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The first time I saw him he was just a scared teen covered in blood. He was only half awake, having been found unconscious next to the bodies. Everyone in the hospital looked at him like he was a monster, a psychopath for what he had done. I didn't see him as either. I only saw a scared and angry kid who didn't understand what else to do and I felt sorry for him.
The next time I saw him, he was standing trial in front of me. I wish I could say I was happy to see him again, but I wasn't. How could I be optimistic about this? The teen was on trial for murder of the first degree and I already knew he was guilty, I just wished he wasn't. He was just a boy lost in anger and disappointment.
During the trial, I was speechless as he told his story. As he spoke of his actions, I couldn't help but stare. I wanted to leave. I felt tempted to walk out and let Lady Furina take care of it all. But I didn't. I stayed.
I stayed as he told the story of how he found out his parents were selling children, as he revealed that the scars on his neck were from their attempt on his life, and as he spoke of how long he had lived on the streets planning their murder.
He explained how he made the murder weapon and revealed that he had waited for the other kids to not be home, and how he had shot the nails at his mother as the wrist-mounted nail guns broke after the one shot. The nails hit her in the neck and chest and she slowly bled out.
He talked about how his father tried to stop him, how the man’s knife managed to cut him right under the eye, and how he beat his father to death with what was left of the nail guns.
After he explained everything it required no second thought as both the Oratrice and I found him guilty, sentencing him to thirty years in the Fortress. I watched in silence as the guards brought him out of the opera eclipse.
That was the last time I ever thought I would see him and that look on his face was ingrained in my head for the next few days. He looked so scared and there was a hint of regret that I hadn't noticed during the trial.
Three decades later the Warden of the fortress suddenly fled after a battle with one of the inmates. I was curious as to who had beaten him so bad he’d leave and went down to see the culprit. When I arrived in the previous Warden’s office I found him, the one who had taken over the fortress of Meropide. The same boy from that very trial.
The once scrawny, scared teen was no longer scared or scrawny. His expression hinted at his contentment with the life he’d been given. His body now adorned with more scars than before, his hair fluffy and with more streaks of white.
It didn't occur to me at that moment that on that day, the day he took control of the fortress, was the same day he was supposed to be released. The day he was supposed to come back to society. I wished he didn't take over. He had already lost so much of his life.
After all that he had been through I decided to give his leadership some legal backing, fighting to make him a Duke. When I’d invited him to the ceremony where he’d receive his title he adamantly refused, saying he had no interest in such a celebration, that he simply just wanted the title without any extra noise. I managed to have that done, although Furina was rather displeased at the lack of a party.
When he showed up to sign the papers and receive his new title I noticed a vision hung on the chains of his jacket. The vision shone the same pale blue as his eyes, icy and cold. The power of cryo.
As I bestowed the title of Duke upon him, I commented on the gem, congratulating him on it. For some odd reason though he didn't seem as happy about his vision as I would expect. He acted like it was a normal, simple thing. I didn't understand why until years later when he told me he got his vision the day he entered the fortress. He kept it secret, having sewn it into the seams of his jacket so no one found out.
I didn't see him much after that day as he rarely left the fortress. I decided to make good terms with the man and found out from Sigewinne that he loved tea. So naturally I sent him some. It was just as a congratulation on the new title and the vision, but he seemed very excited over it. I have never seen someone get as ecstatic about tea as he did.
As the years went by he and I got closer and we started going out and getting tea despite the fact that I didn't enjoy the drink. He would always tell me I didn't have to drink it if I didn't want to, however, but I always made sure to have a cup. It made him happy and I enjoyed his smile as he spoke about the fortress and Sigewinne.
One day he called me to the fortress and said there was an urgent issue to see to. When I got there he led me down a flight of hidden stairs in his office and then onto a platform. As we descended I felt the ominous presence of the Primordial Sea water before he even told me what it was. It frightened me, the idea that something so dangerous lurked so near. He told me the water was slowly rising, that pressure was slowly building, and that it was getting worrisome. I told him to keep an eye on it and to contact me if anything happened.
It was only a few weeks later that Sigewinne came and told me to hurry down to the fortress, that the water was rising quickly and the sluice gate couldn’t hold for much longer. When I'd gotten down to where the sluice gate was I saw the towering ice wall he'd managed to build. The cracks that spread across the ice told of its imminent destruction and I knew it wouldn’t last long.
I told him and Clorinde to make for the surface, that I'd be fine. I put the water back and sealed it, making sure it couldn't hurt anyone. I refused to lose him especially. As the last few drops sunk back I noticed him watching me. He smiled wryly, said 'I knew it,' and walked away. I didn't fully understand what he meant at that moment.
At least, not until a few months later when he found me standing out behind the Palis Memoria in the rain. I had forgotten I had summoned him to talk over the matters of the prophecy and was surprised when he held an umbrella out over my head, asking if I was okay. I lied, said that I was okay, and simply liked the rain.
When he said everything would be okay I realized that he saw through both my lie and me. That he realized who I was, what I was. He was the first person who ever found out I was the Hydro Dragon Sovereign and he didn't seem to mind it, he never did. He never looked at me any differently, he never asked any questions.
When the day came that the prophecy came true, it was a nightmare, even though I managed to cleanse the people of Fontaine I was worried that perhaps I was a second too slow for some. For him.
Luckily I wasn't. He'd manage to safely board a ship he'd built, recusing citizens from drowning or freezing in the water that had risen. I was beyond relieved to see that he was safe, not even a scratch on him.
As the months went by and Fontaine recovered from the flood we barely saw each other, both of us working to keep Fontaine running. I missed him. I missed his smile and his laugh, I missed the way the wind moved through his fluffy hair, how he’d go on and on about tea brewing techniques. I missed everything about him.
Furina insisted I go to the Lantern Rite in Liyue, just to get my mind off of everything and I begrudgingly agreed. As I wandered the streets I happened across a tea vendor. The smell alone reminded me of his office and I couldn't help but step towards the stall. As I did, the man running the stand started rapidly offering me a number of deals, among which was ten boxes for fifty percent off. Of course, I couldn't resist such a good deal and happily made the purchase. When I returned to Fontaine I gave one box to Furina and went to the fortress to give him the other nine.
The smile on his face when he saw the tea made my heart flutter. At that point I was still rather clueless about my own emotions, I didn't know what love was, and I didn't know how it felt- at least I thought I didn't. All I knew was seeing him happy made me happy. It made me feel human. He made me feel human.
Eventually, we started sharing tea again. After a few meetings, I decided to tell him what I was feeling, about how he made me happy, how his smile and laugh made me feel warm, the way he made my heart flutter, the way he made me feel like I was human. I explained to him that I didn't understand the feeling. I enjoyed the feeling, but it confused me.
He explained to me that it was love. He told me that he felt it too, that he loved me too. It made my heart ache with joy to hear him say that, but I froze with uncertainty as I considered how to handle the situation at that moment. I wasn’t particularly familiar with human courtship, but thankfully he explained it to me. However, I was still a tad confused as he explained how our tea times wouldn’t just be tea times anymore. When he asked me if I’d like that, I said yes and so we started dating.
Our time together grew and eventually, he asked if he could stay at the Palis Memoria with me. I told him no, reasoning that I didn't have a room for him since I, myself, didn't require all that much sleep and that even when I did it was brief. I simply slept on the couch in my office when I did require rest. He was fine with that however, said that he would sleep on the couch as well.
He delivered on that promise, even made it a habit to come around every night at eleven so that he could get up at five the next day. Occasionally I'd take a few moments to just watch him rest, he looked so beautiful so peaceful and content. Sometimes he had nightmares and I would have to wake him up, but even then he was beautiful.
A few months later I bought a new couch, one with a pull-out bed so that he could sleep more comfortably. After all, it wasn't any good on his back to be sleeping on those, admittedly, rather stiff cushions. When I showed it to him the next day he was quite happy about it. One day he even insisted that I lay beside him while he slept and although I wasn't tired I did as he asked, watching him drift off to sleep. It was pleasant, so I found myself doing it more and more often.
Years went by as our relationship continued to prosper. We continued going on tea dates, and he kept staying at the Palis Memoria with me when he wasn’t working. I took care of him when he hurt himself, whether on accident or on purpose. I was always there for him regardless.
And he was always there for me. He helped me stay calm after difficult trials, he helped me to learn more about my nature as the hydro dragon sovereign, and he helped me understand emotions and things about humans.
One day, during one of our tea dates, he told me he wanted to be with me for the rest of his mortal life, dropping down on one knee as he opened a small seashell-shaped box with a beautiful ring, the center gem the same wonderful color as his eyes. It was beautiful.
I said yes.
A few months later, we got married. It was a small ceremony, of course, he didn't like a lot of attention. He never did. We got married in the Palis memoria with a short guest list that consisted of the Traveler, Paimon, Sigewinne, Furina, Clorinde, and Navia.
Wriothesley looked beautiful. He wore a dark blue suit with a red tie, his hair was still a fluffy mess like I loved. I fell in love with him all over again.
After we went to Qiaoying Village for their famed tea, he loved it and loved seeing them harvest the tea leaves and the process behind making tea bags. Even I enjoyed the tea there.
The years after that were the best years of my life, I loved being with him. He was everything to me. I watched him grow older, his hair slowly turned more and more gray. He never slowed down though. He continued working as the warden and continued being my husband up until the day he died.
It was a bright and sunny day and I was on my way to the fortress to meet him for a tea date. As I was on my way down Furina came running down the hall, crying saying she didn't mean to. I was confused at first not understanding what she meant. Through tears, she managed to get out his name and I realized something had happened. I asked her what she had done, what she didn’t mean to do. She said she and him had gotten into an argument about how she didn't mean to push him. I had to shake her out of it and make her tell me where she'd pushed him. In the upper production zone, she’d said.
I stood there in shock before quickly running through the fortress as fast as I could. I have never hated how maze-like the fortress could be till that day. As soon as the final elevator took me to the lower production floor I noticed the crowd of inmates gathering around something. I could hear Sigewinne crying from the center of the crowd.
I shoved my way through the crowd and found her kneeling next to him, telling him he was going to be okay, but you didn't need to be a nurse to see that he wouldn't be okay. I quickly ran over to him and held him in my arms. I was losing him. And there was nothing I could do but hold him. I was completely useless, so utterly useless as I held him and watched as he gasped for air through the pool of blood in his mouth. I couldn’t do anything while his heart stopped beating and his eyes went dull, I was helpless. I, the Hydro Dragon, was completely helpless.
The last time I saw him was at his funeral. Even in death, he was beautiful. I was surprised to see the amount of people that showed up, Sigewinne even brought a few of the prisoners from Meropide that he was close with. People kept coming up to me, saying they were sorry for my loss.
I watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground. I wanted to look away but I couldn't bring myself to. I watched as dirt was thrown over the coffin covering what was left of him. I sat there in front of his grave for days. Sigewinne had to drag me away. I didn't want to leave him. I never wanted to leave him.
Sigewinne tries to comfort me every day, but how could I feel any sense of comfort when he's not by my side? The skies haven't stopped raining. I'm not sure how long it's been since he died. I keep doing my job as the Ludex, but it's not the same. I know he would want me to be happy, to move on from him, but I can't. I will never move on from him. I refuse to forget him.
I don't know if I can go on much longer without him. How can I ever be able to continue in this world? Without him, I'm just another soul. Living on in this world.
Forever his.
Forever Wriothesley's husband.
-Neuvillette