vlanche - venti x reader

17: Never Does the Torment Cease ~♪

[unedited AND PROBABLY LOTS OF MISTAKES]

SCENE I

"Shall we restart this interview?"

Wiping your soggy eyes and ridding yourself of a creaky voice, you nodded back to the alchemist in response. He exerted a warm and breathy grin and then followed your lead, nodding his head in return.

"Perfect." He spoke, now handling a clipboard and pencil. "My name is Albedo. What is yours?"

"Y/n L/n." You answered without any hesitation or quiver. It appeared Albedo was pleased to see that you had regained your prior strength in manner, for as he jotted down your name on a slip of paper, he hummed a nonchalant tune.

"Your age?"

"Nineteen." Of course, this was a lie, but your true age would raise some suspicion, so you thought it best to twist the story a little, and nineteen happened to be the first number that popped into your train of thought.

"I see... Next question then— I heard that you live here in Mondstadt with your husband, is that correct?" With ample curiosity, the Chief Investigator peered up from his notes. "Please state your address, then your husband's name and occupation."

Although you were expecting a question like this, throughout the entire interview you had clung on to the smidgen of hope that maybe, just maybe Albedo didn't actually live up to his reputation. So far you had been proven wrong, but you had a lot of pride, so you certainly wouldn't let such a simple question be your downfall, even if it meant taking a route that would be horrifyingly humiliating towards yourself. Yes, you had a brilliant plan, and yes, it would succeed for more than one reason, but could you really swallow down all of your pride and utter it without cringing? Was this embarrassing idea truly worth the small prize of winning over nothing but a simple alchemist? After all, due to your abilities as the goddess of Secrets and due to the fact that you were attempting to conceal a mighty hefty secret, you could've effortlessly gotten out of this unfortunate predicament.

Of course, you were avoiding this last resort, for sometimes it didn't turn out as swell as you had hoped. But, could any poor outcome involving your abilities truly be any worse than the words that were about to come out of your mouth? That was an answer which only the future could tell.

"Take a left just after the gate of Mondstadt and follow that road until you hit a corner. That's my home." You breathed a shaky breath, prepping yourself for your next 'prize token' statement, for it was certainly too late to turn back now. "It isn't in great condition because well... my husband is a drunk."

Struggling to utter the words, you glanced towards Albedo, him scribbling various notes onto his clip-boarded paper. When finished, he seemed to notice you had paused your speech, so in response, the alchemist gifted you a nod as if to say, "Go on."