Arranged Marriage * Zhongli x Childe*

Chapter 10: Haggard

Childe sat down on top of his bed, stressed, tired, and profoundly disquiet. He kept tapping the heel of his foot up and down as a coping mechanism for the anxiety he felt at this moment. Seconds had passed and soon morphed to minutes that felt like broad, stretched hours. Soon, a couple of knocks emitted from his door, and quickly, Tartaglia perked his head up, a hopeful feel sprouting again in his heart.

" Come in!" He spoke anxiously, the tapping of his foot slowly coming to a halt. Soon, the door opened, and his familiar servant, Lumine, had taken slow steps into the room. Tartaglia, being worried as he was, didn't waste any time to start running his mouth with questions. "Is he alright? He's awake by now, right???" He quickly asked before Lumine had the chance to open her mouth. She carried a solemn expression on her face, it was a look that seldomly appeared on her face, which gave Childe a feeling of doubt. He began tapping the heel of his foot against the floor again but at a slower pace and with a now deepened frown and furrowed eyebrows he awaited his answer.

" Prince," she began, putting both her hands behind her back as she was trying to hide something. The tapping went faster and Childe began twiddling with his hand."He's fine. He is extremely tired and overwhelmed. That is all. And yes, he's awake but like said before, he's also drained of energy," She said, letting out a big sigh of relief and Tartaglia did the same.  "I was extremely worried," Childe breathed out, putting a hand on his chest. The action made him look as though he was acting a bit too dramatic about the scene, but he didn't care about the look he displayed at the moment. "It shocked me to the point where I was paralyzed. It was so unexpecting. He just—Collapsed— In a blink of an eye too." Lumine listened to Childe's statement, and with each word Childe said, his voice increasingly got lower and lower... Lumine, being the sympathetic woman she was, proceeded to go into a kneeling position.

"Yes, and on behalf of me and the others who work for the prince in this palace, we are beyond sorry. Dearly do we apologize for the misfortune of his highness on this late-night dinner," She whispered, in which Childe had to choke back a sigh from Lumine's apology. If anything, no one was truly to blame in this situation. Zhongli was only overworked because so much was going on at once... He gave himself little self-care so he paid the price for that vice and the price was his fall.

And the odd part about this situation is, Childe noticed he was over-exerting himself, and Zhongli even made a slight confession about it, and yet he hadn't done anything to possibly help him. But then again, would his words even have an effect?

Coming to dinner and breakfast late constantly, those dark rims under his eyes, returning to the palace with untamed, wild hair. You can assume a lot of things based on those few details, and those intricate details were only pure signs of overexertion. So even if his words wouldn't do anything, he shouldn't have kept his mouth shut in the first place. In fact, why did Childe keep his mouth shut about it???

It's so bizarre. The day after their little "date" he looked just fine, but then today–

"Can I see him?" Childe finally said after a long wave of silence which made Lumine perk her head up at the sudden question. "You could... But I recommend you not..."

Feeling incoherent, Childe tilted his head. "May I ask why?" Lumine's lips pursed and she finally got up from her position. Childe crosses his arms, still waiting for his answer, and at that moment, Lumine finally spoke. "He needs rest. Lots of it. Plus, he can't face you now. Not in the state he's in currently," she admitted. Childe's head tilted just the slightest bit again, to the point where it was definitely noticeable. 'Not in the state he's in.' So, he's awake, definitely, but doesn't want to see Tartaglia? Strange. You'd think Childe would be the first thing he'd want to see after what happened last night. Likely to see him to apologize for the inconvenience or something other. He wouldn't know unless he went to go see, but he's not even close to knowing when he was going to be able to see him. Lumine saw Tartaglia's confusion that was explicitly written over his face which quickly forced these next words out of her: "He'll explain tomorrow"