In The City Of Freedom

Dusty Chests

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3rd POV
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Akemi could barely contain her excitement, her face flushed as her eyes fixated on the sea of white flowers, swaying in the gentle breeze and stretched out before her in a magnificent display.

"SO MANY CECELIA FLOWERS!"

She squealed; a huge smile plastered on her face. Other than herself, was Diluc and Lisa as they all stood at the gazebo. Akemi couldn't help but stare off into the distance, lost in her own thoughts. She was so entranced she didn't even realize when Diluc took her hand to ensure she wouldn't run off.

Lisa let out an amused chuckle at the girl, snaping out of her trance. The pyro user glanced at her, tilting her head in curiosity.

The lady smiled, finding the girl charming. "Sweetheart, you really enjoy these flowers, do you?"

Akemi's eyes lit up at the question. Even a toddler would know what her response would be.

"I do! They're so pretty and simple, but pretty!!! They- It feels like a paradise!" She paused to take in the moment, then smiled at Diluc as she tugged on his hand. "You like them too, right Diluc?"

"Yes." He replied with a flat tone. He bent down and picked one of the flowers, handing it to Akemi. "Go sit at the table while I talk to the Lisa. The tea Adiline placed for you will go cold if you don't drink it."

Seeing as Diluc asked, Akemi immediately followed his request happily going to sit down by the table. "Okay okay!"

Now that the child was in view and distracted, the adults were able to talk.

Though, Diluc or more or less happy about it, as he could easily predict what this conversation would be about. His suspicions were then confirmed when Lisa brought up the topic of the fire incident two days ago.

The man was straight to the point, quick to claim his innocence in the circumstance and wanting nothing more to do with it. However, that wasn't the case, as Lisa now had new information to provide him with.

"I'm afraid this case has everything to do with you now." She says, a smirk forming on her face as she reveals the turning point this situation.

"The carriage explosion that happened two days ago led us to thing that the culprit was behind what happened to your father."

Diluc's expression shifted, his eyes widened from surprise as he took in what Lisa said into consideration. His father death, and the purple flame incident were in cahoots with eachother, and may be the person behind his father death, the thing that ruined almost everything for him that day.

"How did you find out about this? It was supposed to be secret." A wave of uncertainty washed over him as he questioned all the recent event in his mind. "Nevermind, Jean told you about it, didn't she?"

The mage nodded in confirmation, her green eyes staring back at his red ones. "She did, but I wanna hear more from you."

Akemi watched with an intrigued expression on her face as she bit into a batch of cookies left on the table. "Mm, tasty..."

She muched on them hapoily as she tried to get an idea of what was going on. "All I want is to solve this case quickly so we can all go back to our normal lives. That's why I need you to tell me Mr. Diluc."

"What happened all those years ago?"

Diluc and Lisa's silence lingered for a long while, both waiting for the other to give in and break it. In the end, Diluc let out a defeated sigh, shifting his attention towards Akemi.