It has been two weeks since your encounter with Tartaglia in his room and you've been trying to avoid him by making yourself busy with the tasks that Ganyu and Xiangling gave you or you would hang around with Qiqi and Xingqiu though today was different. Ganyu, Xiangling, Qiqi, and Xingqiu weren't around this morning.
Qiqi wasn't in your room and Ganyu wasn't there to fetch her, Xingqiu wasn't reading his book by the garden, and Xiangling wasn't rambling to you about the wild boars in the forest that tasted good when prepared by the right hands.
With no soldiers training around, you decided to roam around the camp since you had already finished the tasks and had nothing to do.
Meanwhile, in Liyue, General Tartaglia had brought several people with him including Beidou and Ningguang, to meet an old friend of his who had help him a lot with the bodies of his fallen comrades in war.
Donned in a white hanfu with streaks of gold and a black silk coat with a few golden flowers embroidered hanging from his shoulders, a man with dark brown hair enters the room where his old pal was waiting. "Ah, Childe... it's good to see you again."
"Likewise Zhongli."
The two conversed with different topics that enlightened them, most of which were concerned with the enemy kingdom while the others had gone to get supplies to keep the military's inventory of food and other items enough for a few months before they come back and restock again.
It wasn't only until the afternoon, you heard a parade of footsteps from your room. Assuming it was the four, you swung your door open, only to be greeted by a surprised Beidou who had her hand midway in the air to knock on your door supposedly. "Greetings, Princess." She bows, before taking your hand to press a kiss on top of it. "I do express my sincerest apologies for the way I acted before!"
"O-Oh," You retracted your hand from her and said, "That's alright. You were just doing your job." She gives you a look, almost as if she was going to cry from you accepting her apology. Before she could tackle you in a hug, Ningguang appears and pulls her back. "Behave yourself, Beidou."
Beidou clears her throat, her gaze averted away from Ningguang's to avoid letting her see the tint of pink decorating her cheeks from embarrassment. "My deepest apologies for her behavior..." She places a hand on Beidou's shoulder before continuing, "She tends to be quite... nevermind. How have you been? Have you been eating well with Xiangling's cooking? Beidou recently returned from her trip to Qingce Village and has gathered a huge amount of lotus heads, matsutake mushrooms, and Jueyun chili along with some sunsettias and valberries. Surely, Xiangling could whip something good for you to eat."
"Ah, She's—" Your reply was cut short when you heard the rapid sound of footsteps coming in your direction. A small girl with light purple-haired suddenly appears from a corner and tries to grab your hand but only manages to grab a few fingers. "Qiqi wants you to see something!"
You give Ningguang and Beidou an apologetic smile, telling them you need to go with Qiqi. They didn't mind and said they'll come along to see what it is as well. Qiqi leads you to the garden and pointed at the few pots on the ground. "Qiqi got those blue flowers... what do you call them again?"
Qiqi searches her pockets for something and then pulls out a semi-crumpled paper before reading it aloud. "Glaze lilies." She sets the paper back into her pocket and said, "Qiqi heard that Princess (First Name) doesn't have this in her kingdom..."
Your lips curl into a huge smile. "Such a precious girl." You thought as you crouch down to her height. You brush aside her bangs and plant a small kiss on her forehead. When you pull away, Qiqi's hands travel to the warm spot on her forehead, and her face flushes in a color of bright red. Her hands stayed in that position for a while until the warmth dissipated.
"Thank you Qiqi. If you'd like, we could water them together." Qiqi gives you a quick nod and when she hears her name being called by Ganyu, she waves goodbye and runs off in that direction.
"Princess! Princess!" Your name was called out repeatedly. You turn to the source of the voice and see Xiangling waving her hands to catch your attention. You excuse yourself from Ningguang and Beidou and head to Xiangling. She runs in another direction, beckoning you to follow her. You trail behind her, only seeing a glimpse of her indigo-black hair before she completely disappears.
When you arrive in the room that you swore you saw her enter, she was nowhere to be found. The room was decorated in a shade of red, an all familiar room you were in. You tried to flee, only to bump into someone's hard-built chest. You raise your head to face the person and your eyes made contact with his dull blue orbs.
"P-Please don't..." You avert your gaze away, staring at the wooden floor. You shielded your face away with your hands propped in front of you. He notices they were visibly shaking and on the memory, he remembers two weeks ago, he understood you were just protecting yourself.
He gently takes one hand and places a few kisses on your knuckles before apologizing for his rude behavior. "I'm sorry, Princess (First Name). I do not wish for you to fear me nor do I intend to but I hope we could eradicate the memory of that day and let it be forgotten..."
You still didn't reply to him, your lips were pursed in a straight line, and your gaze still on the floor. He lets out a sigh before letting go of your hand. He walks towards his desk and pulls out a small box and inside it was a small red handkerchief with a glaze lily embroidered on it.
"This is my apology gift to you, Princess." He hands it out for you to take and when you notice the glaze lily on the left corner of the handkerchief, you could not help but break into a laugh. "Your sewing skills are worse than mine."
Tartaglia became flustered, a tint of pink dusting across his cheeks. "T-Tsk." He clicks his tongue, "I'll get better."
"Is this a challenge I hear?" You raise a brow at him, your lips tugging into a smile.
"Ah, my skills cannot compare to the princess's. Though I must say, I am at a disadvantage. Perhaps, I propose something more engaging?"
"How... engaging?"
"I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Now then, shall we have snacks?" He extends his arm for you and you latch your hand on his. He escorts you out of the room and leads you to the kitchen, only to hear a deafening scream behind the closed doors.
Tartaglia bursts into the kitchen, his sword in his hands to defend himself from the unknown danger. He sees Xiangling sprawled on the floor, crying over some sticks in front of her. "What's going on?"
"S-Somebody..." She sniffs, wiping away the snot coming out from her nose. "Somebody ate the ice cream I just made! My poor sunsettias and valberries..."
Tartaglia eyes the room, looking for anything that seems out of place and when he spots a shadow lurking on the corner, he springs into action. He drops his sword on the floor, running over the shadow and grabs it before it disappears to who knows where.
Tartaglia holds the light-blue-haired boy's shirt, making him unable to escape as he squirms in the air. "Let me go!" He yells, throwing punches and kicks to which Tartaglia dodges perfectly.
"Seems like you've come out of your room, Chongyun. It's been ages since we last saw you."
"Hmph!" Chongyun crosses his arms, his cheeks puffed out.
Tartaglia sets him down on the ground. "Look at the mess you've made." He scolds, looking over to the crying Xiangling. "Y-Yeah, I didn't know Xiangling would find out..."
Xiangling wipes her tears away. Instead of a frown, her lips were shaped into a smirk. "Tonight's dinner will have jueyun chilis and some slime condensate."
"Urgh." Chongyun almost vomits at the mention of the two ingredients. "Please don't."
Xiangling didn't listen to Chongyun and walks out of the kitchen to gather the ingredients from the storage room. Tartaglia whispers something in Chongyun's ear and then leaves him sulking. He picks up his sword from the floor before walking to your side. "I'm sorry that snacks cannot be served today."
"That's alright." You say, "It seems like I can eat ice cream next time."
"Hmm..." Tartaglia ponders before an idea pops into his mind. "Why don't we do the engaging activity while Xiangling is preparing dinner?" You nod your head in response and Tartaglia smiles.
"Great! Let us begin!"