Chapter Text
Sweat drips from his face, sliding down his neck and dampening the neck of his shirt. He looks up at the sky and regrets it as the merciless sun of Liyue hurts his eyes.
“What is wrong with the weather here?” Childe asks, hooking a finger inside the neck to unbotton the beginning of his shirt. It was his very first time visiting Liyue and he badly missed the weather of Snezhnaya; the cold, gentle breeze on his face, feet sinking in the snow.
He looks down to his little debt book, finding the first name on the list of clients to visit that day: Yanshang Teahouse. 100 000 mora. 2 months late.
“Let’s get over with this quickly.” he says, fixing his gloves and coming out to the streets overflowing with people, ready to get ready for work. Childe had fun working as a fatui debt collector, especially when they refused to pay; as long as there was a chance to put in practice his different methods of extortion, he would continue doing that job despite his actions being frowned upon by his own parents. The money paid the debts, allowed him to help his family and spoil his brothers and sister; and traveling wasn’t bad at all, allowed him to enjoy some pretty views: like the ocean, the hills…
Childe stops his tracks when his eyes spot something prettier than Liyue’s landscapes: a young maid standing on the tip of her feet to support her arms over the counter of a store. She had long blonde hair, tied on a braid cascading over her back. She was dressed up in one of those traditional black maid dresses with a white apron tied around his slim waist, the long skirt covering his legs that ended up in shiny black shoes.
“ Cute .” Childe thought, wondering if all the maids in Liyue dressed up like that.
She picks a package and holds it on her arms, then turns towards his direction. The wind blows, her long hair streaming with the drift, his skirt lifting for the fraction of a second before she rushes to pull it down, her face lighting up like a candle in the dark. She looks around to make sure no one saw what happened, and ends up meeting Childe’s eyes.
Face burning red, he smiles nervously, lifting a trembling hand and waving it.
“Hi.”
As if it was possible, her pretty face gets even redder, eyes tearying up; she turns around and runs towards the opossite direction, her braid waving as she moves. Childe outstretches a hand towards her and asks her to wait, his voice unable to reach her as she moves very, very fast. He’s left behind, mind spinning, wondering if what he witnessed was what Liyue’s people called “the blessing of Morax”. In the form of lacey pearl underwear.
At the south of Liyue, on the way out of the harbor and right to the left of the Mountain Tianheng, there was a golden house: big as a palace, yet secluded enough to keep the curious eyes away. About the lord that lived there a lot of stories had been told, many of them linking him with certain deadly business running in the town --deadly in the most literal way--.
“Who is next~?” Childe goes through his list, the strange business making him grimace. “Wanhsheng Funeral Parlor… 6 000 000 mora ?!” Childe laughs at the number, finding hilarious the amount of money borrowed by a funeral parlor, “Just how much money do they need?”
Childe got business to do in Liyue: a series of debts needed to be collected. Yanshang Teahouse put on a fight but ended up paying, just as everyone did. Nobody wanted problems with the Northland Bank because that meant having an issue with the fatui. The following three businesses paid the moment they saw Childe at their door, probably hearing about the fuss over the teahouse and not wanting to have their business compromised. He is pretty much surprised the word got out considering he did his best to avoid calling the attetion, not wanting the millelith to come knock at his door.
There were no guards at the entry of The Golden House, which set up his alarms; there was no way such a mysterious person lived there and they didn’t consider investing part of their fortune in proper security.
“What business do you have here?”
Childe turns on his soles, meeting the cold gaze of a young man with emerald eyes; he carried a bouquet of qingxin flowers and got his cuffs stained with dirt as a consecuence, messing up the rest of his dapper looks. The vest, black trousers and nice shoes gave him the look of a buttler, but what kind of buttler would get his clothes dirty because of picking flowers?
Not a good one. “Hello! My name is Childe, I’m a fatui.” he introduced himself, “I’m here to meet the master of the house, the director of Wangshend Funeral Parlor.”
He blinks, “She doesn’t live here.”
“Oh? really?” Childe gestures the house as a whole, “Then who lives here?”
“Someone who doesn’t know how to manage his money…” he mouthed, shifting his eyes away. “He is just a consultant for the Wangshend Funeral Parlor. If you are looking for the director, that would be Miss Hu Tao.” the young man shrugs, “And as I said, she doesn’t live here.” he thumbed behind him. “So please, leave already.” he asks --thought Childe felt like he was kicking him out--.
“Hey!” Childe rushes to stop him when he attempts to keep walking, “Well, maybe your master is the person I am looking for!”
The young man stops walking and turns to him with a furrowed brow, which seemed to be the only expression he got. “You dont even know his name, why are you looking for him.”
“I’ve come to collect a debt.” Childe explains, “And I got explicit instruction to ask for the master of the Golden house since that was the person who borrowed the money.”
The buttler studies him from head to toe and lets out a sound from his mouth, very similar to an actual laugh . Despite being significantly shorter than him, Childe could swear he was looking down on him.
“Well then, good luck with that.” he says before walking past Childe and towards the main gates of the Golden House.
Childe knew that didn’t exactly count as “a client refusing to pay back”, but it rubbed him the wrong way to have someone younger looking down on him.
“Haha! Maybe shaking you off a bit would wipe that expression of your face!” he says outloud, for the buttler to hear him.
He stops and turns to him, opening his mouth as the door of the house opens.
“ Xiaoooo ~” A couple of arms wrap around the buttler, pulling him into a hug. “Did you get the flowers?”
Chidle gasps at the view of the maid he saw in the harbor lovingly hugging the buttler, rubbing a cheek against his face. “Ah! It’s you!” Childe smiles brigthly, “I can’t believe I found you here!”
The maid then notices his presence, cheeks lighting up. “What are you doing here?!”
The voice that comes out it’s significantly deeper compared to the voice that called the buttler’s name. Just then things fall into place, and Childe parts his lips, letting out quite a personal question.
“Uh, are you a guy?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Xiao cuts, his eyes cold as ice.
“Of course there isn’t!” Childe holds a hand over his chest, “I still think you are the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!” a smile pulls from his eyes, “May I ask your name?”
The maid presses his lips together and before he manages to say a word, Xiao gets on the way.
“No, you can’t.” Xiao cuts, pushing the maid back inside the house, “Let’s go back, the master must be waiting.”
“W-Wait!”
The doors of The Golden House close with a heavy thud that echoes in the clearing, scaring the birds on the trees near the entrance. Childe sighs heavily, scratching the back of his face, wondering how bad things could go for him. He looks at the time of his watch and decides to be patient, and wait for a chance to speak with anyone who came out of that house. Not like they would be inside the whole day, right?
Luckily for him, around 10 minutes later, the doors open a second time and the butler comes out. Xiao grimaces, making a gesture for him to come inside.
A cup of tea was settled in front of him by small hands that look soft to the touch. Childe has to fight the urge to touch that hand and not let it go.
“Thanks.” Childe mouths, watching the maid flush. “May I ask your name now?”
“...Aether.” the maid says plainly, “My master will be here in a minute.” Aether bows towards him before walking away; Childe jumps to his feet, grabbing his arm.
“Won’t you make me company until your master arrive?”
“I got work to do.” Aether pulls a face, “I can’t talk with the guests so casually.”
“My name is Childe.” he introduces himself, his hand sliding to hold his hand. He brings Aether's hand to his lips and press a kiss against the back of it, closing his eyes. “Nice to meet you.”
Aether shifts his eyes away. “Could you please let me go my hand?”
“Ah! Sorry~” he shows his palms, “See? No more touching.” he hides his hands behind his body, “Please, make me company until your master arrives.”
“There is no need to wait anymore.”
The sound of steps come to Childe’s ears and he turns towards the stairs, finally meeting the master of the house as he descends to the first floor. A tall, pale-skinned man dressed up in formal clothes, with long hair tied in a ponytail.
Aether’s eyes splarkle when he sees his master and he rushes to his side to properly introduce him.
“This is the master of the house, Mister Zhongli.” he says, gesturig the tall man. “Master, this is Childe, the person Xiao talked about.”
Childe notices the change in the tone of Aether’s voice and even the way his face lights up when he sees his Master’s amber eyes.
“Ah, the fatui collector.” Zhongli invites him to take a seat and Childe gladly accepts. “I can guess the reason you are here.”
“If that’s the case, then that makes things easier.” Childe pulls out his records and begins to read the content. “You borrowed 6 000 000 mora from the Northland Bank exactly 3 months ago. You were supossed to pay 1 000 000 each month but you haven’t paid anything at all.”
Aether pales, side eyeing his master.
“...Master.”
Zhongli crosses his arms and nods. “That’s right.”
That’s all he says and silence fall upon the group, making Aether begin to sweat and Childe grow impatient.
“Well,” he scratches the back of his face, not sure of how to proceed anymore. That man didn’t look scared but either defensive enough to trigger a fight. “I came here for the money.”
Zhongli meets Aether’s eyes and smile, making the maid smile back. He takes the pot and pours tea for his master, who takes a sip before speaking again. “I would love to pay but there is one problem,” Zhongli settles the cup down, “I don’t have money right now.”
Childe blinks several times, uncapable to take in how bold was that man. “Mister Zhongli, I think you don’t understand what I am saying.” he stood from his seat, “As a fatui collector I own myself to the Northland bank, and I must return to home with the money collected.”
“Or what?” Xiao asks, entering the living room, “Are you threatening our master?” he twisted his wrist, a spear appearing on his hand.
Childe’s eyes widen and then feels something pressing against his side. He looks to the left, finding the pretty maid holding a sword, the tip right in the space between his ribs.
He can’t help to smile. “You are more than a pretty face.”
Despite the flush on Aether’s face, his grip is firm as he is willing to hurt him in order to protect his master.
“Aether, Xiao.” Zhongli called, “put down your weapons, we are talking here.”
Reluclant at first, both of them do as they are told, the weapons dissapearing from their hands before they return right next to his master side.
“My apologies,” he begins, “First I would like to explain the reason I don’t have the money to pay,” he sighs heavily, “The director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor asked me to borrow the money to put it in our business, but things didn’t work out as she expected and--” he coughs, “She ran away.”
“Hu Tao left?!” Aether pales, “Master, you didn’t tell us that!”
“Are you even surprised?” Xiao mumbles, “I knew it wasn’t a good idea.”
Zhongli clears his throat, making Aether and Xiao shut. “Anyway, it’s my responsabilty right now to keep the business going and pay the debt, since I was the person who borrowed the money.” he smiles at Childe, “I might not have the moras to pay right now, but I think we can work things out through a contract.” He gestures around, “This house is pretty big, we got plenty of treasures you could take.” he crosses his arms, “And even if it isn’t enough, you can take the whole house.”
“Master!” Aether calls, settling his hands on Zhongli’s shoulders, “D-Don’t go that far!”
“I have an idea.”
Zhongli and Aether look at Childe, who spoke loud enough for his voice to echo on the walls.
“As you say, this house is pretty big. Why don’t you turn this place into some kind of inn?” he gestures up, “You got two floors and I guess several rooms you could rent.” he then looks at his maid and buttler. “And you got the personal to work with.”
“Not a good idea.” Xiao cuts in, shaking his head, “We only serve our master and refuse to work for others, less strangers.”
“That’s quite a good idea.” Zhongli settles a hand over Aether’s, “You are a great cooker, better than most of the chefs in Liyue. I'm sure people would love to stay here just to try your food."
“And I would be your first guest!”
They turn back to Childe, who smiles brightly at the group.
“As part of the deal, I get to stay for free for as long as I want to. You can consider me as a guest for you to practice the kind of service you want to offer.” he tilts his head, “I would cut 1 000 000 from your debt.”
Zhongli stands from his seat, outstretching a hand. “It’s a deal then.”
Aether and Xiao look in horror at his master settling a contract with a dangerous debt collector, allowing him into their space without giving it a second thought.
Childe looks past Zhongli, his eyes meeting Aether’s. “I will be at your care, my beloved.”