𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝘨. 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵

001.5: Fate upon the unfortunate (2)

"Such a beauty as you could-" You cut Alvis off with a clear refute; A stern, loud, "No."

The children 'aww'ed and some the adutls went silent from gossiping, but you kept silently glaring at him, obviously upset. It was none of the audience's business, anyway. Alvis was being a huge jerk by doing this, knowing his and your reason for knowing each other's names, yet he was making it so that he was the victim. How rude.

Alvis in your past life was irresponsible, immature, and an absolute man-child. It's honestly amusing to see him like this, surrounded by kids you told yourself that he was exactly like. You didn't think he would be any different in this world - and you were right.

Alvis looked distraught, panicked at the children's displease. "Aha..." He nervously trailed off, his gaze rapidly panging all over the place. He suddenly clapped his hands loudly, and everyone turned back to look at him. He wore a smug smile. You felt yourself get even more irritated. "Oh, pitiful is me!" He sighs, "Thy has rejected the most magical magician!" Alvis exclaims, with you receiving narrowed glares from the naive audience. It was weird and giving you second-hand embarrassment on top of your humiliation.

You rolled your eyes once again, scoffing and folding your arms. "You're so annoying." You seethed, turning your head away from the sight. You just wanted to have a good time, and your unfortunate luck just had to make you bump into him. It was awful.

You fully turned around, walking away back to where you came from. You pretended to not hear the yells that came from Alvis' despicable mouth and ignored him. You didn't have time for him. It was a mistake going over there, he wasn't worth your time. You sighed, this was pointless.

A familiar shimmer of gold suddenly caught your eye. You became frozen in place.

Standing far from the flower beds of the Inteyvats, was a girl with one in her hair. Fair skin, a graceful stance, and with a radiant little smile that reached to her eyes - yet seemingly cold at the same time. She conversed with the intimidating guard, Cathal, and both seemed to know each other to a degree. She moved with such elegance and poise that you almost got the impression she had done it a million times before. She wore a white and blue dress that fit her perfectly. You stared at her with wide eyes.

The girl blinked. As if sending your gaze, she tilted her head towards you, her golden irises meeting with yours. Your breath hitched. Her brows slightly furrowed. You both stared each other down, (which was just Lumine confused and trying to figure out why you looked like you had just seen a ghost,) and you felt somehow exposed - as if you had just been skinned, or left vulnerable. You wanted to look anywhere else than her, to leave and cling onto your sister, just like when you were a child. But, you couldn't. You couldn't tear your eyes away from her perfect form. It felt impossible to. She was the girl who would later torment the archons of Teyvat, to inhabit the unwavering desire to submerge the land into the chaos of Abyss, in which she ruled as a princess.

It was Lumine, standing a few feet away from you. In real life. It felt surreal.

You tried to calm your nerves, forcibly trying to ease away your stiffness. You exhaled sharply, blinking a couple of times to make yourself avoid looking at her. You missed her concerned smile directed at you when you finally managed to stare at the ground, but you still felt a gaze burning you. You glanced at her for a second, checking to see if she left, and then dropped your gaze back down again. Cathal seemed to be done talking and nodded, and Lumine returned his gesture with her own. You lifted your head again, just as Lumine turned around gracefully and started walking her way into the Royal Knight's headquarters - your sister's workplace. The door gently shut behind her, while Cathal stood back on guard, scanning the area attentively as if an ambush were to happen.