A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm back in exam season so I'll be busy, I'll try upload as best as I can.
[3rd Person POV]
The banquet hall was lovely, kudos to the staff at the palace for doing an amazing job.
It was blazing with excitement and many Nobel's from different nations. Of course only one person would taste test all the finest wine that they had to offer. How could he say no to free wine.
"Venti! You need to take it easy-"
"Relax, my friend! Let us enjoy this delightful night, hooray!" He cheered, making a fool out of himself.
His companions just shook their heads in embarrassment, this is not what they had want to deal with on a important day.
Tonight was about celebrating and bringing nations together once again. Fontaine and Natlan are going through a national crisis at the moment so they have sent their congratulations via a cart full of their nations specialities.
But nonetheless, four is better than none.
"Ah~ Look! Morax finally decided to move his idle butt from his chair, what a pleasant surprise!"
"Tsk. You reek of disgrace and impurity, Barbatos."
"Oh you silly old goose, loosen up once in a while, eh?!"
"Is the drink to your liking, Ei?"
"Do not worry Miko, let's enjoy this night. A certain traveller told me to enjoy the little things that come around in life."
Miko chuckles, smiling in joy, "My look at you taking on the words of the said traveller."
The Inazuman Queen closes her eyes in content and enjoys the night as best as she could.
Meanwhile, with the Sumeru lot, Nahida took the time to appreciate the hard work that had been put in to make the humongous ball room, shine with a bright look.
"Beautiful..."
The decoration team but so much hard work and effort and seeing as the guests are also admiring the work, it is all paying off very well.
"Princess!"
Nilou came running from behind, a look of worry and panic written all over her face.
"What happened, you look really stressed out?"
"It's (Y/N)! We can't find her anywhere. Me and Collei went to go pick her up from her greenhouse garden but she was not there. Her outfit is not in her room but we don't know where she is." She said without breathing every word that she had uttered.
Nilou had a deep gut feeling that there was more to the situation than what they see from the outside.
She felt that there was a deeper layer to this all and someone knew to take advantage of the night where it'll be busy and crowded.
"(Y/N)... She must have been kidnapped..." Nilou thought to herself, feeling useless for not being able to help her or do anything.
"It's okay, Nilou, we will find her." Cyno comes from behind Nahida, he was dressed more like a general going to battle in a war, more elegant and regal than his usual attire.
Slowly one by one, the others came, looking with a rather solemn look on their faces at the fact they were not able to find (Y/N).
A voice from the stairs cleared their throat and so began the ceremony tonight.
"Can I please have your attention. Tonight is a night that will be one to remember, there will be various things happening tonight. We have tried to make this the most entertaining coronation ever seen in history!" Lady Viva's voice echoed in the banquet hall.
Everyone cheered and clapped happily. Some claps louder than others. She bowed and an announcer came next to her with a lot of gleam and hope.
"For our main event, I hope you'll all have fun and enjoy yourselves! Now then, let the performance begin - tonight we will start with Zubayr's theatres performance with rising star, Nilou! Please make yourself comfortable as possible and enjoy this young Lady's spectacular performance!"
The announcer spoke, pointing towards the middle of the stage in anticipation as Nilou felt hesitant at first to walk but a reassuring look from Nahida and made her feel less nervous.
She walked onto the stage, followed by a crowd of women who surrounded her and got into position.
They clapped wildly, cheering for Nilou as she walked onto the stage and gave the leading music orchestra a signal with the flick of her hand to start the dance.
With her performance, the entire audience became quiet. Their gazes were glued to her, they wanted to see her dance.
Her movements were graceful, she danced across the stage, her legs gliding like water under her, creating beautiful sounds, mesmerizing even, for those around her.
Her dance was so perfect, so smooth and so elegant, like the waters of nature itself, reflecting her grace perfectly.
They were captivated by her beauty, especially her facial expressions and the smile she wore.
It was breath-taking to watch her perform, she seemed to glow brightly in the dark room, illuminating the dark atmosphere, making her glow even brighter and attracting everybody's eyes onto her.
It was hypnotising for almost everyone as she finished off her performance with an elegant bow, her eyes locked onto the audience.
She was now facing the audience, breathing heavily with her hand hovering just above her heart.
"That, ladies and gentlemen, is our rising star Nilou, only one of the best dancers you'll ever see in all of Sumeru!"
Nilou raised her hand high, waving at the spectators before the laddies gathered by her side and bowed, simultaneously at the same time.
The Kings and Queen of the other lands also felt in peace, praising Al Haitham for taking on aboard such an absolute amazing team in his kingdom.
Nilou looked back towards the crowd and sees (Y/N), standing right there and cheering for Nilou loudly.
Her eyes widened and she signals Nahida and Cyno to look towards their left and they turned their heads around to see (Y/N) fully dressed up with a guard standing really close to her.
The crowd started to disperse and people went into their own groups or started conversations amongst themselves about their typical lives which left (Y/N) standing with the unknown guard behind her.
Once Nilou was given the pass to go off stage, she ran towards (Y/N) stopping in front of her and grabbing her shoulders. (Y/N) tensed up, knowing she was about to get a scolding from her.
She luckily mentally prepared herself for her words.
"Where were you?! Everyone was so worried about you." She says, shaking the girl backwards and forwards.
Nahida and Cyno came and saw one of the guards that are supposed to be guarding elsewhere and not near (Y/N) as Cyno never issued this.
"Who are you?" Cyno says menacingly, giving a cold look to the guard behind her.
"Ah! Don't worry guys, he's uh... My friend! I made friends with this guard because he guards outside my greenhouse a lot and make sure I'm well, protected!" She says quickly, her tone sounded quite off putting and Cyno nor Nahida took one bit of her words.
They knew she was lying and they intend to get it out of her.
"My apologies General Cyno but the lady asked me to take care of her." The manly voice says ever so confidently.
Nahida just shakes her head in relief that (Y/N) is safe and that it would not be too much of an issue.
After all, if word about this got to Al Haitham, it could have potentially drove him insane. This night was just meant to be about him and no more stressful things just for the one night.
"Sorry about that guys, my greenhouse ran out of fertilizer's so I dressed up first before heading to the storage room to get some supplies. I asked this guard to accompany me just to make you less worried but turns out it was the opposite." (Y/N), covering up herself with that fake story.
What actually happened was...
-Flashback-
"You are?"
"Please forgive me for this, you're a lovely woman but, you are also my target."
The guard approaches her closer, she backs up, hoping to find something in her near proximity to use to attack the guard who wants to kidnap her assumingly.
She didn't see anything from the corner of eyes in her proximity and decided to resort to something risky and stupid.
Take this guard head on.
With a look of determination in her eyes, she ran up to the guard who had their hands out to reach her but instead with one simple kick to where the sun does not shine, he faltered to the ground in agony.
"You damn woman- Ugh!"
She placed her foot on their back, bringing him down to the ground and stood above this said guard with a menacing look.
"Who are you and what do you want with me?"
They didn't say anything.
They burst out laughing out loud, only making her become more suspicious of this guard whose voice came out quite manly and childish that lays down on the ground, below her.
"Relax, girlie, I'm just here to get to know you. They say you are a real beauty after all and I do not see that lie. If you keep acting beautiful, I may just have to kidnap you." The manly voice says.
She crouches down to his level and places her hand on the helmet, lifting it up to see soft ginger locks framing his cold pale face. His dull blue eyes mixing with different emotions.
"First of all, I'm not your 'girlie', my name is (Y/N) (L/N) but I'm assuming you already knew that anyway from the start. Second of all, why should I tell you that? Are you planning on using me against Al Haitham? Do I need to remind you that he is very dangerous when it comes to anyone he is close to, hurt?"
"Ah but you missed a point there, he doesn't have time in the world to be thinking about you alone, princess." He says, smirking mockingly.
"Are you threatening me?!" She raises her voice, anger seeping through it.
"I don't think I am, princess. You've seen how he acts around you, he is obsessed with you."
"And how is he obsessed with me?" She asks, raising her eyebrow up, waiting for a response.
"Well, I can tell by the way he looks at you, with longing and passion and devotion. He adores you, loves you, princess. And that, right there, is reason enough to kidnap and hold you." He said, looking into her eyes, seeing her expression.
"Okay, and? I have feelings towards him too, I care about him just as much as he does." She responded, crossing her arms over her chest.
He chuckled lightly, "If only you had feelings for me too-" His words stopped when she put her index finger to his lips.
"In your dreams!" She whispered fiercely, her voice cracking as she stared intensely into his eyes, trying to show him that she wasn't messing around.
He looked surprised for a moment and then began to laugh again, "Oh, oh, oh, I think you might just be the smartest one here, Miss (Y/N). But I still have a few questions to ask you and you better give them a satisfying answer, alright? Let's start with: If I kidnapped you now, it be a much easier escape, yes?"
(Y/N) thought for a while, deep in contemplation.
"I doubt you'd even get past the palace outer walls, there's so many guards on patrol today. Since we're playing this question game, I too have questions for you." She says, signalling to a stool to take a seat on.
"Who are you really and who sent you here?"
"I am but, no one, princess. Just your typical pick up guy." He says smoothly.
"Do you really think I'm going to buy into that?"
"Well, yeah, I'm way too charming after all."
"Did you always have a big ego?"
"I do and will always have, just for you."
"Gross, I bet you have a lucky woman and your displaying this behaviour towards me?"
"Well, let's just say she's a contract of sorts."
"What are you? The God of Contracts?"
"No, but I could be m'lady."
And so their bickering amongst one another get going along and not long after, she finally found out who this mysterious man is.
"My name is Childe. 11th Harbinger of the Fatui."
She got caught off guard because his persona didn't put off any sign of him being from an dangerous group.
"Surprised are you, good."
He stood up from his tool and towered over her, trapping her between the table with both hands on either side of said table as she looks at him cautiously.
"We can play this the safe way, I'd rather not get my hands dirty tonight. I'll be your personal escort for the coronation and as soon as it is done, we're leaving. No one would even know because as soon as the crowning starts, we are out of here."
What was once playful laughter and jokes is just the start of something dark and sinister.
"So, the easy or hard game, princess?" His playful tone turned into one of malice and evil.
"Whether we play your game of cat and mouse, either way will end badly for you. If you really think Al Haitham would dare let you go after this, your asking for deaths door."
"Maybe that's the better choice but I'm afraid you are of use to us. Her majesty has told me to pass on her praise for your excellent work. After all, it was your damn so called "innocent" father who ran away from the Fatui. Who knew his daughter would grow up to play pretty pink princess all day."
She widened her eyes at such bold claim and felt a cold shiver travel down her spine.
"You- What?!"
"Why act surprised, did you think your parents were pure souls from the beginning? Your mother was a harlot because no man would accept her and your father was a pure evil man, creating phenomenal diseases to spread cruelness on this world."
(Y/N) refused to believe his words, her parents would never be like that, why would people dare to keep the truth away from her for a long time.
Is that why people have been chasing her? Is that why the Shouka family took her in just to sell off to the Fatui, one day maybe?
All these thoughts spiralled around in her head causing her to get big shot of pain.
She refused to believe his words and instead, retaliate with anger. "Don't you speak of my father that way! I don't believe any of the lies or nonsense you spit around! People can look down on them but I do not tolerate such disrespect towards the best parents they could've been!"
"Besides, I'm a herbalist, not a princess. I fight for what I believe in..." She stood up from her chair, going on her tiptoes and staring at him with pure dislike.
"Fine, I'll go with you, but you're to promise not to hurt any of my friends, not a single soul."
He only stares down at her, rolling his eyes at her absurd request. "What's in it for me then?"
"Is not kidnapping already not enough? Don't think I'm going to dare even sell my body to you, no way."
"Relax, I already have a woman and I'm already loyal to her so no, I won't. I'll let you know when the time comes. For now, let's get this over with."
"However, at least let me dress a little more presentable, I wouldn't want my outfit to be put to waste."
-Back to the present with the Mondstadt crew-
They too tonight are working in cooperation with the Sumeru knights to make sure everyone is kept safe and sound and that nothing should go wrong.
Except what they didn't know was for this night to end indirectly with many issues arising after one another.
Diluc as usual, kept to himself near his nations people, scouting around the area for anyone suspicious. Even the most typical looking people hide cruel intentions in which he learnt from the hard way.
Being so lost in thought, he heard a voice call out to him right in front of him and saw Kaveh walking up to him with a slight look of doubt.
"Diluc, a word?"
Kaveh comes from behind him, looking slightly put off by something that has been lingering in his mind.
"First Knight, Kaveh." Diluc acknowledges, bringing his hand to his heart and showing small courtesy.
"Please, I don't deserve your formality, I'm just a mere guard. But other than that I have something I've been meaning to ask you."
"If it helps with keeping the nation's safe, tonight, go ahead."
"You mentioned about a certain Fatui member in your letter who you said would be possibly here tonight, do you think they are possibly already in this hall, and if so, for what purpose."
Diluc closes his eyes, reminiscing about his and Kaeya's old time friend from their childhood, he was quite the prankster with his sister, pranking Diluc more than Kaeya.
Opening his eyes, he looks at Kaveh with dull and dark eyes, their red crimson eyes clashing one another's.
"You're not wrong with your judgement, that potential member is possibly here right now, taking hostage of your their most wanted target." He says, looking straight past him at no one in particular.
His eyes scan the room before nudging Kaeya who was busy talking with Amber and Jean and interrupted their conversation.
"Ow, brother why couldn't you just call me by my name-"
"Apologies Acting-Grand-Master, but I have a strong feeling that "they" are here." He says, and Jean looks at him with annoyance.
"Diluc, how many times do I have tell you that I should be the one addressing you with courtesy, but anyway, please, do what you must."
With that, Kaeya, Kaveh and Diluc leave their group to go inform Cyno who was standing with Nahida, (Y/N) and a guard.
Oh how no one knew that this night may end is happiness or despair, only they can hope that Lady Rukkehdevata is around to save the innocent from above.
A/N: and~ that wraps up this chapter, I'm writing the next chapter as we speak and hopefully should be up soon.
See you! And again, sorry for the late posts. ❤️🥺