You left Wriothesley's office and were now making your way back to your cell room. Your entire body was so sore from all the sex. How many rounds did you and Wriothesley end up going? Was it four? Or five? You definitely lost count. You couldn't help but smile to yourself.
Ever since Elise had been dismissed, you no longer had a guard stationed in front of your cell room. Despite that, you saw a figure idling nearby.
You slowed your pace and tried to make out who it could be. As you approached closer, you recognized it was Lyney. His expression was hard to read.
"Lyney? What are you still doing here?" you asked taken aback.
When he saw you, his expression instantly changed into a soft and happy one.
"(y/n)! Oh my god, I was so worried about you!" he said, rushing towards you and embracing you in a tight hug. "After that bitch guard took you away, I haven't been able to focus on anything else. I'm so glad you're safe."
You stood there kind of awkwardly as Lyney held you in his arms. You could feel his hands slowly caressing the back of your neck, and then inching lower towards the small of your back.
"I'm fine," you responded, trying to pull away.
Lyney loosened his hold on you so that he could look at you. His eyes were full of concern, but there was something else there. They were half-lidded for some reason. Was he about to cry? Or-
Suddenly and without warning, Lyney's lips crashed into yours in a sweltering hot kiss.
You were so shocked by the sudden kiss that you stood there paralyzed, trying to make sense of the situation.
Huh?!
After a few seconds, Lyney pulled back and rested his forehead on yours. With his free hand, he gently caressed one side of your face. "If anything happened to you, I wouldn't know what to do... I... I care about you so much... I l-"
"Ahem," a cold voice sounded from behind.
If you thought you were paralyzed before, you were sure you were now petrified. Wriothesley had just arrived and had witnessed Lyney kissing you.
You immediately pulled yourself away from Lyney's hold and turned to face Wriothesley, hoping to explain yourself. But the look the Duke gave told you everything.
He was pissed beyond words.
He stared at Lyney as though he was about to rip his head off. His cryo vision began to glow.
Lyney scoffed and took a daring step towards Wriothesley, facing him. His pyro vision also began to glow.
"And what do you want?" said Lyney irritably. "Already stalking your next prey?"
Wriothesley's eyes flashed dangerously. He completely ignored Lyney's question.
"You attacked an employee of the Fortress who was on duty. Under normal circumstances, you would be punished. Because your actions led to the exposure of Elise's corrupt behavior, I will let this incident slide."
Lyney furrowed his brows as he took in what the Duke was saying.
Wriothesley then took a step closer to Lyney, towering over him and speaking in a low voice. "But what I will not let slide is you touching (y/n) ever again."
Lyney's face twisted in anger, his hands clenching into fists. He was breathing heavily. "What the hell did you just say?"
"Touch her again and you will regret it," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Without waiting for a response, Wriothesley now walked past Lyney towards you. He placed a gentle hand on your jaw.
"Did you want him to kiss you, (y/n)?" he asked you directly, staring deeply into your eyes.
You aggressively shake your head. "No! I promise! I didn't even see it coming. I would never have agreed to it if he asked me first."
Wriothesley nodded at your response. "I believe you." He now turned to Lyney. "You heard what she said."
Lyney was now shocked and hurt by your response. "Are you serious? I thought we had something... What about all these years when-"
"I'm sorry I can't reciprocate your feelings, Lyney," you added quickly. "I've always only seen you as a friend."
Lyney now looked desperate. "What about romantically? You can't tell me you never thought about it?"
You let out a sigh. "No, I didn't. Not in this lifetime. I'm interested in someone else."
Lyney was now shaking with rage. "If you're talking about the Duke, you literally met him like two days ago! You don't even know him! I've been locked up in the Fortress in the past, and I've literally seen him sleeping around with every female prisoner! You're going to trust someone like him over me?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
You were surprised by Lyney's sudden outburst and accusations about Wriothesley. Whether it was true or not, you were not going to stand there and listen to Lyney talk about Wriothesley's past. You, of all people, knew your past didn't make you who you were today.
"I'm going to need you to stop right there, Lyney," you said, frowning. "This is about you and me. I know you're upset, but I don't like you in that way. You're going to have to accept that. I understand if you no longer want to be friends with me because of this-"
"Wait! I... I still want to be friends," Lyney responded, his gaze on the floor. "I... I just need to let this all sink in, that's it. After all, you just broke my heart into a thousand pieces... I'll just need some time."
You let out a relieved breath. "I understand."
Lyney gave you one last look, hoping you'd reconsider. But when you gave no signs of changing your mind, he deeply sighed and instead gave Wriothesley a look of loathing. He couldn't help it. He hated Wriothesley so much in this moment. How dare this Duke come out of nowhere and steal his one and true love. He secretly wished something bad would happen to Wriothesley so that you would have no choice but to be with him.
"I'll let Lynette know that you're safe," Lyney said finally. "After that, we'll head back to the overworld."
"Take care, Lyney."
"One last thing..." Lyney took off his hat and pulled a flower out. "Don't blink, or you're going to miss it."
The flower he was holding moments ago now vanished before your eyes. You looked around the area to see where it had gone.
"May I?" Lyney asked with a solemn expression.
You nodded your head. He ran his fingers through your hair. The flower had reappeared behind your ear. You let out a small gasp.
"It's a new trick I learned recently - to make things vanish. I was saving this for you when I officially asked you to be my girlfriend, but... I'll now give it to you just as a friend."
He pulled his hand back before Wriothesley could make another threat about touching you again.
"See you later." With that, Lyney left the area without turning back.
[Timeskip - Wriothesley's POV]
After making sure (y/n) was safe and sound inside her cell room for the night, I started my investigation of the Fortress. Everything led back to the Abandoned Production Zone, and so that's where I went first.
I was convinced that there was someone inside the Fortress who was planning some kind of retaliation against me, or perhaps something worse.
I stepped into the elevator alone, making my way down.
[Meanwhile - Unknown POV]
The mysterious and cloaked figure watched as the Duke entered the elevator. Once, he was sure that Wriothesley was descending towards the Abandoned Production Zone, the cloaked figure nodded to his four allies stationed nearby. These people were also hooded and blended in with the other prisoners who were working late that night.
"Signal everyone inside through the secret passageways," he ordered through sign language. "I'll get (y/n)."
The four others nodded their heads and instantly dispersed.
The infiltration was way too easy, he thought to himself, smirking.
He made his way towards your cell room. As expected, there was still no guard stationed outside.
As he approached the side of your bed, he watched you for a few moments while you slept peacefully. You truly were so beautiful. It was too bad he couldn't have you since you were already claimed by another.
Sensing an unknown presence inside your room, you fluttered awake. Your eyes were still in the process of focusing at the figure standing next to your bed, when you were suddenly knocked unconscious again.
The last thing you saw was a flash of pyro.
[Normal POV]
Inside the Abandoned Production Zone, Wriothesley investigated every hallway and room for clues. Just when he was about to give up, his eyes caught something on the floor.
He leaned over to see what it was.
"Ashes," he muttered under his breath.
He quickly approached the rusty furnace nearby and confirmed it had remained broken for years. There were cobwebs formed all around it. There was no way anyone could have cranked this open to make fire.
That could only mean one thing. Someone was indeed down here and they wielded the power of pyro. And there was only one person who came to mind.
He quickly rushed back to the elevator to find, to his annoyance, that it had already been called up by someone. He tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for it to come down again.
Just then, several figures emerged from the shadows from all sides, completely surrounding him.
There were at least fifty enemies before him. Wriothesley's eyes narrowed as he grasped the situation right away.
The Fortress of Meropide had been infiltrated by none other than the Fatui - the military detachment led by one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers.
"I should have known it would be you worthless scum," Wriothesley spoke under his breath, his blue eyes enraged, and his fists instantly coalescing with frost.