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Many visitors who came to visit the king always had the same greeting, taking Diluc's hand in theirs and placing a light kiss upon his knuckles. Diluc got tired of all his visitors doing the same greeting each time until one man caught his eye. The man before him did the usual greeting yes but he had never seen this man before yet he was quite intriguing. The scars on the man's neck and the one underneath the eye, the wolf ear shaped hair tufts on top of his head.
"King Ragnvindr, it is an honour to stand before you, I am Duke Wriothesley of Fontaine, well, a small area of Fontaine,"
—
After their initial meeting, Diluc would sometimes send Wriothesley a personal invitation to spend tea with the King himself to which Wriothesley would graciously accept.
The sun had risen high in the afternoon sky as Diluc took a small sip of tea he had poured himself, waiting for the Duke to arrive. He looked towards the lake, thinking about how nice it would be to one day take Wriothesley on a little boat and have a nice little row down stream, just the two of them.
"King Ragnvindr, your visitor is here."
Diluc quickly left his thoughts and dismissed the two knights which had escorted Wriothesley to the back gardens of where the King resides.
"King Ragnvindr, how lovely it is to have a nice tea with you," The Duke sat himself on the chair opposite the King and watched as Diluc poured him a nice cup of tea.
"You can just call me Diluc you know, there's no need to be so formal when it's just us out here,"
"Hmhm I know, I'm just teasing you," Wriothesley gave Diluc a sweet little smile before taking a sip of the tea.
Most people who knew of the meet ups the King and the Duke had would think it was of business matters but actually Diluc liked Wriothesley's company. The smile on the Duke's face when they meet up would make the King feel like he has butterflies in his stomach. Little did he know that Wriothesley would feel the same way. Wrio loves the meet ups, he loved seeing Diluc be so casual around him without the stress of being a King. As King, Diluc is serious but when they meet up, Diluc is more relaxed and emotive.
"Next time I decide to invite you over I would like to take you on a little boat ride on the lake, it's been quite a while since I was last on the lake so I think the next time should be with you. That's if you want to of course," Diluc looked over at the lake where the sun's reflection made it look like glitter had been sprinkled all over the lake.
"I would love to! It's such a beautiful lake,"
Wriothesley watched as Diluc looked out at the lake, sipping his tea. He always thought Diluc was so gorgeous with his freckled covered cheeks with a slight rose tint, his long eyelashes and fiery red eyes. He loved to admire the man in front of him, heart beating fast with love.
—
"Are you sure this boat is stable?" A worried Wriothesley eventually managed to step into the small row boat that both the Duke and the King would use to row across the lake.
"I always used it when I was a kid so it should be very stable."
Once Wriothesley was able to stay balanced on the boat he held his hand out to Diluc and helped him step into the boat, holding him close when he almost stumbled over when trying to balance. When he realised what happened, Diluc quickly broke away from Wriothesley and covered his bright red face with the edge of his large straw summer hat. Wrio chuckled at the reaction and sat down in the boat and grabbed the oars when Diluc carefully sat down as well.
"This was my idea so I should be the one to row the boat," Diluc did try to take the oars from Wriothesley but did fail.
"You are a King, King Ragnvindr, the King of all Kings. I am just a Duke, you are above me so I shall row the boat for you," Wrio did a small bow to the King before proceeding to row the boat across the lake.
The beginning of the ride was quiet but a comfortable quiet. Diluc had brought along a Kamera to take photos of birds he saw out on the lake while also a couple of photos of Wriothesley.
"Duke Wriothesley, give me a smile!" Wriothesley would give Diluc a smile, just for him.
Once the boat was in the middle of the lake, Wrio stopped rowing and took in the scenery.
"It's so beautiful isn't it?" Diluc asked, looking at Wriothesley.
"It is,"
"When I was just a Prince I would take the boat out every week and sketch out whatever bird I saw, I had so much free time. I do miss it."
Diluc placed his Kamera down and stood up.
"I also used to play pretend pirates with my brother when we were just kids."
With a foot on the edge of the boat, Diluc pretended to pull out a sword and hold it up in the air. Before anything could be said from the Duke, Diluc lost his balance from the unstable boat and fell into the lake. "Diluc?!" Wriothesley quickly looked over the edge to see if Diluc was ok only to find him soaking wet and laughing while keeping himself afloat, Wrio joined in with the laughter.
After helping Diluc back onto the boat, they rowed back to the garden so Diluc could go back inside and dry up. As they got to the small pier, one of Diluc's knights was waiting for him.
"I did not want to disturb you King Ragnvindr but a letter has arrived for you, it seems quite important."
"Thank you, you are dismissed,"
The knight gave Diluc a quick bow before walking off leaving the two men to themselves once again.
"I have to go back to my royal duties," Diluc did sound a little disappointed, he missed having fun but alas, he still was a King and still had his duties to do.
The two men said their goodbyes and parted ways as Diluc picked up the letter and made his way back inside, Kamera in hand.
—
The new letter Wriothesley had received from Diluc was different. It wasn't exactly from Diluc and hadn't actually received any letters from the King in quite a while since the last visit with the boat incident. This new letter was news about a wedding. An arranged marriage between Diluc and someone else from the Nation of Mondstadt.
Wriothesley felt his heart shatter as he kept rereading the letter. He didn't know what to do. He felt like he should have confessed his love earlier then maybe this wouldn't have happened.
"Keep on reading the letter and you're not gonna feel any better."
Wriothesley quickly turned around to see who was there.
"Ah, you're King Ragnvindr's brother, Prince Kaeya,"
"Correct. Before you ask why I'm here it's probably quite obvious given the letter you keep reading," Kaeya took the letter out of the Duke's hand and placed it to the side, giving Wriothesley a book instead. "You need to stop the wedding from happening, Diluc loves you. The proof is in his journal,"
"You stole his diary?!"
"Journal, I stole his journal. I do plan on giving it back as I only stole it to show you how much my brother loves you,"
Wriothesley opened up to a random page and began to read that entry,
'He makes my heart flutter when he smiles. I wish I could tell him how much I love him. Even if it's just once and he doesn't feel the same way, at least I told him. Duke Wriothesley, I love you.'
Not believing anything at first, Wriothesley switched to another entry in the King's journal,
'No. I do not want this. I do not want to be part of this arranged marriage. I want to be with Wriothesley. I am unable to send any letters to him, I am unable to go and visit him. I'm stuck. I love Wriothesley. Why can't I be allowed to marry him instead?'
"Is this, is this all real?" Wriothesley closed the journal and handed it back to Kaeya.
"Oh it's very real, he even personally asks me for advice which is sweet but I don't have any clue on what advice to give him so I'm here to tell you to stop that wedding. He needs you. My brother, the King, needs you,"
"I'll do it,"
—
Diluc was pacing in his room as his anxiety levels rose to an unbearable level. He didn't want this. He never wanted this. Lost in his own thought, a knock at his bedroom door startled him a little which made the King pause his pacing.
"Yes, do come in," hoping it was Wriothesley, Diluc looked at the door when it opened but was soon disappointed to see it was just one of his Knights.
"It's time,"
The King followed the Knight out into the courtyard where a horse drawn carriage parked, ready for Diluc to enter.
The ride was tedious. Diluc's anxiety levels were high and he was shaking. He wished to be in the arms of Wriothesley, the one he truly loved. The streets were filled with people from the different nations of Teyvat and to keep up appearances, Diluc smiled and waved at the crowds through the window of his carriage, putting up a façade.
The crowd was huge as they arrived at the location where the wedding was taking place. The loud cheers from everyone, reporters with their Kamera's everywhere. Taking a few deep breaths, Diluc managed to calm his anxiety down just a tad before stepping out of the horse drawn carriage. The loudness of the crowd attacked his senses yet he had to show it didn't bother him when it did. Badly.
Wriothesley on the back of his horse rode as quickly as he could to the wedding. He didn't want to lose the man he loved so much. Once arriving at the wedding, some of the crowd outside were whispering about why Duke Wriothesley was here and reporter's were instantly trying to make a new story. Running inside, shoving the King's Knights out of the way he managed to reach Diluc.
"STOP!" Wriothesley yelled out, needing everyone's attention which luckily he instantly got with his entrance.
"Duke Wriothesley?!" The moment Diluc turned to see Wrio, he relaxed ever so quickly.
"King Ragnvindr, I have something important to tell you. Every moment we spent together I loved every second of it. Seeing you smile when you thought I wasn't looking at you, hearing you ramble on about birds, I loved it all. I love you. I just want to be able to hold you close. I may just be a mere Duke but I want to spend eternity with you. Diluc Ragnvindr, I love you, I love you for a lifetime," Wriothesley let all his feelings out as he got surrounded by Diluc's Knights.
"Knights leave him be!" Diluc ran down to Wriothesley and pulled him into a kiss in front of everyone which got quite a few gasps from the crowd.
"Duke Wriothesley, I love you too, for a lifetime," Diluc could feel tears run down his cheeks which were out of happiness. This is what he wanted. He wanted to be with Wriothesley.
"Everyone present at this wedding I, King Ragnvindr, would like to declare that the one I will marry will be indeed the Duke Wriothesley of Fontaine, we shall all reconvene and continue the wedding in half an hour after Duke Wriothesley gets himself ready, I hope you will all be able to join in with the lovely celebrations afterwards," This was the most happiest Diluc had looked in the public eye. He did not care about the rules. He was finally with the man he truly loved and would absolutely thank his brother, Prince Kaeya, massively.