Chapter Text
Hestia stared blankly at the grandfather clock in her office, her eyes following its ticking hands as it settled to the numbers that demonstrated it was well past a quarter to midnight.
“He's late.” She mumbled with a hint of irritation as she massaged her temples and leaned back on the soft cushion of her office table's chair.
Although she was used to pulling all-nighters just to get paperwork done, waiting for somebody- someone she disliked, someone she found insufferable and difficult- at such an ungodly hour was a different story.
Just as the clock struck 12:30, her office’s dim lights momentarily flickered- as if some kind of black mist swept across the room, and when the light turned back on, a tall black silhouette of a man suddenly appeared in front of her.
“I wasn’t too late, was I?” the man asked, taking one step closer towards her office desk.
Hestia with a displeased frown on her lips let out a small sigh as response before pushing herself off of her desk’s chair and heading towards the sofa set in her office.
“Wine?” She tonelessly asked as she set out two wine glasses, gesturing to him to sit as she did so.
“Is it poisoned?” the black haired man bemused, sitting himself right smack at the middle of the long sofa, crossing his legs and leaning back comfortably at the seat’s soft cushions, his two hands intertwined on his lap.
“Do you want it to be?”
Hestia snarked as she popped open a bottle of 30-year old-aged red wine.
“I’d be disappointed if it was. Poisoning your fiance wouldn’t be a good way to start a marital engagement.”
Dark red liquid poured out of the bottle, the same red that shone on Hestia’s ruby eyes in the dimly lighted room.
“Fiance? I don’t remember agreeing to your proposal.”
“I’m supposing you will, so it’s better to avoid any conflict beforehand, don’t you think?”
“Just where are you getting such unfounded confidence, harbinger?”
A calm voice laced with anger- eyes sharp and glaring- confronted the said man.
“You wish to keep being a thorn in my side, yes? You wish to make me miserable up close? Wouldn’t marrying me be the most convenient way to do that?”
“I’m petty but not stupid, Lord Pantalone. Why would I walk myself right into such an obvious trap?”
The black-haired man let out a deep hearty and amused chuckle at Hestia’s question. The ruby-eyed woman before him was certainly no fool. She was someone intelligent and crafty enough to make him quite wary of her, to the point that he’d rather tie himself by her side to keep closer watch of her. She was a particularly annoying rival of his, although she wasn’t always particularly in opposition to him, she was still someone who was in the way of his complete economic domination of the entire world of Teyvat. Marrying her was a way to hold her back from getting anymore annoying, and coincidentally, he believed there was truth in the saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies even closer’. What better way to keep her legally close than matrimony? Besides, he had found her quite charming and pleasing to the eyes- rivalry and business aside.
Before he could reply, he took hold of the wine glass Hestia had offered him and took a small sip. His lips curved into a satisfied devilish smile.
‘That and we have the same taste in such exquisite wine. We’d be quite the match.’ He thought to himself, before glancing back at Hestia who took a seat across from him, legs crossed as she boredly took a sip from her own glass.
“Don’t you think we’re quite alike, Miss Hestia? I think we’ll be quite compatible as a married couple.”
“Did you hit your head or do you want me to hit it for you?”
Hestia couldn’t help but grimace at his words. If she didn’t know any better, he would’ve hit him with a wine bottle the moment he spoke up about marriage between them. She had never even considered getting married, much less getting married to a guy she wouldn’t hesitate to throw off a cliff.
“You’ll have the freedom to do that to me- or whatever you please for that matter- when you become my wife.”
Before Hestia could say anything else, the black-haired man rummaged for something in the inner pocket of his coat. A black velvet box was then taken out, and as he popped the box open, an exquisite ruby carved into that of a rose, embellished and surrounded with an intricate design of obsidian gems decorated the crown of a gold ring sitting in the cushion inside the box. It was a beautiful ring- and one that seemed to have been customly made and especially designed to fit Hestia’s aesthetics- as if the man had prepared it grandiosely beforehand.
Even Hestia’s eyes couldn’t help but admire the ring the moment she had laid her eyes on it.
“Marry me, Lady Hestia.”
The harbinger had placed the ring in front of the coffee table before Hestia, before walking his way over behind the sofa she was sitting, leaning over behind her before whispering in her ear…
“We’ll be the most powerful figures in all of Teyvat. Nobody could ever touch us.”
Hestia immediately scoffed, pushing his face away as she looked at him disgruntled.
“Your careless blasphemy and otherworldly delusional arrogance continues to astound me, Lord Pantalone.”
Hestia had risen up from her seat, turning to face him with an expression that tethered between being in disbelief and being offended.
“I’m not sure just what gave you the notion that it’s power that I want, but you’re terribly mistaken.”
Pantalone raised an eyebrow at her, “Oh? Then what is it exactly that you want, Miss Hestia? ”
A scoff left Hestia’s lips upon hearing the answer. A minute or two of silence prevailed in the room- quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
She herself didn’t know the answer to that, or perhaps she did but she knew it was something she could never ever get. Not in this life anyway.
“If you came here thinking you could convince me to marry you, then I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time.”
“You haven’t even given it any deep thought and you’re turning me down like this. You’ll regret letting such an opportunity pass. As a fellow of yours in business, I advise you to reconsider.”
The man spoke unaffected- deep tone still laced with confidence and deceit. The man took a few strides towards Hestia, stopping closely in front of her. A hand then reached out towards her, gently and loosely fiddling with the ends of her hair, before he had let it slip past his fingers and fall back into place.
Hestia’s eyebrows furrowed deeply at his actions, but didn’t protest, choosing to stay still and puncture daggers into him with her eyes.
“Don’t you get it, harbinger? I refuse to give it any thought. My decision remains the same.”
“You refuse to? Is that because you’re afraid that I’ll manage to convince you somehow?”
An irritating smirk spread on his lips as he teased. “Are you afraid to know that some part of you is actually considering it?”
“Don’t be so full of yourself. You’re not as good of a persuader as you think you are. Even if it’s brought you this far, it won’t work with me. You of all people should know that.” Hestia had snickered, her glaring eyes not wavering one bit despite the man towering over her.
A small chuckle played under the harbinger’s breath, nodding in agreement to her last statement, before leaning forward, his face nearing hers as he whispered in her ear.
“Of course I know. But I also know that you’re someone who wouldn’t let an opportunity pass- especially in the point of desperation.”
Hestia took a step back, face crumpled in a light sneer.
“Desperation? Do I look like I’m desperate for something right now? Don’t mistake me for you.”
As if he had gotten the irritated reaction he wanted, a devious smile spread across the harbinger’s face, before he had straightened back up.
“My apologies. You’re right. It seems I’ve gotten ahead of myself.” the harbinger shrugged haphazardly.
Although she was no longer glaring intensely, Hestia continued to look at him with doubt, suspicious of his sudden withdrawal. The annoying smirk he had sported worsened such suspicions. Was it possible to have a headache on top of another headache?
“I’ll leave the ring to you. Consider it a gift, regardless of your answer. I crafted it myself.”
The harbinger glanced back at the beautiful ring that sat on the cushion of its velvet box placed on the coffee table.
“I made it thinking of you.” Dark eyes met her ruby eyes, this time with a slightly more sincere glint in his eyes.
Hestia’s eyes trailed back to the ring as he heard such seemingly romantic words.
It was indeed a ring that looked to represent her. But the fact that he had made the ring himself meant that the ring was a trap. Even if there was nothing out of the ordinary about the ring- no enchantments, no curses- it still signified just how much the harbinger wanted the marriage to happen.
‘Because who would do something that would remind them of a past they’ve desperately tried to bury just to offer a sham marriage to someone you want to get rid of?’ She thought to herself, remembering the details she had gathered about the harbinger in front of her.
A man who had nothing. The man before her used to be a jewel craftsman deep in the debt left to him by his gambler father. Many called him a genius- a great artisan, yet he continued to struggle in poverty, and not once did the gods look kindly upon him. Not until he had met the Fatui, not until he had started his conquest of wealth and power, not until he was one of the richest people in all of the continent.
He was said to be a man who hated being reminded of his past. So much so that he had erased tales and rumors of his background- erased the identity of the genius jewel craftsman that had been sought out by many of the elite. He had shrouded himself superfluously with all the luxury and fortune he had finally attained, and he had never once again turned back.
Hestia could tell that he truly did craft the ring. Because there was nobody else in Teyvat- other than the ‘famed genius jewel craftsman’ he had used to be- could carve a jewel so beautifully. He probably knew she had someone investigate him, and the ring and his claim of crafting it himself may well be a tactic he’s using to persuade her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but think why he wanted the marriage- other than the obvious reasons of course. There was probably something more to it. And she was going to get to the bottom of what it was.
“I hope the next time we meet, I’ll see the ring on one of your fingers. Preferably…”
The harbinger took one step closer, gently taking hold of Hestia’s right hand. He fiddled with her ring finger briefly, meeting her eyes with a facade of a smile, before planting a soft kiss on the same finger.
“You-!” Before Hestia could take her hand back and rebuke him for such an action, he hurriedly took a step back, let her hand go, and said with an annoyingly taunting smile…
“I’ll be taking my leave now, Lady Hestia. I hope you won’t disappoint.” And by his last word, with a snap of a finger, the lights in the room were blown off as if they were swept by the shadow that had passed out the room before the lights that lit the room finally came back to normal after a short wisp of wind had blown back in the room.
Hestia looked down at the hand that the harbinger planted a soft kiss.
‘Unpleasant.’ She thought, looking at her hand as if she wanted to scrub it clean.
Although a kiss on the hand was a form of greeting, the harbinger and her were never in the kind of relationship- let alone- acquaintanceship to greet each other as such. Furthermore, the proud man she knew he was would never do such a thing, which creeped her out even more.
‘What is that sly banker planning?’ A sigh escaped her lips, a hand massaging her left temple, as she stared at the ring that glinted under the soft candlelight in her office.
For some reason, her mind had wandered back to the silver-haired man who she had met and spent time with during Windblume. Looking back, she had held out her hand to him and intertwined it with him with no hesitation- no discomfort, not even a sense of awkwardness. It was a far cry from what she had been feeling.
Hestia’s eyes, which previously stared at the sparkling ring on her sofa set’s coffee table, wandered towards the huge preserved bouquet arrangement of Windwheel Asters that stood beautifully by her office window. Unknowingly, a small smile had graced her lips.
Although her mind would cloud and wander in curiosity about him, at the very least, she had enjoyed the time she spent with him. Compared to the raging storm that was going on inside of her- one built up of stress and burden- she felt a sense of peace on that rare day off. So much so that she didn’t try to get back at Kaeya when she got back to work.
She had mumbled under her breath, unaware of her deep thoughts leaking out…
‘It’d be nice to see him again.’