Peace at last. A few uneventful days of class had passed by in a flash, and I couldn't have been more grateful. Sure, there's been an increase in difficulty this semester, but as long as I didn't have to watch my back for an Enjou attack or worry about saving another soul, pop quizzes and large projects were doable. Even now, as Sucrose and I faced a slight problem at the greenhouse, this issue was nothing to lose sleep over.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" I murmured as we eyed the greenhouse's roof.

After completing daily maintenance inside, it was time to tackle an assignment that Professor Kreideprinz specifically asked us to take care of. The snow that had collected on the glass rooftop blocked essential sunlight needed for the plants. Birds had also left droppings, and those spots weren't going to disappear on their own.

Though the greenhouse itself was a single-floor building, the height of the roof was quite tall, and the glass walls didn't make for easy climbing. As far as stepladders went, the only stool we could dig out of the greenhouse storage only brought me a head taller.

"Oh, I have an idea. Wait right here!" Sucrose darted back inside and reappeared not long after—holding a glass flask full of a teal liquid. "I've been doing some tweaking with my elemental skill recently, and I had a few of these left in my bag."

Her elemental skill? Did she intend to attack the roof in hopes to clear the mess up top? As much as I trusted her, I wasn't too sure about this.

Sucrose seemed to read the wariness on my face immediately. She jumped in to explain, "No, it's not what you think. If I smash Astable Anemohypostasis Creation Sixty-Three Hundred on the ground here, there should be a brief pulse of Anemo strong enough to send one of us to the roof."

"That's pretty convenient," I said with surprise. "So, which of us is taking the lift?"

Again, I trusted Sucrose, but it would be a lie to say I was keen on participating as a test subject. She looked more nervous than me, though. I remembered just how shy Sucrose could be sometimes. If the Astable Anemohypostasis failed, her pride as an alchemist would be more bruised than her body after the small tumble. In the event that her skill didn't work, I could always try adding an extra boost with my own Anemo.

I sighed and stepped forward. "Alright, I'll give it a go."

"Really? Thanks, Lumine."

Her grateful smile already made volunteering worth it.

Sucrose then pointed to the spot where she wanted me to stand and threw the flask on the ground in front of me. An instant gust of Anemo blew my hair back, and I ran forward before jumping into the current. The Anemo carried me upwards, and there was no need to rely on my power. In the next second, I was stumbling onto the rooftop.

"Yes, it worked!" Sucrose cheered from below. "We can high-five when you're back down."

Now that the troublesome part was taken care of, she ran back into the greenhouse and reemerged with cleaning supplies. It took several attempts of me coaching her on how to aim, but she eventually tossed everything I needed up to the roof. A hard bristle broom for the snow, a cleaning solution, and a roll of towels.

"We make a great team," I said loud enough for her to hear.

"I don't know. I feel guilty for making you do most of the work."

"It's not much work at all. Besides, we wouldn't have succeeded without your alchemical genius. Look—I'm done already. Piece of cake."

"That was fast," she gasped.

Pleased with my work, I straightened to stand upright and nearly slipped on the slanted glass. I would need to be more careful if I didn't want to end up tumbling to the ground. There was a safer way to get back down…right?

"Sucrose?"

"Yeah?"

"How am I supposed to get back down there?"

"We can just…oh."

Oh, indeed. Astable Anemohypostasis was only useful in upward elevation—the current would disappear and drop me from a distance just as high as the roof itself. Though this was a careless oversight on both of our parts, it was one we had to deal with before I really did fall off.

"I'm sorry," Sucrose said, flustered. "I should have been more prepared and thought about the possible scenarios. If Professor Kreideprinz was here, he could use his Solar Isotoma…okay. I'm going to fetch the professor. Will you be okay up there?"

If Solar Isotoma—whatever that entailed—had Sucrose's seal of approval, then I was more than okay with waiting for a bit longer. Even with the snow removed, enough residual water remained, so my job was to be careful with footing—easier said than done. I didn't want to worry Sucrose, though.

"The view up here is quite nice."

"Alright, then. In that case…I'll be back!"

Sucrose ran off in the direction of the laboratory building, and I could actually see her up until she disappeared inside. Even when I carefully moved to sit down, I sat high enough to observe much of the area around me. I had said the view was nice on a whim, but that actually ended up being true. The fountain on the main quad twinkled with flowing water, and the teleport on top glowed a pretty blue. I people-watched as students traveled from building to building. Then, I turned my head upward to observe tufts of clouds leisurely floating across the sky. My eyes closed as a pleasant breeze drifted by.

"Is that who I think it is?"

I knew that voice, and when my eyes popped open, it really was Childe standing closest to the greenhouse. He had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants, and there was a mix of glee and wonder on his face. Not a hint of injury from the duel remained. Childe's stay in the infirmary ended right when classes began for the week, and he had complained more than once about it.

"What are you up to today?" I asked.

"I should be asking you the same thing. Although, I can see that you're quite literally…up. Is this a form of hazing at the greenhouse gang?"

"We're hardly a gang. Sucrose helped me up here so I could clean the roof, but we didn't think about how I'd be getting back down until after."

While most people hearing this news would be slightly concerned, Childe's smile only grew wider. Spreading his arms out, he said, "I have the perfect idea."

I blankly stared, waiting for an elaboration.

"Jump."

He was crazier than I thought.

"Sucrose is getting Professor Kreideprinz to help. That way, I won't have to risk spraining an ankle—or worse."

"I'll catch you."

So, that's why he held his arms out. The realization came so late because there was a high chance that he'd miss. I mean, after how many tries it took Sucrose to toss a broom my way, my faith in people's hand-eye coordination was quite low. Being who he was, I knew Childe had enough faith in his abilities for the both of us.

"You'd better not miss or drop me."

"That would never happen."

If my trust in him turned out to be misplaced, my temporary pain would be alleviated at the infirmary. Childe's ego would take a heavy hit. Thinking that way, I was eager to see if he could pull it off. As I readied myself to stand again, I thought of the most ideal method of throwing myself off a building. Should I simply tip over and let gravity do its thing, or should I jump forward?

The universe made a choice for me when a trickle of water upset my footing and compromised my balance. My arms flailed briefly as I fell, but there was no fear. Childe said he'd catch me, so I tucked in my arms, shut my eyes, and hoped for the best.

The impact was sudden but not too rough. My breath was knocked from my lungs, and Childe's arms instantly tightened the moment he caught me. Once the spinning sensation from freefalling passed, I found myself surprised with how well that went.

"Thanks," I said and looked up at him. Our faces were close.

"You know," Childe whispered in my ear despite our proximity. "It would have worked just as well if you jumped off and used Anemo to soften the fall. Something as simple as that is well within your ability."

He had a good point. I had even considered using Anemo to boost myself up there in the first place, but it hadn't crossed my mind a second time. Sucrose's elemental skill would have acted as a helpful cover. I still wasn't used to the idea of openly using my powers. That mental block would have to end soon.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" I asked. "Was the risk worth it?"

Childe didn't need to reply for me to know his answer. I received a brief kiss on the lips instead. I half expected him to take advantage of this opportunity and carry me off somewhere, but Childe gently lowered me to the ground. Reluctance was written all over his face, but I soon understood the reason why.

"Lumine! You made it back down, but how?"

Sucrose came running over with Professor Kreideprinz in tow. Her face was flushed with the exertion, but he was hardly winded. She scanned the area, probably looking for a makeshift ladder of some kind, and a confused frown was stamped on her features.

"Sorry to disturb you, professor," I said. "Childe happened to come by and helped me back to ground level."

Professor Kreideprinz assessed the both of us for a mere second before nodding and turning his attention to the greenhouse. There was a note of approval in his voice when he said, "I'm glad the issue was resolved. Furthermore, I can see you took care of the roof quite nicely. We aren't expecting any further heavy snowfall, so a repeat of this incident shouldn't be a concern."

Childe folded his arms with a slight scowl. "It should have never happened, to begin with. What if I wasn't here and Lumine suffered an injury? You would be held accountable."

Any other professor might have scolded Childe for his disrespectful tone, but Professor Kreideprinz remained impassive.

"Of course, I would accept all responsibility," he said. "However, I believe Miss Lumine was never at risk of danger. She possesses more skill than you—or any of us—may know. This is simply an observation of mine, though. There is no use in questioning the possible scenarios of what has already come to pass. As a precaution for the future, I will install an elevation device for greenhouse use."

Sucrose clasped her hands together and said, "Thank you, professor!"

"A bit too late, but it'll do." Childe's scowl faded as he looked at me. "Do you have any more work to do here?"

"That was the last of it."

"Good, because I need you to come with me."

It was less that Childe needed me to come with him and more the fact he just wanted my company—not that I had any complaints. After high-fiving Sucrose and saying goodbye to Professor Kreideprinz, I soon discovered that our destination was the mailroom. He had written another letter for his family, and I conveniently happened to have one prepared for Madame Ping as well.

Once we got there, I was pleasantly surprised—and Childe unpleasantly so—to see that Kaeya was back on mail duty. He still wore a turtleneck, this time with the sleeves rolled up, and I wondered if this punishment sentence would be drawn out to the spring. Surely, I could work out a negotiation for him.

"Any love letters for me?" Kaeya asked and I handed over the envelope. His eye scanned the recipient's name, and he released a sigh. "Madame Ping…it'll be too long before I'm able to properly introduce myself to her. Perhaps I should also draft a letter."

"Perhaps not," Childe said blandly and held out his letter. "Here. Send this to my family."

Kaeya only stared at him with a smirk. "I didn't hear a 'please.' I'm afraid I cannot execute any requests without one."

Thinking over our interaction, I didn't say 'please' at all. Was that rude of me? Was I taking advantage of Kaeya's duty to the student body and also ordering him around? Before I could overthink too much, Kaeya chuckled.

"Relax," he said. "You're more than pleasing to me, Lumine. You get a pass."

Childe scoffed at that and flattened his letter to Kaeya's chest—again, covered by the turtleneck. I missed the sight of it more than I thought. Yes, a negotiation would need to take place very soon. Kaeya's teasing smile remained as he accepted Childe's letter.

"There's something here for you, too," Kaeya said and lifted a sleek envelope from the pile of incoming mail. "I wonder what the urgent information could be."

Childe gingerly took ahold of the mail, and I saw that it was stamped as priority all the way from Snezhnaya. There was no return address, and I had a feeling that this wasn't sent by his family. Instead of tucking the envelope away, Childe opened it in front of us and slipped out a single sheet of paper.

Kaeya and I watched as Childe silently read the letter. Whatever its contents were, judging by the way Childe's brows slowly drew together, I wasn't expecting good news. His eyes flew to the top of the page and dropped down as he read it a second time. I might just find a seat so I could sit at the edge of it.

"I knew this would happen," Childe murmured. "I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"What is it? What's happening?" I asked and finally caved, leaning close to peer at the letter.

Childe handed it to me for easy reading, and Kaeya also looked over my shoulder to get a look. There was no use. Everything was written in Snezhnayan. Kaeya still lingered, though.

"You can read Snezhnayan?" Color me impressed.

"Nope."

Nevermind.

Childe sighed and tousled his hair, clearly upset by the contents of the letter. I handed it back to him, and his eyes roamed over the text for a third time before he gave a brief translation.

"This is a notice from the Fatui delegation stating that they are sending an envoy to investigate the matter of my Delusion. As soon as it was destroyed by Xiao during the duel, my people received an alert."

"Are you in trouble?" I asked and briefly wondered if Childe would be dragged back to Snezhnaya to face the consequences.

"No, not when I explain the events of what happened. All blame is placed on the Delusion itself for being faulty. They'll probably still give me a hard time over it, but the situation will be cleared once the envoy has the information they need. Then, it'll be a matter of issuing me a new one."

"Another Delusion?" I gaped. And here I thought my worries over Childe destroying his body with that cursed device were finally over. "Are you really going to accept it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

I frowned at him. He was fully aware of my Delusion disapproval.

"Carrying a Delusion is a part of my contract, Lumine. Enrolling at Celestia Academy and being able to withstand the effects of a Delusion—they're both parts of my candidacy to become a Fatui Harbinger. It's not only the fastest track for me to get stronger, but my family is counting on it, too. This is how I can support them."

There was no arguing against that. Childe cared about his family just as much as I did for Aether. Both of them were brothers putting themselves in danger for the sake of their loved ones. I wished it didn't have to be this way, but at least Childe wasn't being sent back to Snezhnaya.

"That's an awful lot of text for the information given," Kaeya said with a pointed look at the letter. "Do Snezhnayans have a tendency to embellish, or is there something else you're not telling us?"

Nothing got past Kaeya, and Childe revealed the rest. I almost wished he hadn't.

"The envoy is Signora." He looked just as excited as I felt about that. "Her expulsion only bars her from entrance as a student, not for business matters. I've been tasked with personally making her lodging arrangements, of all things. There's only one inn in the town, but knowing Signora, she'll make a fuss and insist on spending the night in one of the campus rooms."

I made a face. "Would she even be allowed to? Her track record here isn't exactly a clean one."

"Because Celestia Island exists as an independent state of its own, she might succeed in using her status as a diplomat to bypass the consequences of her transgressions. It'll only be for one night, but I'm not happy about this, either. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she spends as little time here as possible. I can arrange for the entire inn to be rented out, if necessary."

Since preventing Signora from showing up entirely was unavoidable, I supposed it didn't matter much where she stayed. On the high chance she was in a particularly sinister mood, it wouldn't be long before she stirred up trouble. Her vendetta against me was evident by the failed operation her subordinates got caught in, and I didn't look forward to how she planned to rectify it.

When—not if—she tried something, Signora would be in for a shock. I had no intention of pretending to be weak around her anymore, and the student population more-or-less saw her as a joke after news of her expulsion and ambush—courtesy of Diluc—had spread around. Aether wouldn't be forced to tolerate her antics, either. He didn't know the half of what she had planned for me, and I imagined he wouldn't take it well upon finding out.

"And when are we expecting her?" Kaeya prompted.

"Exactly one week from now."

So much for my days of peace.