Gonna live this life as the Heroine Villianess

❄️Chapter 22👑

Something was sitting on her chest. Wren scrunched her eyebrows together, wincing as she pressed a hand to her throbbing temple. Everything was too bright. Too loud. And too familiar. Just like the day she had collapsed back at the fatui camps. Where... was she? She took a deep breath. The sickly sweet smell of medicine, paired with the delicate scent of windwheel asters. ...Windwheel asters? She frowned. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a black cat lounging peacefully on her chest. Ah. That explains it. She lifted a hand to caress the cat's ebony fur, smiling softly as it began to purr happily. Cute. 

She glanced around. She was sitting on a rather strange bed, more of a metal tray then anything, padded with a few blankets... in the far corner, she could see a few rows of scalpels and tools lined on a shelf. It turned out, she was in one of the medical rooms in the church. Wren frowned. Wait a sec. 

She peered down to see several bandages wrapped around her torso. Someone had changed her out of her clothes, folded them and left them on the table beside her. It was a nice gesture- at least they didn't throw it out. Wren leaned over to pick up the bundle of clothes, slowly sitting up from the bed to undress. As she slid the fabric over her shoulders and stuck her hands through the armholes, she noticed that the clothes had been cleaned as well. She took a sniff, catching a hint of fresh air and mint.

Wren smiled and spun in a small circle. It was nice to be back in her old clothes. She turned once more to give the cat on the bed one last pet- but stopped at the stabbing pain in her chest. Broken ribs. Eh? Suddenly, the memories of the fall came rushing back to her. Purifying Dvalin, the ruins collapsing, reaching for Kaeya's hand- and colliding with the ground. Holy archons. She was alive. She had to give herself credit; falling from such a height was sure doom for some people. Wincing and pressing a hand to her rib cage, she rummaged through a couple drawers for a bottle of pills, swallowing a few painkillers before heading out the door.

She earned a few startled looks from the few nuns positioned around the church, probably confused at the new wanderer's appearance from the wards. It was inevitable- and Wren couldn't help but brace herself for the talks around town for the next few days... she didn't know things with Dvalin would get so out of hand. On the other hand, maybe her presence had changed the flow of the event. After all, no one had originally gotten seriously injured. She pushes open the church's doors and steps out into the open. It's a warm, but cool, breezy day, and Wren can't help but feel grateful for the good weather. It was a nice day to relax, and recover... she was behind on commissions, but today, maybe she would just farm calla lilies? Yes, she would do that. But first, she should check in with Jean, and ask how the others were doing.

She made her way up the steps to the headquarters, flashing Huffman a quick smile as she passed. Her smile faltered at his expression. "Are you alright, Huffman? You look pale..." The knight gave a wavery smile. "Ah... it's nothing miss... I'll get going..." And with that, he hurried off. The interaction was a little unnerving, but she paid it no mind. Perhaps it was her own complexion, Wren thought as she entered Jean's office. Maybe she looked a bit off herself.

Upon entering, she found that Jean was nowhere in sight. Maybe the acting grandmaster was finally taking a well deserved break. She smiled softly to herself. That was good for her. Wren pulled a sheet of parchment towards her, leaning down to write a quick report. She then dropped it on the top of the closest pile of papers, then left. Hopefully Jean could return soon. She exited the room, only slam into Kaeya. Wren gave a cry of alarm. "Hey, watch it!" She scowled, rubbing her nose as she gave him a look of exasperation. She stopped when she noticed him staring, the bluenette standing on the other side of the doorframe with an expression of poor shock on his tanned face. "...What?" Kaeya ran a hand through his hair, still wide eyed.

"I thought you were dead."

~❄️👑~

Wren sighed, both hands pressed to her temples. Kaeya sat beside her, the both of them leaning against the top most floor balcony of the headquarters. The past day had been hectic. Kaeya had grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her back to Barbara, who had burst into tears and sobbed all throughout her checkup. Afterwards, they had went to Jean, before going off to inform the rest of their companions of her recovery. Lumine had perhaps been the most emotional. Although there weren't tears running down her cheeks, Lumine's petite body was shaking with silent sobs as she embraced her tightly. "Don't scare me like that," She whispered. "I don't think I can lose anyone else. Not after my brother." 

She couldn't understand why everyone was either in tears (Barbara, Amber, Lumi), or looked like they had seen a ghost (Jean, Diluc). At least Venti's reaction had been normal, and the least awkward- but that may have been due to the fact that he was drunk. "What is with everyone today?" She muttered. Kaeya gave her a sideways glance. "...Do you have any idea what happened?" He asked. Wren blinked. "What happened?" It was Kaeya's turn to sigh. "It's quite simple, really." He said softly. "You died." Wren rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously I didn't, because I feel pretty alive right now. Yes I feel like I've been run over with a truck-" Kaeya scrunched his eyebrows at the foreign word. "But I'm alive. So?" 

The man shook his head. "That's not the point..." He pulled his coin out again, but didn't flip it, instead rolling it through his fingers absentmindedly. "How long did you think you were out for?" Wren paused to think. Her injuries had never taken long to heal. She had always attributed this trait of hers to being an outlander, even though the original owner of her body had been perfectly normal. "A week? A few weeks maybe?" Kaeya shook ahead, his eyes closed. "Two months. You've been out for two months." He turned towards her. "And you've been dead for a week. As in, you haven't had a heart beat for 7 days. You died, Miss Wren." 

Seriously? It was strange, knowing that she had died- again- for a second time. But what was more strange, was that she was still here, able to feel the wind blowing across her hair, carefree as she watched the sun set. Did that mean she had more chances? Wren didn't know, and didn't want to risk it... but really, what had happened? "...Oh." Kaeya raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that your only response? You just died." He said flatly. Wren rolled her eyes. "Well, what would a proper response be, eyepatch?" She said dryly. "What would a dead person say in response to the fact that they're dead?" Kaeya chuckled. "And that's the Wren we all know and love," he chuckled, before stopping as he processed his words.

Ah... I've messed up again.

Love. There it was. The whole reason she was here in the first place, to conquer the hearts of the male targets in the game. Where every confession brought her one step closer to her goal. But what was her goal? To be reborn? To have revenge? Revenge on who? Her boss, back in her "old" world? No, that was silly. She didn't know how time flowed cross-dimensionally. For all she knew, her old boss- he was ancient in the first place- could already be six feet under, his grandchildren now running the company he had established. Yeah, she realized she didn't even know what her goal was. She was just kind of blindly following the instructions of some unknown system keeping her alive. But Wren didn't really mind. Go where life brings you, Wren thought, smiling. 

What will you do now?

"Well," Wren said, stretching as she leaned back from the rails. Kaeya turned to her quizzically. "I guess that means I'm staying!" She grinned. Behind her, the sun glowed, it's final rays of light shining through the clouds before fading away. "Hopefully I can tolerate you for a bit longer." She said giggling to herself." Kaeya hesitated, before a small grin grew on his face. "Yeah..." Wren glanced back up at him. Straightened up, he was more than a head taller than her. "I'm hungry," She announced. The man smirked. "So?" Wren waited, continuing to smile innocently back at him. He chuckled, shaking his head. "Would you like dinner? It's on me." She barked out a laugh. "Thought you'd never ask."

Reset complete. Mana restriction has been removed. Please continue to work hard!

I'm glad you decided to stick around... this time, I promise I will catch you...

.

.

.

I will not let you leave me.

~❄️👑~