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“It’s love!” Sucrose’s usually timid voice sounded enthusiastic when she responds to her master’s question. Her gloved hands were intertwined with one another as her eyes glittered with excitement and joy. “You’re in love with Miss (Y/n)!”
The young Chief Alchemist’s brows furrowed in confusion, his nose scrunching that amused his two assistants. “’Love’? How would you even know if it’s love? It could just be some temporary sickness I have.”
“No, no, I disagree, Mister Albedo. The way you described it—it’s nothing but love!” Her arms splayed in the air as she emphasizes her point. The green-haired female shakes her head feverishly, seeing the young man’s lip twitch downward. “Then, shall we gather the evidence with practical performances?” Her glasses tinted with mischief, not a common sight from his assistant.
Albedo sighs.
What was there to lose anyway? It wasn’t as if there was any harm in letting her prove him wrong when there was nothing at all to tell that she was correct and he wasn’t.
“Fine, go all out. If you need me to testify your ‘evidence’, then just—”
“Mister Albedo, according to your statement about half a minute ago, you mentioned about your heart rate picking its pace when you’re around her, no?” Sucrose smiles with a determined expression. The young blonde did not expect her to be so serious about this.
Albedo’s eyes narrowed. “… Yes, and what of it?”
“When a person is in love, their heartbeat hastens because your brain releases hormones that deliver happy chemicals all over your body such as dopamine and adrenaline—thus, making the heart beat faster and stronger! That’s one sign!” Sucrose grins.
Albedo raises an unamused brow, leaning his chin onto his palm as he pinpointed his stare towards his other assistant, Timaeus. “Is that so?” He smirks as he huffs. “Timaeus, do tell me what illnesses are out there whose one of the many symptoms are a fast heart rate?”
The young man in question flinches, not expecting to be dragged into the conversation his companion and master had started. He gulps, not sure how to respond. He respected Albedo a lot, he believed he was the smartest in all of Teyvat!
But Sucrose wasn’t wrong either. He was listening in on their conversation regarding his early hangout with his master’s new companion — you. There was no doubt about it; his master was head over heels in love with you but was just too dense and oblivious to his own feelings.
To side with Sucrose in this situation felt like betraying his teacher, but it wasn’t as if he could lie to himself too just to protect his master’s pride.
“Timaeus?” Albedo calls for his name again.
The young man stiffens, his smile freezing as he averts eye contact with his teacher. “W-Well, Mister Albedo… I believe this is a good experience for you—you happen to like discovering new things, no? I-If I input my opinion and thought into it, it might clash with your own…”
The young Chief Alchemist notices his male assistant fidget in his spot, Albedo immediately noticing he was trying to avoid inclusion on the situation at hand. He didn’t pester him anymore, crossing his arms as he returns his attention back to Sucrose who was still looking at him with a determined and confident smile.
“Then tell me, Sucrose, what’s the second piece of evidence do you have?”
“I presume my statements will be further proved correct if we bring the lady herself.” Sucrose proudly says, turning to Timaeus with a knowing look. In an instant, the young man took that excuse to run away from whatever fire brewing between his co-assistant and their master and went to get the woman Albedo supposedly loved.
Albedo raises a brow. “I don’t see your point.”
“Mister Albedo, here’s another point I would like to add,” Sucrose clears his throat, getting an intrigued look from her teacher, “you are far too indulged in your work to pay attention to others, yet to Miss (Y/n), you look at her with such fondness and adoration and give her your time regardless of your busy schedule or not.” She points an accusing finger at him, her other hand pushing her thin-rimmed glasses up. “That is love!”
The alchemist scoffs. “I won’t believe anything I can’t see. I can trust your first point because I’ve felt it myself—”
“Then surely you’ve felt the warmth blossoming in your chest when Miss (Y/n) smiles at you? Or whenever you brush your hand against hers, you would feel butterflies! Perhaps when she comes over to visit you and you could feel your cheeks flush?” The young woman persuades with a glint in her eye.
Albedo frowns. “… I do admit I’ve felt some of those before but I don’t think it’s relevant reasoning considering majority of your points were based off of romance fiction or of the sort.”
Sucrose pouts, putting her hands on her hips. “No! I’ve experienced love myself. I am no stranger to this new water you’re swimming in—you should take advice from me, Mister Albedo!”
The ashen blonde raises a tentative brow towards the girl. “Why?”
“T-Then here’s my last piece of evidence—picture you and Miss (Y/n) together and holding hands, m-married too maybe and having t-three children while a-also s-sharing a k-k-kiss—!” She combusts into red from embarrassment before covering her face with her hands. “Ah! This is too embarrassing! J-Just know that it’s love! When Miss (Y/n) gets here, you’ll understand!”
Albedo tilts his head, smirking in victory. “I thought you were going to prove me wrong, Sucrose? What ever could’ve happened to your confidence from earlier?”
Sucrose pouts, opening her mouth to retort back a witty comeback but a voice intervenes.
“Sucrose, I’m here. Is there anything you need me for?” You enter their line of sight, a gentle smile on your face as your (e/c) contacts look at the green-haired girl whose pride had been restored to its full health. Her amber-colored irises sparkled in delight before shooting a smug grin towards Albedo whose face had turned a bright red.
You put your attention on the young man with flushed cheeks, your smile widening in happiness at the sight of him. “Albedo! You’re here too!”
Albedo freezes like a deer caught in the headlights, the mad blush that raged over his face not intending to go away. His heart palpitated as his gloved hands clutch at his chest in an attempt to calm down his heartbeat. He feels his cheeks heat up more as you take a few steps forward. He could take a very good look at you at this time of day and he was damn glad he could. It was days like these that Albedo loved having eyes and ears.
“Y-Yeah…”
In that instant, all images Sucrose had stuttered out earlier had inserted themselves into his head; you two holding hands, sitting by the top of the hill as you lean on his shoulder and then leaning forward to close the distance as he catches your lips on his own. He could feel a smile brush over his lips at the thought, just briefly. Afterwards is an image of him pulling up your veil and leaning to catch your lips once more, sealing the marriage done. The imagines kept piling up and Albedo, admittedly, couldn’t get enough of it.
Sucrose, from the sidelines, looked incredibly smug as she sneaks a whisper to Timaeus. “I told you!”
The young man sighs. There was no stopping Sucrose when she was determined. It just so happens that one of her major goals while being an assistant to the best alchemist in all of the country was to fluster her teacher to see if he actually put on anything else but a blank-slated expression.
“There’s this one thing I’m very bothered about. I wrote it in my journal, hoping to one day come across the answer to it. It’s very troubling and I need my assistants’ help with this in case you two have stumbled upon such a predicament before.” Albedo sighs, handing Sucrose his journal.
The young woman was worried, wondering what could’ve stressed their teacher so much that he had to rely on his subordinates for help. It was such a surprise until she turned the page to the latest entry, Timaeus peeking at the notes from behind her.
A NEW ILLNESS(?)
I’ve seemed to have discovered a new and somewhat dangerous illness. It is not painful, just overwhelming and much too distracting. By that, I mean that every time I see a certain person, I get a few symptoms that I’ve written down as they are quite repetitive -- please tread carefully nowadays as it seems to be an uprising virus:
SYMPTOMS : fast heartrate, flustered expression, millions of thoughts, warmth circling around stomach, ticklish feeling, red face
This is my first time experiencing such. I hope it is not serious.
Sucrose and Timaeus nearly busted out laughing.
After asking a few more questions, Albedo explains in further detail to his companions and thus…
“It’s love!” Sucrose exclaims.
After that mini debate with his assistant, perhaps he was noticing how he acted around you more now. He didn’t know whether to thank Sucrose or give her hard work.
Albedo turns to you with a soft look, smiling slightly. “Miss (Y/n),” you look at him with a curious gaze, “may I invite you out for dinner?”