?"

From the way Diluc was roused from his usual façade of composure—wide-eyed and cheeks just a bit redder than usual—you could tell that he definitely considered it.

You bit back the...unpleasant sensation prickling your chest as you waited for him to reply.

"Jean Gunnhildr is a high ranking official from the entity that governs all of Mondstadt," Diluc said, clearing his throat almost awkwardly. "She shouldn't be predisposed to favor any outside influences. The Dawn Winery included."