Chapter Text
"ah, your grace. you’re awake."
it’s the first thing you hear when you awaken. there’s warmth in front of you, wrapping around you. your ears feel so cold they burn. a blurry face hovers in front of you. you blink blearily and push your face into the warmth. it’s only when you feel it stiffen that you realise that’s not your pillow.
you shoot back, suddenly wide awake. the person carrying you struggles to stabilise you.
"your grace!"
you still your movements, eyes darting to the blurry blonde face that’s becoming increasingly more and more clear. that’s… no way. your breath hitches in your throat.
"are you alright, your grace?"
blinking several more times doesn’t clear away the image before you. fluffy blonde hair frames a pale face, one with striking blue eyes and worried brows. the striking resemblance to albedo makes it hard to say it’s anyone else. you realise with a start that it’s diluc that’s holding you. his head stays turned away from you, but his ears are bright red. you’d assume it’s from the cold (you are in dragonspine right now, aren’t you?), but his stiff posture and the way he almost avoids your gaze makes it seem like embarrassment instead.
embarrassment? why?
"your grace." albedo asks again.
you swallow dryly. "yeah. um. sure."
he doesn’t seem entirely convinced, but there’s relief on his face. "are you cold? do you require another jacket?" you shake your head, not trusting yourself to say anything. he frowns lightly but doesn’t say anything further.
there’s already a jacket draped on you, you realise. it’s not diluc’s—he’s wearing his right now—but rather it’s blue in colour and… not really a jacket. it’s more of a cape and it’s very, very furry.
laughter rings out beside you. you lock eyes with kaeya when you turn. he grins at you adoringly. "like it?" the fur is draped over your shoulders, and the rest of it is tucked around your body. it’s very comfortable. he laughs again at the dazed look on your face. "I’ll take that as a yes."
diluc clears his throat. "we should get back soon. the weather’s getting colder."
albedo nods. "it’ll storm soon. we should leave." he turns to you and smiles softly. "I’m glad you’re here, your grace."
diluc takes off before you can reply.
kaeya wastes no time striding next to you. there’s still an unbearably fond smile on his face. "are you comfortable? I can carry you instead if you’d like." your eyes are drooping at this point, so all you do in response is bury your face into diluc’s coat. "haha, I guess not."
he gently brushes some hair out of your face. "sleep well, your grace." it’s the last thing you hear before you nod off.
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kaeya’s beside you again when you wake. you’re in a proper bed this time. he flashes you a pretty smile when he notices you’ve started waking. "your grace, welcome back to the world of the living."
you stare at him. "why is your eyepatch golden."
there’s an awkward silence before he snorts, laughing not very discreetly into his palm. "does it bother you?" his tone is teasing, but there’s a sincere tenor to his voice.
"no, I just—" you flush when you realise you’re still wrapped in kaeya’s cape. struggling to sit up and hand it back to him, you nearly fall off the bed. his arms shoot out to steady you, but once he notices your intention he waves his hands.
"keep it, keep it! it looks nice on you. and, anything that’s mine is yours too."
you shake your head. "you look naked without it. please take it back." he snorts again but doesn’t protest this time. you pretend to not notice the way he takes a deep breath before draping it across his shoulders.
"how are you feeling?" the question is asked with a quirk of his head. your eye catches on the way his earring ripples.
"I’m… fine, I think." you give yourself a once over before turning to him and nodding more confidently. "yeah, I’m fine."
he chuckles warmly. "that’s good. let me know if you start feeling worse."
"um, actually. I had a question." he hums, giving you a nod to continue. "where am… where are we?"
his smile turns fond and calculating. "at the dawn winery manor."
"uhh, okay." that was about the answer you were expecting from the interior decor. you want to ask how (and why) you’re in teyvat, but there’s no way to ask that without sounding weird.
"that’s located in the southwest of mondstadt, the city of freedom, which is in teyvat." his smile hasn’t changed at all, but it feels much colder now. a chill runs down your spine. "allow me to introduce myself formally."
and then he gets down on one knee, taking your hand in his and bringing it to his lips. he kisses it once before he speaks, and once after. "I am kaeya alberich, the cavalry captain of the knights of favonius and your lowly acolyte. I vow to serve and protect you for as long as you allow, and I will carry out everything you ask of me, your grace."
his smile feels predatory. you purse your lips, unsure of what to say. he’s still staring intently at you when the door opens seconds later and a scoff is heard. his eyes don’t leave you, even as diluc starts talking.
you try to smile at him. it seems to be enough. he returns the smile and kisses the back of your hand once more, then rises. diluc scoffs at him as he passes, but there’s a soft smile on his face when he turns to you. "I’m glad you’re doing alright, your grace."
the smile is wiped off his face in favour of a serious, devout expression when he, too, kneels at your feet. unlike kaeya, he places his hand above his heart and kneels. he does not look at you. "I, diluc ragvindr, vow to serve you until I turn to dust. I shall never displease you, and I shall rid the world of its vermin. I can only hope you find my efforts satisfactory, your grace."
he, too, stays there, even as the minutes drag on. he doesn’t look up or fidget, even when you know his knees must be hurting. kaeya lets out a light giggle at some point.
"um," you start when you finally get your bearings, "what…?"
diluc frowns slightly. "you accepted kaeya so easily, why not me? I am certainly more honest than him."
you shake your head. "ahh, that’s not—I don’t know what either of you are talking about. and you don’t have to keep calling me 'your grace'…"
only then does diluc’s head move, an urgent frown on his face. "of course we must. to address you any differently would be to disrespect you."
you sigh apprehensively. "if you don’t know my name you could just say that…"
diluc’s voice turns distraught and kaeya lets out another snort. "of course that’s not it—"
"uh huh."
"your grace, if I may." kaeya cuts in, and you nod. he gives you another bright smile, then dips his head and begins explaining. you don’t catch most of it, but the glint in his eyes makes you pay attention to the last few sentences. "you didn’t create this world; rather, it was created for you. to be created in your name, to be allowed to flourish as we have, for you… there is no greater honour in the world."
"ahh, I see…" you don’t. you don’t see at all.
you don’t have time to do any mulling over it before kaeya smiles at you self assuredly. "did I explain it well, your grace? did I do well?"
"what…?" you’re grasping at straws, grass, leaves—anything to understand what’s happening.
his head tilts to the side. "this was a test, right?" his smile falls when you only look more confused. "you… didn’t forget, did you?"
"no, um. I guess you’re not wrong when you say it was created for me, but it… wasn’t specifically for me."
he waves you off. "but it was you who guided us, was it not?"
diluc makes a noise of agreement from where he’s still kneeling, and you’re really, really not sure how to respond.