Chapter Text
Jean had been waiting outside for maybe two hours. Sir Eroch said a couple of minutes, but obviously the discussion has extended beyond just a “couple minutes.” Jean was fed up with the wait. She contemplated leaving the palace and heading home since the sun was starting to set, but she thought it would be a waste if she did not at least take advantage of the training uniform she was gifted.
She headed towards the pile of wooden training swords and claymores. She picked up a wooden sword, and headed to the training dummies. She began hitting it, not letting up. And a particular redhead was the figure she was imagining hitting.
Stupid Diluc, she thought, I got my hopes up after that hug. I should’ve known better. He just left me here.
She paused, before hitting the dummy again, slicing it clean through the chest with her anemo coating the wooden blade. Why am I thinking these things? He’s obviously busy if he leaves me here for hours .
Jean sliced clean through the dummy’s head, the hay filled sack rolling through the training grounds. The anemo she released flowed around her, providing her a cooling breeze in the warm night.
So, why do I feel so disappointed?
“So I guess that means we need a new training dummy.”
Jean jumped at the sudden comment, Kaeya leaning against a pillar with a smirk on his face.
Jean bowed upon registering it was the young prince, “Your Highness.”
“Oh, please, Jean. I insist you call me Kaeya. Especially since we’re going to be in-laws so soon.”
Jean smiled, “Alright, Kaeya. What brings you here at this hour?”
Kaeya smirked, “I could say the same thing to you. Last I heard, Diluc was taking you out for a date, but I don’t see him anywhere.”
“It’s not a date.”
“Whatever makes you feel better. He definitely thinks it’s a date.”
Jean shook her head, “Sir Eroch took him aside to discuss something and he hasn’t returned since.”
“Oh, that Sir Eroch talks a lot. I hope he didn’t keep you waiting.”
“Just a couple of hours.”
Kaeya frowned and stood straight, “That buffoon left you here alone for that long? Hold on, I’ll go find him. Stay here.”
“Kaeya, wait!” he was already gone though and Jean was left alone once more.
She sighed and sat defeated on the bench. While Kaeya is very flamboyant and mischievous, he is a kind man. She smiled. He would make a wonderful brother-in-law.
Before she could continue down that road, she heard running footsteps towards the training grounds. She stood to face the incoming person and found Diluc, with his training uniform disheveled from sprinting and flyaways framing his face, holding a bouquet.
He had a great, apologetic look on his face, “I am so sorry. Eroch continued on and on. If it wasn’t for Kaeya I would have still been-”
He obviously felt guilty about leaving her alone for so long and her worried and apologetic look almost melted her frustration immediately, but she was going to have her fun. She extended her wooden sword towards him, challenging him with a smirk on her face.
“Then spar with me as an apology.”
Diluc chuckled and offered the bouquet he was holding, “I was hoping these flowers from our garden will serve as an apology.”
“You thought wrong,” Jean pressed the wooden blade against his chin, “Fight me.”
There was a silence as the two shared heated looks. Diluc never gave an answer, but judging by the smirk on his face, Jean could guess that he accepted her challenge.
“You really shouldn’t corner a pyro user with a wooden weapon,” Diluc warned.
Jean frowned in confusion before seeing the tip of her blade was smoking. She immediately retracted it from Diluc’s chin and patted the flame out with her gloves. Diluc placed the bouquet on the bench Jean was previously sitting on and he quickly grabbed a wooden training sword. He got in a defensive stance, watching Jean carefully for her next move.
“Now that was foul play,” Jean pouted.
“No, I’m using my surroundings to my advantage.”
“Your surroundings being your vision?”
“It’s around me, isn’t it.”
Jean rolled her eyes and made her first move, swinging her blade to his side. He blocked it with his own blade, of course. He pushed back on her approach, making her stagger backwards, and Diluc smiled in victory. Jean scoffed and stood in position again, Diluc following suit.
This time, Jean decided to attack with a flurry of slashes. She flicked her wrist side to side, aiming for Diluc’s throat. Diluc was on the defensive again, keeping up with her slices and redirecting their hits each time, dodging his head back to keep it out of her reach. But Jean was quicker than he realized.
She aimed for a big swing at his head, which he obviously dodged. He took that opening to swing at her and flicked his wrist so his sword would swing towards her neck. However, Jean moved back and dodged and subsequently flicked her wrist, swinging her blade to graze Diluc’s neck.
Diluc stepped back, placing his hand on his neck in surprise. There was no mark nor any blood, but he could still feel the dull surface of the blade on his skin. “Yours. Your tip grazed my neck.”
Jean beamed in excitement, “Jean 1, Diluc 0.”
“Now don’t get too cocky,” Diluc stood in position, waiting for Jean to do the same before he leapt forward and quickly swiped his blade. Jean reflexively dodged and blocked the swing of the weapon, but she had lost her footing and staggered back. Again, Diluc swung his blade at her. Jean was still able to move back, though, and swung her blade at him, hitting his abdomen.
“Jean 2, Diluc 0.”
“You’re very good at this,” Diluc praised, surprised that she had already landed two hits on him.
“Well, claymore users tend to strike slower than sword users so I need to take advantage of that,” Jean huffed.
Diluc puffed, lifting the bottom of his training shirt to wipe away the sweat on his face, revealing a toned abdomen underneath that Jean took a peak at. Sweat dripped down his abs and she caught sight of a few scars spotting his smooth skin. His abs tensed as he pulled at his shirt to dry the back of his neck also, revealing a bit more of skin as the shirt rode up with each tug.
She flushed when she noticed she was staring and turned away, acting as though she was enchanted by the setting sun in the horizon.
“Alright. Again.”
---
“One more time,” Diluc ordered, panting as he picked his sword up from the ground, the dull weapon now chipped beyond repair.
Jean groaned, “Just accept…that I won,” she panted in between her words.
Diluc shook his head, “No.”
Jean rolled her eyes, “We’ve been tied for the longest time now. The sun’s down and I’m exhausted.”
“All I’m hearing coming out of your mouth are excuses. Let’s go, one more round.”
Jean huffed in exasperation and got in position. Diluc smiled in victory and also got in position. Jean started the final round aggressively, hoping to finish the fight with an easy touch of her blade on Diluc’s uniform. But the competitive redhead wouldn’t let her win so easily.
They were stuck in a pattern of attack-dodge, attack-dodge, attack-dodge. They were in a dance where they pushed and pulled to and fro. Endlessly wanting to get closer yet pulling away when victory was uncertain.
But Jean meant it when she said she was exhausted. She was not used to training for extended periods of time since her uncle didn’t have much free time to train her. So, in a crucial moment where she had to dodge, her legs failed her and she fell back. As a reflex, she dropped her sword and grabbed onto Diluc’s shirt to try to steady herself before she fell. Diluc stumbled forward as Jean pulled him down with her but wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her towards him. He steadied them, saving Jean from a nasty fall, and whispered, “Are you okay?”
Jean nodded, but she was distracted by their proximity, staring deeply into his eyes as he held her to him despite them now being on even ground. Jean’s hands, which had balled themselves into fists while grasping his shirt, now laid flat on his chest.
Diluc found himself in a similar state, his eyes roaming her beautiful features dimly lit by the lanterns illuminating the training grounds. He found himself particularly distracted with her lips, a pink gloss shining on her parted lips. They were so close that he felt her every breath on his lips. That was dangerous.
Jean dragged her hands up to his collar and pulled him even closer to her. Diluc's eyes widened in surprise and dropped his training sword down to the ground, hypnotized by how she felt against him, and placed his newly free hand on the back of her neck.
However, just as Jean closed her eyes and puckered her lips to prepare herself for a kiss from the prince, he pulled a leaf from her hair and chuckled, “Now how did that get there?” He then turned away from her, picked up the weapons that were left on the ground, and put them in their place.
He laughed as he took a look at the decapitated and slashed dummy, “We’re going to have to find another dummy for the soldiers to train with.”
Jean flushed with embarrassment and laughed nervously in agreement, “Yeah. I’m sorry about that.”
Diluc picked up the dummy, straw fell out of the hole and everywhere on the ground. He winced, “Better the dummy than me.”
“Well,” Jean interrupted and wiped herself from the dirt that covered her attire, “Now that we are finished, I should be heading home. Thank you for everything, Your Highness.”
“Let me take you home.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll get changed and head home.”
“I’ll see you at Weinlesefest this weekend, right?”
Jean paused and turned around. He was asking if the plan was still on and if he was still going to propose to her then. She sighed and nodded, “I’ll see you there, Your Highness.”
Jean left in a hurry after that, feeling tears spring up suddenly in her eyes. She wiped at them furiously, unsure as to why she was crying. She got her hopes up. She forgot that it was all an act.
No, she knew it was an act. She just let herself believe that this was another one of her romance books and that Diluc did hold some affection for her. She was obviously wrong.
She realized that when she noticed that Hillie and Moco were there when they suddenly began trailing her. So that was all an act, she thought, I should have known . She wiped another stray tear, refusing for anyone to see her ridiculous moment of weakness where she cries for a boy.
Diluc sat defeated on the bench. He turned to watch Jean leave and saw Hillie and Moco, who he didn’t even notice were nearby, gave him a disappointed look before running after her. Diluc ran his hands over his face in frustration with himself.
“What is wrong with you?” He asked himself, her disappointed and heartbroken face forever engraving itself in his memories. He sat down on a bench.
He backed out in a moment of cowardice and uncertainty and consequentially sacrificed all the trust they have built the past couple of days. She had just started to call him by his name while sparring, yet she immediately returned to calling him by his title like before. He ran his hand through his hair and leaned back, staring up at the moon
“I should have just told her.”
---
Jean arrived home exhausted, kicking her heels off the second she arrived home. “I have some dresses in my carriage that I would like taken to the dressing room.”
Servants immediately ran to the carriage to put the dresses away as she limped in through the doorway. It was late in the night, the moon high in the sky and illuminating the dim house lit by candles.
In the distance, she could hear some clinking and laughter. She made her way to the kitchen in the back of the house, wondering who could be up at this hour. Her heels clacked against each other, yet it did nothing to notify the two people giggling about her arrival. She rounded the corner to find herself flabbergasted.
Upon her appearance at the kitchen, her mother and father both froze like deer caught in headlights. Jean held in her amusement at their drunken state and sighed affectionately, “Now, what are you two doing so late at night?”
Frederica glared at her daughter, still so strict even while drunk, and admonished, “We were up waiting for you all night, young lady! We only had one glass-”
“Oh, don’t listen to her. We were celebrating. Here, Jean, have a glass!”
Her father lifted the empty bottle of dandelion wine. He shook it in confusion and then bellowed out a boisterous laugh uncharacteristic of him, “Why, look at that, Frederica! It’s empty. Guess we need another one!”
Jean eyed the three empty bottles on the table they were sat at and she shook her head, “No worries, father, I don’t need one. Anyway, when did you get home? Are you staying long?”
Seamus beamed, “Barbara and I moved back in this morning!”
Jean could feel the stress of the night disappear when she heard that. “Where’s Barbara?”
“She’s sleeping in her room upstairs. You should get to sleep as well. What were you even doing with the prince this late at night?” Frederica scolded once more.
Jean smiled fondly, though the night didn’t end as she expected it to, she still had a lovely day with the prince. “We were training.”
“Training? Training in what?” Seamus questioned though his words slurring as he took another slip of a newly opened bottle of dandelion wine.
Jean walked up to her parents, snatching the glass of wine and the bottle from her parents before they drank too much for them to handle. “I was in combat training. Now, you know you two shouldn’t be drinking so much with Barbara here. I think we should all go to bed.”
Seamus nodded and smiled at his wife, “I think she is right, my love. Let’s go to sleep. We can continue the celebrations tomorrow.”
Jean froze upon hearing her father’s term of endearment for his mother. She hadn’t heard it in years. Not since her father moved out of the house with Barbara. She took a peek at her parents as she picked up the wine bottles and noticed they were holding hands and whispering sweet nothings to each other.
She smiled, glad that they were fixing things between each other.
She decided to leave her parents in the kitchen as they picked their mess up and she headed up to her room. Her bare feet carried her exhausted body up the cold, wooden stairs. The chilly air reminded her of Diluc’s warmth that she desired. She was reminded of his warm embrace and the kiss that she so desired yet was denied.
Finally, she made it to her room and pushed the door open. She threw her heels to the ground beside her bed before she realized that there was a small figure laying in her bed who stirred once she heard the noise. Jean smiled as her younger sister turned to face her with her blinking eyes.
“Jean?” Barbara questioned, “Welcome home.”
Jean smiled and climbed in bed even with the dress still on, “Thank you, Barbara. Now let’s go to sleep.”
Barbara nodded and hugged Jean, falling asleep almost immediately while cuddling her older sister. Jean was reminded of when they were younger and Barbara would sneak into her room whenever she had a nightmare. They would sleep just like this, Barbara curled up in her arms and Jean hugging her tight enough to drive away any nightmares that dared head towards her baby sister.
Now they were much older, Barbara was now 15 and Jean, 21. Yet, here they are sharing a bed like they are still children. Jean doesn’t mind though, it gives her the comfort she needed after the embarrassment she suffered with Diluc. She smiled thinking of her sweet little sister who always manages to calm her and help her through tough moments effortlessly. With that, she fell asleep hugging her younger sister in her arms.
---
She woke that morning to an empty bed, knowing that her sister woke up at dawn to begin her morning prayers at the Church of Favonius. Jean dressed for the day, preparing for the Weinlesefest the day after tomorrow and headed for her mother’s office, having a hunch that the older woman was working away.
She was right. Despite her parents’ heavy drinking the night prior, they were both extremely responsible people who will never leave their responsibilities unattended to.
Her mother was sat between piles and piles of papers and books and her eyes rapidly switching between documents as her hands wrote something else on a paper she wasn’t even looking at. Frederica didn’t even notice Jean’s entrance to the office given how she didn’t look up from the papers she was working on. Jean knocked on the door to get her mother’s attention.
“Ah, Jean,” Frederica greeted, not looking up from her papers, “How was your sleep? You came in pretty late last night.”
“I could ask you the same thing. How is your head?”
Frederica smiled, “Apart from the sudden loud noises, my head’s just fine. I can manage.”
Jean nodded and stood by the door awkwardly, unsure whether this was a good moment to speak with her mother about what has been on her mind for a while, “May I have a word with you, mother? I would like to discuss…grandfather.”
Frederica dropped her quill and looked at her daughter. She noticed the apprehensiveness in her eyes and nodded, “Of course, we have not yet discussed the events that transpired since that night. I think it’s time we tell you the whole truth.”
Jean sat in the chair placed before her mother’s desk and watched her mother expectantly.
Frederica sighed, “Your grandfather was never a fan of Seamus.”
Jean’s stomach dropped.
“He always wanted me to marry at a station equal to above the family’s ranking. Of course, the only ranking above ours is royalty. In fact, I was born and raised to marry King Crepus since we were so close in age. He even attempted to arrange our marriage when we were younger, but to no avail. King Crepus married our former queen Dagmar and I fell in love with Seamus when he was still an adventurer. He only allowed the marriage because Seamus had become a renowned adventurer. He was still unhappy with the marriage, though. That was the first time he considered me a failure.”
Jean swallowed and asked something she dreaded to know, “Had he always…hit you?”
Frederica looked away, “It was how he was disciplined and he didn’t know any better when he raised Varka and I.”
Jean frowned, “Yes, he did. He knew it was wrong because he always did it in secret. That is no reason for him to raise you and Uncle Varka the way he did.”
Frederica stayed silent.
Jean grabbed her mother’s hands, “Mother, is he the reason you and father split?”
Frederica nodded, “He was furious that Barbara wanted to study in the Church and become a deaconess instead of marrying into a politically advantageous marriage. And he…” she paused, “Well, he threatened to hit her when we asked for his permission.”
Jean gasped, “She was only eight!”
Frederica nodded, “So Seamus and I decided that he would live in the church with Barbara and I would stay and train and prepare you for a marriage with Prince Diluc.”
Jean was left speechless.
“So this whole time, you planned for me to marry the Prince?”
Frederica nodded, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was doing just what my father tried to do with me. Force you into a marriage with someone you didn’t love and with someone who didn’t love you.”
Jean let go of her mother’s hands.
“So this whole time… my education wasn’t just to better myself as a woman, but to make myself a viable option for Prince Diluc’s hand in marriage?” Jean’s blood began to boil, “Were we engaged this whole time?”
“No!” Frederica insisted, “My father was always looking for a chance to force a marriage between you both, but I was always fighting against it. However, this last opportunity was too dire for me to fight against. I mean, even King Crepus agreed that marriage was a viable solution to the possible coup.”
Jean exhaled angrily, biting on her lip in frustration as she now thought back to her childhood in a whole new light.
“But now that I’m the family head, I can change all that.”
Jean paused and looked back at her mother in confusion, “What do you mean?”
“Well, I can cancel this marriage.”
Jean was left speechless, “H-How?”
“I can offer a contract to lend our army to the royal family indefinitely until there is no longer a threat of a coup. While it is a very broad contract, it won’t need you to marry the prince. I know you were never a fan of the idea of this arranged marriage, and I know that this won’t right the wrong that has already been done, but at least you will still have the chance to marry for love if we drop this marriage now.”
“I don’t want to drop it.”
Frederica was taken aback, “I’m sorry?”
“I will still marry the prince.”
“I thought you didn’t want to marry the prince, Jean. Have you changed your mind?”
“The prince is a kind man and is very supportive of me and my ambitions,” Jean didn’t notice that a small smile had grown on her face as she spoke of the prince, “He invited me to the meeting with the noblemen to confront grandfather and has supported my dream to become a knight when he bought me a customized training suit and trained with me until the late hours of the night.”
Jean paused, a small blush forming on her face as she realized, “He had believed in me and what I can become more than anyone else. More than myself.”
Frederica watched her daughter in surprise, having not noticed her daughter’s increased confidence and closeness with the prince. “Are you in love with the prince?”
“No!” Jean sputtered, waving her hands as she shook her head, “I don’t love Prince Diluc… I am doing this for Mondstadt! While the contract will temporarily solve the military issues, there will always be a threat if the Knights continue financially suffering.”
Frederica raised a brow, silently asking how she knew this information.
“When I sat in that meeting with the noblemen, they spoke of the dire need to fund the Knights of Favonius and the issue with the unlivable wages they are suffering with at the moment. Since the Knights are mostly funded by the people of Mondstadt, they are limited to what the people can spare. Our military is funded privately by our treasury and our men are given proper weapons and training. While our numbers are smaller than that of the Knights, our army is leagues ahead of the amateur knights in the Favonius ranks. Permanently joining them will subsequently mean that we will begin to financially support the knights, providing them with better equipment and better training.”
Jean sighed, “I have been thinking about this for a while since I sat in that meeting and found out the reason for our engagement. While it isn’t ideal that I am forced into a contractual marriage, it is ultimately the best for Mondstadt and its further improvement.”
Frederica nodded and posed another proposition, “What if I sold the private armies to the Knights and pledged our financial support? Would you still marry Diluc then?”
Jean was left speechless once more, “Well, that’s a silly proposal-”
“Jean,” her mother interrupted, “It seems to me that you are finding excuses to justify your marriage to the Prince. I will ask you this again… Are you in love with the prince?”
Jean was about to deny the accusation once more before she pondered on the inquiry. She thought of his smile and the warmth that spread through her whenever he held her hand. She thought of his incessant teasing she dreaded. She thought of his constant reminders of her competence and his compliments. She thought of how he selflessly and recklessly threw himself into a fight. She thought of how he fought to save her and her mother from hilichurls. She thought of his blush whenever he was embarrassed. She thought of how he held her, warm, welcoming, and possessively held her against him.
“I do not know if I am in love with the Prince,” she admitted, “But I can see myself loving him in the future.”
Frederica nodded, “I understand.”
Frederica grabbed her daughter’s hand in a rare show of affection, “Are you sure you want to continue with this marriage, Jean? I can call it off whenever you change your mind. You only have a week before you are to marry.”
Jean nodded and smiled at her mother’s worry. She appreciated her effort to right what her grandfather had done, but she had made up her mind.
“I am sure mother. I will marry the prince. For Mondstadt, as always.”