Erison

Leisure

Xiao shuttered at the red eyes piercing his skin. They were cold - towards him at least - and felt like they could kill anyone with a single glance.

"Alrecchino!~" Childe purred, not caring for the glare directed towards them. He rose from his throne and went to hug her, much to her dismay. She stepped back swiftly, movements graceful, heels clicking against the tiles.

"Do not touch me, Tartaglia." It wasn't a threat despite how rough her tone was - more or less a warning. Childe brushed it off with laughter, cheerful and light - completely contradicting Archecchino's personality. Behind her, one of her children sighed softly, her tail flickering with boredom. Xiao didn't know her name, neither did he want to learn her name.

Xiao had met Alrecchino before. Well, met wasn't exactly the correct term for it. He'd seen Alrecchino. She was a cold woman, like the frosty airs of where she came from. She was always precise and efficient, the opposite of Childe. Xiao knew whenever she was coming because Childe would always make sure to show off Xiao like he was some extravagant pet rishboland tiger.

He didn't know why; Alrecchino would hardly even spare him a glance.

Maybe it was because she was the father. A sweet-sounding title, but very misleading. Xiao didn't know much, but what he did know is that she took children in and gave them a chance. She gave them fire in snow, she gave them bread in drought, she gave them light in the dark, she saved them.

Maybe it was Childe's way of saying "Hey, look, I can do that too! I saved a kid too!"

Xiao hated that. He utterly despised being called Childe's kid. He wasn't Childe's brother, he wasn't Childe's son. He never would have gotten into this if Osial hadn't randomly attacked. None of this would have happened if Osial attacked...

Everyone would be alive and okay. Xiao would be fulfilling his contract perfectly, he would have never signed that shady deal with the Fatui. But what other choice did he have? He failed. All the Adepti did. They failed to protect Liyue. But Second Liyue was a loophole, Second Liyue was still Liyue.

Whenever Xiao overthought it he would daydream to that day.

He was the last to sign. Everyone seemed miserable and drained - probably because of the fight. He remembered being whisked into the new bank. It felt too rich and perfect for something that was just built, especially in the middle of nowhere. Xiao wished he had paid more attention to how sketchy it was, but he couldn't blame himself either, at the time he was shaken up to the core of his existence.

He remembered how his hand shook as he messily scribbled away at the contract below him. He remembered Childe explaining that he would be special, That he would be staying at the castle. That he would be Second Liyue's crown prince and heir to the throne. Childe explained that he was going to take Xiao under his wing and teach him everything he needed to know.

Childe was eerily calm then. He just went through suffering - they all did - but Childe had smiled like Osial hadn't killed thousands.

Perhaps it was because he was Fatui, Perhaps Childe was just used to seeing piles of deceased.

But if that was the case, shouldn't Xiao have been the same? Then again, staring at the rubble of what was your home, finding the dead, tortured and horribly mangled faces of those who used to take care of you. That was too much, even for him.

He felt like he was reliving-

...

He often wondered what Morax would think of him now.

Another two of Alrecchino's kind wandered into the throne room. At first their eyes were drawn to Childe who was rambling on to Alrecchino about Liyue's tea customs, but they soon drifted onto Xiao. He was kneeling next to the throne - Childe didn't let him sit yet. Xiao stared back.

"Ah, Xiao, you haven't met this one have you?" Childe cooed. "This is Freminet," He explained about the smaller, more innocent-looking boy, who was just a little younger than Xiao. Well, psychically that was.

Xiao was pretty old, but his mind was that of a teenager, as well as his body. It was both a blessing and a curse, but Xiao was in that really awkward spot right before growth spurts - meaning he stayed tiny and often had voice cracks, it also meant he was about the size of a medium-sized dog standing on its hind legs.

Freminet awkwardly made a small nod instead of an actual greeting. Xiao didn't know if he was allowed to greet back, so he sat there staring at him like an utter idiot.

Xiao knew the third sibling too, Lyney. He was the loudest; often had a smile parched onto his face whenever he was talking to someone - even maids, or slaves.

"Prince Xiao," he acknowledged.

Xiao hated being called prince, a true reminder of what path was now set in stone for him; and that stone wasn't going to erode any time soon.

He couldn't remember the last time he had heard that title, he couldn't remember the last time he spoke to anyone who didn't live in the palace with him.

The other two siblings' attention was caught, and they echoed the phrase causing Xiao to shuffle in his seat with disgust while simultaneously trying to not show any discomfort with the title - if was correct, after all.

Xiao had to remind himself that this was normal, and one day his title would be emperor. He'd be their Archon, he'd become it. That's what Childe said at least, the idea always made Xiao nauseous.

"Xiao, why don't you show these three your room, hm?" Childe asked, not noticing the look Alrecchino was giving him in return.

Xiao nodded obediently and stood up on aching legs, it felt like hundreds of tiny little swords punctured his legs all over.

When did he start getting such bad pain tolerance?

Xiao bit his tongue and quietly walked off, the Alrecchino's children following quietly. Lyeny and Freminet were whispering to each other, the girl told them to shut up.

"This is the artisan hall," he mumbled "Most of the tapestries you are seeing are pretty new, around 40% of them are direct copies of ones that used to be in Liyue Harbour before it fell. Very few of them are the genuine thing." He explained. He felt silly explaining these things, he didn't know why, he just wasn't used to talking to people, especially his age. "Ah, this one is though," Xiao paused in front of his favourite tapestry - it might have been a little narcissistic, but it was a very detailed artwork of Morax, some Adepti, and Yaksha. It was pretty inaccurate, but it always made Xiao feel bittersweet, and he liked feeling that way.

Lyney was the only one paying attention to what Xiao was talking about. It made him feel dull inside. Xiao couldn't even remember the last time he cared about what others thought about him, and now that was a topic that constantly plagued his mind.

His legs forced themselves to walk again despite the emptiness he felt as he slowly led the three to his room, he hoped they wouldn't mind the smell of incense.