Xiaoven Royal Au

19

Beidou laughed in disbelief, almost like a laugh of a pissed person. Cause how can she not? She stands up, glaring at her brother playing with rocks, he can't be serious — he's just in a goofy mood, right?

"Why don't you talk to him first, how about that?" She asks with concern in her voice before Xiao looks at her with nothing but an erratic face. "Ah right — He ignores you... Just try to talk to him okay?" Xiao just nodded silently before standing up and leaving Beidou.

Maybe canceling the wedding isn't the best choice. But hey, he did try to set Venti free though, how nice of him. He's a prince after all — he should know how to be considerate about others. He hears a sing-song voice in the hallway he was walking into, footsteps included. "P-prince Alatus!"

The light blue-haired maid bowed nervously as she tried to hide something from him, "what are you holding?"

"Nothing prince Alatus!" She shouted, panicking like always. Xiao tried looking at the maid's back to see what it was but the maid only turned around at him to hide whatever it is she's holding. Circling around one certain place until they're too dizzy to keep going. "What are you hiding from me?"

"It's just a recipe book prince Alatus!" She closed her eyes — hoping that Xiao would believe it. "If it's just a recipe book then why are you-"

"Ganyu! Do you have the recipe book now? I've been waiting since earlier" another maid showed up, "yes. Here" she shoved the front of the book in her chest just so Xiao wouldn't see the cover. That's quite odd to be a recipe book... Metal cover?.. Xiao thought.

He really is sharp. There's no way these girls can hide it from him. "Ganyu? What is that"

"A- a recipe book?"

"Let me see" both of the girls looked at each other and gulped at the same time. They can't do anything when a prince orders them, they have to give him what he wants, or else it will be a violation as a maid. They slowly start showing the book to Xiao — hoping to archons that they'll just disappear right now.

"Rule book? May I ask what you need this for?" She stares at Xiao nervously. Trying to think of a way out of this. "I told her to keep it away" Someone walks in on them, holding a glass of wine. "Ningguang? But why?"

"We needed a new copy. That one got extremely old"

"I don't see anything wrong with this rule book?" Xiao suspects that there's something skeptical about Ningguang but didn't bother to think about it. "And I don't see anything wrong with keeping it away. We can have a hundred more of this book, just throw that one out" she ordered and the two immediately bowed and left. "I still don't understand what's so wrong about that book..."

Xiao whispered before walking away. As he walks, a pain in the head hits him.

"I'll name you... Xiao, my lovely prince"

An image of his mom smiling at him glitches in his head as if he was a tv that's malfunctioning.

"How can I be proud of someone like you? Work harder, Alatus!"

He punched the side of his head to get rid of the pain in his head but no — nothing is working. It's as if the world was actually trying to show him these things.

"I- I don't know... I love my children. But- but every time I see their faces it makes me angry. It reminds me of how she died and how I got imprisoned inside of this hellish castle. They disgust me. Yet they're my children... I love them"

Xiao widened his eyes as he hears those phrases inside his mind. His mind can no longer imagine what was happening, he can only hear it. Who was that? Why is that voice so familiar?.. Why does it pain him to hear those words? The way the voice inside his mind sobs breaks his heart so much.