You learn my secrets and you figured out why I'm guarded, you say we'll never make my parents' mistakes.
A/N: For Cydni! Happy belated birthday mwa!
Written with my own sun in mind
The matriarch's fingers grab a brownie from the middle tier of her tea stand, "I am out for the weekend, my darling." her mother says to her as she sips the hibiscus tea on their table.
The sun is shining warmly on this pleasant afternoon and Jean feels at rest being in the magnificent garden that her mother had tended ever since she was as young as her. Simple tea parties for the two have always been a comfort and a seek of refuge whenever she had a hard time in the Knights of Favonius or when she simply wanted to indulge and be with Frederica Gunnhildr in comfortable silence.
This piques Jean's interest, rarely does her mother ever leave the mansion, and rarely will she ever raise this next possibility.
"I need to attend a noblewoman's masquerade in Fontaine. Perhaps, you might want Diluc to come over?" In a regal and warm voice that still commands richness, respect, and duty.
A blush creeps up, and a pause almost happens as Jean processes the suggestion.
"What brings you to recommend this, mother?" The young blonde girl fiddles with her peach mango pie, starting a bite as she feels the moist flaky crust and the sweetness of the fruit. Her mother has always been firm but supportive; this isn't exactly out of character for the matriarch considering how Frederica warmed up a lot for the better after the divorce.
Although the sudden responsibilities of managing the Gunnhildr Mansion as the lady of the house, combined with the fact that her not-so-secret boyfriend can be allowed to accompany her for the first time is nothing short of a delightful experience but
Frederica hides her twinkling smile behind the teacup and the pouring of sugar into her brew. "I talked it over with your father," she starts "As usual, he has always been better when it comes to you and Barbara's feelings." Gentle older hands pass one slice of mushroom pizza to her daughter's plate.
"I want you to know that I trust you to maintain our household,"
Jean nods as she bites into the freshly-baked pizza. Her mother from time to time indulges her with her favorite food and when she does it is made to perfection.
"And your feelings and actions with my best friend's son and heir." The former Alder Knight stands up from her seat, to let Jean lean into a hug. Giving a kiss to the crown of her golden curled hair. "And I also want you to prove to me that you have the confidence and restraint.
The blonde teenager murmurs a thank you into the older woman's arms, reassuring her mother that she would not let her down and that she will be proud of her.
Jean hints at it during a scouting mission, but then she decides to just tell him when they have the time alone. After all, the squad was assigned a long trek to the mountains, and they would be focused on the journey and the battle.
So when she is in his office helping tend to the gashes on his chest made by a rather pesky ruin guard when they were tasked to map a better path to the temple of the wind for new adventurers, she nervously fiddles with his bandages, trying to tie and retie them till she is satisfied with the knot laying flat.
Diluc proceeds to give his thanks for her patchwork and a good job at helping defeat the automaton with a lingering kiss on her cheek and that made her heart soar. It has become a habit for him to give her small bouts of affection when alone, whether through holding her hand as they go to the stables to tend to their horses, or a quick but still loving embrace when she reports to him in the morning.
They do get caught every once in a while by an older squad member who tells them they still need to be professionals, as young as they are or even Varka, who just coughs or tells them they're still on the premises but gives them his blessing or a knowing smile.
As he is in the middle of tucking in her princess curls and checking over her own scratches, she gathers up the courage to say "So this weekend my mother is going to a ball in Fontaine..."
That also catches Diluc's attention, surprise etched as he elegantly raises his eyebrow; he hums along for Jean to go on. Nobles know that rarely does Lady Frederica go away on business meetings, since Lord Seamus used to be the one doing the gallant affairs. He presses a kiss to her forehead to reassure her to go on.
"Could you stay with me this weekend?"
A pause. The ticking of the clock. The chirping of the birds outside.
And he recoils quickly, taken aback by her request that Jean hastily thinks he is appalled or might even turn her down, but she feels his fingers growing warm and she lets out a sigh of relief.
"Lady Frederica allowed it?" as his fingers now move to caress her neck, thumb on her pulse.
"I was also surprised when she suggested it." she lets her hands play lightly at his knee, weaving patterns. "It's okay if you can't go," She rambles as she feels the blush on her cheek returning as her eyes return to Diluc's fond smile.
"If she permits it, then I don't see any reason to refuse?"
It's Jean's move to kiss his cheek in return for affection and gratitude.
Diluc steers their conversation, eager to ask what she would like to do with him, and what were the names of their staff, which makes her even more delighted to spend the weekend with him.
Jean sighs in relief, elated to answer his questions and silently thanks Barbatos; she feels and knows he returns the excitement too.
Her mother helps her tie her baby blue dirndl's corset as they prepare for the weekend apart. Frederica makes sure Jean's flaxen shoulder-length hair is brushed and that her blouse and skirts were free from wrinkles.
"Nervous?"
"A little," Jean admits as she puts on her cross earrings, given by her father. She feels his comfort through the gold that he helped mine during his travels in Liyue in his youth.
"Care to talk about it, darling?" Her mother presses gently, offering a listening ear to her.
Jean looks at the mirror, and she does not find an heir to a clan or a dandelion knight but rather finds a bashfully shy teenage girl feeling like a princess meeting her prince again for the first time in many balls.
"What if I mess up…or maybe…he'll find us alone together…boring" hesitant words push out of her mouth as she observes her face. "It's different when I visit the Winery."
The Dawn Winery is a welcoming piece of love and affection at the heart of wine and belly laughs. The Gunnhildr Mansion, as opulent as it also is, might sometimes feel cold, devoid of songs and giggles after a rainy August. Her mother knows this more than her and has lived through it more than her.
"If he's anything like Crepus," Frederica takes the ribbon on her table, and her expert hands tie Jean's blonde locks into a half-up and she smiles. "Or Seamus," Something which she does rarely. "I'm sure he can make you feel like home, anywhere."
Fingers roughed with age and experience tilt her chin and periwinkle eyes meet chocolate ones. "You are my daughter." She reassures Jean. "I truly only want what is the best for you."
They hear the gallops of a horse from outside and Jean prepares herself. The two women link arms as they open their door to the esteemed and yet still young Cavalry Captain. Jean feels giddy as Diluc gets off his horse, in his arms were Cecilias whom she told him her mother adores. He also brought a box of pastries, an essential whenever invited to the Gunnhildr mansion. A lady-in-waiting assists him in taking it off his arms and into the mansion.
He looks like a prince despite only wearing slacks and his short-sleeved black dress shirt.
He bows slightly as Frederica begins with her list of instructions. "I expect for you to act within your lines, knowing your position as the Cavalry Captain and as someone worthy of your name."
"Mother, please." Jean tugs at her mother's sleeve "You're pressuring him."
"Nonsense, Jean." Frederica waves off, as she walks towards Diluc, earning a gentle kiss on her gloved hand. A sign of courtesy and respect, which she returns with a curt nod." I expect nothing less from Crepus' heir. Don't disappoint me, child."
Diluc affirms in return.
"Anything that happens in this house stays in it." She tells the two teenagers as she gets help from their chauffeurs to go into her carriage. Her eyes soften at them as she says in reverence "May Barbatos always guide you in fortitude,"
They start strolling across the ethereal garden, the breathtaking rows and rows of flowers gracing their sights.
"Your mother's garden, the pinnacle of absolute beauty." He notes as they greet the gardeners tending and watering the blooming buds.
"I woke up really early to help our servants prepare the tea stand," Jean begins to talk with him, in bliss walking hand in hand with Diluc. Feeling his stare and attention at hers, silently encouraging her to speak more.
"I went to my father during the week's preparation, for the sweet flower tea that you like!" she exclaims happily. "It was more of an infusion than tea because I was steeping a part of the plant and not the leaves."
"I always loved that particular blend, thank you, Jean." He humors her with the story of how infamous Seamus Pegg hauled him to backpack for weeks in Mare Jivari, to test his strength and if he was worthy of his daughter.
For one, the Seneschal taught him how to tie a very complicated knot, one strong enough to support a human body, even if they were hung outside down. And he put his palm into his face, a little embarrassed as he told her that he underestimated her father in fighting and his fists made his jaw ache for three days.
As they make their way towards the gazebo, comfortable with each other's presence. Jean talks about how she tried to make fishy toast for their savory and that she almost got frustrated that she could not cut the onions as heart-shaped as she would have liked, earning an amused chuckle from the man beside her. Diluc's fondness for sweets with the way he grinned when she described how she also visited Adelinde for help to bake chocolate brownies the way he likes them, dense and chewy with almonds folded in the batter.
Diluc helps her sit on the chair before he seats himself. It was not a formal afternoon tea, so there was no host between them. Diluc marvels at the teapot seated between them, observing the porcelain cup. "I thought Lady Frederica would have not kept it, given its simplicity."
"Yes, mother still kept it. She's fond of it, if I may say so," she giggled, recalling the first months he was courting her, he was also courting her parents as well. Master Crepus must have told him that her mother adored collecting teapot sets. Diluc bought a simple jade teapot set. Her mother liked it enough to use it from time to time, and usually, she would brew a gentle spicy blend from Natlan.
Diluc spoons in two sugar cubes for her own tea, knowing just how much to put in. He motions with his hand to look at the tea stand, the maids helped in preparing.
"Father helped me pick the flowers, and that he told me, a little blonde girl who roamed around his vineyards, still adores lemon bars." He takes one of them and puts it near Jean's lips, she eagerly takes the food and appreciates the pastry. They indulge once again in conversation. Diluc mentions that Kaeya slipped him a cologne…or two. Jean meanwhile talks about the flowers they pressed last month during their date in Windrise.
The anxiety and nervousness that she felt earlier starts to fade away, and she finds herself now at peaceful ease. The sun is shining brightly, and her hair feels great. In front of her; the boy she so loves has never once left her hand throughout their tea time.
She never intends to let go either.
After the tea, Jean leads him into the hallways of the mansion where the corridors hold a lot of paintings on the stretched-out cream walls. A common hobby they both love. When they were children being both tutored by elite scholars, they marveled at the details, the people who were drawn and the emotions the painter wanted to convey.
The pair observes the portrait of her grandfather. Lord Derek Gunnhildr standing tall and large, clad in his Knights of Favonius uniform and cape billowing. Hands to his sword. Jean wonders sometimes about the man she has only met twice in her life, as he opted to live away from the mansion. When she was young she couldn't understand why.
"I used to go around libraries to find the Biography of the Gunnhildrs, to see what might've caused the rift." Dainty hands trace over the plaque; the year of Derek's birth and date. She feels Diluc's strong hand again, gripping her unbusy one firmly.
"After the divorce, my mother was at her weakest, almost wanting to tear down and get rid of grandfather's painting. It turns out he was against her marrying father; for he was stations below her noble birth."
Jean guides him to the next painting. Frederica and Seamus in their wedding portrait. Blissful smiles, a picture of love and devotion.
"Mother fought bitterly for my father, and he fought for her just the same," Jean explains as she feels her back being guided into Diluc's embrace.
He murmurs something into her ear "The strokes and the colors used are familiar, Liebe." as he kisses her temple. Jean sighs in contentment as she settles in his warmth. "The use of lighting and how the blonde hair is painted to almost be like halos,"
"Master Crepus painted this one for them as a wedding gift." She points out the Ragnvindr patriarch's signature near the bottom of the left-hand corner of the golden frame. "His paintings are nothing short of the finest of all the nobles. Mother told me it took him at least half a year to finish."
"I miss painting too, remember the last time we did? I almost forgot to paint Kaeya's eyepatch," If there is anything that Jean adores the most about Diluc, it's definitely his boyish laugh. He looks down at her and smiles. "Maybe I can paint you over the weekend?"
That's when Jean almost bursts out laughing as she continues her mini painting tour. They went over her baby portrait, sitting as she held her pet tortoise. That one made Diluc point out that she must have been fighting to stay still the entire time; she playfully slapped him on his forearm for that.
The family portrait of the Gunnhildr-Pegg family.
Jean and Frederica with a newly born Barbara.
One sketch of Seamus singing was made by her mother in charcoal.
One by one, she and Diluc revisit her past memories until they get to the end of the line. The oil painting of Jean in her own ceremonial garb when she was hailed as the Dandelion Knight just over a few months ago. She notices Diluc's intense stare, looking proud of her.
Jean blushes when he says she's as pretty as the painting "You're just saying that because you remember what happened that day."
The man with her now is also a work of art. Hair and eyes made out of the reddest sunsets, body like a marbled man. Genuine piece art that she sometimes just wants to keep for herself.
"Our first kiss." and how wonderful their first kiss truly was, even if it was a little hesitant, even if it was taking her away from the party and letting her ride with him on his horse.
"I wouldn't mind, a little repeat of it?" The young girl lightly teases. She remembers it quite well, on how he held her waist, and she naturally rested her hands on his chest. How soft his lips felt and how quiet the world felt. How it opened wide and suddenly the world was inside of her.
Dilic fakes a stern and uptight voice "And to be witnessed by all of these blue eyes? Jean."
She lightly tugs at his collar but he doesn't budge. Well, she doesn't really mind it all, so she rests her head against his shoulder and says a soft thank you for coming over.
"To tell the truth, I am a little nervous,"
Diluc raises his brow at her, "Oh really? Do tell."
"It's my first time being the lady of the house, and I want it to be perfect. My mother helped with what the maids and the gardeners are going to do. Our main lady-in-waiting also filled me in on what their duties are, what to cook or to clean."
He starts running his hands up and down her arms to help soothe her "Eventually, you would grow to be a patient and loving lady of the house."
He eases her further by telling her that Master Crepus is doing the exact same thing and that he is also feeling the pressure of it as well "I am not only inheriting the winery, I am also expected to be the Lord of the household."
Jean cuddles into him "It won't be anytime soon, Master Crepus would live to see little children running around the mansion."
Diluc snorts in thinly concealed mirth "He already profusely enjoys little Klee's company."
As night rolls in, they rest at the main living room. Diluc takes an interest in the chess set in front of the couch. He observes and feels the handiwork of the wood, from the pawns to the queen pieces. Chess sets with this extraordinary quality were always a joy to play, especially when the pieces have a piece of velvet under them. The chessboard is polished to perfection as well.
"You still play?" he asks as he starts to arrange the pieces.
"Not as often," She says solemnly as she sits beside him, resting her head on his shoulder "Father always beats me, even though I sometimes hide his pieces.'
She gets a kiss on her temple "Remind me to play with him, the next time we meet?"
"Knowing him, he would love to outsmart you." Jean cheekily grins at him. Standing up to saunter over the grand piano, skimming over the keys.
"I miss him, and his everything in this mansion, things have gone quiet ever since he and Barbara stopped singing."
Diluc looks at her, listening intently to her voice.
"They would be here, playing the piano, composing, bringing such joy." Jean loftily plays three notes "The bards told me that none of them can compete with the Seneschal's voice, so they would never station themselves in the cathedral."
She sees Diluc finishing setting up the chess set, and he walks over to her.
"Mother is stern with you, but she has the loveliest singing voice as well."
"Like you."
He sits beside her in the piano seat. Now the one leaning his head on her shoulder.
"Have you ever missed Lady Lucia?"
"To be honest, I have never known what she was like." Diluc asks if he can put his hand on her thigh when she consented, he continued with his sentence "Mother had become Adelinde over the years,"
"When I ask my father, he would tell me that she loved me with all that she had. She wanted the midwife to save me, and not her." he exhales with a shaky voice. Love has always been like this, to be vulnerable with the person you love the most and never expect harsh judgment. "Her only request from father was that I also played the violin,"
"And I admit that the fiery trait of the Ragnvindrs run prominent in the family, all the way from Lady Vennessa" A small smile then graced his lips as Jean's fingers holds onto his hand. "But the softer parts of me, I like to think it's from her."
Diluc helps her place her fingers on the piano, hands on top of hers, guiding her where to press, to the tune of the ballad they heard in the cathedral when they were stealing kisses inside a confessional box.
The soft music becomes a background and adds a layer to this precious moment "Sometimes when I think about being a mother, your wife if everything works out I wish we can stay together in one house.
"We'll work it out, Liebe."
They sleep in separate rooms to honor their promise to Frederica, but not without Diluc suggesting that they can always sleep together in the library to bypass the rules. Jean just laughs and kisses him good night.
When she enters her room and brushes the kinks and tangles of her hair, she reflects that this is the love her books always had written about. A love that stretched to the ends of the earth and will forever keep on stretching. Love so unmistakable that Celestia can only dare to contain it. That it can melt all the cold and evaporate all the left rain upon her skin.
She kneels and prays.
Adoringly.
Reverently.
With Hope.
That whatever happens, she and Diluc would not have the misfortune of her parents.
Jean wakes up to get breakfast ready for them both, she wanted to do it herself and asked the servants if she could fill in for the morning.
The sizzle of the egg and the fried rice is a comfort for her, along with the pieces of steak in the cut he likes the most. She is so focused she did not notice the arms, snaking to hug her from behind while she was cooking.
"Why are you up so early?" She chides a little.
"You weren't in my arms when I was sleeping." He pouted groggily into her shoulder.
Jean hums contentedly "I adore us like this,"
"To more days with you?"
"To many more."