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Lumine was in love with Diluc Ragnvindr. It was something she’d learned to accept. She couldn’t look at him in the eyes anymore in fear she’d say something silly, couldn’t detach her eyes from him, always flushing brightly whenever she got caught.
It felt great to be in love again. A great distraction, if you will. Falling in love was always a good distraction from everything happening around you.
She welcomed the fall every time she fell in love.
Paimon was always grating at her for her crush on Diluc, though. Why him? Paimon had asked the other day, shoving food down her throat. He’s kinda boring, isn’t he?
Lumine shushed her. He isn’t. Don’t talk about him like that.
Paimon shrugged and put all her focus on her food. Lumine sighed.
Why was she in love with him?
Maybe it was because he was so kind. He’d offered her a place to stay and he’d been a great help on multiple occasions. He’d always had an aura of impenetrable coolness, but it didn’t take a genius to see that he was exceptionally kind.
The kind master Diluc, Lumine giggled. She was in love with him. She was.
Being in love felt so refreshing.
With a hum and a skip in her step, Lumine made her way to Angel’s Share where she knew Diluc would be and looked up at the building, anxiety making its way up her throat.
She was going to tell him. She was going to tell him now.
Diluc was aware of it for a while now. The fleeting glances, the pink on her cheeks whenever they get too close. The traveller had a crush on him.
“So, um, Diluc, I was wondering if you were free this evening?” Lumine twirled a lock of flaxen hair on her finger, giving him a pretty smile. Lumine was pretty. Diluc treated it as fact because it was; the traveller had an almost otherworldly beauty. In fact, in all of his years, Diluc had never seen anyone near as pretty as Lumine with her hair like the sun and her eyes drops of gold.
It was a shame, Diluc thought, that he couldn’t return her feelings. After all, he was in love with another.
He’d say he was in love with Jean for a long time now. She seemed like the most logical person to be in love with, after all. They were close, and Jean was attractive, so it wasn’t hard to fall in love with the acting grandmaster. But dinner would be nice, a voice in his head said, especially with Lumine.
One dinner, Diluc settled. One dinner and then you can reject her.
“Yes, miss Lumine,” He replied, a quirk on his lips when he saw Lumine’s bright expression. “Would you like to have dinner with me?”
Lumine’s heart was beating much too fast. Did he…? Was he…?
“I’d like that very much, Master Diluc!” She beamed, practically bouncing in delight. “I’ll see you later?” Lumine tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and almost squealed when he gave her a nod.
“I’ll see you later, Miss Lumine.”
Lumine arrived first, in a pretty dress wearing pretty flowers in her hair and sat at a table to wait for Diluc. She garnered stares, and she felt self-conscious, but just as she was about to head to a washroom to check on her appearance, Diluc arrived and sat on the chair in front of her. “Miss Lumine, you look nice.”
She blushed fiercely and fidgeted with her hairpiece. “Thank you, Diluc,” she said, giving him a pretty smile.
Did she have no shortage of smiles? Diluc wondered, taking a hand to his chin.
The dinner was pleasant, to say the least. Lumine was a wonderful conversation partner and Diluc always replied whenever it was necessary, and sometimes his answers had even solicited pretty giggles from the pretty traveller.
Pretty like the sun, pretty like flowers, Lumine was pretty, Diluc’s brain would unhelpfully supply every 5 minutes. It continued on like this until they’d settled the bill and were making conversation to pass the time.
This was awful, he sighed, he couldn’t even focus on the conversation. His eyes were always drawn to the soft curve of her pretty pink lips, his ears always drawn to the pretty hum she made every time she struggled to find another question for him to answer. He had to end it now before he did something stupid.
“Master Diluc, I have something to tell you…”
An opportunity.
“Please, call me Diluc, miss Lumine,” Diluc quickly said. He’d told her to call him informally before, but maybe now she was so nervous she’d reverted back to her old ways.
“A - ah, then, um, Diluc…”
His name sounded great on her tongue. Once they’d resolved this, Diluc would love to keep talking to Lumine like this. As friends.
“I’ve…I’ve liked you for a long time…and I was wondering if…you would go out with me?”
There it was. Diluc took a deep breath, hoping that this would go well. Everything should go back to normal after this.
“Miss Lumine,” He started, looking straight into her pretty golden eyes. She gulped. “I’m sorry.”
Her face fell.
“I’m going to have to decline. I harbour feelings for someone else.”
Lumine felt like she couldn’t breathe. Just barely managing to give him a wobbly smile, she stumbled out, “Oh, that’s - that’s alright.”
“I hope we can stay good friends, Miss Lumine.”
Friends. Good friends. She thought bitterly. Just friends.
She swallowed a lump in her throat and took a deep breath. Tears were already pooling in her eyes, but she wouldn’t let Diluc see herself like this. “Of...of course, Master Diluc.”
“Please, call me Diluc like you did - “
Biting down on her lip so hard it almost drew blood, she stood up abruptly and turned around, “Um...I’d better get going then...Master Diluc. Paimon...Paimon must be worried by now.”
Her eyes were burning with tears threatening to spill and customers from behind her looked concerned.
“Will you be alright?” Diluc had stood up as well and took her trembling hand in his. Lumine shook him off.
“Ah - I’m sorry,” Lumine said quickly, but she still made no move to look back at him. “I need to go.”
Lumine left without another word.
She felt stupid.
As soon as Lumine left the restaurant, she’d burst into tears with no regard to whether or not other people saw her. Tears streamed down her face as she barely managed to keep herself together.
“That’s the honorary knight…”
“Why is she crying…?”
“Someone said they saw the honorary knight and Master Diluc in the restaurant she just left!”
Lumine kept walking and walking until she got to the inn she was staying at and as soon as Paimon opened the door, Lumine had wrapped her hands around her and sobbed.
“Lumine?!” Paimon squawked, struggling to keep both of them standing. She felt her clothes becoming damp. “Lumine, what happened?!”
Lumine looked up at her, tears still streaming. “Oh my god, Lumine, was it that Diluc?! Paimon will tear him to pieces!”
Falling to the floor, Lumine clutched at her arms and cried. “Paimon...I feel so stupid,” her voice cracked, “I should’ve known,” she cried pitifully, Paimon flitting around in worry. “I should’ve known. I should’ve known.”
“Lumi, listen to me. It’s going to be fine! Just wait ‘til Paimon gets to him!”
I should’ve known. I should’ve known. Lumine chanted in her mind, clutching her heart. It burned. Burned like a raging fire - but maybe that was just fitting.
Lumine felt like it was going to devour her heart.
After a few good deep breaths, reassurances from Paimon, and a glass of water, Lumine finally calmed down enough to tell Paimon what had happened.
“I thought it was going so well,” Lumine sniffled, hands wrapped around a pillow. “I just got ahead of myself. It was presumptuous for me to think that he would return my feelings.”
“Why would he reject you, though?! Look at you!”
“Exactly, Paimon,” She sighed, “look at me.”
Paimon’s eyes snapped open wide. “What do you mean?! You’re beautiful!”
Was she serious right now? Was she serious?! Paimon held her head and screamed internally.
“He said he loved someone else…” Lumine trailed off, looking at the ground. “I had no chance to begin with.” She lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
“Lumi…”
Lumine took a deep breath.
“You’re right, Paimon.” She closed her eyes, “it’s going to be fine.” And let a strange tiredness carry her off to sleep.
Diluc did not expect that things would go this way. Maybe he should’ve. He had no idea the traveller’s feelings ran so deep.
Sighing, he made his way back to the Dawn Winery, frown permanently etched on his face. What if Lumine hated him now? That would be terrible.
The night turned to day and day turned into the night but Diluc hadn’t seen or heard from the traveller since that day. More whispers surrounded him too, more than he was ever comfortable with. Diluc was growing more and more anxious as time passed by, often leaving early in the day and late in the night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pretty blonde, or even hear her pretty voice calling his name. He was growing frustrated.
Diluc finally saw Lumine two weeks later, a pretty smile on her pretty face, carrying on like nothing ever happened.
He thought he’d be more relieved to see she was acting normal. Maybe part of his heart hurt because how had she gotten over him so quickly? Did he really mean so little to her? but he brushed those feelings aside because Lumine was acting normal, so everything was back to normal...right?
“Hi, Master Diluc!” Lumine flounced over when she’d spotted him, a blinding smile on her face. She was back to calling him Master Diluc. A sharp pain blossomed in his heart, though he paid no mind to it. “It’s nice to see you again!”
“Miss Lumine,” Diluc breathed. “It’s nice to see you again, too.”
Lumine looked up at him and he couldn’t see the love he knew she once had for him. Was it really...all gone…? “I’m really sorry about the other day. I wasn’t really...in my right state of mind.”
“No, it is alright.” He reassured her, taking her hands in hers. Lumine flinched back and retracted her hands.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” She apologized with wide eyes. “I don’t know what came over me…”
Hurt flared up in Diluc’s heart. Did she really hate him so much that she couldn’t stand his touch? Was he...was he never going to be able to walk hand in hand with her again? Was he never going to be able to set his hands on her shoulders, or feel her hands intertwined with his as she silently comforted him from his thoughts again?
Lumine gave him a concerned look. “Are you alright, Master Diluc?”
Again with the honorific.
He wanted her to call him by his name again, he wanted her to let him take her hands in his, he wanted to see the look of love she once had for him -
Huh?
“Well, I came by to tell you I was going to be taking more commissions in Liyue, so if you ever need me, feel free to contact me!” Lumine smiled prettily but not lovingly, Diluc remarked in his head. Not like it once was.
“When...will you be leaving?” He asked, wondering why she would be leaving just as he’d seen her again. Because of you, a voice in his mind said, because she doesn’t want to see you.
Lumine hummed. “In about a week!” She said, beaming at him.
She was happy. Happy to be leaving him. Happy to be avoiding him.
Diluc wished his mind would just shut up for a minute.
“Oh,” He nodded dumbly. “I hope you keep safe.”
“I will, Master Diluc. Thank you!”
In the week before Lumine left for Liyue, Diluc watched over all of her movements like a hawk. Whether she was in town, laughing at Paimon as she practically inhaled her food, or in Angel’s Share, laughing at Venti’s drunken antics, Diluc knew whatever she did at any moment.
In fact, he was right in front of her right now, watching as Lumine talked to a guy she shouldn’t be talking to because he, a willing conversation partner, was right there and he’d obviously be a more engaging one, too.
The guy was hitting on her.
He was telling her how pretty she was with her pretty golden eyes and her pretty smile and Diluc had almost smashed a bottle over his head because those were his compliments and no one but him should be able to tell her that.
All thoughts vanished from his head when Lumine smiled at the guy and put a hand over his. “Thank you,” she gave his hand a squeeze and the guy blushed and stared at the traveller, tongue-tied.
Diluc felt like his heart was going to be squeezed dry.
Lumine left soon after that.
“Traveller,” Xiao showed up as soon as she stepped foot into Liyue. “What brings you here?”
“Hello to you too, Xiao,” Lumine let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I’m here to do more commissions...and to escape.” She’d whispered the last part, but Xiao heard loud and clear.
“Escape?” He echoed. “Escape from what?”
Lumine didn’t answer and instead continued her path to the Wangshu Inn, Xiao trailing after her. As soon as she got into her room, she motioned for Xiao to come in and for Paimon to give them some privacy.
“Do you recall...when I talked about Master Diluc?”
Xiao scowled. Of course he did. How could he not when the traveller talked so fondly about him? About her...being in love with him? He gave a quick nod and she continued.
“I confessed to him.”
He looked up so quickly he’d almost hurt his neck. Not like he could.
“And what did he say?” Xiao asked, almost dreading the answer.
Lumine gave him a rueful smile. “He rejected me.”
Oh. Oh.
“It hurt really bad at first. It took me two weeks to stop moping around.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “It hurts less now, but it still hurts.”
Xiao glared. So he’d rejected her.
How could he?
“Why would he reject you?” Even in his eyes, Lumine was easily the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. There was no reason he’d reject Lumine of all people -
“He said he was in love with somebody else.”
There was one reason.
Lumine drew a shaky breath and Xiao’s eyes softened. That Diluc hurt her so much she had to flee Mondstadt. He’d hurt him right back.
But first…
“You said you wanted to escape,” Xiao echoed her words from earlier.
“Yes, I did.”
Silence.
Xiao took a deep breath. “Would you...would you let me be your escape?”
Lumine’s beautiful golden eyes looked at him in shock. “Xiao…?”
Xiao couldn’t bear to see her be so hurt over someone who’d rejected her. He would fix this. He could treat her so much better than that Diluc could.
“It wouldn’t be much...but I could be your escape, Lumine.” He stared at her, eyes unwavering.
Lumine didn’t know what to say.
It’s true, she was hurt, and she needed an escape. She did. But she’d feel so selfish if she took his offer. Lumine looked up, ready to decline but Xiao looked so determined. He wanted this.
Lumine exhaled.
“Could you...be my escape…Xiao?”
He nodded.
A moment of silence passed before he took her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers.
It had been four months since Diluc saw Lumine. Her time in Liyue was growing awfully long, and he was starting to grow concerned. Did something happen? Did she get hurt?
He had considered going over there a couple of times, just to check how Lumine was. He’d decided against it. Remember, she left because she’s avoiding you, the voice in his head said. She doesn’t need you to check up on her.
But four months was very long. And Diluc was growing very concerned.
Why, though?
Diluc frowned. Why was he so concerned?
He thinks about the night he rejected her and his heart squeezes, remembering her trembling hands shaking his own away.
He remembers her pretty blonde hair and her pretty smile and her pretty everything.
Jean. You love Jean. He reminds himself, steering his thoughts away from the blonde in white.
Diluc pauses. Wasn’t this the first time in a while he thought about Jean?
Jean was in love with Lisa.
Diluc held back a breath as he eavesdropped on their conversation in the storeroom.
He thought he’d react stronger, after all, he was in love with the acting grandmaster. But strangely, all he felt was relief.
Relief…? Diluc looked down at his hands. Why would I feel…
Stray thoughts of the blonde he’d been thinking about all this time entered his mind with her pretty voice and her pretty hair and her pretty eyes and - Lumine. He was in love with Lumine.
He had to see her. He had to see her now.
As soon as Diluc entered Liyue, he’d noticed that the crowds were even noisier than usual. Strange.
He passed through the crowds and was subjected to all kinds of rumors.
“Did you hear?!”
“Yeah, I did!”
“The traveller and the adeptus Xiao are finally together!"
Diluc grimaced. He didn’t need to hear about how the traveller and the adeptus Xiao were -
His heart dropped.
They were...what…?
Immediately, Diluc ran off to find a hint of blonde hair. Anywhere. Anywhere at all. To make sure the rumors were just rumors and Lumine still loved him, she did!
Diluc could only hear white noise when he saw Lumine.
Lumine and that wretched adeptus.
They were in a loving embrace and Lumine looked at the adeptus with the eyes she once looked at him with. The eyes he’d been missing for far too long.
Xiao smiled at Lumine and Lumine felt beautiful. Not pretty. Beautiful.
Lumine was in love with Xiao, and Xiao was in love with Lumine.
It felt like a fire was devouring his heart. Diluc felt hot tears out of the corners of his eyes and watched as they fell.
Diluc had realized he loved Lumine too late.