Gonna live this life as the Heroine Villianess

❄️ Chapter 27 👑

Sometimes Wren wondered if it was because of her bad luck or because the system was screwing her over that she ended up in situations such as these. No matter how hard she tried to avoid them, she always seemed to encounter the worst possible scenario in every situation. Such as right now.

"Will someone mind explaining this to me?" Wren looked up at Diluc, who towered over her even now that she was a child's height. Not only that, he was holding Kaeya by the back of his baggy shirt, the blue haired boy staring back down at her and giving a small wave. Ah. Guess we forgot to inform Diluc about the sudden change, She thought. No matter. He knew now. She just wished he didn't find out in the way he did. They were currently in Jean's office, and she was hiding behind the large desk, just out of Diluc's line of sight. Albedo was absent as he had headed back up the mountain to resume his experiments and attempt to find an antidote for the potion he created. Or in Jean's words, "to fix the mess he created."

Jean sighed. "I... I'm sorry Master Diluc... I'm ashamed that something so important slipped my mind..." Diluc's scrutinizing gaze softened. "It's alright," He said quietly. "It's just... surprising, that's all." Kaeya began to squirm from within his grasp, swinging his feet back and forth in an attempt to loosen himself, managing to land a kick on Diluc's shin. It didn't faze him, though, and the latter simply hissed a short threat to the boy before turning back to Jean. Kaeya stopped for a moment, before continuing, abandoning his previous goal to escape and starting a new game of trying to kick Diluc as many times as possible. To his credit, Diluc had yet to pull out his claymore. But his emotionless expression was now laced by annoyance.

"Kaeya was turned into an adolescent as a result of one of Albedo's experiments... it was in the mountains... and I wasn't there. I really am sorry... part of me now regrets letting the alchemist perform his experiments without jurisdiction." Diluc's eye twitched as Kaeya's foot continued its onslaught, kicking higher and higher on his legs. "It's not that that's the problem," Diluc muttered. "It's the fact that he has a habit of using other people as his test subjects. It's more of a problem because whatever he gave Kaeya was just a prototype." Jean shrunk in her chair, pushing her bangs up her forehead as she slid forward onto the table. "I... apologize again senpai." Diluc froze. Eh? Wren squinted at Diluc's face as the pale palor of his skin seemed to take on a pinkish hue. Ehhh?

"Like I said, it's not important," He said gruffly. "When will he turn back?" Jean's face fell, and one look of her expression gave Diluc his answer. "...So you're saying... That Kaeya is stuck as a child for god knows how long?" Jean frowned. Wren smothered her giggles with her palm when she caught a look of his expression. "To be honest, senapi-" A grunt. "Oh, sorry- I didn't think you would mind that much. I mean... isn't Kaeya so cute right now? It's a good change from his older form, don't you think? Brings back good memories..." She stared fondly at the boy, who had now stopped his attack on Diluc and stared back at the woman with wide eyes. "...Doesn't mean he's less trouble though." Jean laughed, a tinkling sound. For a moment, she looked less tired, and the bags under her eyes seemed to lighten. Even Diluc seemed to be taken aback by the sudden change. She sobered quickly, her tone turning serious. "I do have a favor to ask though... with Albedo back in his lab, and the knights already spread so thin... I was wondering if you could watch them for me, maybe for a day or two?"

"..." Kaeya had begun a new game, swinging from Diluc's grip like a swing, arms swaying as he did. "Alright." Diluc decided. "Fine. I'll look after them. But the second you're free-" "I'll take them off your hands," Jean reassured. "Don't worry." Diluc nodded, turning and heading out the door. "Well, then, that's settled-" He froze, a light frown spreading over his features. "What? Sen- Master Diluc?" He twisted back towards her. "Did you say them?" Wren grinned. This was her cue.

She launched herself up from the ground, clearing the desk and landing in the middle of the room in front of it. "Hello!" She chirped, throwing her hands up in the air. "Please take care of me," She said, curtseying with a bright smile. Diluc groaned, the most emotion he had shown that whole time. "So there are two of them." Jean winced. "Ah... yes. I forgot to tell you that as well." Wren ran circles around the man, going slightly faster than possible for a child, all the while laughing hysterically. Although in her head, she was secretly dying at the display of immaturity. "... I... I can't take it back now, is it?" The acting grand master gave a sad, but amused smile and shook her head. The way Diluc seemed to deflate just made her laugh harder as she continued to run around him. She stopped. "OH!" Both adults turned to her. "You." She pointed at him, her expression turning stony. "You own the adult grape juice place, right?" Adult grape juice. Cue the screaming. Diluc looked down at her in confusion, his eye's slightly furrowed. "Grape juice... oh, you mean... wine? What do you want to do with alcohol at your age?" Wren's eyes brightened. "Yeah! Al-co-hol. Chalk guy told me that it did something cool when you set it on fire! Can you help me?" Diluc stared at her.

"No."

She pouted. "But-" "No." They stared at each other, neither backing down. At Jean's startled cry, the two broke eye contact, and Diluc immediately broke off into a sprint out the door, following a blur of blue. Kaeya had made his escape, it seemed, and had wriggled out of his shirt and ran out of Favonius headquarters. Shirtless. Well then. She turned back to Jean. "I'm hungry," She announced. "I want food." Jean blinked at her. She sighed, recovering from her confusion and standing up. Smiling, she took her hand and led her out of the office, locking the door behind her. "Come," She said. "Let's see what Sara has on the menu today."

~❄️👑~

A/N Sorry for not updating in so long. I've been really busy. It might be summer but I've been tackling 4 levels of piano theory and all 3 bronze medallion levels in 1 summer. Told myself I was gonna get at least one chapter out by the end of the summer, so here it is...