Chapter Text
Teyvat had long been divided into seven regions, each governed by one ruler, who were chosen through a war between royalities.
each of these rulers possesses a crown, purely made of elemental energy, which is connected to the thoughts and energy of the people of their kingdom.once the royalty wears it and becomes a ruler, the crown gives them the power of immortality.
on the other hand, the people of the kingdom being connected to it can dictate if they like their ruler or if they want a new one, through their energy.if they do like the ruler, their energy is good and keeps the crown intact, along with the ruler themselves.
but - on the other hand - if they do not like them, their energy becomes bad energy, and starts eroding the crown apart, little by little, which could bring erosion to the ruler to the point of their death.even tho, they aren't aware of their power to erode the crown (or, in case of a good energy, to keep the ruler in good health). only the ruler is aware.
but - of course - only one or two people can't kill the ruler. it has to be a majority of energy in order to fully erode the crown, and it could take months ( or even years ) depending on how much bad energy they emanate.
Zhongli, being the ruler of the Kingdom of Liyue for a long time, saw that his people could sustain themselves very well and didn't seem to need a ruler anymore, therefore he just stepped back and lost interest in ruling over them.
but this actually bothered the people of Liyue and made their energy shift, starting to erode the crown.
since the crown itself started eroding, so did the ruler.
Zhongli soon realised what was happening, but he couldn't have done anything about it.
it was too late; his people already turned against him.the erosion got worse day by day; the people got to the point where they borderline hated their ruler, therefore they sent an assasin after him.
he was a Shneznayan assasin by the title of "Tartaglia" during work, who's real name was Ajax.
he was sent by the Tsaritsa, the ruler of the Snezhnaya Kingdom, to get intel on Liyue.
she always had a thrist for control, and always wished to rule over all the kingdoms of Teyvat.the people of Liyue hired him to assasinate their ruler, not knowing that he's immortal untill the crown fully erodes.
it was a summer night in the Kingdom of Liyue. as it just finished raining, the air was steamy and nearly suffocating due to the vapors created by the rain water coming in contact with the burning stone from the streets of Liyue Harbor.
after centuries of living with the humans, the ruler of this kingdom had to return to his old home. the Taishan Mansion was where Rex Lapis lived many and many years before, but after exiling himself, he came back there, trying to decorate it as much as he could - now it was full of pieces of art and history, looking quite comfortable, even though he surely wouldn’t call it a home.
he decided to move back there after he realised that he did his people wrong - that being clear from the way the crown's state was, as well as its erosive effects on his own health. at that time, even breathing was getting difficult.
Zhongli was restless. it was already pretty late, but he couldn't sleep. the erosion already got pretty bad, paining him deeply both physically and mentally, and - of course - causing him trouble sleeping.
above all of that, he felt something was.. off; different from usual. he felt as if something was coming for him, hunting him down, to give him the final blow, to end all of his suffering. but the ruler didn't thought much about it; he thought it were merely the effects of the erosion.
and it wasn't like he had any more strenght to defend himself, that is.
Zhongli just layed on his back in the bed, looking at the ceiling and waiting for the sleep to get him, mind wandering in all possible directions.
the moon was already high in the sky when Tartaglia found himself wandering around Liyue.
the moonlight illuminated his face, bringing out his features, especially his freckles and his eyes, which were a deep blue; people usually associated them to the ocean during winter: cold, scary and full of mysteries.
he still wasn't used to the high temperatures in Liyue at all, especially in the middle of summer.
his hometown was never that hot and, even though he had been there for two or three days now, his body was still getting used to it.
but his mind didn't have space nor time to think about the heat ( or the tireness ) that he was feeling, and it was purely focused on his mission:
killing one of the seven rulers wasn't something that you get asked every day, and that task had been entrusted to him.
how could he afford to fail just because of some “high temperatures”?
he knew what he had to do and where he had to go, but he also knew that sneaking into the ruler's house wouldn't be so easy;
so, about twenty minutes later, he found himself outside the domain, hidden enough to avoid any risk.
it was the middle of the night, but risks could be hidden anywhere.
he had to think carefully about his plan - he couldn't afford to do wrong not even one step, so he just stayed there, thinking about what he could do.
killing the ruler during the night was the best option, there were no doubts, but he didn't know how to enter his house without being noticed, considered the mechanisms of the domain, so he began to think if it was better to use another approach:
and gaining his trust was the best one he could think about, probably.. but how?
he knew that the ruler was pretty lonely and hated, but what if there were guards in his house? or maybe even some Adepti.
he didn't want to take that kind of risk, even tho the thought actually attracted him.
a cold-blooded fight for the crown. one versus Archons only knew how many.
but, as attractive as it might have sounded, there was no time to get lost in "useless" thoughts.
the redhead started wondering how he should get closer to the sovereign.
it was already so late, he certainly couldn't go there and knock on his door, introducing himself as a poor merchant who was lost - or as someone sent by a noble of Liyue that still cared to take care of him.. could he?
alright, sure. showing up like that in the middle of the night might seem a little strange - but the excuse "showing up during the day could have been way too risky, and your people could have killed me" should have worked quite easily. plus, it was only half past midnight.
and with that thought in mind, the boy walked towards the door of the domain after unlocking just some of the mechanisms that were out there, finally almost fully convinced of his plan.
in the meantime, the ruler was still trying to fall asleep, taking deep breaths. since everyone was already sleeping, the effects of the erosion were lighter: breathing was way easier at night for Zhongli, and he needed to take advantage of this.
despite that - still incapable of resting - he got up and went to the kitchen to drink some tea that would, hopefully, help him sleep. he sat on a chair near the table and left his head to hang back, getting all his guard down.
"finally a moment of silence.." he thought to himself, letting go of all worries for the moment being.
but a sudden knocking on his door startled him.
no one ever came to him - especially thanks to all the security mechanisms outside, that usually scared every traveler who got close - but the ruler, still having a bit of hope left that ( maybe ) he would be able to redeem himself to his people, was eager to help everyone needed something no matter what.
he got up and made his way to the door, using his adeptal magic to see who was outside, but it was too dark for him to see anything and his powers were actually pretty low, so he just opened the door, allowing the light to illuminate whoever knocked. not too much, though, he still had to be careful.
finally, the ruler weakly spoke in a tired tone
«who is it? may i help you in any way?»
he asked the unknown person that was at the door.
hearing such a tired and weak voice, the redhead couldn't help but wonder how corrosive that so renowned 'crown' could be, but he didn't get lost in such thoughts and quickly cleared his throat.
«i'm sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night, Xiansheng, considering your health. i hope i haven't disturbed you. i'm here because a noblewoman from Wangsheng Parlor has requested that i take as much care of you as possible, if you will let me.»
the boy made a quick bow of respect, trying to look as convincing as possible.
not that he had any problems lying, he was just making sure to not miss any step.
Zhongli tilted his head slightly, clearly confused.
someone asked a stranger to take care of him? that surely was new. why would anyone do that?
he gazed upon the person infront of him. the redheaded man didn't seem to have any strange intentions, he seemed.. rather genuine, actually - but the ruler wasn't dense, nor naive.
«may i ask who exactly sent you?» he asked the silhouette standing at his door, just to make sure he wasn't talking to someone dangerous. he didn't really care that much, though; its not like he had anything else to lose than he already lost.
still, there maybe was a bit of hope - the smallest spark of it. or maybe, just the wish that it could be true remaining in his soul that, maybe, someone actually could care about him, even if he was skeptical about it.
the ginger was aware that he would recieve such questions, who would trust a stranger so easily? and he was fully prepared.
it wasn't the first time that Tartaglia had to lie at the moment, and damn if he was good at that.
«it was Miss Hu Tao, the Director. i'm sure you know who she is» the boy gave him a little smile. almost comforting, i would dare to say.
of course, in his heart, it was a fake one.
he just never met someone - except for his sibilings - who deserved his loving smile, that's all.
and he knew that Zhongli would trust him pretty easily: he knew what it felt to be abandoned by the ones you love, almost in a miserable state. what it felt to not care anymore about what happens to yourself, and how easily you can trust someone in those conditions.
«Miss Hu Tao you say..» he murmured, taking some time to think for a bit.
truthfully speaking, Hu Tao was one of the few people who actually did care about him, not as a ruler - but as a friend;
so he decided the man infront of him should be trustworthy. for some time, at least.
the brunette sighed and spoke again, feeling the tireness in his body.
«alright. what must i do?» he asked, happines in his voice at the thought that there were people left in his nation who didn't totally despise him.
plus, the guy's smile melted him a bit, making him feel a bit more able to trust him.
it was pretty dark, and he couldn't get all the other's features, but he did notice that he was quite pretty.
«you mustn't do anything, Xiansheng - the redhead stood up again, still with his little cute smile on his lips - i'm the one in charge to try his best to make you feel better. it must be exausthing being all on your own, and i won't allow that anymore. i'll do my best to make you feel even a bit more relieved, doing whatever you'll want me to»
the words escaped his mouth on their own, he didn't even have to think about them and Tartaglia was surprised with himself.
he knew how good he was at lying, but still - where those sweet words really his?
he didn't know, but that wasn't the moment to think about that. his plan was working, and that was all that mattered.
Childe wasn't the only one surprised by his words, though. Zhongli was also in shock. he didn't fully understand what was happening, but if someone could finally love him, he wasn't going to complain.
he stood there for a moment, proccessing the words that he just heard, then shook his head.
«i truly appreciate your intentions on me. it is rather rare i get people being this way with a person such as i. do you have a place to stay? it is pretty late night, you should get rest aswell.» he stated, looking right into the ginger's piercing blue eyes.
funny to think that the first thing the ginger noticed when the man opened the door were, indeed, his eyes. those golden eyes were so attractive, even if they looked tired and almost lifeless, pretty similiar to what everyone always told him. was that how he always looked at the others' eyes?
but again, he pushed those thoughts aside. he didn't need to think about that right now - and it wasn't like he cared about others' opinions.
«i do, you don't need to worry for someone like me» did he really had somewhere to stay? of course not. who would ever host an assassin? Liyue's people were the one who called him, so of course they knew who he was, and certainly nobody would take such a risk.
but, for reasons unknown also to himself, he just didn't want to disturb him.
the ruler didn't answer imediately, since he got lost in the ginger's eyes for a second, speechless. looks like they both considered the others' something really interesting.
once he realised he was staring, he shook his head a bit and rearranged his thoughts, then cleared his throat; «ahem- i am glad to hear that is so. well, you should go get some rest, same as i now. as i previously said, it is rather late.» he said in a more sever tone than the one he used until now.
he wasn't mad, he was just.. skeptical? he appreciated the thought, but it still sounded wrong to him. why should someone take care of him now? it was already too late - did Hu Tao really think about sending him someone to spend his last months - or maybe weeks - not alone? he didn't understand her motivations.
Tartaglia just nodded, the smile fading on his lips as soon as he heard such words. «i'm sorry if i kept you up untill now. i'll let you rest and come tomorrow morning, if that is okay with you. please, don't hesitate to ask me anything.» the boy, again, made a little bow to say goodbye.
Zhongli gave him a small smile. a pained one, but still a smile.
«goodnight.» he said almost as a whisper, before closing the door and going to try to sleep again.
with that, the boy turned away, ready to go only Archons knew where, to spend the night only he knew how.