The World Looks Glorious in the Snow

Chapter 4: "pinky promise"

"L-L-Lumine, r-remind P-Paimon why we d-d-didn't bring any w-warm c-c-clothes?"

The sun was just setting over the quaint, peaceful village. A frigid ocean breeze swept by, carrying the salty scent of the sea. They could hear the waves lapping against the shore in the distance, but other than that, it was quiet; no birds, no bugs, no signs of life in sight except for the warm glow beaming through every window. It was cute, inviting, and tranquil.

And Lumine and Paimon were miserable.

"Don't worry, it'll be warm inside the house," reassured Childe. "We'll get you guys something once we're there."

"Alright! Let's go!" Paimon zipped away, stopped, came back, and sheepishly admitted, "Um...Paimon doesn't know where it is."

Childe laughed. "Follow me."

He led them through the village at a brisk pace so as to shorten their trip. They walked along a path that snaked into the forest behind the town. Lumine admired the majestic evergreens, their boughs heavy with snow, an endless wonderland of green and white. Sometimes the path would branch off, and Childe would steer them in one direction, leaving Lumine wondering where the other path led. She promised herself to come back and explore these beautiful woods once she had a coat and a good night's rest.

Lumine half-expected Childe's house to be an extravagant mansion. It was indeed large, but it wasn't outrageous. Some areas seemed newer than others, however, indicating recent remodeling. Perhaps the place had started out modest, but as Childe (and maybe his older siblings) kept sending them surplus mora, they gradually added to the place and improved their standard of living.

Childe stopped in front of the door and turned to them. "Well, this is it."

"Yay! Quick, let's go inside!" chirped Paimon.

"Hold on, there are some things you should know first."

"Aw, come on! You meanie!" Paimon crossed her arms over her chest with a supercilious glare.

Lumine, of course, wanted to skip the explanation and head straight inside where it was warm, but something in his tone told her that whatever he had to say was important. "Go on," she pressed.

"Well...uh..." He looked away, obviously uncomfortable, a state Lumine had never seen him in before. "My younger brothers don't know I'm a member of the Fatui," he finally managed to say. "My sister does, but she doesn't know what we do, and she doesn't know I'm also a Harbinger. Of course my older siblings know, but they're probably not here. They left a long time ago."

Older and younger siblings? "Um, Childe, how many siblings do you have?" asked Paimon, reading Lumine's mind. Of course, Lumine also wanted to know why he seemed so embarrassed about his secrets, but she decided it was best to steer away from such topics.

"Two older brothers, an older sister, a younger sister, and then two younger brothers."

Astonished, Lumine counted them in her head. "You mean there are six more of you running around out there?"

He laughed. "Don't worry. I'm the troublemaker in the family. The rest are much more...normal."

"Still, though. Seven kids? I feel bad for your mom."

"Yeah, really," agreed Paimon. "Who has that many kids? Not Paimon! Not in a million years!"

"Guess they were trying to compensate for lonely childhoods. Neither of them have siblings, you know, and their parents have been dead for years."

"Great. Can we go inside now?" pestered Lumine, growing impatient.

"Wait..." He grabbed her arm as if he expected her to run off, even though she had no intention of doing so. "Just...please don't say anything about my job, or what happened in Liyue, or...you get the idea. Teucer and Anthon think I'm a toy seller, so...please just go along with it. You too, Paimon."