Chapter Three
"Prince...Kaeya?"
Kaeya thinks his heart stopped beating in his chest for a second, but then it resumes— and it resumes thundering furiously in response to his rising fear and panic.
His hands, which momentarily froze at hearing that distantly familiar title, returns to tightening a knot on the ropes around the passed out mages to the tree, feigning calmacy to disguise his anxiety.
Only a Khaenri'ahn would know. Only a Khaenri'ahn would remember. If this person is really from Khaenri'ah...Kaeya exhales slowly in an attempt to calm his racing heart. His taut shoulders lower slightly. There's one way to immediately find out.
From the corner of his eye, he can see Diluc staring at him, as if paralyzed on the spot. He doesn't dare look in Diluc's direction as he stands up from his kneeled position in the snow.
Plastering a smile and brushing off the snow from his trousers, he turns around to confront the stranger. Kaeya hopes it's simply someone addressing him in that way as a compliment because of his unusual attire, or possibly his eyepatch? He remembers the Traveler commenting about how fitting Fischl's was given her title one time. Maybe he can recount this later with the Traveler the next time they visit Mondstadt.
Whatever the case may be, Kaeya just hopes it's not because this stranger knows the truth— that he's an actual prince.
His memories of being the royal prince are memories he doesn't want to revisit, and honestly speaking, he thought he broke free from everything in his past involving Khaenri'ah.
After all, it's been over a decade since he was abandoned in Mondstadt as a child; that no one has come looking for him, no one demanding him for information to relay back, nor for any updates on the mission he was entrusted to carry out successfully.
So he wishes that this is just an illusion. An hallucination.
But what he sees fractures his entire reality; a fragile one he now realizes that's built and structured on false hopes and lies he led himself to believe in. A false sense of security to have as close to a resemblance of a normal life free from the weight of a nation's future.
Because illuminated by the flickering flames of the dying campfire, the eyes that stare excitedly back at Kaeya are just like his own.
The tell-tale sign of a Khaenri'ahn.
The diamond-shaped pupils.
"It is you, Your Highness!" The stranger exclaims. Wearing a worn black, ankle length cloak with his hoodie down, Kaeya recognizes that this teenager was the one he was tailing earlier until he couldn't anymore because of the abyss mages. This boy simply walked past them without a second glance.
Kaeya concludes he's a member of the group of people he came to find and investigate on, and it's now clearer that the group must be working together with the Abyss Order— which isn't a far-fetched idea in the first place since they and the spike in abyss mages happened around the same time.
Considering that Kaeya has only seen the back of this person when he followed after him, Kaeya couldn't see his face until now.
For a Khaenri'ahn to be in Mondstadt, this only spelled a disaster in the making. Remembering his mission assigned by Jean, to gather information about the mysterious group, and the desire to protect Mondstadt in mind, Kaeya has to gain this person's trust and to do so, he has to be deceitful.
There's a huge grin on the stranger's face, and suddenly, he bends down into a deep bow.
Kaeya can practically feel a heavy stare on his back, but he firmly ignores it. He anxiously hopes Diluc will understand what he's going to do, and won't demand an explanation right now until a later point in time when they can speak freely.
"I can't believe it! I heard a commotion coming from here so I had to check, but then when I saw you, I couldn't believe my eyes! How many years has it been already? I've always dreamed of meeting you, and now you're here in front of me!" The boy speaks animatedly, looking like he's barely able to contain his excitement with a beaming smile on his face.
"You sure are enthusiastic." Kaeya chuckles, stepping closer. Maybe gaining his trust will be easier than he thought based on the kid's demeanor towards him. "But yes, it's been a long time since I've been home. I must say, this is...unexpected. I'm surprised you recognized me, but I can't say we've met before?" Although he references that godless nation as his home, it leaves an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
The boy audibly gasps and bows again hastily. "Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, Your Highness! My name is Curtis and I am but a loyal subject. How could anyone from our nation forget you, or mistaken you for someone else? You are the prince after all!"
Kaeya mentally notes the vague introduction. So despite the enthusiastic manner he responds in, this Curtis kid is still somewhat wary around him.
"Haha. If my people were to forget who I am, that would leave a devastating wound on me." Kaeya extends his hand out to the teenager with a friendly smile on his face. "Now, let's drop the formalities. You can simply call me Kaeya. For people to find out who I really am here...well, that would be quite a problem on our hands." He lowers his voice into a whisper, winking at him. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
"Of course not, Your High- I mean, K-Kaeya!" Curtis stumbles on his name, likely feeling awkward to address someone he's idolized so informally, but he eagerly takes Kaeya's hand and shakes it enthusiastically.
"Kaeya."
A voice interrupts their exchange, and suddenly a gloved hand grips him by the shoulder.
Kaeya stiffens at the contact.
"You're...a prince?" Diluc's voice sounds hollow if not for the subtle wavering at the end of his question.
By the sudden interruption, Curtis lets go of his hand. The boy narrows his eyes at the hand that's grasping his shoulder, before following the limb back to the red-haired man that's standing rigidly behind him, as if finally noticing Diluc.
Curtis scrutinizes him, eyeing him up and down with suspicion. "Who's this?"
Kaeya waves a hand in a nonchalant manner while maintaining eye contact with the boy. Ignoring Diluc's question, he answers Curtis'.
"Oh him? He goes by the name of the Darknight Hero. Funny name, isn't it?"
The hand on Kaeya tightens to an almost bruising grip, and there's a persistent breath of his name from Diluc, but Kaeya disregards him entirely.
"I've heard of him! A beloved hero of Mondstadt that always manages to come to the rescue, but is quick to always leave." Confused, Curtis looks at Kaeya questionably. "Why are you working with someone like him? And you're…you're dressed like one of those knights—"
"Kaeya!"
The gloved hand spins Kaeya around, forcing him to meet the blazing eyes he didn't want to yet see.
Disbelief. Confusion. Anger. But most of all, pain reflects in them. In discomfort, he frowns and abruptly looks away.
On that tragic night when Father died, Kaeya laid out all lies except for one to his brother.
Before Kaeya could open his mouth to confess that yes, he was also a royal prince on top of being a spy from a nation that wanted to destroy Mondstadt, they fought a violent battle.
In the end, one heavy burden was lifted off his shoulders: he finally showed a true side of himself to his brother, but their familial bond was torn, and Kaeya lost his entire family for the second time.
From then on, he decided that the truth of being a prince was one he'd continue to keep to himself, and never reveal to his brother. How can he? When four years have passed already? When neither of them even wants to discuss what happened on that night?
In truth, selfishly, he doesn't want Diluc to despise him any further. But Kaeya knows he deserves his burning hatred, and tenfold more.
Despite how fragile everything still was since Diluc's return to Mondstadt though, they were able to come to an unspoken understanding. They would continue to protect their beloved Mondstadt in their own ways, and recently around the time the Traveler first came here, things between them even seemed to have improved slightly.
He wishes it stays that way. But Kaeya fears that after today, the trust they were slowly rebuilding will be severed for the second time by the words he's about to say.
I'm sorry.
"What do you think, Curtis?" He shoves the hand off him roughly, and Diluc, aghast, stumbles back. For the first time since Curtis arrived, Kaeya meets Diluc's wide eyes on his own accord.
Forgive me.
"I needed to earn their trust; to play a faithful citizen. And to do that, I had to establish a connection with Mondstadt and its people."
For hurting you again.
"What better way to sneak into their defenses than by cooperating with the hero of Mondstadt? By being a captain of the Knights of Favonius?"
But please…
"This is to ensure the success of my mission."
Believe in me, Diluc.
Kaeya smirks.
"The destruction of Mondstadt, of course."
Without warning, the tip of a claymore is inches away from his face.
He doesn't recoil. Kaeya continues to gaze directly at Diluc as if the weapon didn't exist between them.
"You scheming bastard." Snow begins to melt and evaporate around them, and Curtis takes a step back, eyes flickering nervously between the two.
"So even now, everything was just a ploy?" Diluc hisses. "To think that I believed that you wouldn't betray Mondstadt. But everyone was just a pawn to you. I was a pawn to you."
Kaeya clenches his jaw hearing the genuine hurt in his tone, but he stands firm, not breaking eye contact.
"I should have known better than to trust you once more. I should have told everyone that you were a Khaenriahn spy from the start." The hand holding his claymore trembles. The glare he directs at Kaeya is murderous.
It's okay, Kaeya thinks. He can explain to him later that none of what he said is true. This is just to further make Curtis lower his guard on him.
He's prepared for whatever Diluc says to him in his outburst, but the words Diluc says next almost easily crumbles his composure.
"I should have just followed through that night." Diluc spits out.
Kaeya's lips part in silent shock, but no words come out at first. He physically staggers back, and it's as if Diluc already stabbed him because there's a sudden tightness deep in his chest.
"You…" He starts softly, and despite the suffocating feeling, he's able to muster a small smile at Diluc. "are too easy to fool, Darknight Hero."
Enraged and eyes gleaming in hot, fiery rage, Diluc swings his arm back with his claymore and Kaeya tenses at the movement, eyes widening.
But before Diluc can do anything further and Kaeya can jump away, a sharp piercing whistle echoes through the night. The two men freeze.
The claymore lowers away from his face at the same time Kaeya swivels around to Curtis. The boy's fingers are still in his mouth.
"Curtis wait—"
He whistles again, emitting the same pitch as the first one. It's evident that this is a signal for someone.
The sound of multiple footsteps in the snow can be heard everywhere around him, and he turns back towards Diluc in alarm.
People in cloaks similar to Curtis' are already surrounding Diluc. Various weapons are drawn, pointing at him, and they swiftly push him away from Kaeya.
"Step away from Prince Kaeya!"
"Drop your weapon now!"
The cloaked people continue to shout at Diluc, who gazes at the people surrounding him with a thunderous look on his face, until surprisingly, he lets go of his weapon, creating a dull thud in the snow.
Almost immediately, someone shoves him to kneel on the ground while two others come up with ropes in hand.
In vain, Diluc tries to wrestle them off and almost succeeds, but more people step forward to help secure him.
Curtis moves to stand in front of Kaeya in a protective stance, using his body to act as another shield between the two estranged brothers. Not like it's really necessary.
"How dare you threaten Your Highness!" He yells, but no one pays him any mind.
Kaeya warily watches everything unfold, his hands balled into fists. Damn it. How long have these people been hiding in the shadows without him realizing? And why did Diluc surrender so easily?
Curtis turns to Kaeya, shaking him out of his thoughts. "Don't worry! I'm with them."
Before Kaeya can even respond, one of the cloaked people approaches them. They stop in front of him, lowering their hood to reveal a middle-aged man. He bows before straightening again.
"Your Highness! Please excuse our sudden appearance. We will take care of this scoundrel."
"Wait! What do you mean by that?"
"We're securing him and bringing him with us. He attempted to harm you, and his awareness of who we are now, and who you are...it jeopardizes everything we have planned."
The man looks behind to Diluc in disdain. "He's also the Darknight Hero."
"Ah, of course..."
He focuses back on Diluc. He's still on his knees, but he's silent now, glaring at the ground. His hands are tied behind his back.
If this was any other situation, he would have dropped his facade, and gotten Diluc and himself out. But this involves Khaenri'ah, and the threat to Mondstadt's safety. He has to tread carefully, using their blatant respect to him because of his status to his advantage, and figure out a way to rescue Diluc at the same time.
Kaeya sighs inaudibly.
This wasn't supposed to turn out like this.
This was posted early August on AO3 but I forgot to upload it here ahh. I haven't updated after that because I just started college but the fall semester is coming to a close within a few weeks, so expect an update this month! Thank you so much for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter!