Chapter Text
“I need to confess something.”
Diluc looks up from his work, thankful for a distraction. They were seated in the living room, sitting across from one another on the two couches in the living room. Diluc glanced over at his brother, who was nervously fidgeting with the pen in his hands.
“Are you okay?” Diluc asked, sitting up from his laying position.
Kaeya sighed, fiddling with the pen some more before answering.
“Are you in trouble? Did you do something bad again?” Diluc asked, the ‘older brother’ tone beginning to seep into his voice.
Kaeya rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face, “No, no. Not… exactly.”
There was a pause as the younger brother tried to collect his thoughts and Diluc let him sit in silence.
“Do you remember the day father first brought me into the house? When I was four years old?” He asked quietly.
Diluc’s heart stuttered for a second, confused and worried about why Kaeya would begin a confession like such, “Yes, of course, I do.”
Kaeya moved his gaze to the window in front of him, “Well, it wasn’t a mere coincidence. My birth father was Royalty.”
“Royalty?” Diluc asked, “Royalty of what nation?”
A dry laugh before answering, “Of Khaenri’ah.”
Diluc remained quiet and Kaeya took that as his chance to bulldoze his way through the rest of his story.
“I was sent as a spy for Khaenri’ah. I was meant to acquire as much information as possible for the possible resurrection of the godless nation later on. I was placed here to betray Mondstadt.”
Kaeya let out a humourless laugh, “I’m a traitor, Diluc.”
Diluc looked around the room for a minute in genuine confusion.
Here it comes.
The day the consequences of my actions finally bite me back.
“Do you want to hurt any of us?” Diluc asked.
Kaeya blinked a few times. “Pardon?”
“I mean, do you… do you want to hurt Mondstadt? Or like, the knights or civilians?”
“No.”
“Have you tried… sabotaging anything or anyone?”
“Of course not, I’m a knight.”
“Is your allegiance and heart with Khaenri’ah?”
“No, it lays with Mondstadt.”
“So then, what are you worried about? Are they coming to bring you back as their…”
“Their prince?” Kaeya finished the sentence for him, “No… I don’t believe they are anytime soon.”
A strange pause in their conversation made Kaeya want to burst out in laughter in relief. How anti-climatic.
Diluc shrugged, leaning back on the couch and picking up his work, “However, it’s cool that you’re a prince.”
Kaeya smiled, “Do you want to see my hidden eye?”
Dilic smiled back, “Fuck yes.”
Kaeya loosened the knot around the back of his head, letting the eyepatch fall into his lap.
“I take what I said back, that’s even cooler.”
The younger brother laughed, rubbing the skin beneath his golden eye, “You think?”
Diluc nodded excitedly, “Yeah, I really do think.”
“Thanks for being so… okay with all this.”
He hummed, “Of course, I would be. You’re my family, why would I get so angry over something like this? I’m just glad you felt safe enough to tell me.”
Kaeya nodded, picking up his book from the table and opening it to the page he was at before. His eyepatch stayed on the couch for the rest of the day in the safety of their home.