Chapter Text
“Let’s get divorced.”
Her words rang in Diluc’s ears for a few seconds before the wave of realization washed over him.
“Absolutely not.” he replied, crossing his arms. “That would just cause problems for everyone.”
Jean, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Diluc, sighs heavily admitting that he was, in fact, right. Divorce was just as bad an idea as deciding to move into Dawn Winery. Hers and Diluc's life turned upside down when one day they received a letter. The content of it was an official vow between the two families. The oldest Ragvindir son and eldest Gunnhildr daughter were to get married before both of them turned 25, and yet they are still unmarried.
At first Jean took that as an opportunity to warm up the image of knights to Diluc, but at the same time it was awkward for her to marry her old superior within such a short period of time. But alas, there was nothing that Jean or Diluc could do to invert what was happening.
Marriage was inevitable.
They proceeded with it, they did get married, they tried to do what couples, ‘‘what newlyweds should do”. But it went horribly, and they never looked into each other's eyes ever again. For the first few months they tried to sleep in one bedroom, but in the end they decided that their lifestyles were so different that separate bedrooms were the best option.
It only took a few days for Diluc to realize just how much of a workaholic Jean really was. When she could, she would take the work from her office to her bed, but Diluc warned all the maids to check up on Jean whenever he wasn't around the Winery just to make sure that, now his wife, wasn't working herself to exhaustion. It was the most Diluc could do for Jean and Knights beside his Darknight duty. Living together wasn't easy, but they tried to deal with it as much as they could. After a wedding they didn’t try to get to know eachother better, nor Jean or Diluc had any plans to catch feeling for one another, the only things they attended together were all sorts of festivals. They were close, in a physical sense, but they never truly acted as if they were a couple. Once, Diluc tried to hold Jean’s hand, but soon after he let her go as Jean looked uncomfortable with that sort of affection. They barely even talk on a daily basis as Jean would spend her entire day in Favonius Headquarters. Moreover, after she returned to the Winery she would be too exhausted to even eat a late dinner with Diluc in the main hall of the house.
That day was different, she insisted on dining there, which came as a surprise to Diluc. He had a shy ray of hope that maybe Jean was finally ready to take the relationship slightly more seriously than before. Diluc was ready to give Jean everything, not because he loved her in any way, but to make his dearest nation better. At the same time he felt a sense of duty towards his wife, as he made a promise to Lisa about keeping Jean safe. It wasn't easy as Diluc always felt that Jean sometimes was avoiding him on purpose. He never confronted her though, because that would just cause problems for their relationship and Diluc prefered to avoid that more than anything. He wasn't scared of rumors but he, at least, wanted to keep up the appearance of a good family.
“Why would you even suggest that?” Diluc asked Jean who, at this point, was staring at her half-empty dinner plate. He felt guilty for pressuring her into answering, but comprehending why she wanted to divorce was harder than Diluc thought. He was hoping that she was comfortable at the Winery, or at least he tried to make her feel at ease in his home.
“I'm miserable, Diluc thats why.” Jean responded, in her tone of voice you could hear desperation slowly growing inside her. Diluc audibly scoffed at her response as he felt hurt by Jean’s words. He tried to be as good of a husband to her as he could, and tried to maintain the relationship, but it was her that has always been giving him a cold shoulder.
“Diluc, why can’t you see that?” Jean raised her tone little by little.
“See what exactly?” Diluc scoffed again; it was the longest conversation between them in over a month and it slowly turned into an argument. That was the least desirable outcome, but Diluc could feel that Jean’s complaints were ungrounded in any capacity. That was making him more angry by the second.
“Why do you act like everything is fine!” She screamed with a voice full of pain. “None of us are happy in this position and you still act like everything is fine!” Jean expressed her hurt feelings in more detail.
Diluc couldn't believe it. That contract was one of the last things his late father left him and Diluc was willing to sacrifice everything for honoring his dad, but in his craze he didn’t take into consideration how Jean felt with everything. And she was right, this relationship isn’t doing anything good for neither of them.
“How many times have you tried to make this work?” Diluc asked in the most calming voice he could. Instead, it turned out so cold and accusatory that Jean simply stood up and turned to her room. There were no more words said between them. After Jean disappeared behind her closed doors Diluc just let out a long sigh and looked at his barely touched dinner. Not only was it already cold, but his appetite was completely gone.
“Adeline, would you mind cleaning after dinner?” he tunt to his main maid who was standing behind him all this time and heard everything.
“Yes, of course Master Diluc” she responded. As she came closer to the table she saw Diluc's plate and looked at him. “You want me to throw this away?” She asked, this time in a significantly more worried tone, as if she suspected that something was way worse with Diluc than just a small argument with his wife.
“Leave it in the kitchen, I will get to that later.” He responded and stood up. To get to his chamber he heard very faint sob coming from Jean’s room. He wanted to go inside but after all it was him who was the reason she was in that state. Diluc just went into his room, put on his Darknight outfit and using his bedroom window he sneaked out of the Winery. It was time for his patrol to make sure that all Mondstadt citizens were safe and sound.
First place he wanted to check was Lisa’s accommodation as she was Jean’s closest friend, and Diluc knew that there wasn't anyone else who could comfort her in this situation. In advance, he prepared a few notes asking The Witch for help. After Diluc had arrived unnoticed inside the city walls, he immediately headed to Lisa’s bedroom window. Before he left the note between glass panes he heard faint coughing. At first he thought Lisa had simply caught a cold but knowing this tea-loving woman she wouldn’t get ill so easily, considering the amount of lemon she uses in her beverages. But at the same time, she could just catch a sniffle from someone visiting the library. Those suspicions made Diluc a little hesitant to invite Lisa, but at the same time Jean needed someone to be with her at this time. But, after not giving it more thought, Diluc left the note and made sure his message was acknowledged by knocking at the window to gain the attention of the Witch, leaving soon after.
“I will prepare her tea after coming back.” Diluc decided passing Mondstadt infrastructure.
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Everyone knows that Dragonspine is one of the most dangerous local areas, that's why the place has very few inhabitants, besides monsters living in every corner of Teyvat, and those who mostly use this place to experiment. The atmospheric conditions aren’t ideal but lack of curious onlookers was more than desirable. Albedo, a young alchemist that was working in his cave in said Dragonspine was preparing for yet another experiment when he suddenly felt like almost the entirety of the mountain started shaking. With that, his entire laboratory equipment started falling over and sliding from once stable surface. Albedo tried to rescue some of his most important notes and find a safer place to wait up as a last resort, but before he managed to do that a massive snow cap cut his only way out of the cavern, leaving the alchemist in complete darkness.
“So that's how it’s going to be…” Albedo said under his breath and started searching for a lamp that would still be usable. The alchemist knew that this strange occurrence couldn't be just an accident. It was no doubt that it was something much more dangerous, something that could have catastrophic consequences if he didn’t manage to get out of here fast enough.