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“Where’s the prince?”
“We need to hurry and find him, the King is looking for his son!”
“Look for the prince immediately!”
The royal court was in panic, the Prince had disappeared again. He was known for following his duties religiously but, when it came to his free time, he’d spare no minute to wander off, ignoring everyone in the castle.
Today, the prince hid in shadows, waiting for the servants to pass, running in panic, before he could sneak into the kitchen and run through the wooden door restricted only for servants. Anyone would go crazy in this ambience, especially when knowing exactly why the King was looking for his son.
Marriage, again.
It’s been years since King Crepus began trying to set his son with Jean, Diluc’s childhood friend and princess to the neighbouring kingdom. As if. And, knowing what waited for him in the throne room, it wouldn’t hurt to go out for a while, watch the common folk with envy.
It gave him a headache.
Oh, how simple their lives were. Diluc sighed.
He stopped, however, with a hand on the doorknob when he heard fake coughing sounds from behind. Frozen, he turned around to see Adelinde, her arms crossed in disapproval.
“Miss Adelinde…”
“I’m sure Prince Diluc’s heard about our majesty, his father’s, orders?”
“I’ve…” he sighed. “I’m aware.”
“I wonder, then,” she lifted an eyebrow, dubious, “where Prince Diluc is running to?”
Receiving no answer from the embarrassed noble, it was now her turn to sigh, shaking her head. “Prince Diluc is still young. I’ll let you off this time, but I hope you know things won’t be the same when you turn eighteen.”
“Thank you, Adelinde.”
“Go before I change my mind.”
With a last smile to show his gratefulness, Diluc left the castle. Oh, it’s been a while since he's been in town. Of course, he’d go out often to hunt, train or visit Jean’s home, still, it’s not like he had frequent contact with his people. A Prince, how can he protect his people if he’s so distant from them?
As he remembered, the town was busy, brimming with life in all forms and types. A stray cat ran next to his feet, a stolen fish on its mouth and an angry man discussing with the owner of Cat’s Tail, a popular tavern around here. The woman just shook her head, probably not understanding what got the fisherman so angry. A bard dressed in green attracted a crowd with his songs, making even the old nuns stop to dance and clap. A blonde man sat by the fountain, picking a wet book a green-haired girl appeared to have dropped, an equally blonde child near them, seeming apologetically.
The empty hallways of the castle could never compare.
Before he could take another step, Diluc watched as a white kerchief was blown in his direction, falling next to his foot. Hesitating just a bit, Diluc kneeled to take it, rubbing soft fabric between his fingers.
Lifting himself from the floor, he almost fell again.
Someone he guessed was the owner of the cloth was walking towards him, eyes focusing on the white kerchief he held and nothing else. And, truly, that was the prettiest man Diluc had even seen.
There was certain grace on each one of his movements, even the most insignificant ones, like the way his eyelids met or the way his chest moved whenever he breathed, filling his lungs with air just to release it with such delicateness that, once again, trapped the prince’s stare, almost like a spell, or a curse, making him unable to focus on anything else.
Even the wind recognized such grace, daring to compliment the man, sending soft breezes that made his long hair — a dark blue, that under the sunlight, adopted a shimmering light, glossing the night sky — swing with it, softly, falling on his face and disturbing his visible eye. A lighter tone of blue could be found on those eyes that observed the prince with certain caution, suspicion, eyes that, for a spit of second, made the prince doubt his own eyes, as he swore he could see fire on them, a burning passion on his iris, trying to hide behind long lashes that contributed to the man’s delicate features. The other eye was covered by a thin eyepatch, which was also covered by long bangs that hid half of his face. What a shame, as Diluc wished to see it all.
The prince, then, finally looks away from his cherry lips, half open, ready to speak. He only looks away because of the movement on his hands, going from his waist to tuck one of his blue locks behind an ear, long and delicate fingers, like a pianist, touching his dark skin, probably easily bruised, with the softness of a book lover turning the page of a recently bought work, how a widow holding her beloved’s forgotten belongings, just how a poet touches words.
The man also looks his way, pretending to grace the prince with his attention, which Diluc so much wished for, waiting for the red haired man to finally pronounce his thoughts, waiting for his empty words to come out, so he would be able to return to his chores, politely. However, the prince found himself trapped, words stuck on his throat, struggling as they tried to find their way back, desperately wishing to be spoken, even if they knew they would never be.
Afraid of dying suffocated by every single word not spoken, for his own admiration, the prince separated his lips, only to be interrupted by the tanned man soon after.
“I believe that belongs to me”, simple words left the man’s mouth, simple, however, harmonious, echoing on their eardrums, filling the square with the most melodious song that was his voice.
Trembling, the royal was aware of the heat on his cheeks while he handed the kerchief to the stranger, who was quick to attach around his head, a weak knot adorning his nape, just waiting for the next breeze that would take it away.
“I’m afraid we’ve never met before” the royal managed to speak. Somehow.
The stranger chuckled, politely. Gracefully. Beautifully, “I’m afraid we have not. Yet, I’m glad we have met, at least” before Diluc could answer, the man was talking again. “I’m just kidding. Name is Kaeya, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir…?”
“I’m…” he gulped, though his face was unknown to most, his name was not. “... Luc.”
“Luc?” Kaeya smiled with his eyes. “What a cute name.”
“...Cute?”
“Oh, don’t take it personally. I mean in a good way, I really like how it sounds… Luc.”
Diluc gulped again.
“But it’s true I’ve never seen you around, Sir Luc… Are you also an outsider?”
“Outsider?”
“Guess not, then.”
“Are you not… From this land?”
“You can say so. I was born somewhere far, far away… But I’ve been living here for a decade or so, can I still be called a foreigner?”
“I’m curious why you left your homeland, if that’s not intruding too much.”
“Oh, you know” he twirled a lock around his finger. “It just happens, I was too young to really understand. Besides, isn’t this a lovely kingdom? I’m happy to be so well received by these people.”
“I’m… I’m glad you think so.”
Kaeya smiled and, once again, Diluc’s air was robbed from his lungs.
The warmth Diluc felt in town was different from the burning sensation inside his chest. Whenever he ran away from his duties and castle, he would observe his people with a grateful embrace, though knowing that warmth, those smiles weren't directed at him. A king was nothing more than an observer to his kingdom. However, with Kaeya in front of him, he felt embraced by the scenery. No, no, it was as if the scenery didn’t matter anymore. He couldn’t even see the children running around, or the adults crying or celebrating. When they looked at each other, it wasn’t as if Diluc felt warm. He was burning, not with warmth, but ice. He felt all his members rigid, cold, numb, making him freeze in place, unable to think about anything that wasn’t this moment.
He opened his mouth, just to be interrupted by an outsider.
“Kaeya!” a brown haired lady came their way. “Are you slacking off again?”
She crossed her arms, waiting for an apology to receive a chuckle from the man himself. Kaeya looked at him, amused, “I’m not, how can you suspect me? I’ve come to retrieve this, see?” he pointed to his head.
The girl humphed, jumping right after noticing the presence of another man. “Oh… There’s someone here… I’m sorry, is Kaeya bothering you?”
“Of course not.”
“This kind man helped me, Amber, behave.”
“Wha… I’m the one you are telling to behave?! Even so…” she looked up with amber eyes, curiously. “Do I know you, sir? You don’t seem unfamiliar…”
Diluc coughed, Kaeya covered for him, “You must’ve seen him around, Amber, it’s not rare around here.”
“It’s true, but…” she shook her head. “Pardon, sir, do you work somewhere near?”
“I’m…”
“He told me he works at Angel’s Share, that new tavern near Albedo’s house.”
Before Diluc could interrupt, the girl was already accepting the excuse, “Is that so? Still, I just came here to tell you Lisa is calling for you… Don’t make her wait, alright?”
Without promising anything, Kaeya waved until the girl turned a corner and disappeared on the busy street. Just then Diluc was able to state the obvious, “I don’t work at that tavern.”
“I’m aware, since I’m always there.”
“Then why…”
“Because now, sir ,” the word sounded playful, but not enough for Diluc not to gulp down the sentiment blooming on his skin, “you know where to find me.”
“You mean…”
“If you excuse me,” Kaeya bowed and, even in this angle, Diluc could see the smirk growing on his lips, “your majesty.”
Crimson eyes went wide for a second and he stepped forward, easily evaded by the playful man who laughed as goodbye, turning on his heels and leaving the prince wordless. Breathless even.
Kaeya knowing who he was and pretending to fall for his lies did not scare him. Made him even more excited, maybe. Part of him thought it would not be wise to involve himself with a man who knew his identity, while the other half, the loudest one, couldn’t care less, already planning their next meeting.
Angel’s Share, where is it?
They say the Prince fell in love with a commoner.
Scandalous as it was, people were more curious than anything. They knew their heir was promised to princess Jean from the neighbour kingdom, how could their lovely prince betray their love even before marriage? Gossip runs fast, everyone curious to know the vixen who took their prince’s heart away.
Diluc never bothered to hide, they soon found. Hide? With the way he looked at that man? A man, even! How scandalous! It’s even worse! Shameless! And they didn’t even bother pretending, with Prince Diluc frequent visits in town or the way Kaeya Alberich would hang around the castle until someone would let him inside to return the day after with a smile on his obnoxious face.
A castle maid told the baker, the King isn’t happy with this. Yesterday the prince was called by his father to be asked how he could let himself be seduced by a man. Wasn’t he raised well, with the finest things even an ordinary royal wouldn’t be able to afford? What a disgrace, a disappointment.
But the prince, I’ve raised him since he was a small child, the maid told, shaking her head, since then he was as stubborn as an old noble! Who in this world could convince him? He fought back with words, stomping his feet like a mad man! Oh, my little prince, he was driven mad by that vixen…
The king then offered, and I’ll tell you with the exact words. I do not care whoever you lay down with as long as you don’t mix it with love. I allow you to keep that cat as a bed warmer but stay out of the public sight. Marry Princess Jean and I’ll even allow your escort as a servant in this castle.
And what the prince said?
He got furious, of course! Raging, he came out of the room and glared at us who were trying to listen through the door. Oh! I was so scared, you know? I raised our Prince like my child, just to be stared as if he wanted to murder him… I’m telling you, that vixen made a good man lose his mind.
Watching the maids gossip through the window, Diluc sighed. Soon Adelinde would come and tell them to return to work, after gossip was done. Oh, Adelinde, who only sighed when she saw him, saying nothing because soon destiny would speak louder than her anyways.
And, oh, how destiny worked. Soon it made his statement, it screamed, more like it. The king fell ill, their farming was affected by the sudden drought, making animals die from hunger and sending his people in despair.
God’s punishment, of course, for the Prince’s depravity.
If anyone were to act against Diluc, now would be the right time to take his throne.
Knowing this, the air was heavy in the room, the only place isolated from the chaotic world outside. Kaeya massaged his shoulders, gentle and quiet, while Diluc gulped down a cup of water, lost in thoughts.
He was worried, obviously. Kaeya suddenly stopped his hands, Diluc turning his head to see Kaeya move back, creating another distance between them.
“Luc, you know…”
Diluc already hated that tone.
Sensing bad news, still he wouldn’t have guessed in a million year what Kaeya would say next.
“I wouldn’t mind being a mistress or something.”
“...What?” crimson eyes closed a few times, digesting the suggestion. He approached Kaeya, carefully, “What do you mean?”
Kaeya chuckled, the laugh he’s grown used to… Why did it sound so distant now? “I don’t want to be separated from you, that’s why I wouldn’t mind staying as your kept man so you can marry Princess Jean.”
The words carved Diluc’s expression like a knife, shaping his sharp angles and cold glare as he stared right at Kaeya, who didn’t batter an eye at his reaction. He knew Kaeya was serious about this and, as much as Diluc was worried about the situation, a thought like that would never cross his mind.
“That’s not fair for you, and especially not fair for Jean. If you want to live a lie, that’s on you, I won’t work with this.”
“If you want to be loyal to someone, then, be loyal to her” there was a new tone to his voice, a venom Diluc never heard before. Kaeya was a difficult one to anger, with how well he bottled his emotions and laughed his worries off with a simple joke. “The kingdom doubts you, your father is both ill and mad at you. You must know more than I when I say there’s people keeping an eye on you. On the kingdom, mostly.”
“Kaeya”, he warned.
He kept speaking, “If a revolution broke out, you know what’d happen. There’s people outside, at this exact moment, gathering and planning the best way to take you down. Electing a leader, more than one.”
“I told you not to worry about this.”
“How can I not?! Tell me, then. This isn’t even about your throne anymore. This place will be a warzone, civil war will break out between the groups being created. This is not just about you being disowned or killed, it’s about the whole kingdom being turned upside down.”
“You are mad, I refuse to keep listening to you.”
“You refuse because you know I’m right, so you refuse to admit it.”
Reaching his breaking point, Diluc got up, angrily reaching for his shirt to dress it up, not bothering to get his coat on the floor. “That’s it. If that’s what you want, I won’t look for you again.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted, thank you.”
Diluc’s soaked by the time he reaches the castle, but the anger burning inside his chest is enough to keep him warm for now.
Diluc needs to be extremely careful right now.
He misses Kaeya at his side, but any wrong movement can put them both in danger and so, for now, the Prince obeys his Kingdom. Of course, he sends a servant to look out for Kaeya, one that looks at him strangely when hearing the request, but follows orders nonetheless.
Rumors have started circling around the kingdom, results of an angry nation and a King that refused to get better. They talked about a witch’s curse, how the King fell ill thanks to that, how their animals and plants died because of the witch’s curse.
Obviously, it doesn’t take long for rumors to take another turn. The witch actually seduced the prince, that’s how it was able to set a curse on the royal family and the whole kingdom. Poor prince, victim to that witch’s charm… What was the witch’s name again? Kaeya, the youth who seduced the dutiful Prince with his enchantments and dark magic.
When Diluc hears it, he goes berserk. He orders his servants to find who started that lie, so the one can be punished as they deserve. Barbara, Jean’s sister and a training nun at Mondstat’s Church, looks at him worried, saying the Church has no involvement and isn’t aware of the culprit.
Of course, she heard about it from other nuns. She doesn’t believe them, not at all. Someone as gentle as Sir Kaeya, even if he was a demon, she doubts he would ever try to harm those who treated him so well before…
“The Church of Mondstat will keep looking for the origins of the rumors, sir” she spoke, blue eyes filled with agony.
“That’s ridiculous. For someone to actually think that…”
His complaint wasn’t finished, however, as another nun entered the room. Sister Rosaria stood with her arms crossed, a dry smile on her face, “The witch has been captured.”
Barbara feared for the worst.
“You mean…”
“What I mean, your majesty,” he couldn’t understand that tone of hers. No one could, he suspected, “is that the witch came himself to confess his sins.”
Confess.
“Kaeya Alberich’s trial is being held right now.”
Leaving both his and God’s servants behind, Diluc runs towards the crime scene. It couldn't be too late, with how sudden it happened. It is, maybe, as Kaeya is already at stake when he arrives.
A blonde child cries, wanting to run towards the witch while her older brother holds him back, even though his eyes say he too wants to run that way. Another child looks weirdly at the Prince before leaving the scene, knowing she’s too young to have a saying on it. A brown haired woman he’s seen with Kaeya before hugs a pair of blonde twins. They look at Diluc for a while before letting their stares fall towards the ground. There are some people who yell in hostility, wanting revenge on their losses.
Diluc wants to stop this madness. He steps forwards and Kaeya doesn’t even need to look at him to know he’s there. He knows he arrived, as he starts to scream his sins out to the public. I was the one who made Crepus sick. I cursed your plantations and brought the dryness and cold. The animals were all killed by me, and so was all their family members who died in return.
The people scream and Diluc knows there’s nothing he can do.
He knows it, he knows Kaeya is lying, of course, but he doesn’t know why. That’s the problem with Kaeya, always. Even though he knows of his lies, he could never understand the reason behind them.
“If you want proof”, Kaeya spoke, calmly, a smile on his face, as if he had been there numerous times, trying to prove his crimes. He spoke in his normal tone but, somehow, his voice seemed loud in everyone’s eyes, as if he had been yelling from the top of his lungs, “you can take a look at my covered eye.”
Sister Rosaria approaches carefully and takes off his eyepatch. Where people presumed a scar or an ugly defect would be, a mismatched eye stared back at them. Diluc has never seen it before, as Kaeya refused to let anyone take it off as if it were the most precious clothes a maiden wore. He’d joke about the origins, but would always explain he didn’t want Diluc to see his ugly side.
As if Kaeya would ever be ugly.
Even as mismatched eyes looked forward, diamond pupil shocking the witness, a silver almost white, eye that didn’t match his dark blue one, even like that, Kaeya was mesmerizing. His eyes, nature finally revealed, received gasps and yells, judgment came from the hands of his people and not God himself.
Diluc could only watch as those eyes continued to shine between flames that engulfed the whole stake.
Between the fire, Kaeya smiles directly at Diluc one last time, finding him on the crowd easily, as if he knew he was there before.
He mouths something, only for him.
Diluc doesn’t understand what he says.
The flames, however, burn his clothes and burn the stake, but never him. Rosaria gasps and steps back, desperately searching for a solution that would kill this… No, not witch. Maybe devil himself.
Kaeya smiled, but the dark wings that grew from his back must have hurt. No one reacts and no one needs to, as Kaeya lifts himself from the ground and disappears from this world. At least, the world they knew.
When blood dries, what’s left is always regret. No blood was splattered on the square, but, maybe, Diluc wished it was. There were people who cried, those who begged. Those who celebrated. Diluc was none of those.
He stared quietly at the ashes and dust left behind, picked the white kerchief that refused to burn and walked home.
From somewhere distant, on a hill surrounding the kingdom, the fallen angel observed the man picking up a black feather from the castle’s garden. There was certain sorrow in the scene only he and the Prince could understand fully. Beneath where the angel sat on the tree’s branch, another figure sighed. “Was it worth?” the blonde demon asked.
Kaeya turned to Dainsleif for a second before returning his gaze at the Prince, who now entered his castle. “What?”
The demon always watched Kaeya from afar, ever since they were separated. He couldn’t understand the human feelings the fallen angel gained after leaving, of course, but he enjoyed feeling he could whenever he saw Kaeya smile. What he couldn’t understand, however, was why he created rumors about himself instead of taking what he wanted.
What the demon wouldn’t understand even if Kaeya explained, was what the fallen angel truly wished.
After he went away, the king was cured and the Kingdom continued to grow at a steady pace. Soon, the Prince would assume his throne by right, no takes on it. The past only a stain their prince fell victim to and hopefully solved it out, as expected of the great royal he was born and known to be.
Dainsleif sighed, waving his hand at the castle and the town nearby, a reminder of his forever sins. “Everything.”
Only silence could be heard for a while, Kaeya deadly quiet, caressing the scars on his wrist he refused to heal, a reminder of his love and evils. “Yes”, he smiled softly, “I would do it again given the chance.”
“Even knowing your end?”
“It was worth, ask no more.”
The demon sighed, playing with the cross around his neck and adjusting his capelet. As someone who had lived so many hundreds of years between humans, he was on point about how weird they were. Blaming God and Demons for their own sins, their own envy and greed. He sighed again, “You were wrong to be captivated by humanity.”
“Was I?”
“Not your only mistake, perhaps.” Dainsleif looked directly at him. “If you want something, you should take it next time.”
“To hear it from you…” he snickered, playfully. “This way, Diluc was able to follow his path. He was destined for grandeur, you also know it.”
“You were too, long ago. You, however, choose your destiny to be this way.”
Kaeya smiles and allows another feather to fall from his wings. Dainsleif is the one who catches it. He knows the implications behind that smile and, with grief, he leaves Kaeya to continue mourning after his prince.
The once-angel went quiet yet again. The Priest was ready to go home and leave the half-demon alone but, as he turned on his heels to walk into the forest, he heard the angel say, almost whispering.
“It wasn’t a mistake.”
Dainsleif lifted one eyebrow, “If you say so.”