Chapter Text
Kaeya somewhat regretted his decision.
It wasn't particularly because he developed some qualms about being engaged and married to a complete stranger, in fact he was completely fine with the task of seducing the Prince into marriage as long as it was within reason. The real problem was that at the time of the conversation, he was blissfully unaware of just how exhausting it would be to prepare for the departure to Mondstad.
Practices that noble ladies would have eighteen or more years to perfect were crammed into one intense month of non-stop training for Kaeya. He could barely catch a moment to relax, let alone do any personal research and preparation for his departure.
Gone were the days where he could leisurely draw in the palace gardens to his hearts content, now were the days where he was a prisoner of the hellish learning program known as 'Royal Wife Training'.
Kaeya had to learn female etiquette, dancing, acceptable conversation topics, hand fan techniques, boundaries between arranged couples, tea party hosting, fashion trends, skincare, make-up, household management, economy, rules, laws, and the list went on and on and on. He even had to get a whole wardrobe change since his clothes reportedly needed a more feminine touch. Kaeya wasn't bothered by that though since he knew damn well that he looked stunning in a dress, so he too would be confident in any other clothing that they tailored for him.
Regardless of that, the amount of content he had to learn and absorb each day was suffocating and the one thing that made the draining experience bearable was his mother, Kavya who was in charge of tutoring Kaeya. In Khaenri'ah tradition, it was always the current queen that would teach the future queen of the kingdom how to handle royal affairs, hence why she was the most familiar in teaching the subject and would be able help Kaeya prepare in the most effective way.
Kaeya never experienced the love of a mother in his past life, but he got to experience it in this one and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. His mother was a sweet, kind woman that dearly loved both him and Viren equally and would frequently show it too, though that didn't take away from the fact that she could be as strict and cold as any other Khaenri'ah Monarch.
Kaeya wouldn't dream of intentionally making his mother mad because if he did, she wouldn't yell or hit him. She would gaze into his eyes with a cold disappointed gaze and that was enough to make the most powerful of men crumble. He had the honor of seeing her do it to his father once and it was the first time that Kaeya saw his fathers carefully woven mask crack. The power her gaze could hold was amazing.
However, the look she gave Kaeya when his father revealed that he was getting engaged, was a look of sad acceptance. His mother had most likely already been informed of this news beforehand since she was to be his tutor, but the confirmation probably still upset her a little. She always told Kaeya that he was too kind and that she was worried about how he would handle himself in the real world. Kaeya knew that he would do just fine since he had preconceived knowledge from his past life, but his mother didn't have the same assurance.
Speaking of which, Viren had absolutely no faith in Kaeya's ability to survive in the outside world. He had gotten overwhelmingly angry when he heard the news for the first time and caused quite the commotion. Despite living with the guy for nineteen years, Kaeya still wasn't used to Viren getting angry on his behalf since no one had really done that since Crepus' death, he always lived under a mask after that event and never talked about his troubles to anyone. Which he now realised was probably a mistake, if he didn't get so used to lying maybe he would've found it easier to fix things between him and Diluc and they wouldn't have had to have a bittersweet rekindling in the midst of a war.
Anyways, Viren was extremely angry at the announcement and it took both Kaeya and their mother to calm him down and convince him that he would do just fine in Mondstad. Kaeya had to promise to him that he was doing this willingly and that he would write letters to the both of them frequently to let them know how he was doing. Viren had fully calmed down after mother had told him that Kaeya was allowed to bring a butler and four maids from Khaenri'ah with him.
Despite accepting the ultimatum, Viren was still upset about the ordeal for a couple of weeks after, and his concerns weren't entirely unfounded, Kaeya knew exactly what he was getting himself into. Being royalty isn't all sunshine and rainbows like it is portrayed in fairy tales, there will be people against this arrangement and some will not be afraid to take it too far. Kaeya will without a doubt have assissins sent after him, experience a lot of racism and targeted discrimination, and there are also homophobes and other unhappy nobles that will use Kaeya's inability to give birth as leverage to throw him out since he wouldn't be able to provide an heir. Not to mention that some will try their hardest to anger him so that a scandal could be formed and the Prince will reject him himself.
This path is not an easy one and he was aware of that. Viren was aware of it too so he too offered him as much help as possible which was greatly appreciated by Kaeya. Since Viren was good at communication, he was in charge of most international affairs within the country, meaning that he knew the most about other nations.
Curiosity got the best of Kaeya and he asked Viren who it was that he was getting married to. Unluckily for him, Kaeya didn't get much of a response. Mondstad wasn't a country that they negotiated with before and the engagement was the first time that the two nations actually interacted, meaning that they knew fuck all and didn't even know the names of the royal family. That alone made Kaeya want to slam his head against a wall, who asks for an arranged marriage on the first meeting? The King of Mondstad must be a really patient person to indulge in his fathers outlandish request so eagerly.
The disappointment must've been visible on Kaeya's face at the time since Viren was quick to tell him any information that he knew about the mystery prince who he was marrying. Apparently, the Crown Prince was the most eligible bachelor in Mondstad and was known to be exceedingly handsome, academically smart, and even earned a pyro Vision at a young age which was only a small achievement in comparison to his impressive combat skills.
The description sure reminded him of a certain someone, but he wasn't going to bet on it only to get disappointed. In the entirety of this life, he has not met a single person in Khaenri'ah that he recognised, even though he most certainly should have when keeping the last decade of his past life in mind, therefore, the chances of Diluc actually being reincarnated like him were highly unlikely.
However, Viren had a different train of thought and took full advantage of the opportunity to tease Kaeya about being lucky to be able to get married to a Pyro Prince just like he always dreamed, clearly referring to his portraits of Diluc. The teasing took Kaeya's mind off of the subject at the time and divulged into bickering with Viren.
---
Halfway into the month, Kaeya's initial exhaustion had faded away and he had gotten used to the hectic training, no longer leaving him with that inkling of regret and successfully ridding him of any negative thoughts towards the mission.
Kaeya, of course, was still pretty adamant on his goal of living a happy and long life. He had dedicated this life to the people he loved in the past, promising to live happily for all of them and eradicate all of his past insecurities for good.
At first glance, Kaeya accepting the request didn't honor that promise since he was throwing himself into a cesspool of potential misery, and it was understandable. He would have to consistently live on edge and that hardly sounded like a happy life.
Though to him, he was honouring that promise very well. To Kaeya, to live happily was to be able to protect his loved ones and not have to hide behind a mask and to be able to share all his worries and thoughts with them.
Kaeya recalled loathing Khaenri'ah in his past life and wanting nothing to do with the nation, hating it's very existance within Teyvat, but this Khaenri'ah was different this Khaenri'ah wasn't cursed, it wasn't chasing after an ancient war plot and it didn't abandon him at a young age. Instead, he felt compelled to protect the nation and the people within it, it was a sense of love. This was country that he wouldn't mind putting his life on the line for as long as it would save it.
There was also the case of having to marry a stranger who could be an absolute sweetheart or his worst nightmare. Kaeya couldn't deny that he wasn't sure if he was ready for a relationship just yet as he definently still held feelings for Diluc even if he accepted the fact that he was dead. In reality, their last encounter was nothing short of traumatizing. How did Diluc think it was a good idea to apologise, confess his feelings, kiss him for the first and last time and then die he had no idea, but it ignited his repressed feelings and they were still going strong two decades later.
Either way, Kaeya was sure he could come to terms with these feelings soon enough and have them there as a happy reminder if he was having a tough time. If this prince was a good person then he could learn to love them and if things don't go well Kaeya could always divorce him once he sets up a solid enough international network for Khaenri'ah, same goes for if the prince is an asshole from the get go.
With all of this in check, Kaeya was confident that things would go well, the first few weeks in Mondstad were bound to be dicey. He had no connections in Mondstad and Khaenri'ah would not be able to help him, even the servants he would be bringing with him wouldn't be able to do much in an unfamiliar place since they were bound to have worries of their own with being so far away from home. Making any plans would be impossible so he had to work based on intuition until he got a good grasp on the situation. After that, he could finally start planning.
--
The days dwindled by rather quickly and before Kaeya knew it, he found himself unable to fall asleep on the night before his departure to Mondstad.
He stared aimlessly at the ceiling, tracing the same pattern for the hundredth time in an attempt to fall asleep to no avail. Getting some rest would be ideal with the long journey that awaited him in the morning, but his body refused to cooperate despite his heavy fatigue from the long month of non-stop work.
Eventually, Kaeya gave up on his attempts to sleep and got up off the bed, grabbing his sketchbook and supplies before heading out onto the balcony. He breathed in the fresh spring air and sat himself down comfortably on a reclining lawn chair.
When he couldn't sleep in his past life, he would often climb onto the roof of a building and gaze out into the night sky while contemplating random topics. Kaeya couldn't exactly do that here since the guards would find him rather quickly and pester him until he got down from the roof.
Kaeya still had this balcony, but it didn't give off the same effect, but luckily he found that he particularly enjoyed drawing on nights like these as well and the balcony was more than suitable as a drawing location.
He admired the constellations that he could see in the night sky for a few moments, relaxing any of the tension in his muscles as he breathed in the fresh air, lulling himself into a calm mood. Soon after, he opened the sketchbook, briefly flicking through the many pieces that he had drawn before landing on a blank page. Kaeya sketched whatever came naturally. He wasn't trying to create a masterpiece tonight, he just wanted to draw without stressing over the details or getting annoyed if he messed up a particular line.
Admittedly, Kaeya was a bit nervous for the coming day, he was confident in his abilities to see the mission through, but it had been nineteen years since he had an important mission to carry out and actually had to wear a mask continually. He was worried that he would make a mistake and bring ruin to the country since his last few important missions had all ended in ruin as well.
In his past life he wouldn't have worried about this sort of thing. For as long as he could remember, he had always had an important mission to carry it out, whether it was to spy on the Ragnvindir's, protect Mondstad, or defeat Aether. Being reborn in this life was the first time that he had no immediate obligations. Of course he had the duty of a prince laid on him from birth but it was still different since he wasn't expected to act out on it until adult-hood.
So he truly wondered what if knowing what it was like to have no mission would make it harder for him to pretend and effectively carry out this new mission. Kaeya hoped that it wouldn't.
It was somewhat annoying too, this whole remembering his past life thing. He had gotten quite good at depending on others for help since that was one of his goals, but there was that one thing that he couldn't confide in others about and it was also the thing that troubled him the most. No one in this world would be able to understand, much less believe him if he told them that he got reincarnated into a prince, it sounded way too much like a fictional fantasy and if he persisted then he would be thrown into a mental institution for sure.
For the most part he had learned to dismiss that feeling of annoyance since it didn't do any good to dwell on the impossible. He was lucky to have a second life, lucky that he got a chance to do things right this time and not die full of regrets, these hardships are more than acceptable.
All was going to be well no matter how much he worried. Kaeya could trust his skills and knowledge so that even if things went wrong, he could pull himself out of any situation as long as he was prepared for the possibility, he did this thousands of times and he could do it again.
Kaeya stayed out on the balcony, drawing to his heart’s content, filling the once blank page with mindless character as he slowly dozed off into a peaceful sleep.