★Twisted Wishes★ | Genshin x Twisted Wonderland

❤️Lisa x Riddle❤️

Blossom (writer): Not romantic! If you want revenge on Riddle's mother, feel free to read on. If you think Riddle's mother is a wonderful human being... don't read this.

Scenario: Lisa is tutoring Riddle in history when she finds out about his mother.

"No, dear," Lisa said patiently, tracing her finger across a page in the textbook. "The answer is actually the year 850, not 750. Very close, though! Why don't we review this page again?"

At Riddle's distraught expression, she laughed and patted him on the cheek. "Don't worry, dear. You're doing very well already. You really can't expect to get everything right on the first try, you know."

Riddle clenched his gloved hands into fists. "I-I know."

They spent a few more minutes reading over the page.

"Okay, do you think you're ready now?" Lisa asked. Riddle nodded, so she continued, "Then let's test your knowledge a bit. In what year did the Thorn Fairy's soldiers march across the northern plains?"

"850."

"Very good, dear! Next, how many elder demons were there among them?"

"13 in total."

"Last question! What weapons did the 13 elder demons carry on their march across the plains?"

Riddle bit his lip and scoured his mind. What weapons, what weapons? Elder demons typically wielded swords, right? Or were they bows? Maces? Spears? Maybe just magestones?

"I-I don't know," he stammered. Lisa was surprised by the expression on his face. It wasn't mere disappointment. He looked almost scared. Scared of her?

She raised her hand to flip the page, and Riddle flinched away from her—as if he expected to be slapped for getting the answer wrong.

A sneaking suspicion entered Lisa's mind, but she kept her expression perfectly casual. "You've improved so much!" she congratulated him, clapping her hands. "The weapons question was a bit of a tricky one. You have to infer it from this paragraph, see? Where the text says 'they shot a volley across the trench,' that implies that the demons used bows and arrows."

Riddle ducked his head. "I should have been more careful. I'm sorry."

"Don't be! It's perfectly normal to get things wrong." Lisa exhaled slowly, unsure of how to breach this next subject. "There is something I wanted to discuss, though. You're usually so studious and focused, but today you seem a little... distracted. Is something wrong?"

No response.

Gently, Lisa laid her hand on Riddle's shoulder. "You know that you can tell me anything, right, dear? I'll always be here for you if you have any concerns. Especially if you want to take a break, feel free to ask. Okay?"

To her astonishment, when she looked up, Riddle's eyes glittered with tears. He clearly wanted to speak, but in the end all he said was: "I can't."

"Whyever not? Everyone needs a break sometimes," Lisa pressed.

"My mother would get angry."

Ah. It was as Lisa had suspected. "Your mother, hm? How do you think she would react if you asked her if you could take a break?"

"S-she'd get angry. She doesn't like it when I slack off." Before Riddle knew it, he was spilling all the details about his mother—like how she'd mistreated him as a child "for his own good" and forbidden him from playing outside. "If I say 'I don't know' to a question, she... she... punishes me."