Spying on the Wind | Venti♡Reader

💫𝕊𝕀𝕏𝕋𝔼𝔼ℕ💫

Y/N's POV:

"Remember, not a word about this to your elder brother. I don't think he's too fond of fireworks," I reminded the kids as they unwrapped their gifts enthusiastically.

That wasn't the actual reason, but I didn't want to deal with an arrogant young man who could wield all known weapons just because I smuggled two underaged children to Liyue for a little fireworks show. The ship I sent to take them back was already waiting by the docks, and several agents were prepared to load all the gifts and toys onto the deck.

"We won't forget! Thank you for teaching us how to use those really cool fireworks and giving us this mountain of gifts! And these pretty outfits too," the girl, who went by the name Tonia, exclaimed and clasped her hands tightly in elation and gratitude.

Her brother nodded as a form of thanks and the children began to chat animatedly about sharing the rewards I gave them with their youngest sibling back home. Toys; that was practically everything that generation of immature youths cared about. Hmm... If I captured his precious limited-edition floating toy-Paimon, would the heroic traveler bend to my will? I wondered for a brief moment. After all, that thing probably cost more than the traveler himself did! Unless he fished the toy out from a pond or something...

It was already dark out. That night, not a speck of light could be seen in the sky. Ominous clouds of darkness gathered overhead and I took out my crumpled to-do list carefully. It contained important tasks and missions given by Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa, herself, and none was to be taken lightly.

There were two minor quests about Treasure Hoarders again; a mission regarding a stolen artifact, speculated to be in the Abyss Order's hands; debt collection from four merchants, who owed around two billion Mora in total; a task that I was supposed to help the Balladeer with and lastly, boring paperwork, as well as dealing with some monsters around Snezhnaya.

But all of those tasks had one thing in common: None of the boxes beside them were ticked. They were as empty as the space where the Tsaritsa's heart should be.

I decided that it was worth it. Even though I wasted my day away tracking the young bard, I felt that it was a highly productive day. However, my subconsciousness disagreed.

"Act on them immediately," a voice came from my subconscious, "before it's too late. You have four hours till midnight. Make haste."

Without hesitation, I tossed the list into the flames in a furnace nearby and watched as its perimeter began to shrivel up, black and charred, till it became nothing more than a pile of silver ashes, gone from existence, gone from my memory. I listened to my head, knowing that I should not dwell on my failure to complete my assignments. Instead, I pulled out my to-do list for the following day, a pearl white paper with words as black as coal.

"Hi," a soft voice came from behind. I spun around. Even in dim light, his unique attire made instant recognition as easy as pie. "Fancy meeting you here."

I blessed him with a warm smile, a rare sight for those more familiar with my darkest side, the part of me I hid from commonfolk under a facade.

He flashed a mega-watt smile in return. Instantaneously, it melted my heart.