Okay, so I'll be adding music in this chapter to enhance the mood while you read. I'll underline the part where you come in and play the music I shared. (The song title is called Never Coming Back by Evan Call, you can find it on Spotify) After you read past the part where I underlined, the rest of the paragraphs are accompanied by music until the very end of the chapter. Yes, this is from Violet Evergarden and it just fits perfectly. I recommend you watch it, it's an amazing anime and movie.
Sucrose sat down, crossing her arms and legs, trying desperately to not lose control.
"So, tell me the reason why you did it."
He stayed silent, clenching his hands on his lap as he hid his face to avoid staring at Sucrose's cold glare.
"Your Highness. Ever since we apprehended him, he hasn't said a word since."
One of the Knights mentioned.
"I see."
Sucrose responded, narrowing her eyes.
"You don't want to talk, hm?"
The insolent boy stayed silent.
"Stay silent one more time and I'll lock you up for the rest of your life."
Sucrose threatened.
"Okay, okay! I'll talk! Just please, don't lock me up for so long! What do you need to know!?"
Sucrose smirked.
"Now you're talking. Good. Tell me, why did you spread false rumors to the townsfolk?"
"To get revenge on that stupid boy."
"Revenge?"
Sucrose repeated, slightly lifting her face.
"What did that boy do to you that made you want to seek revenge?"
She asked, leaning forward in curiosity.
"He insulted me badly! ...And I thought that doing something bad to him will also teach him a lesson..."
He half lied, also playing the guilty act to let Sucrose take pity on him.
"According to Acting Grand Master Jean and Ms. Lisa — although those two didn't hear the full conversation, apparently — you and a group of boys took the first move on him. You provoked him by saying that he's only friends with Princess Sucrose just to take advantage of her fortune."
One of the Knights confirmed, which contradicts what he said.
"Tch."
He said under his breath.
"Are you guilty of what you've done?"
Sucrose leaned her chin on top of her hands.
"Yes! I heard the news that he left and I felt bad that my bad actions made him leave."
"Liar."
Sucrose muttered to herself.
"That's why I hid for a long time. I was sulking at what I've done."
Sucrose's eyes widened before turning into hooded eyes as she was thinking. She averted her gaze at the floor, her mind running with questions.
Hiding? Sulking? Both of those words just contradict themselves. Why would he hide and sulk at the same time? At the very least, it's most likely he tried escaping from The Knights of Favonius. Or better yet, he did try to hide from public view because he knew eventually he'd get found out.
She then nodded to herself with the conclusion she made in her mind which satisfied her.
Sucrose glared at the boy, who gulped quickly and deeply in nervousness.
"How do two months or more correlate to hiding just so you can sulk?"
The boy gulped, frantically looking around.
Sucrose stood up, slamming both of her hands on the table.
"Answer me!"
He couldn't think of an answer. He was sweating in buckets, trembling in fear, unprepared for this moment.
"You aren't gonna answer me, huh? Two months and more is a lot of time just to sulk about that big mistake. A person would get over it in a week or two. Maybe even less because you're the perpetrator. Or, perhaps not even at all if you're not guilty! No one in the world would sulk for that long! Especially if they spread false accusations. Unless..."
Sucrose walked slowly towards him. He lifted his head slowly, hesitating to look at her. Her finger dragged the edge of the table, growing closer. He looked back down at the table, shaking. Sucrose moved her mouth near to his ear and whispered softly and menacingly
"Unless you were using those months to hide from the knights."
The boy inhaled a small yet quick gasp, Sucrose knowing his true motive as to why he disappeared. Sucrose looked down at him, then walked back to her seat, crossing her arms.
"You were hiding from The Knights of Favonius, weren't you? Because you knew you'd get arrested."
His small eyes trembled, looking around to procrastinate his response.
"Just admit it!"
Sucrose shouted, slamming the table.
"Fine! I was hiding!"
"You don't even feel guilty about Albedo leaving, don't you!? You felt a sense of victory when he left so he wouldn't bother you anymore!"
"Y-yes! You're right, you're right! I don't feel pity! S-so what about it, huh!?"
His confident manner shattered with his stutter.
Sucrose stood up, tilting her head down, trembling in rage. Her clenched fists began to shake.
"All he ever did was use you, Your Majesty. Do you not see it?"
Those disgusting words whispered to her from before rang inside her head over and over again. Her eyes narrowed.
"Y-your Highness?"
One of the knights asked in concern, watching Sucrose stand in absolute silence.
"H-how about we stop r-right now—"
Noelle stopped the talking knight, shushing him.
"What? How come you're speechless now? Cat got your tongue?"
He said cockily.
Sucrose shared a moment of silence to herself, trying to calm herself down. But it wasn't working. His cocky tone, his annoying voice, his presence — she couldn't simply calm down when the boy in front of her was the reason Sucrose and Albedo's friendship was broken.
"What happened to you now? You were so confident when you were confronting me. Do you need your mommy to help you when talking to me? Aww, someone's being a little wuss now! Got nothing to say? Haha!"
He provoked her, sounding confident with every word he said.
"Why you!—"
One of the knights began, pulling out his sword to threaten the boy but one of his colleagues stopped him.
"So what if I ruined your friendship?"
He continued.
Sucrose's head lifted up, inhaling sharply with an intense look on her face which made him pause for a moment before continuing.
"So what if I was the reason he left you?"
Sucrose walked very slowly to the left side of the table. His head followed her slow movements.
"So what if I was the one that spread all the fake rumors just to get rid of him? So what if I was the one who wanted to hide in the shadows to not get caught and watch it all unfold!? He was WORTHLESS! He didn't need to exist, he doesn't NEED to exist! HE'S—"
"PATHETIC!"
"SHUT UP!"
CRASH
Sucrose flipped the table, leaving a resounding crash. Sucrose breathed heavily. Everyone was frightened. Sucrose walked back slowly, gazing at the terrified expression the boy had. To her, it felt pleasing to see his terror, but she didn't care to show it. She wasn't in the mood.
"YOU'RE the worthless one! All Albedo ever did was defend himself from YOUR stupid provoking and false accusations! You were the one who started all of this and you're saying HE'S the WORTHLESS and PATHETIC ONE HERE?"
"Your Highness—"
"YOU made me believe you! No one stood by him, no one defended him, not even me! You boldly spread fakery around the city and everyone believed you because it was about ME, The Princess of Mondstadt! Everyone thought Albedo was the antagonist, but no, YOU ARE!"
"Your Highness!—"
"You only did it for revenge because Albedo humiliated you! You've gone too far just because YOU couldn't WIN against him!"
Sucrose grabbed the chair she sat on and carried it above her head, having a strong urge to throw it at him. He jolted in a fleeting instinct to protect himself, covering his head with his arms.
Her eyes were wide and terrifying, almost resembling a monster. She looked insane. She was furious. Her body felt hot in rage. Her heart was pounding heavily, the only part of her body that ached in pain from sorrow other than anger.
"YOU'RE THE PATHETIC ONE HERE! YOU'RE THE WORTHLESS ONE HERE, NOT HIM!"
Sucrose lifted the chair higher, almost ready to catapult it at him.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T NEED TO EXIST, NOT HIM! YOUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE IS A JOKE! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO WALK THE SAME LAND ALBEDO AND I WALK UPON! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE SO FREELY IN THIS LAND!"
"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!"
"Your Highness, that is enough!"
Noelle shrieked.
Sucrose gasped, snapping out of her rage. She dropped the chair with a loud crash echoing in the room. Looking around at the frightened faces, the only face she enjoyed viewing most was the boy who slowly set his arms down. Sucrose felt hot, way too hot. Her head started to hurt and her eyes couldn't focus. Her strong breathing of rage became brittle and unsteady. Her head felt as if it was about to explode. Noelle quickly rushed to break her fall.
"Your Highness, that is enough for today. You need rest after your outburst."
Sucrose shifted her eyes to him, clearly horrified, before looking at the floor. Noelle knew Sucrose was exhausted. She tapped Sucrose's shoulder, signaling that it was best to leave after a long day.
"Let's go, Your Highness. I'll brew you some calming tea. It'll help you relieve stress."
"I-I... I'd like a sugar cube in my tea."
Noelle nodded once, humming in agreement. Noelle held Sucrose's side shoulder, holding her close. She opened the door for both of them. They started to walk out while the guards stood in front of the door to block the boy's way of escape. Sucrose stopped, making Noelle also stop. Then, she turned her head slightly over her shoulder.
"Lock up him for the time being."
"Wha—! That isn't fair!"
"How unfortunate for you. If you didn't do such a thing, you'd be living your best life."
Sucrose turned around with a hard expression.
"You heard the princess. To jail, you go."
A knight pulled out a thick rope to tie around his wrists, pushing the boy harshly against the wall so that he wouldn't escape.
"Your Highness, how long should he stay until he gets executed?"
The knight who was tying the boy up spoke.
The boy's eyes brightened in fear, his mouth trembled, and his eyes watered.
"Sentence him to death when he reaches 20."
"Understood."
A little while later...
"Noelle, you can let go of me now. I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Can you walk normally?"
"Mhm."
Noelle let go of Sucrose. Sucrose placed her hand on her head.
"Your Highness? What's wrong?"
"My head feels like it's going to explode... I think I was going too far in front of you all, haha."
"Let's hurry home. You look exhausted."
They walked back to the castle quietly. The chatter of citizens became background noise until both of their minds blocked out everything going on. The only things they could hear were their footsteps on the cobblestone path.
"Hey, Noelle..."
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry for not stopping earlier. I don't know what's gotten into me nowadays. That's the most anger I've vented on someone."
"Wouldn't anyone react the same way when they face the person who ruined their lives? I mean, minus the 'about to throw the chair' part."
"You're right. But I'm not usually like this, I don't know what's wrong with me. You did say you're scared of me when I act like this, right? I'm... even scared of myself."
Noelle placed a hand on Sucrose's shoulders.
"Yes, I did say I was scared of you. But you can't keep on continuing to have that side of you within you. It reveals a really ugly side of you."
Noelle pointed at her heart, lacing her fingers with Sucroses.
"With that kind of side of you showing from time to time, it looks like you aren't even... you anymore. And as we're speaking, you'll slowly become a completely different person with that new personality of yours. I don't like that because I like your sweet and timid yet shy you. That's just the real you."
Sucrose smiled.
"You need to control your emotions if you don't want the sweet Sucrose to be covered with that... uh, raging, insane Sucrose. It doesn't look good on you."
"I've been thinking about that. But I don't know how though."
"I'll help you."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Yay! Thanks, Noelle!"
Sucrose enveloped Noelle in a hug.
They both let go, a giggle escaping from both of their mouths.
"Do you think the reason why I'm acting out of control on events like this is because of Albedo?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I feel like Albedo is the reason why I acted so normal back then. Well, now, ever since he left, it feels like I can't be stable or something because he was always there for me. It's, uh, hard to explain."
Sucrose scratched her head, chuckling mirthlessly at the end of her sentence.
"It's alright. You don't need to explain, Sucrose. I can tell that ever since Albedo's absence, it's been affecting you so much that you became very emotional."
"You're right. I guess I still feel very guilty that I didn't take on his side and just took that boy's side instead. I thought that if I were to release all my pent-up anger on that boy, the strong feeling of regret and guilt would disappear. But it didn't. I think it only made it worse. I should've believed Albedo from the beginning because he wouldn't have left me if I did in the first place. It's all my fault, Noelle."
Sucrose stopped as she buried her face in her hands, holding her tears inside her sockets.
"I'm scared that he'll never come back because of what I did. I'm so scared..."
"And I understand you, Sucrose. I understand how you feel."
Noelle comforted her, rubbing her back.
"It's okay to feel that way. But I'm sure he'll come back. He would never leave you, or Klee. He wouldn't."
"If you say so... I want to believe that's true."
"Then believe."
Noelle grabbed both of Sucrose's hands and cupped them.
"Believe. Have hope that he'll come back for you."
Sucrose stared into Noelle's eyes before smiling widely. She nodded happily in return as those tears that were once formed in her eye sockets were treated as tears of regret and guilt, now changed to tears of joy as they streamed down her face.
"I will!"
"Good! Now, let's get back to the castle, shall we?"
Sucrose hummed joyfully and walked back to the palace with Noelle.
In Dragonspine...
SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE
"Hey Albedo, whatcha doin'?"
Paimon sneaked up behind him, hoping to scare Albedo.
"Oh, Paimon. What a surprise seeing you here. Where's Aether?"
"Okay, wow. You didn't even get scared just a bit?"
"Your giggling gave it away."
Paimon scoffed in disbelief
"Was Paimon giggling too loud?"
Albedo nodded and continued to sketch as he heard footsteps marching toward him. He looked up to see Aether who had his sword on his shoulder. He took a moment to catch his breath.
"Paimon! Don't just skedaddle away like that, you had me worried that you might've gone off to some snow to dig yourself in!"
"Wha— okay, first of all: Paimon would never dig herself in the freezing snow! And second: you were so slow."
"Well, I'm SORRY that I can't fly freely like you."
Aether rolled his eyes, being so sarcastic about his apology.
"Yes, you can! You've done that multiple times!"
"It's called gliding, idiot! You glide down, but you can't glide up yourself. Only wind currents can do that!"
"Are you two just going to bicker all day? It's distracting me from what I'm drawing."
Albedo — who was watching them bicker like siblings — kept moving his head back and forth between them with his usual unfazed expression. The both of them caught glances at Albedo before each other, exchanging looks. Then, they apologized. Even if it really wasn't sincere because they didn't want to get in trouble.
"Good. Glad you two stopped bickering."
Albedo said, going back to drawing.
"Albedo, I've been wondering..."
Aether began.
"What is it?"
He responded, not taking his eyes or chalk off of the sketchbook.
"I saw your quiver of arrows and your bow on the table before. Do you use it for hunting?"
"Mhm. What about it?"
"Oh, nothing. Just curious is all."
"Mm, I see."
A pause squeezed in between the three. Thankfully, it didn't feel awkward.
"Albedo, do you always talk like you're uninterested in having a conversation?"
Paimon asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"No. This is how I normally am."
"See! You're doing it again! You're not even looking at Paimon and your eyes are glued to the paper and you sound like you could care less."
"Paimon, maybe he's just a good listener, is all. And besides, he either spends his time doing alchemy or drawing in his sketchbook."
"But what if he's just not listening at all? You know people can block out noises whenever they want to."
"Why, do you want me to stare at you whenever you talk?"
Albedo chuckled, straying his eyes away from his sketchbook as he closed it.
Paimon pouted, twisting her head the other way and crossing her arms.
"Yes! Because I wouldn't know if you're— uh..."
Albedo intensely stared at her, like legitimately staring at her soul. Although he didn't look freaky staring at her, it was just his unbothered expression painted on his face. Paimon got weirded out at first before slowly becoming afraid because of how silent he was and how intense his staring was.
"Okay, maybe you shouldn't do that..."
Paimon finally admitted.
Albedo smirked with smug then stood up to stretch.
"Aether,"
"Hm?"
"Do you have time? Or are you busy adventuring?"
"Yeah, I have time. I don't feel like adventuring right now. Why ask?"
"I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a sword. I'm getting tired of using a bow and arrow."
Both of the boys stole a glance at the bow and arrow resting on a chair before back at each other. Aether set down his sword on the ground, not really digging it deep. Holding the pommel on his palm, extending out his hand like a fancy magician with his cane. I assume most of you don't know what the pommel is but it's the end part of the hilt of the sword.
"Sure. I'll gladly help. What do you want to know first?"
"Just teach me anything. I don't have a list of what to learn first in particular."
"Very well. Do you wanna start now?"
Aether asked with a proud stance, putting his sword back in his scabbard.
Albedo hummed while thinking, touching his chin. He glanced over his shoulder, with his materials for alchemy ready to be used.
"Maybe tomorrow. I have to continue my research in alchemy."
He concluded, walking over to the desk used for alchemy.
"Alright. Maybe 8 in the morning?"
"Sharp."
"It's settled then. Paimon, come on. We have to complete the commission Katheryne sent us."
"Ugh, why did Katheryne have to commission this to us..."
Paimon groaned in annoyance, rolling her eyes as she lazily floated to be by Aether's side.
They started to walk and fly away to do what they were supposed to do. Their voices became distant to Albedo's ears with the sound of bubbles sizzling and popping and glasses clanging lightly onto each other, blocking most of their background chatter.
"Because we're the only ones in the adventurer's guild who can complete a difficult commission?"
"But why does it have to be on a cold mountain?"
"Just deal with it. The quicker we do things, the quicker we can leave this mountain."
Albedo's head shot up as he heard the last sentence Aether spoke. It gave him chills. Chills that were definitely not from the harsh Dragonspine breeze, but a chill he once felt. And unintentionally gave to someone. He paused, looking down at his hands. That sentence kept ringing like a loud cathedral bell.
"The quicker we do things, the quicker we can leave this mountain."
These were the words that kept repeating like a broken vinyl on a gramophone.
"So, you are going to leave me soon."
He muttered to himself.
"I guess I deserve it."
Back in the castle...
SIP
"Ahh..."
After Sucrose blew the warm steam to cool down her tea, she melted on the couch with a strong wave of relaxation brushing harshly against her. Noelle who was sitting beside her was trying not to spit out the tea in her mouth because of how silly Sucrose looked.
"Your Highness, you look so funny."
Noelle said in between a chuckle.
"I'm sorry Noelle but this tea really calms me. How much is it?"
Sucrose struggled to place the saucer and the teacup on the coffee table.
"25,000 mora."
Sucrose sat up immediately in concern with her jaw dropping on the couch.
"25 what?! That's way too expensive!"
"There are many more expensive things than that of a high-quality tea flavor, Your Highness."
Noelle responded with sass in her tone, lifting up a pinky and opening one eye, shifting her glance to a shocked Sucrose.
"Hmph, you're right. Point taken."
Sucrose admitted in defeat, taking another refreshing and warm sip of tea.
"🎵Hmm, hm, hm hmm...🎵"
Klee was walking down the halls humming to herself. She was just taking a little stroll around the castle to exercise her legs for a bit. That was until she saw Sucrose. She got excited, gasping in joy. Klee ran up to her, almost doing a flip to land on the couch. But she didn't do that of course. She jumped up and down using the arm panel of the couch to boost her up.
"Sucrose! Hehe!"
Klee called excitedly.
"Klee, hello!"
Sucrose replied enthusiastically, happy to see her.
Sucrose set down the empty teacup and saucer once more on the coffee table. She spread out her arms, inviting Klee for a hug. Klee giggled non-stop and leaped into her arms. They both smiled with happiness resonating in that innocent little smirk. Noelle also smiled, a smile of pure relief.
"I missed you Sucrose! Where were you?"
"I missed you too. I had a little meeting at the Knights of Favonius."
"Oh, okay."
"Where's Xingqiu? Is he with you?"
"He went to the library. I didn't want to read books with him, and they're sooo boorrinngg!"
"Hey, Klee, even though books may be boring — books can give you more knowledge and can extend your vocabulary. I'm not much of a bookworm myself but there are a lot of interesting books with different genres too. Like romance, business, history, fan—"
Klee yawned, cutting off Sucrose's explanation.
"Blah, blah, blah."
Sucrose just sighed. Noelle stacked both of her and Sucrose's teacups — same with the saucers and stood up to go to the kitchen.
"Noelle, where are you going?"
"To the kitchen. After that, I have to adjust your and Klee's current clothes for both of your sets of gliders."
"How does that work again?"
Sucrose asked, genuinely confused.
"Secret~"
She winked, putting a finger on her lips.
Noelle walked away to go to the kitchen. All that was left was Klee and Sucrose. They both stared at each other, bored and deciding on what to do.
"I'm so boorreeddd!"
Klee sprawled on the couch.
"Why not go outside and get some fresh air? Or do you have any friends outside you can play with?"
"I do. Only one. But Diona's not been able to play with me because she's busy."
"Huh, okay."
Sucrose hummed, thinking of what to do until her eyelids lifted up slightly — thinking of an idea.
"Do you wanna tend my garden with me? I haven't taken care of them for maybe... a week or so?"
"Sure!"
In the garden...
A lovely and gentle breeze caressed them as soon as they entered the garden. Although a soothing breeze was relaxing, the garden was... a sight to see. And what I meant by that was that the garden looked like a total mess. Klee and Sucrose made sounds of utter disbelief and shock when they were greeted with a mess of a garden.
"Do you want to reconsider?"
Sucrose looked over her shoulder.
"Nope! We are going to clean up this garden!"
Klee marched forward with determination.
Sucrose smiled as she released a scoff from her nose. They cut the overgrown bushes, shaping them. Watered the grass and flowers, plucked out the weeds, cut off overgrown vines, raked the dead and crunchy leaves, and so on and so forth. At times, Klee would get exhausted. Sucrose would suggest Klee go back inside to take a rest but Klee would jump back into action and help with gardening. Finally done after 2 hours, they wiped the sweat off their foreheads and laughed heartily — looking at the clean garden.
"It looks much better once it's tended, right?"
Sucrose asked with a chuckle, propping herself on the rakes' stick.
"Mhm! It looks a lot prettier!"
Klee ran around the garden with her arms spread out. Sucrose wanted to stop her but didn't want to bother. Instead, she just sighed and placed the gardening equipment elsewhere.
"Klee!"
She called out.
Klee stopped, drifting her feet against the grass.
"Yeah?"
"I wanna show you something cool."
"And what's that?"
"Follow me."
Klee followed Sucrose. Sucrose lead Klee to a cobblestone path with shaped twirling bushes at the side of the cobblestone path. Klee admired it, looking around. Sucrose kept glancing over her shoulder to see if Klee was behind her — and she always was. When they arrived at the destination, Sucrose stopped, which made Klee stop. All she saw was a garden arch with red roses. And a huge hedge wall that no one can see on top. Klee got confused. She lifted her eyebrow and confronted the arch with her confused look. Thick vines were covering the entrance which made Klee think it was just another wall.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?"
"No, no, not at all. I wanted to show you this..."
Sucrose moved the vines aside, gesturing for Klee to go inside. Klee gasped lightly as she saw the inside a bit, but when she moved the other bunch of vines to the side — she gasped hard. It was a rose garden with a mini pond and a small arched wooden bridge over the water. As well as a swing and white wooden benches. And lastly, some trees to give the garden a little shade from the sun. The garden in one's eyes — especially if it's a child's point of view — screamed: fantasy. But it wasn't just roses in the garden (because there were mainly roses in there) there were other flowers too. Making it look like abstract art of a painting of a garden. I'm sure Albedo would love to paint this view too.
"Wow! It's-it's like a garden for fairies and princesses!"
Klee stuttered in excitement.
"It's so pretty! I love it!"
Sucrose entered and laughed at Klee's enthusiasm. However, the first thing she saw was how... overgrown it was. To Klee's eyes, it looks magical. From Sucrose's point of view, it looked like a swamp. Her expression instantly changed from pleasure to "what the hell is this abomination?". She got upset that she showed this other part of her huge garden to Klee when it was clearly not taken care of. Sucrose stomped out and grabbed her gardening equipment. Not even 2 minutes later, she rushed back in and speedran everything. She shaped the bushes and hedges, plucked out the weed, raked the leaves, evenly cut the grass, watered the plants, and finalized little details.
After that, she was really beaten. She disposed of the gardening equipment elsewhere and joined Klee in relaxing. Klee lay down on the grass, under a tree with a flower crown out of roses she created while Sucrose was cleaning the garden. But before Sucrose could even join, she had a sudden flashback of Sucrose and Albedo under a tree. In her eyes, Klee was like Sucrose — lonely under the tree. Sucrose spaced out, glaring at the tree. Klee noticed Sucrose just standing there and patted the grass for her to sit down. But she didn't respond.
"Sucrose!"
Klee shouted, patting down the grass again.
"Ah, sorry."
Sucrose then sat down beside Klee. Klee smiled a really big and gleeful smile.
"Déjà vu."
Sucrose mumbled.
"What?"
Klee asked, wiping off that big smile.
"Oh, it's nothing."
A sensation of déjà vu fluttered patiently in Sucrose's heart. Sucrose clenched her leftmost chest, where her heart was beating slowly. That time when Sucrose first met Albedo under the tree. It was vivid even after 6 years. Her big sweet smile that she showed to Albedo. His light yet surprised manner to how friendly she was even towards a boy she barely knew. She missed that. Those times when nothing ever went wrong with the two of them.
TAP TAP
Sucrose let out a little "huh?" as she turn to Klee who tapped her shoulder.
"Sucrose? What's wrong? You look like something's bothering you."
Klee tilted her head, slowly retracting her finger from her shoulder.
"I'm fine."
She lied.
"I'm just looking at how beautiful this place is."
"Well, I approve of that statement! It's so pretty! Maybe even prettier at night."
"It's prettier at night indeed."
"Really? I wanna see it at night when the full moon appears and showers us with its majestic glow!"
Klee gestured enthusiastically.
"I'll take you there. But I won't let you sleep late, okay?"
Sucrose said with a chuckle in between.
"Ohh, I was so close."
Klee spoke under her breath, pouting.
"But will big brother Albedo be there too? I want big bro to be here with us so he can look at this beautiful garden in your castle and-and watch the moon with us!"
Klee squeezed her fists, standing up.
Sucrose just stared at her. Her face was blank yet her mind was occupied. She glanced down at her feet, stretching outwards. She moved her foot side by side, fidgeting with her fingers.
Klee loosened the grip in her fists.
"...Sucrose?"
"I'm so sorry Klee."
"Huh? What do you mean by 'sorry'? You didn't do anything wrong. Or did I say something wrong to you?"
"You didn't do anything wrong. I did."
Sucrose placed a hand on her arm, rubbing it.
Klee sat down in concern.
"What do you mean? Sucrose, you're... scaring me... You've done nothing wrong!"
"I'm..!"
Sucrose started out strong but glanced over to Klee who was worried.
"I'm... the reason why Albedo isn't here with us..."
Sucrose finally spoke in a soft tone.
Klee didn't want to accept that fact. She didn't want to accept that Sucrose was taking all the blame. She slowly shook her head "no" until her shakes became quick.
"No... no, you're wrong. You aren't the reason why big bro isn't here with us, you aren't!"
Klee started to gasp between her words, scrunching up her chin and nose as her throat swelled.
"I am, Klee. You were there with me."
Sucrose calmly yet hurtfully insisted.
"You saw me slap him because I thought he was only using me. You saw me when I took the side of that other boy that I didn't know. You saw Albedo helpless there because of me."
Sucrose's eyes started to sting, forming tears inside. She removed her glasses and laid them on her thighs. But none of her tears began to fall.
"Doesn't it all connect Klee? He left because no one stood by him when he was in need of help. I rejected him. I bet he doesn't want to see me either... I'm the reason why he may not be coming back for us. Because of me..."
SNIFF
Sucrose's ear tip twitched a bit as she heard a sniff from her side. She looked at Klee who looked furious and unhappy. Those two emotions Klee had right now, were how she was feeling towards Sucrose.
"Klee, I know you're sad but—"
Klee stood up with haste and shouted.
"You're wrong!"
Sucrose just sat there, confused and concerned.
"You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!"
Klee repeated many times, shouting at her which made Sucrose devastated at how she was denying the truth.
"Albedo is going to come back for us! Don't say that he won't come back because you're the reason behind his leave, I won't allow it! He would never do that, he would never leave us for so long, it isn't like him at all!"
Klee yelled to the top of her lungs, spreading out her arms in frustration.
The little girl then slapped her arms on her sides, tired and out of breath.
"Albedo would never do that... Never..."
"But Klee, it is true. He left us because I didn't believe him. He must hate me now."
Klee gasped, then her eyes shined with despair. She furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her fists but immediately let go because of how weak she was. Her emotions got the best of her.
"Fine then! If you think that you're the reason why he left, then I'm also the other reason why he left!"
Sucrose turned to Klee with a silent gasp.
"Klee, what—"
"Because I told him that after he wanted to use you, I told him that I no longer looked up to him as my big brother. I'm the other reason why he left because I don't want him to be my brother anymore!"
Klee cried.
"Klee, no, that's not—"
Sucrose stood up, putting on her glasses again while extending her hand slightly.
"SHUT UP!"
Sucrose gasped. Then, she felt one tear fall from her eyes as her mouth stayed open.
"Stop being so stubborn about the fact that I'm the other reason why he left or the fact that he won't leave us for that long! I'm the one to take the blame, and not you! I'm the fault here!"
Klee then ran away, wailing loudly.
"Wait! Klee!"
Sucrose couldn't stop her. She just stood there with her leg out — ready to chase her. But she slowly retracted her hand and leg until she completely stood like a straight statue. She couldn't hold it in. All her tears went flowing down like a gentle stream on a spring day. She wiped her tears and sniffed. Sucrose walked backward, sliding down against the trees until she sat down — forming into a human ball.
"You're the one who's being stubborn Klee. Can't you realize that I'm the truth you're denying?"
That last sentence hit her. That entire interaction with Klee and how it escalated so quickly, was nearly the same as what happened two months ago. Sucrose — now crying to herself — imagined herself to be in Albedo's shoes; he was the truth in the sea of lies. The truth was standing in front of her. And Sucrose imagined she was in Klee's shoes as she was the one denying the truth when it all happened. The situation felt the same, but the interaction was different. She saw how Klee ran away from Sucrose. And in Sucrose's eyes, when Klee ran away, it looked like Klee was running toward the sea of lies instead of the land of truth.
"Is that how Albedo felt when I didn't believe him..?"
Sucrose bit her lip, before sobbing more.
"None of this would've happened if I could've just believed in him. None of it!"
She set down her glasses on the grass, digging her head deeper in between, covering her back head.
"I was so stupid... 6 years... 6 years! 6 years, gone to waste because of a stupid misunderstanding and a stupid rumor that got to me."
Sucrose popped her head out of the dark hole her torso and legs created. Then, she wiped her tears and stretched her legs.
"He was too good to be true for me. I don't deserve Albedo. He treated me so well he could've spoiled me with his affection. And yet... I couldn't return the favor..."
Sucrose looked up, her vision blurry but still well enough to see her surroundings by a bit. The sun was still high in the sky, yet it dreamed to hang low for it wanted the moon to take over soon. Like two lovers, managing but sharing the same sky Albedo and Sucrose lay under. The sun seeped through the holes of the leaves, giving birth to multiple warm rays of sunlight.
"If you are under the same sky as me, I wonder ever so deeply; if you gaze at the same clouds that roam every day. The same moon that drowns the entirety of Teyvat into its night. The same stars that twinkle so brightly. The same sun that shines its rays unto us. The same blue sky that covers us like a blanket. I wonder if you can see that too. I wonder if you think about me as much as I think about you."
Sucrose looked down after being a sorrowful poet.
"I wonder if you are still with us."
Sucrose clenched her chest, with another gasp of grief to be heard. Then, she spoke to herself in a very weak and faint whisper:
"I miss you."
Crying with Klee...
SLAM
Klee slammed her door open, kicked it close, and jumped on her bed as she subconsciously tossed her flower crown on her bed. The flower crowns' petals fell and fluttered harshly on the bed and laid separately on Klee's bed. Klee sobbed on the sheet, clenching it as well as kicking her shoes off. She kicked them off, hitting the door unintentionally with her boots. She cried loudly, but the mattress helped her by muting the sound slightly. She lifted her face up, hiccuping as she saw her stained tears on the bed. She sat up, looking at the flower crown she made. She crawled onto her bed to grab the crown and some petals. She inspected it, touching the roses and rubbing the texture of the petal in her fingers.
"Albedo..."
Klee uttered his name, putting down the flower crown.
The petal her fingers held on, she placed it in both of her hands. In the middle. A teardrop fell on her hand. And again, and again, and again... until one teardrop fell on the rose petal. She clenched her chest with the petal still intact, tightening her teeth to stop crying.
"Albedo... Please... Come back..."
End of Chapter 21